|
 In a randomized trial, men and women aged 17-35 in Australia who
switched to a healthier diet had fewer depression symptoms after
three weeks. And those who kept up the healthy eating for three
months continued to feel better than at the start, researchers
report in the journal PLoS ONE.
"This has 100% reach (since everybody needs to eat), is more cost
effective than medications, and is an aspect of treatment that
individuals can control themselves," said lead study author Heather
Francis of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
"This raises the possibility that making changes to diet can act as
a therapy to improve depression symptoms," she told Reuters Health
by email.
Francis and colleagues studied 76 people who scored high on two
depression and anxiety scales - indicating moderate or high
depression symptoms - and who also scored high on a questionnaire
about dietary fat and sugar consumption.
Participants were randomly assigned to a diet-change group or a
habitual-diet group for three weeks. The diet-change group received
instructions from a registered dietician through a 13-minute video,
which they could re-watch as needed. The video provided dietary
guidance based on the 2003 Australian Guide to Healthy Eating as
well as the Mediterranean Diet eating pattern. This included
instructions to increase intake of vegetables to five servings per
day, fruits to two or three servings per day, whole grains to three
servings per day, lean protein to three servings per day,
unsweetened dairy to three servings per day and fish to three
servings per week.
The program also recommended daily consumption of three tablespoons
of nuts and seeds, two tablespoons of olive oil, and one teaspoon
each of turmeric and cinnamon. Participants were also told to
decrease refined carbohydrates, sugars, fatty or processed meats and
soft drinks.
The diet-change group also received sample meal plans and recipes,
as well as a box of food items, including olive oil, natural nut
butter, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and turmeric.
They were told to keep their shopping receipts to be reimbursed with
a $60 gift card.
[to top of second column] |
After three weeks, average depression scores had dropped into the
normal range in the diet-change group, while remaining elevated or
severe in the habitual-diet group - and the improvements were
maintained three months later, the research team reports.
"Depression is a whole-body disorder, not just a disorder of the
brain," Francis said. "Depression is associated with a chronic
inflammatory response, but what is the source of this inflammation?
(Earlier research has shown) that poor diet both increases systemic
inflammation and is also a risk factor for depression."
Still, researchers should be careful about suggesting
cause-and-effect relationships in studies like these, said Marc
Molendijk of Leiden University in The Netherlands, who wasn't
involved in the research.
Molendijk, who studies dietary habits and mental health and also
serves on the PLoS ONE editorial board, cautioned against giving the
results too much weight.
"There probably are expectancy effects at play, leading to a placebo
effect," he said by email. "It's also a bad message to depressed
people, as they may attribute the responsibility for their
depression to themselves."
On the other hand, noted Joseph Firth of the University of
Manchester in the UK, "the age-old saying, 'Healthy body, healthy
mind' really is true."
Firth, who also wasn't involved in the study, told Reuters Health by
email, "No secret formula or complicated diets are required. Even
simple positive behaviors such as eating healthier and being more
active have notable benefits."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/30ZrKZb PLoS ONE, online October 9, 2019.
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
