Category: Depression

This small change to your diet could be enough to reduce the risk of depression.

A Mediterranean diet including fruits, vegetables and legumes can prevent depression, a large study finds.

People only had to make relatively small changes to see the benefits.

The scientist think that depression could be partly down to a lack of essential nutrients.

The study included 15,093 people who were followed over 10 years.

People who reported eating more nuts, fruits and vegetables were considered to be following the Mediterranean diet more closely.

Those who ate more meats and sweets were considered to be moving away from the healthy diet.

The benefits of the diet are likely related to higher levels of omega 3 and other essential nutrients.

Dr Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, who led the research, said:

“We wanted to understand what role nutrition plays in mental health, as we believe certain dietary patterns could protect our minds.

These diets are all associated with physical health benefits and now we find that they could have a positive effect on our mental health.

The protective role is ascribed to their nutritional properties, where nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables (sources of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals) could reduce the risk of depression.”

Relatively small dietary changes were enough to reduce depression risk, Dr Sanchez-Villegas explained:

“A threshold effect may exist.

The noticeable difference occurs when participants start to follow a healthier diet.

Even a moderate adherence to these healthy dietary patterns was associated with an important reduction in the risk of developing depression.

However, we saw no extra benefit when participants showed high or very high adherence to the diets.

So, once the threshold is achieved, the reduced risk plateaus even if participants were stricter with their diets and eating more healthily.

This dose-response pattern is compatible with the hypothesis that suboptimal intake of some nutrients (mainly located in low adherence levels) may represent a risk factor for future depression.”

The research was published in the journal BMC Medicine (Sánchez-Villegas et al., 2015).

Gene for depression has a surprising upside.

The same gene that may cause depression in some, is linked to a better mood in others, a study finds.

This suggests that depression isn’t just ‘in your genes’: it is also about the environment.

The research challenges the idea that certain genes are risk factors for depression.

Instead, certain genes seem to make people more susceptible to life experiences.

Dr Chad Bousman, an expert on gene-environment interactions who led the study, said:

“Our results suggest some people have a genetic makeup that makes them more susceptible to negative environments, but if put in a supportive environment these same people are likely to thrive.”

The study followed 333 people over five years.

Their genes and levels of depression were tested.

They were also asked about any childhood sexual or physical abuse.

Almost one-quarter had a particular type of gene that has been linked to depression.

Those with the gene who had also suffered childhood abuse were much more likely to have severe depression in middle age.

Those with the gene, but without the abuse, were likely to be happier in middle age.

The gene — known as SERT — affects serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps regulate mood.

Dr Bousman said:

“You can’t change your genotype or go back and change your childhood, but you can take steps to modify your current environment.

It also means that it’s not as clear-cut as telling a person that because they have a risk gene, they’re doomed.

This research is showing that’s not the case at all.

A person’s genes alone are not enough to determine how they might experience depression.

This research tells us that what may be considered a risk gene in one context, may actually be beneficial in another.

So this directly opposes the notion of genetic determinism, the idea that your genes define your fate.”

Related: 4 surprising benefits of depression.

The research was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open (Nguyen et al., 2015).