Mediterranean Diet Helps Young Men
Mediterranean diet helps young men with depression.
Young men with a poor diet reported a decrease in depression symptoms when they switched to the Mediterranean diet compared to young men who underwent friendship therapy, a new study shows.
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney followed 72 men between the ages of 18 and 25 for 12 weeks, according to the study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Some follow the Mediterranean diet, which generally involves eating lots of fruits and vegetables, beans and nuts, healthy grains, fish, olive oil, small amounts of meat and dairy, and red wine.
The control group received friendship therapy, in which they received social support. Assessments were made at baseline and after six and 12 weeks.
Young people following the Mediterranean diet scored "significantly higher" on the Beck Depression Inventory Scale and a measure of quality of life, the study says.
The finding suggests that doctors and psychologists should consider referring depressed teens to a nutritionist or nutritionist, Jessica Bayes, lead researcher and doctoral candidate in the UTS School of Health, said in a school news release.
Bayes said the goal of the Mediterranean group is to eat more fresh food and less fast food, sugar and processed meats.
"There are many reasons why we think scientifically that food affects mood. For example, about 90% of serotonin, a chemical that helps us feel happy, is produced in our gut by our gut microbes." There is emerging evidence that these microbes can communicate with the brain through the vagus nerve, in what is called the gut-brain axis," he said.
"In order to have beneficial microbes, we need to feed them fiber, which is found in vegetables, fruits and vegetables."
She said nearly all of the participants stayed in the program and planned to continue when the study ended, she said.
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