Foods That Help Fight Depression

Proper diet can give the brain much help to combat depression or prevent it. What are you eating?

Psychiatrics and therapists often do not ask this question, but a large number of research over the past decade shows that a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and meat can prevent depression. While processed foods increase the risk of disease in all, including children and teenagers.

According to recent studies, a healthy diet can prevent depression but also effectively treat it.

Researchers led by Felix Jacka of Deakin University in Australia saw the possibility of improving the diet of patients with severe depression to see how it would affect mood improvement. They chose 67 depressed people in their study, some of whom had been treated with antidepressants, some psychotherapies, and others with both. Half these people went to the dietologist for healthier advice. Half of them were subjected to a letter-play therapy or conversation therapy, simple therapies that have proven to be effective in treating depression.

After 12 weeks, those who improved their diet appeared several times happier than those who received social support. The study was published in January 2017 at the “Review BMC Medicine”. Another broader study reached the same conclusions and showed that mood improvement lasted six months. This study was conducted by researchers at Australia's South University and released in December 2017 at the “Nutriational Neuroscience”.

Last month in Los Angeles at the old meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers from Rush University in Chicago presented the results of the study showing that older people who ate vegetables, fruit, and seeds were less likely to develop depression.

Depression has several causes may be genetic, caused by certain events or situations, such as loneliness or the result of life - style. And after all, it comes from an unhealthy brain and often many people forget about it.

A poor diet makes depression worse by not offering the brain the variety of foods it needs, says Dr. Ramsey. And ready or fried food contains bad fats that promote inflammation, believed to be a cause for depression.

A poor diet can also affect our microbioma, microorgonias that live in the intestines. They produce molecules that can transform the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain, says Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist and responsible for the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic in New York. Good bacteria and bad bacteria in our intestines communicate through a complex shape with our brain and can change our mood, she adds. So we need to increase the level of good bacteria and reduce bad ones.

What shall we eat? Meditrian diet of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, yogurt and cheese, legumes, nuts, healthy carbs, and little red meat. The complexity of this diet will provide food for the brain, regulate inflammatory responses and support the growth of good bacteria in the intestine, says Dr. Mosconi, author of the book “Brainage: The sudden science of eating for conflict power. ”

Can a good diet replace medicine or therapy? Not for everyone. But those in danger of depression must pay attention to the food they consume.

It really doesn't matter if you need Prozac or not. We know that our brain needs food,” said Dr. Ramsey. A healthy diet can function well when treatments do not offer solutions, and this diet has no side effects like antidepressants. A good diet can prevent heart problems, obesity, and diabetes.

Loretta Go, a 60-year-old consultant at Ballwin company, Mo, has been suffering from depression for decades. She used many antidepressants and other recognition and behavioral therapies, but she herself calmed down with symptoms such as insomnia, the depth of frequent crying, and the feeling of despair. Some five years ago, after the attending doctor was about to give another antidepressant, she refused the medicine and prescribed alternative treatments.

Ms. Go began researching depression and learned about the importance of diet. When she read that the article was very effective in reducing symptoms of depression, she began eating every day.

She abandoned fried foods, sugar, and soda, replacing them with vegetables and fruits, eggs, turkey meat and tofu. She ate plenty of fruit and green vegetables in the morning.

Within a few months, Ms. Go said she noticed the change in her mood. She stopped crying all the time. Insomnia went away and she had more energy. She also began to enjoy activities she once enjoyed but gave up during the depression, such as reading books or going to a restaurant with a friend.

Ms. Depression. Go never came back!

Diet that keeps you happy, what to eat to hit depression

Experts say it is important to eat balanced food, especially the mediterrian diet. A diet of vitamins in food is very important.

Vitamin B6: Depression and anxiety are said to be due to low levels of serotonin, the chief neurotransmitter who regulates mood and sleep. The low level of serotonin is related to depression. We need B6 vitamin every day on our diet.

Sources of Vitamina B6: Fistics, garlic, salmon, toon, chicken meat, spinach, cabbages, bananas, sweet potato, avocados, and integral cereals.

Also, fatty omega-3 acids are very important as they stimulate hormone production that protects neurons and stimulates the production of new brain cells.

Sources: Salmon and Sea Products

Probiotics: Good bacteria in the intestine. Sources: Kosi, pickle cabbage, kephire, and other pickle vegetables.