Did you know that a healthy diet
is associated with a 30% reduction in depression
and a 40% improvement in your thinking?
That's what I'm talking about today.
I'm Dr. Tracey Marks, a psychiatrist,
and I make mental health education videos.
There's been a growing body of research
showing an association between diet,
inflammation, and depression.
Recently, two Australian studies
showed that eating a Mediterranean-style diet
actually improved depression symptoms.
Now, that's only two studies so we do have a ways to go
before we get to the point where we can rely on this
as an official protocol, but even with what we have
the results are consistent enough
to recommend this as an intervention for depression.
The way they did the study was they took
two groups of people with depression,
one group got social support counseling sessions
and the other group was given dietary counseling
with a dietitian.
This counseling included teaching mindful eating.
The social support group was not the same
as supportive psychotherapy,
it was doing activities like playing cards or board games,
or talking about sports or books.
And, talking about sports or books is not therapy.
What they found was after 12 weeks
the diet group showed significant improvement
in their depression symptoms
as measured by depression scales.
And, scales are questionnaires
that are used in research to measure the degree of illness
and put it in quantitative terms.
So, this was exciting to see that not only
can a healthy diet help prevent depression,
but it can also change the course
of someone's active depression.
Let's take a look at the diet.
It's a modified Mediterranean diet
called the Medimod diet.
You don't count calories or keep up with points.
Instead, you eat brain-healthy foods
like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables,
beans, fish, and extra virgin olive oil.
The next thing that they did was to reduce
or eliminate foods that are bad for the brain
like refined cereals, fried and sugary foods,
processed foods, and refined flour like white bread.
What are processed foods?
These would be things like deli meats,
crackers, cookies, and chips.
And, you wanna eat foods
as close to their original state as possible.
Foods close to their original state
are what we refer to as whole foods.
If you can't tolerate gluten,
you can still follow the diet,
but eat non-gluten-containing grains.
Gluten is found in wheat, rye, and barley.
So, non-gluten-containing whole grains
are buckwheat, oats, millet.
Whole wheat is the most common,
but variety is important
so you wanna try some of the other grains.
Whole grain options for rice are brown and black rice.
Other whole grains are couscous and quinoa.
For pasta and bread, you wanna look for
100% whole wheat or whole grain.
What makes this work?
We know that inflammation contributes to depression.
Healthy diets are anti-inflammatory
and are rich in B vitamins and folate,
which is important for brain function.
These nutrients improve neuroplasticity,
which improves depression.
I did a video on neuroplasticity and depression.
You can see it in the corner,
and I'll link to it in the description.
But, in short, neuroplasticity refers to
the connections between the neurons.
Tight connections are good
because that's what the nerves need
to be able to communicate with each other.
Loose connections are bad
because it makes it harder for the nerves
to transfer information between the cells.
The author of one of the two studies
did another study showing that it only takes
five days for high-fat and high-sugar diets
to impair memory function in the hippocampus.
For example, brain-derived neurotropic factor levels
rise with a healthy diet.
We see a similar effect with antidepressants
and aerobic exercise.
So, that's how we think diet affects your brain
in a positive and a negative way.
How long does this take to work?
Well, in these studies they didn't retest the people
until three months later so we don't know
if the people started to feel better sooner than that.
But, there have been other studies
using the Mediterranean diet,
and some of these studies show
that your gut microbiome changes
in just two to three weeks.
And, what kind of bacteria you have in your gut
dictates the health of your gut.
And, the health of your gut
influences the health of your whole body,
including your brain.
What we don't know is the lag time
between the improved gut bacteria and improved mood.
Even if you don't have depression,
the Mediterranean diet is associated with
a decreased risk of stroke and heart attacks,
and you may need to adjust it to your special needs,
for instance, if you're lactose intolerant
or you need to have a low protein diet
because of kidney disease.
But, I think the best part of this diet
that works no matter how you need to modify it
is the reduction in the processed food and the sugar.
Whether you eat paleo or keto,
eating whole foods can make a world of difference.
I've included a handout of the recommendations
and the food list that you can download from my website,
and the link is in the description.
If you're a part of my email community,
you already have the worksheets in your email inbox.
I'm really interested in improving gut health
so I plan to give this a serious try
for at least two weeks.
I'll post on my community tab how it went.
Subscribe to my channel so you can keep up
on the latest in mental health education.
See you next time.