Depression has become one of the most commonly complained of illnesses in our culture today. While there are many causes, and depression continues to baffle both the victims and their health care givers, at least one aspect may be easier to manage than you think.

The brain's chemistry relies on some simple elements. Do you know what the brain is mostly composed of? Did you say water? Well, you might be surprised to learn that the brain is composed mostly of fat cells. The fats we consume are very important to the healthy function of the brain. Have you noticed recently how trans fats have become the new whipping post of the food industry? Take a big, deep breath, and let it out, and call that a sigh of relief - for trans fats are pure poison to the brain. The wrong fats actually turn rancid in the brain! Now here's something more critical to the actual chemistry involved with depression as it is now understood. The brain is made of fat, but it consumes sugar in order to do its work. And it can only store a tiny amount of that thought-giving sugar. A really tiny amount, like ten minutes' worth! After you sleep through the night, you have a brain which has been deprived of sugar for hours.

You probably know where I'm going with this. Breakfast! Yes! That's right! A number of studies have shown that breakfast eaters are far and away less depressed than their morning-food-deprived counterparts. And yes, you can do some real damage eating sugar in the morning, triggering high insulin levels which wreak havoc all day long. But you can do worse than to give yourself a dose of sugar with your morning beverage. Just consider some of the slower-assimilating sugars, such as oatmeal (which has natural insulin-balancing properties) with a bit of fruit and milk or milk alternative, a glass of tomato juice, or a bran muffin with your coffee.

There's another element to nutrition that may be a major factor in depression. In major studies of countries with low rates of depression, the common factor is the consumption of fish oil. As a matter of fact, consumption of fish oil in this country decreased during the sixties, and a rise in depression happened at the same time. In Japan, fish oil from the small fishes was commonly consumed until the past decade or so when the Japanese population began to eat a more Westernized diet. Once again, the correlation was made as depression rates rose concurrently.

Fish oil is safe to consume, and does not have to be a mercury concern, as the small fishes are not in the water long enough to build mercury in their tissues. Some researchers claim that the evidence is not strong enough to warrant consuming fish oil capsules, but it does no harm. For those of us who enjoy anchovies, bring ‘em on with that Caesar salad, and sardines are also loaded with those prized omega oils. Our grandparents knew what they were doing when they took that cod liver oil. But it doesn't have to be that unappealing today to get enough fish oil to make a difference in your life.

Gotta go fix my breakfast!