[LifeStyle] Depression and diet: what is the relationship between the two?

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Healthy habits can help to avoid the predisposition to suffer from disorders related to moods

In recent years, the trend has grown to carry out studies whose objective is to know how diet influences certain diseases. Among the most studied are those that are related to mental health, such as depression. Not surprisingly, data from the Spanish Society of Psychiatry reveal that between 10 and 15% of the po[CENSORED]tion will have a depressive picture at some point in their life. Depression affects one in 5 women and one in 10 men, so it is estimated that in Spain alone there are between 1.2 and 1.5 million people with this disorder.

It is a disease with many unknowns as to its causes. In fact, it is believed that the cause is not found in a single factor, but in the combination of several risk factors. Among them are diet, sleep, or exercise.

"The answer to how diet can influence our mood to the extreme of being a reason to develop depression or anxiety, we find in what is known as the enteric nervous system (ENS)", according to the specialists of mediQuo. The SNE is the part of the nervous system that is responsible for regulating our digestive system and is found in the layers that line our digestive organs. Hence the close relationship of mood with diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome or with symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation or the accumulation of gases.

So ... can a diet cure depression or other mood illnesses? The answer of the mediQuo specialists is no. There is no evidence that a certain diet can cure depression, although it must be taken into account that an inadequate diet (like a sedentary life or a bad sleep habit) can be a risk factor for developing it.

Thus, the consumption of trans fatty acids ("junk" food or industrial pastries), the low consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids, maintaining a Western diet pattern with high consumption of saturated fat and red and processed meats can be factors that they influence the predisposition to suffer depression.

 

The diet to prevent depression
MediQuo specialists recommend the following practices to prevent mood-related illnesses:

• Follow traditional diet patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet.

• Use olive oil to cook and dress salads.

• Reduce total meat consumption, recommending white meat instead of red or processed meat.

• Prepare homemade tomato, garlic, onion and spice sauce with olive oil to dress vegetables, pasta, rice and other dishes.

• Avoid the consumption of butter, cream, fast food, sweets, cakes and drinks sweetened with sugar.

• Increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

• Eat foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids with Omega-3. These fatty acids are found mainly in oily fish, shellfish, nuts such as almonds and walnuts, tofu, and some vegetable oils.

• Avoid processed and fast food, as well as excess simple sugars.

In summary, it can be said that there is no diet that cures pathologies related to mental health such as depression or anxiety. But it is true that a healthy, varied diet, based on fresh and seasonal products, accompanied by physical activity and a correct sleep pattern (in short, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits) is beneficial to avoid these disorders .