RESEARCH: WHOLE DIET CUTS RISK OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

I am particularly excited because in January 2010 the first large study came out that verifies what I have been seeing clinically.  In American Journal of Psychiatry, investigators at the University of Melbourne in Australia, led by Dr. Felica Jacka, Ph.D., published significant research findings on the role of whole foods on depression and anxiety.  This study with 1,046 women ages 20 to 93 years showed that women who regularly consumed a so-called traditional diet were more than 30% less likely to have major depression, dysthymia, and anxiety disorders compared with their counterparts who consumed a Western diet.  In addition, the Western diet was associated with a 50% increased likelihood of depression.

What is the traditional or whole diet that helps prevent mental illness, according to the study?  It is a diet characterized by eating regularly vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and high-quality meat and fish. The Western diet, on the other hand, is high in refined or processed foods and saturated fats.  All of which may increase the risk of depression, the new research suggested.  Dr. Jacka defines high-quality meat as red meat such as beef and lamb from pasture-raised animals as opposed to feedlot grown animals eating only a corn-based diet commonly found in the United States. The naturally raised animals produce red meats higher in omega-3 fatty acids that support general brain development and, more specifically, learning and memory.

Dr. Gomez-Pinilla, PhD, at University of California Los Angeles’ Neurotrophic Research Laboratory, agrees with Dr. Jacka on the profound impact of the study: “The psychiatric community has been somewhat reticent about advocating diet as a preventive and/or treatment strategy for mental illness. However, this research, as well as other recent studies may help convince clinicians about the ‘profound impact’ diet can have on mood and psychiatric disorders in general and perhaps shift clinical practice.”

In my clinical practice at Dynamic Paths, when a person successfully changes his or her diet to consume appropriate amounts of high quality protein, fruits, vegetables, and grains, as well as becomes aware of the processed foods he or she has been eating, emotional and physical lives change.  The need for antidepressant medication to help manage emotions decreases and some people can even discontinue the antidepressant medications. This makes sense.  Antidepressant medication  works to alleviate the inability to make neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. Good food and appropriate nutrients also can help make serotonin and aid in healing the brain. As the client continues to see a therapist,  “brain re-wiring” for the emotional causes of depression can effectively take place.  Mental health professionals and clients report to me that as diets improve, clients can begin to work on harder therapy concerns. If a person has a history of anemia, weight gain, quick loss weight loss programs, the person may have nutrient deficiencies that nutrition alone will not correct. At Dynamic Paths, Abby and I evaluate individuals’ diets to assure the balance for mental and physical health. We can order blood panels to check to see if individuals have enough iron, B vitamins, and other minerals to make dopamine and serotonin.