Omega 3

Fatty acids are both fuel and also building material for the human body. Bad fatty acids can clog arteries and promote inflammation while good fatty acids are essential to a long healthy life. The bad side to a low fat diet is that we can become deficient in the good fats, the Omega-3 fatty acids.
Eskimos in their traditional diet consumed large amounts of whale and seal blubber which are rich in Omega-3 fats. Eighty percent of their calories came from fat, and yet they had almost no heart disease. The good fats actually lowered their risk for heart disease.
Another example; a mother during pregnancy is responsible for supplying important building blocks to the developing child. The brain and nervous system of the developing child has special needs. The human brain, for example, has a high fat content, and requires lots of essential fatty acids during development in the womb.
Two Omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are especially abundant in the human brain. EPA and DHA serve to insulate the nerves and are important construction material for the cell walls of the neurons. When they are abundant, the fetus can sit back and relax. If the mothers diet is deficient, the fetus in its frantic search for building blocks takes readily from the mother.
This can deplete the mother. Women who develop Postpartum Depression tend to have lower levels of Omega-3 fatty acids. The baby has cleaned them out. Supplementation of Omega 3 fatty acids is very important during pregnancy to keep mother and child full of these key building blocks.
EPA and DHA are also an important key to human intelligence. Over 100,000 years ago in Africa, intelligence emerged rapidly in our early ancestors. Some experts believe this was related to the introduction of Omega-3 fatty acids into the human diet. In school aptitude testing, breast fed babies tested smarter than bottle fed babies. Cows milk is devoid of EPA/DHA while a mothers breast milk contains this essential nutrient.
It is well known that depression is more common inland than along the coastlines. A fish diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids protects against depression. The idea that brain disorders could be related to dietary deficiencies has been ignored by Psychiatry.  It is unfortunate that this information is not getting to those who need it.
An effective dose of EPA/DHA is three grams per day.  Most fish oil capsules contains about a half gram so one should take about six capsules daily. High quality EPA/DHA capsules are available in which impurities and most of the fishy taste have been removed.