Healthy diet ‘may help prevent depression’

FOLLOWING a Mediterranean diet could help prevent depression, new research suggests.

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 journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Meanwhile, 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 epidemiology and public health at UCL, London, said: “There is compelling evidence to show that there is a relationship between the quality of your diet and your mental health.

“This relationship goes beyond the effect of diet on your body size or other aspects of health that can in turn affect your mood.

“We aggregated results from a large number of studies and there is a clear pattern that following a healthier, plant-rich, anti-inflammatory diet can help in the prevention of depression.”

The researchers analysed data from 41 studies, including four which examined the link between a traditional Mediterranean diet and mental health among 36,556 adults.

People who most closely adhered to a Mediterranean diet had a 33% lower risk of developing depression over the next eight to 12 years, they found, compared to those whose diet least resembled it.

A diet low in saturated fat, sugar and processed food was linked with a 24% reduced risk of developing depression over the next five to 12 years.