PlainPill

Omega-3 vs Vitamin D for mood

Short answer: For mood, users rate them about the same: 86% report improvement with Omega-3 (283 reports) and 88% with Vitamin D (390 reports).

Omega-3 has 1,341 meta-analyses and 3,093 randomized trials on PubMed; Vitamin D has 3,251 and 4,560.

Based on 2,994 reports about Omega-3 and 3,040 about Vitamin D. Not medical advice.

Omega-3
Supplement
Vitamin D
Supplement
User score4646
Verdict
Mostly positive
Mostly positive
Positive
of reports that state an outcome
69%67%
Reports2,9943,040
ResearchAResearch: StrongAResearch: Strong
Meta-analyses / RCTs1,341 / 3,0933,251 / 4,560
Mainly used for
Weight loss
% reporting improvement
100% (3)70% (10)
Appetite
% reporting improvement
—67% (3)
Focus
% reporting improvement
85% (170)83% (59)
Energy
% reporting improvement
77% (57)87% (252)
Sleep
% reporting improvement
72% (32)52% (119)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
74% (84)64% (90)
Mood
% reporting improvement
86% (283)88% (390)
Memory
% reporting improvement
85% (80)87% (15)
Performance
% reporting improvement
76% (21)100% (27)
Recovery
% reporting improvement
90% (30)92% (13)
Pain & inflammation
% reporting improvement
93% (110)74% (31)
Digestion
% reporting improvement
22% (9)50% (14)
Libido
% reporting improvement
71% (14)82% (51)
Hormones
% reporting improvement
100% (5)91% (75)
Blood sugar
% reporting improvement
67% (3)100% (3)
Heart & lipids
% reporting improvement
83% (106)65% (17)
Skin & hair
% reporting improvement
89% (47)87% (31)
Immunity
% reporting improvement
55% (11)98% (93)
Longevity
% reporting improvement
89% (9)86% (14)
Common side effectsbrain fog, anxiety, depression, fish burpsinsomnia, anxiety, fatigue, hypercalcemia
Typical dose reportedsparinglydaily
Omega-3
Latest review conclusion

For glycated hemoglobin, there was no significant effect in the meta-analysis. This systematic review with meta-analysis demonstrated that supplementation with omega-3 has protective effects on diabetes parameters.

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2022 ↗
What a user said
“I do supplement a lot of fish oil and vitamin A as retinyl palmitate though. It has really helped my depression, anxiety and ADHD and has enabled me to stop using more serious psychiatric drugs for those things.”
Full Omega-3 profile →
Vitamin D
Latest review conclusion

These results indicate that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was more elevated in obese subjects. The vitamin D deficiency was associated with obesity irrespective of age, latitude, cut-offs to define vitamin D deficiency and the Human Development Index of the study location.

Obes Rev, 2015 ↗
What a user said
“First thing I noticed was my mood & libido, I have more 'feeling/sensitivity' down there.”
Full Vitamin D profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate