Can Probiotics Help Your Depression? What We Know, What We Don’t

What if your psychiatrist prescribed yogurt and vegetables as an antidepressant?

It may sound like alternative medicine, but researchers at the intersection of psychiatry and biochemistry think that adding certain beneficial bacteria to a person's intestines could be the future for treating anxiety and depression.

Bacteria aside, studies have found that a diet high in vegetables and low in processed foods correlates with lower rates of depression. But showing that what you eat actually affects your mental health has been more complicated, because people who are depressed may be less likely to eat healthier, and not the other way around.

But now, in a recent study out of Australia's Deakin University, scientists say they have used food to effectively treat depression.

“It's the first controlled experiment, to our knowledge, to show that dietary intervention can curb mood disorders,” says Dr. Felice Jacka, a psychiatrist at Deakin and the study's lead researcher.

Deakin and colleagues recruited 56 people, all of whom met two criteria: They were clinically diagnosed with moderate to severe depression, and they had consumed a lot of sweets and processed meats at the expense of healthier foods like fruit, vegetables and fish.

The participants were then randomly assigned to one of two treatments: diet counseling or “befriending.”

Over the course of the 12-week study, subjects in the diet intervention group regularly met with nutritionists who counseled them to increase their consumption of vegetables, whole grains and fish, and to decrease their intake of junk food.

The patients who were subject to befriending met with trained research Read More ...

Source:: Future of You