Diet can help keep depression at bay

Following a Mediterraneanstyle diet could help prevent depression, new research has suggested.

Eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts, plant-based food and fish may cut the risk of developing the condition by around a third, according to a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

A diet high in saturated fat, sugar and processed food was associated with an increased likelihood of depression.

Lead author Dr Camille Lassale, from the department of public health at University College London, said: “There is compelling evidence to show that there is a relationship between the quality of your diet and your mental health. We aggregated results from a large number of studies and there is a clear pattern that following a healthier, plantrich, anti-inflammatory diet can help in the prevention of depression.”

The researchers analysed data from 41 studies. People who most closely adhered to a Mediterranean-style diet had a 33 per cent lower risk of developing depression over the next eight to 12 years compared with those whose diet least resembled it.