[Guideline Summary] Clinical recommendation - Treatment of psychiatric disorders with nutraceuticals and phytoceuticals

It is concluded that several nutraceuticals and phytoceuticals were given either a supportive recommendation or a provisional recommendation across various psychiatric disorders.

Treatment of unipolar depression

• Across nutraceuticals with Grade A evidence, positive directionality and various levels of support (recommended, provisionally recommended or weakly recommended) was reported for:
  • Adjunctive omega-3 fatty acids (+++)
  • Vitamin D (+)
  • Adjunctive probiotics (++)
  • Adjunctive zinc (+)
  • Methylfolate (+)
  • Adjunctive s-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) (+)
• Phytoceuticals with supporting Grade A evidence and positively directionality are:
  • St John’s wort (+++)
  • Saffron (++)
  • Curcumin (++)
  • Lavender (+)
     

Treatment of bipolar disorder

• Weak support was noted for omega-3 fatty acids (+)
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) was not recommended currently (+/-)
   

Treatment of OCD-related disorders

• NAC was weakly recommended (+)
   

Treatment of anxiety-related disorder

• No nutraceutical showed adequate evidence in any anxiety-related disorder
• Ashwagandha (++), galphimia (+) and lavender (++) were supported in treating anxiety disorder
   

Treatment of schizophrenia

• Vitamin D (+), NAC (++) and methylfolate (++) were recommended with various degrees in the treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia
• Ginkgo was weakly supported in the adjunctive treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia (+)
   

Treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

• Micronutrients (+) and vitamin D (+) were weakly recommended
• Omega-3 fatty acids (+/-), omega-9 fatty acids (-), acetyl L carnitine (-) and zinc (+/-) were not supported
   

Remarks:
(+++) represents ‘Recommended’; (++) represents ‘Provisionally Recommended’; (+) represents ‘Weakly Recommended’; (+/-) represents ‘(Not Currently Recommended)’ and (-) represents ‘Not Recommended’

Link to the full article:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15622975.2021.2013041
 

Reference:

Sarris J et al. Clinician guidelines for the treatment of psychiatric disorders with nutraceuticals and phytoceuticals: The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) and Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Taskforce. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2022:1-32.
 

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