How f ish and veg can help you to beat blues
OILY fish and fibre-rich veg can keep depression at bay, groundbreaking research by Irish scientists reveals today.
A key element of the exciting study shows how brain health and state of mind are intimately linked to bacteria in the gut – a radical discovery that can change the way we treat depression and anxiety.
And the solution can be as simple as eating more fibre-rich vegetables such as beans, peas and broccoli and oily fish including sardines, salmon and mackerel, which help lift our moods.
It comes after recent revelations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which
Breakthrough by Irish scientists
found that Ireland came joint second out of 25 European countries – along with Poland and Germany – for numbers of people with depression.
As many as 12% of people here have the condition, the OECD study revealed last November.
The latest research is revealed in a new book by University College Cork scientists due to be published here today. The Psychobiotic Revolution – which was published in the US before Christmas, where it sold out – is being heralded as a game-changer in the field of biomedicine. As a result, publishers the National Geographic have reprinted the book.
The authors – Professor John Cryan, chair of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at UCC, and Ted Dinan, the university’s professor of psychiatry – have been working to establish the gut-brain connection for 14 years, using clinical trials to establish that our diet plays a major role in our state of mind and mental health.
‘We have discovered that the gut microbiota influences our emotions. We have shown that people who are clinically depressed have less diversity in the bacteria in their gut than people who are not depressed. The question is how can we improve the diversity of our bacteria,’ Prof. Dinan explained.
Prof. Cryan added: ‘It proves the theory that a healthy gut is connected to a healthy mind.
Speaking about the study, he also said that ‘we show how bacteria in the gut can influence brain function’.
It is believed the book could influence the treatment of depression for which antidepressants are often seen as the only treatment option.
According to Prof. Dinan: ‘It’s been perceived that antidepressants and cognitive behavioural therapy are the mainstay of treating depression, but our work clearly shows that your microbiota is very important and that for a more holistic management of depressive illness, we should be focusing on diet and exercise as well.’