In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, the right kind of diet may give the brain more of what it needs to avoid depression, or even to treat it once it’s begun.
In two studies from Austraila showed that a healthy diet may not only prevent depression, but could effectively treat it once it’s started.
Researchers, led by epidemiologist Felice Jacka of Australia’s Deakin University, looked at whether improving the diets of people with major depression would help improve their mood. They chose 67 people with depression for the study, some of whom were already being treated with antidepressants, some with psychotherapy, and some with both.
Half of these people were given nutritional counseling from a dietitian (or nutritionist), who helped them eat healthier. Half were given one-on-one social support—they were paired with someone to chat or play cards with—which is known to help people with depression. After 12 weeks, the people who improved their diets showed significantly happier moods than those who received social support. And the people who improved their diets the most improved the most. The study was published in January 2017 in BMC Medicine.
A second, larger study drew similar conclusions and showed that the boost in mood lasted six months. It was led by researchers at the University of South Australia and published in December 2017 in Nutritional Neuroscience. And later this month in Los Angeles at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting, researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago will present results from their research that shows that elderly adults who eat vegetables, fruits and whole grains are less likely to develop depression over time.
A growing body of research over the past decade shows that a healthy diet—high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and unprocessed lean red meat—can prevent depression. And an unhealthy diet—high in processed and refined foods—increases the risk for the disease in everyone, including children and teens..
Depression has many causes—it may be genetic, triggered by a specific event or situation, such as loneliness, or brought on by lifestyle choices. But it’s really about an unhealthy brain, and too often people forget this. “When we think of cardiac health, we think of strengthening an organ, the heart,” says Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist in New York, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia and author of “Eat Complete.” “We need to start thinking of strengthening another organ, the brain, when we think of mental health.” A bad diet makes depression worse, failing to provide the brain with the variety of nutrients it needs,
A bad diet also affects our microbiome—the trillions of micro-organisms that live in our gut. They make molecules that can alter the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter found in the brain, says Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist, nutritionist and associate director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. The good and bad bacteria in our gut have complex ways to communicate with our brain and change our mood, she says. We need to maximize the good bacteria and minimize the bad.
So what should you eat?The research in this study points to a Mediterranean-style diet made up primarily of fruits and vegetables, extra-virgin olive oil, yogurt, legumes, nuts, seafood, whole grains and small portions of red meat. Watch your portions of red meat yet other lean meats such as poultry and wild meats are good too. Include healthier fats such as cold water fish (salmond trout, sardines, mackerel), coconut based foods, avoacdo, and quality proteins from plant and anial based.
Can a good diet replace medicine or therapy? Not for everyone. You may want to start with a nutirtionist wiht the aid of a doctor.
Those at risk for depression should pay attention to the food they eat. “It really doesn’t matter if you need Prozac or not. We know that your brain needs nutrients,” Dr. Ramsey says.
A healthy diet at the very least, can serve as a supplemental treatment—one with no bad side effects, unlike antidepressants—that also has a giant upside. It can prevent other health problems, such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
If you’re intersted in knowing more, contact Rani Glick for a nutiriton discovery call to find out more. Rani will guide you how to apply this methodology.
In best of health,
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