The Mediterranean diet, rich in nuts, legumes, vegetables, cereals, fish, and olive oil, may affect depression according to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
More than 10,000 candidates have been recruited in Spain since 1999 while researchers ask how diet influences lower rates of depression and suicide reported in Spain and Greece, respectively. The authors note:
Individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a greater than 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression than whose who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores. The association did not change when the results were adjusted for other markers of a healthy lifestyle, including marital status and use of seatbelts.
The brain is part of the body so it makes sense that what is good for the body is good for the brain. The belief that the brain is somewhow different and special and that it just does things by itself (gets depressed, goes psychotic, feels euphoric) is not true. It is also not true that the brain "controls" the body. The brain coordinates and synthesizes reactions from within and without the body. Many components of the body and brain cells cannot be produced by the human body and must be taken in (ex, essential fats like omega 3, DHA, EPA and many more). Sleep, light and chronic stressors clearly shape the body and brain.
Posted by Eileen McGinn | October 9, 2009 4:17 PM