A new Finnish study shows that the fatty acids of fish oils bring no mental benefits as many people tend to believe, even though they have a number of health-promoting benefits, local media reported Sunday.

Researchers at the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare followed the health records of 12,000 Finnish men and women, many of whom ate a lot of fish, and found neither a high consumption of fish nor omega-3 supplements had any effect on their mental health.

Contrary to popular belief, the Finnish study also found that men, whose blood contains higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid, a fatty acid found in fish, are more prone to suffer from mental distress.