Switching to a healthy and balanced diet can have a positive effect on your mood, reported a recent study published in the journal BMC Medicine. In it, Australian researchers investigated the relationship between a person’s diet and his mood. This association is the primary focus of an emerging field of psychiatry known as nutritional psychiatry.

For their study, the researchers conducted a single-blind, randomized controlled trial involving 67 participants. These participants have been previously diagnosed with moderate to severe depression. The researchers assigned some participants to the dietary intervention group and others to a social intervention group.

The first group attended seven nutritional counseling sessions with a clinical dietician for 12 weeks. This intervention included personalized dietary advice and nutritional counseling. Meanwhile, the social intervention received by the second group comprised a manualized “befriending” protocol and involved discussions with trained personnel about neutral topics of interest.

Besides counseling, participants in the first group also received dietary guidelines, which advised them to include the following food groups in their diet (along with their recommended serving sizes):

• Whole grains (five to eight servings per day)
• Vegetables (six servings per day)
• Fruit (three servings per day)
• Legumes (three to four servings per week)
• Low-fat, unsweetened dairy (two to three servings per day)
• Raw and unsalted nuts (one serving per day)
• Fish (at least two servings per week)
• Lean red meats (three to four per week)
• Chicken (two to three per week)
• Eggs (up to six per week)
• Olive oil (three tablespoons per day)

In addition, the first group was also asked to avoid the following foods:

• Sweet refined cereal
• Fried food
• Fast food
• Processed meats
• Sugary and alcoholic drinks

At the end of the trial, the researchers reported that participants who followed the dietary guidelines they were given and made healthy changes to their diet showed significant improvements in their depression symptoms.

“These results indicate that dietary improvement may provide an efficacious and accessible treatment strategy for the management of this highly prevalent mental disorder, the benefits of which could extend to the management of common co-morbidities,” the researchers wrote in their article.

And because of the positive impact of diet on the mental health of their study participants, the researchers urged clinicians to consider promoting the benefits of dietary improvement and facilitating access to dietetics support for patients with depression.

Other studies also show that, compared with traditional diets like the Japanese and Mediterranean diets, the Western diet is linked to a higher risk of depression. The Western diet consists mainly of processed foods and refined sugars. In contrast, traditional diets include mostly vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains and fish. According to studies, this type of diet is linked to a 25 to 35 percent reduced risk of depression.

Implementing simple dietary changes could go a long way for someone with depression. Aside from improving mental health, a healthy diet can also improve a person’s physical health.

Natural ways to deal with depression

Combine a healthy and well-balanced diet with the following to improve your mood:

• Exercise – People who suffer from depression may have difficulty exercising regularly. However, studies show that exercise can elevate their mood and make depressed people feel less anxious. This is due to the release of endorphins, the “feel good” hormones, triggered by physical exertion.
• Socializing – People with depression often isolate themselves from others – a tendency that can make the situation worse. Going out and socializing, on the other hand, are mood-lifting activities that can engage parts of the brain involved in brain fitness. Allowing your brain to kick into gear can help stabilize your mood.
• Meditation – During meditation, the brain achieves sustained focus, which can help a person distance himself from all negative thoughts and emotions. Meditation exercises could be as simple as focusing on breathing or repeating phrases.

Sources:

PsychologyToday.com

BMCMedicine.BioMedCentral.com

Health.Harvard.edu 1

Health.Harvard.edu 2

EverydayHealth.com