When considering how your food affects your health, it’s worth thinking beyond your body—your dietary choices can have a significant impact on your mind, too.
They can influence how your brain works, keeping you alert or speed up your cognitive impairment. They can also play an important role in your mood, either by giving you the increase you need to spend the day or leave you in the doldrums.
Now, A new study suggests that following the Mediterranean diet could help fight depression.
In the study, published in the journal PLUS ONE, the researchers looked at a group of nearly 7,000 older adults over a two-year period. All participants remained in a Mediterranean dietwith one group adhering to a calorie-restricted version of the diet and the other group without such restrictions.
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The researchers found that participants in both groups saw a decrease in depressive symptoms and concluded that the connection between diet and mood disorder “deserves further investigation.”
“This study is strong because it is a longitudinal cohort, which allows us to assess changes over time,” said David Wiss, PhD, MS, RDN, executive director of Wise Mind NutritionHe says Eat this, not that!. “Too often, people associate nutrition with weight and changes in biomarkers. When nutrition becomes overly medicalized, people can overlook nutrition’s potential to improve mood.”
It adds that evidence supports the Mediterranean diet’s positive impact on depressive symptoms through “a wide range of pathways” and that the diet may help improve people’s quality of life.
Chelsea Jackle, MFN, RDN, LD, Nutrition Team Leader at CerebralHe says Eat this, not that! that while food can play a big role in how you feel, it’s important to take a broader view of your mental health, incorporating habits that improve mood and being aware of factors beyond your control.
“There’s definitely a connection between the food you eat and your mental health, but it’s always clear,” she says. “While many studies link mental health conditions like depression to the foods we eat, these results aren’t always consistent. Your mental health is also affected by things like your genes, lifestyle and environment. eat will not cause or treat mental health conditions on their own, but they can be an important piece of the puzzle.”
To learn more about how the foods you eat can affect your emotional state, check out these 11 foods that end a bad mood.
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Clara Olshansky
Clara Olshansky (they/her) is a writer and comedian from Brooklyn whose web content has been featured in Food & Wine, Harper’s Magazine, Men’s Health, and Reductress. read more
