Mediterranean Diet may Relieve Depression
Depressive Symptoms Could be Reduced or Relieved by Healthy Eating
Oct 21, 2009
The Mediterranean diet – the foods commonly consumed by people in Spain, Italy, Greece and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea – has been credited with a wide range of health benefits, from protection against heart attacks, cardiovascular problems and type 2 diabetes, to preventing unborn children from developing allergies and improving skin conditions.
Now it seems the Mediterranean diet can protect our mental health as well.
Mental Health Problems Lower in Mediterranean Countries
According to the research of pharmacist Dr. Almudena Sánchez-Villegas and colleagues from University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Clinic of the University of Navarra, Pamplona, population mental health data shows residents of Mediterranean countries have lower incidence of mental disorders than people from Northern European countries.
The researchers hypothesised that diet might be protecting the Mediterranean people. They knew that previous research had shown the monounsaturated fatty acids in olive oil might be associated with a lower risk of severe depressive symptoms.
Olive oil is a staple of the Mediterranean diet, replacing butter and other fats, and used abundantly. In contrast, the Northern European diet contains little or no olive oil, but regular consumption of butter, cream and cheese.
Basics of the Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet, as described by Dr. Sánchez-Villegas, has nine main components:
- High ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids;
- High intake of legumes
- High intake fruit and nuts
- High intake of cereals
- High intake of vegetables
- High intake of fish
- Moderate intake of alcohol
- Moderate intake dairy products
- Low intake of meat
Mediterranean Diet Effective Against Depression
The Spanish researchers studied 10,094 graduates from the University of Navarra (the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra follow up cohort, or SUN).
The SUN group were all healthy Spanish adults aged between 45 and 84, who completed questionnaires on their dietary intake and their health, between 1999 and 2009.
The questionnaires asked participants how frequently they ate each of 136 separate food items.
After 4.4 years of participation in the study, each individual’s mental health was assessed. During the period, 480 new cases of depression were identified,156 in men and 324 in women.
The people who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a more than 30 percent reduction in the risk of developing depression than those who ate least of the diet.
How Does the Mediterranean Diet Work?
DrSánchez-Villegas said it was not entirely clear how the Mediterranean diet protected people against developing depression.
In the report of the study, published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, he wrote that the diet “was thought to reduce inflammatory, vascular, and metabolic processes" that may be involved in the risk of clinical depression.
“The specific mechanisms by which a better adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern could help to prevent the occurrence of depression are not well known,” Dr Sánchez-Villegas wrote.
“Components of the diet may improve blood vessel function, fight inflammation, reduce risk for heart disease and repair oxygen-related cell damage, all of which may decrease the chances of developing depression.”
However, rather than focusing on one element, such as the monounsaturated fatty acids from olive oil, he suggested that the whole diet might be responsible for the protective effect against depression.
“The role of the overall dietary pattern may be more important than the effect of single components, “ he wrote.
“It is plausible that the synergistic combination of a sufficient provision of omega-three fatty acids together with other natural unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants from olive oil and nuts, flavonoids and other phytochemicals from fruit and other plant foods and large amounts of natural folates and other B vitamins in the overall Mediterranean dietary pattern may exert a fair degree of protection against depression,” he stated.
You might also be interested in Mediterranean Diet Lowers Risk of Diabetes and Mental Health Benefits from Nature
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