Be happy with Spanish diet
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Med-style diet battles 'blues'
The Mediterranean diet, already thought to protect against heart disease and cancer, may also help to prevent depression, Spanish researchers say.They found depression was more than 30% less likely to develop in people who followed a diet high in vegetables, fruit and cereals, and low in red meat.
They studied 10,094 healthy adults over four years, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports.
However, the team stressed additional, larger-scale studies were required.
Researchers at the Universities of Las Palmas and Navarra recruited university graduates to take part.
Dietary patterns
They completed questionnaires and the researchers calculated their adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) for an average of four-and-a-half years.
They were more active physically and showed a higher total energy intake.
The researchers identified 480 new cases of depression during the follow-up period - 156 in men and 324 in women.
They found that those with the highest adherence to the MDP were more than 30% less likely to develop depression.
They took into account marital status, the number of children and factors associated with a healthy lifestyle and found the relationship did not change.
Even taking account of personality traits, such as competitiveness and anxiety, had no effect on the results.
'More research needed'
Professor Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, of the University of Navarra, said the results would have to be confirmed in longer trials with more participants but they had found a strong inverse association between the Mediterranean diet and depression.
"Thirty per cent is a large reduction in the risk and this could be very important considering the large burden of disease represented by depression.
"We know how important the Mediterranean diet is in reducing cardiovascular risk factors and the same inflammatory proteins are also raised in patients with depression."
He said it was likely that the overall dietary pattern was more important than the effect of single components and "may exert a fair degree of protection against depression".
Dr Cecilia D'Felice, a clinical psychologist, said there was mounting evidence for the importance of diet in treating depression.
She said: "What we do know is that a diet high in olive oil will enhance the amount of serotonin or brain transmitter available to you.
"Most anti-depression drugs work to keep more serotonin available in the brain."
MEDITERRANEAN DIET FEATURES:
- A high intake of monounsaturated fatty acids like olive oil
- A moderate intake of alcohol and dairy products
- A low intake of meat
- A high intake of legumes, fruit and nuts, cereals, vegetables and fish
Do you pay attention to the results of research into eating habits and lifestyle choices?
Do you believe there might be something in the results of this study?
What do you think you eat too much of? What should you eat more of?
Do you need to make any changes to your lifestyle to make it healthier and happier?
Do you need to make any changes to your lifestyle to make it healthier and happier?
Comments
I often pay attention to the results of research, especially when it treats about health and good lifestyle. I know that companies which manufacture its products found some researches and, then, these researches are suspicious of the lack of authenticity. However, even in this case, I pay attention to consequences that appear in these researches. It´s very important that people gather as much information as possible about our health.
Yes. I believe it. I know that Mediterranean diet is good, generally speaking, but I want that scientists confirm me this belief. I like that they tell me what is the best thing to eat, for instance, fewer meat and what is the best thing to improve my health, for instance, the intake of fruits or vegetables. I have seen that the Mediterranean diet doesn´t consider dairy products.
I eat too much of vegetables and I hope to go on consuming same aliments. I´m going to intake less of dairy products, but I mean that I´m not going to eliminate them completely.
I´m not going to change my lifestyle in this moment because I consider that is good, reasonably. But if I saw that my life style was bad for me and for my health, I´m sure that I would change it immediately.
See you.
Would you quit eating meat if studies showed that it lowered life expectancy significantly? Not just cut down on your consumption but cut it out completely.
If research demonstrated that by eating meat you could live significantly longer, I would carry on with my veggy diet. No way would I go back to eating animals.
I often pay attention to the results of research, especially when it is about / deals with health and good lifestyle. I know that companies which manufacture products fund research, and so the conclusions of that research is unreliable (research is uncountable / study is countable). However, even in this case, I pay attention to the findings of the study. It´s very important that people gather as much information as possible about our health.
Yes. I believe it. I know that Mediterranean diet is, on the whole / generally speaking, good, but I want scientists to confirm my belief. I like that they tell me what the best thing to eat is (indirect statement), for instance, less meat (less - unc / fewer count) and what the best thing to improve my health is, for instance, the intake of fruits or vegetables. I have seen that the Mediterranean diet doesn´t consider dairy products.
I eat plenty of vegetables (too much has a negative sense) and I hope to go on consuming the same food. I´m going to cut down on (my intake of) dairy products (intake is only a noun), but I do not intend to cut them out completely.
I´m not going to change my lifestyle for now because I believe that it is (always the same mistake!) fairly good. But if I saw that my life style was bad for me and for my health, I´m sure that I would change it immediately.