Depression risk 50 times lower in Japan due to fish intake

IRISH people are 50 times more likely to develop depression than the Japanese because we don’t eat enough fish, a conference was told in Dublin yesterday.

Professor Michael Crawford, director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, at London Metropolitan University, suggested that dependence on a meat and wheat-based diet is resulting in a significant rise in brain ill-health in the Western world.

“Currently, just over 50% of the Irish population eats fish at least once a week,” said Prof Crawford, a Bord Iascaigh Mhara-sponsored keynote speaker at the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute conference.