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Is your diet making you depressed?

When it comes to treating mental health conditions like depression, our diet is not something that we often think to look...

When it comes to treating mental health conditions like depression, our diet is not something that we often think to look into. However, the Harvard Health Blog reports about why it is worth paying more attention to our diet:

  • In an analysis investigating the link between risk of depression and diet, it was concluded that a diet low in animal foods and high in fruits and vegetables containing antioxidants is correlated with a decreased risk of depression.
  • In contrast, a diet heavy in red meat, fat and processed foods correlates with an increased risk of depression. 

How does our food impact our brain? A field called nutritional psychiatry is exploring the answers:

  • Our brain is constantly working and this requires a tremendous amount of energy which we source from food.
  • When we reach for high-energy foods, we must make sure that they do not contain harmful substances that can disrupt the intestinal wall. Processed foods low in nutrition and high in sugars can do that, promoting inflammation and oxidative stress, leading to impaired brain function (see our post on addiction). On the other hand, eating "clean" foods high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants supplies the brain with the nutrition it needs.

While medication, therapy and other forms of self-care such as sleep are crucial in treating depression, it is becoming clear that a conscious diet plays a role too.

Sources:

Harvard Health Publishing 2022

Harvard Health Publishing 2020

Li et al. 2017 

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