n-3 PUFA improves psychological well-being during menopausal transition

Females show an increased risk of cognitive impairment when approaching menopause because of the loss of ovarian function and estrogen deficiency occurring during the climacteric. In addition, menopause is closely associated with emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Data on risk and protection factors have yielded robust evidence on the effects of lifestyle factors, such as diet, in preserving emotional and cognitive functioning. The impact of specific lifestyle factors on psychological health indicates that there may be potential to improve (or at least stabilise) declining trajectories of emotional and cognitive functions in menopause. This work focused on the effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) supplementation on cognitive functions, depression and anxiety during the menopausal transition. This systematic review, performed according to PRISMA guidelines, considered all articles published until December 31st 2021 and the search was performed on two databases, PUBMED and SCOPUS. The fields of interest were “menopausal transition”, “n-3 PUFA” and “cognitive and affective aspects”. Out of the 361 articles found on PUBMED and 283 on Scopus, 17 met the inclusion criteria. They encompassed 11 human and 6 experimental studies. Most clinical and preclinical studies report relieved depressive symptoms in relation to n-3 PUFA intake in menopause. Controversial results have been found in menopausal women on anxiety and cognitive functions, while in the few studies carried out in animal models n-3 PUFA reduced anxiety symptoms and improved cognitive functions. Taken together, the current results show beneficial effects of n-3 PUFA on emotional and cognitive behaviours during menopause transition. However, further investigations should be performed to increase knowledge about the real effectiveness of n-3 PUFA on psychological well-being in this delicate period of feminine life.