A recent meta-analysis suggests that omega-3, available as dietary supplements via fish oil capsules and thought to help with mental and physical well-being, could also reduce aggression.
The fatty acids have previously been linked to preventing schizophrenia, while aggression and anti-social behaviour are thought in part to stem from a lack of nutrition. What we eat can influence our brain’s chemistry, researchers – from the University of Pennsylvania – said.
They built on earlier, smaller studies of omega-3 supplementation effects on aggression, their meta-analysis looking at 29 randomised controlled trials across 3 918 participants in total.
Across all the trials, a modest but noticeable short-term effect was found, translating to up to a 28% reduction in aggression across multiple different variables (including age, gender, medical diagnosis, and length and dosage of treatment).
“I think the time has come to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system,” said neurocriminologist Adrian Raine earlier this year.
The trials included in the study, carried out between 1996 and 2024, ran for an average of 16 weeks. They covered a variety of demographics, from children aged 16 and under to older people aged between 50 and 60.
Additionally, the reductions in aggression included both reactive aggression (in response to provocation) and proactive aggression (behaviour planned in advance).
Before this study, it wasn’t clear if omega-3 could help with these different types of aggression.
While larger studies across longer periods of time are going to be needed to further establish this relationship, it adds to our understanding of how fish oil pills – and the omega-3 in them – might be beneficial for the brain, he added.
“At the very least, parents seeking treatment for an aggressive child should know that in addition to any other treatment their child receives, an extra portion or two of fish each week could also help,” said Raine.
The researchers think something in the way omega-3 reduces inflammation and keeps vital brain processes ticking over might be helping regulate aggression. There are still some unanswered questions, but the team suggests there’s enough evidence to look into this further.
Add in the studies that show that medications derived from fish oil can help reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks, strokes, and other heart health problems, and there seems to be plenty of upside to adding some omega-3 to a daily diet.
“Omega-3 is not a magic bullet that will completely solve the problem of violence in society,” said Raine.
“But can it help? Based on these findings, we firmly believe it can, and we should start to act on the new knowledge we have.”
The research was published in Aggression and Violent Behaviour.
Study details
Omega-3 supplementation reduces aggressive behaviour: a meta-analytic review of randomised controlled trials
Adrian Raine, Lia Brodrick.
Published in Aggression & Violent Behaviour in September/October 2024
Abstract
There is increasing interest in the use of omega-3 supplements to reduce aggressive behaviour. This meta-analysis summarizes findings from 29 RCTs (randomised controlled trials) on omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, yielding 35 independent samples with a total of 3918 participants. Three analyses were conducted where the unit of analysis was independent samples, independent studies, and independent laboratories. Significant effect sizes were observed for all three analyses (g = 0.16, 0.20, 0.28 respectively), averaging 0.22, in the direction of omega-3 supplementation reducing aggression. There was no evidence of publication bias, and sensitivity analyses confirmed findings. Moderator analyses were largely non-significant, indicating that beneficial effects are obtained across age, gender, recruitment sample, diagnoses, treatment duration, and dosage. Omega-3 also reduced both reactive and proactive forms of aggression, particularly with respect to self-reports (g = 0.27 and 0.20 respectively). It is concluded that there is now sufficient evidence to begin to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression in children and adults – irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system.
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