The Best Diet for Depression
The Mediterranean Diet
What is the Mediterranean diet?
Officially, the Mediterranean diet is comprised of a few essential elements:
Using extra-virgin olive oil for all culinary purposes (a lot more than you might think).
High consumption of plant-derived foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, tree nuts).
Moderate-to-high consumption of fish, whole-grain cereals and the moderate consumption of red wine (with meals).
Reduced (or even no consumption at all) of sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meats, milk, butter, whole-fat dairy, sweets, biscuits or cakes. What’s for dessert then? Fresh fruit instead of ice-creams, pies, sweets or creamy desserts.
Whew! I’ll admit, that all looks like a lot of effort…and potentially not super tasty (at least I’m not a huge seafood guy). So, let’s break down the benefits of the diet to see if its worth it.
The Benefits
Low environmental impact due to less land usage and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
Food security for future generations due to smaller water and energy footprint.
Decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and age-related cognitive decline.
Improvement in depressive symptoms.
How does the mediterranean diet help with depression?
Scientists first guessed the mediterranean diet might help with depression when they noticed the lifetime prevalence of mental health issues was lower in Mediterranean countries than in Northern European countries. There’s a number of things still being researched as to why this is, such as more sunlight, social cultural traditions, better work-life balance, etc. However, there’s some data to suggest the Mediterranean diet might in fact be why there’s better mental health outcomes.
Here’s why scientists think the Mediterranean diet works:
Monounsaturated fatty acids from olive oil may improve the binding of serotonin to its receptors.
The Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids increase the fluidity of serotonin transport.
The mediterranean diet seems to decrease biomarkers associated with depression such as inflammatory, metabolic, or endothelial biomarkers.
The mediterranean diet increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a peptide implicated in synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival, and whose levels are decreased in patients with depression.
So, you’ve decided you’re going to go all out on the mediterranean diet and nothing will sway you. Good for you! Love that attitude. Before you get started, it’s good to go over what the mediterranean diet isn’t so you don’t do the wrong diet.
Common misconceptions
The Mediterranean Diet is not a purely vegetarian diet. It is primarily a plant-based diet but allows for the consumption of fish, small amounts of red meat, and small amounts of dairy products.
American-style pizza that is widely consumed in the US, despite its Italian name, is not a traditional Mediterranean food - Lots of surprises there.
The main concern regarding alcoholic beverages is not the amount but ratjer the pattern of consumption. It should always be during meals, preferably wine, spread out over the week, with low or no liquor consumption. Of course, consult your doctor on this one. If you have a history of alcohol abuse, probably best to skip this part of the diet.
Although eating avocado is healthy, this food is a fruit originating from South America and not a traditional MedDiet food.
Other foods not included in the MedDiet are saturated fat-rich dessert preparations, quinoa, margarine, potatoes, tofu, and potato chips.
Where do I start?
The way I look at it, there’s only positive side effects from this diet such as prolonging your life and decreasing other health risks. So why not try it?
A good place to start is by buying a starter cookbook to get a feel for how the food is made. I bought this one and thought it was great - short and straightforward.
Or, schedule an appointment here and we can chat about it. As always, email me with any questions!
References:
Knight, A., Bryan, J., Wilson, C., Hodgson, J., & Murphy, K. (2015). A randomised controlled intervention trial evaluating the efficacy of a Mediterranean dietary pattern on cognitive function and psychological wellbeing in healthy older adults: the MedLey study. BMC geriatrics, 15, 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-015-0054-8
Fernandez-Lazaro, C. I., Toledo, E., Buil-Cosiales, P., Salas-Salvadó, J., Corella, D., Fitó, M., Martínez, J. A., Alonso-Gómez, Á. M., Wärnberg, J., Vioque, J., Romaguera, D., López-Miranda, J., Estruch, R., Tinahones, F. J., Lapetra, J., Serra-Majem, L., Bueno-Cavanillas, A., Tur, J. A., Martín Sánchez, V., Pintó, X., … PREDIMED-Plus investigators (2022). Factors associated with successful dietary changes in an energy-reduced Mediterranean diet intervention: a longitudinal analysis in the PREDIMED-Plus trial. European journal of nutrition, 61(3), 1457–1475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02697-8
Martínez-González, M. Á., Hershey, M. S., Zazpe, I., & Trichopoulou, A. (2017). Transferability of the Mediterranean Diet to Non-Mediterranean Countries. What Is and What Is Not the Mediterranean Diet. Nutrients, 9(11), 1226. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9111226
O'Neil, A., Berk, M., Itsiopoulos, C., Castle, D., Opie, R., Pizzinga, J., Brazionis, L., Hodge, A., Mihalopoulos, C., Chatterton, M. L., Dean, O. M., & Jacka, F. N. (2013). A randomised, controlled trial of a dietary intervention for adults with major depression (the "SMILES" trial): study protocol. BMC psychiatry, 13, 114. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-13-114
Sánchez-Villegas, A., Delgado-Rodríguez, M., Alonso, A., Schlatter, J., Lahortiga, F., Serra Majem, L., & Martínez-González, M. A. (2009). Association of the Mediterranean dietary pattern with the incidence of depression: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra follow-up (SUN) cohort. Archives of general psychiatry, 66(10), 1090–1098. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.129
Sánchez-Villegas, A., Martínez-González, M. A., Estruch, R., Salas-Salvadó, J., Corella, D., Covas, M. I., Arós, F., Romaguera, D., Gómez-Gracia, E., Lapetra, J., Pintó, X., Martínez, J. A., Lamuela-Raventós, R. M., Ros, E., Gea, A., Wärnberg, J., & Serra-Majem, L. (2013). Mediterranean dietary pattern and depression: the PREDIMED randomized trial. BMC medicine, 11, 208. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-208
