Can Diet Improve Depression?

Research has long suggested a link between our diet and our mental health. The gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that live in the intestinal tract that are created largely by what we eat and drink, appears to influence our mood and mind-set.

“This study provides some real-life evidence that you are what you eat,” says study author Andre Uitterlinden, who researches genetics at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The investigators, led by Najaf Amin, who researches population health at Oxford University, analysed data from the Rotterdam Study, a decades-long effort to understand the health of the local population.

Amin and her colleagues focused specifically on a phase of this study that included faecal sample collection from more than 1,000 individuals. These participants also provided a self-report on depression using a 20-item assessment.

The researchers analysed the data for associations between the bacteria populations in the faecal samples with scores from the depression assessment. They then conducted the same tests using data from another 1,539 Dutch citizens encompassing a range of ethnicities.

The analysis revealed 16 types of bacteria that the authors called “important predictors” of depressive symptoms to varying degrees. For example, there was a depletion of Eubacterium ventriosum among people who were depressed.

This is where diet enters the picture. An individual who does not consume enough fibre, for example, may experience a decrease in butyrate-producing bacteria, Amin said, leading to stress and inflammation and, potentially, symptoms of depression.

The key is to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit and cut back on sugar.

Reflecting on the results of the study, Jack Gilbert, Director of the Microbiome and Metagenomics Centre at the University of California at San Diego, said, “When the evidence points to the fact that eating healthy, doing a little bit of exercise and taking mindfulness breaks can have benefits, we should probably listen to that data.”

Article adapted from The Washington Post, 31st January 2023

• Topics:

• Food
• Mental Health & Wellbeing