Quality diet to get rid of depression: A worthy reading to get back your mood

Depression can affect any one of us at any time that is life changing and life threatening too. Sometimes, it needs medical attention to recover from it but many times, it can be avoided simply by changing the lifestyle, especially food habits [1].

Yes, choosing food can be prime option to help or manage the depression symptoms. Just eating the right one or avoiding the wrong foodstuffs can be good step towards beating depression.

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How is the diet related to depression?

Right foods and nutrients are beneficial to treat sub-clinical depression i.e., depression of “day to day life”. There is no such specific diet but the dietary habit of someone gives the nutritional value to him or her that in turn may be helpful or harmful for mental state.

Diet has a fruitful value in case of mental health, and it has such a great impact that a completely new field is emerged called nutritional psychiatry.

Here I give you an easy portrayal for your advantage. Let’s talk about the working pattern of your brain, it is on 24*7, even during your sleep. Therefore, it requires constant supply of fuel or energy, which totally comes from your foods. So, if you give a poor quality of food to your brain, it can affect its structure and function, which leads to affect in due course your mood [2].   

We all must know about the oxidative stress (when body uses oxygen then the oxidative waste or free radicals can cause the oxidative stress among cells) that can damage the brain cell too, can be minimized by eating the food with lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It helps to nourish and protect the brain cells.

Several studies suggest that there is a link between what we eat with our mental health or risk of depression. Research showed that a diet full of nutrition and antioxidants help to reduce the risk of depression and a diet full of unhealthy foods are related to increased risk of depression [3].

Your body needs the premium fuel, and if you take lower quality food like processed or packaged or refined foods then your brain can’t get over the damage which in turn leads to impaired brain function along with mood swing or high risk of depression [4].

In case of depression, we eat many unhealthy foods, but the truth is here for the sake of researchers that being on an unhealthy diet our depressive symptoms have triggered and we continue to eat those foods again during a bad mood.

Scientists have showed that if you continue a healthy diet, for example, Mediterranean diets, then you are at a lower risk of depression. 

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Your digestive tract is here to control your mood   

Your digestive tract is not only to digest your food but also here to feel you good or bad accordingly [5].

Our inner digestive tract contains millions of neurons and it secrets 95% serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate sleep, mood, appetite, inhibit pain and give you emotions.

This neuron function is extremely inclined by the millions of good bacteria present in your intestinal region. They protect our inner lining and avoid the entry of the toxins produced from the bad bacteria. These good bacteria help you to absorb the nutrients by reducing inflammation [6].

Research has proved that there is 25% to 35% reduction of risk of depression if you eat a Mediterranean diet rather than western diet based on processed foods [7]. Many times the “good” diet means the unprocessed foods that can act as natural probiotics to increase the “good” bacteria.

Good bacteria not only influence your gut to digest food and absorb but also they can affect the mood and energy level as well which eventually triggers your mood as on or off [8].

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Eat a lot of healthy foods to overcome depression

A study held in 2017, showed that some people with moderate to severe symptoms of depression got improvement after they received nutritious foods for at least 12 weeks.

So, you can manage your depressive symptoms just by adjusting your diet in a way where you opt for whole or fresh foods consisting huge nutrition and avoid processed, fried or junk foods.

Scroll through the last to know about some depression inhibiting and accentuating foods.

Vitamin B Complex

VitaminB complex including folic acid helps to protect the brain and nervous system and reduces the risk of depression.

Just go for the following foods:

Eggs

Poultry

Fish

Milk

Dairy products

Fresh fruits

Nuts

Green leafy vegetables

Whole grains

Seafood

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Vitamin D

Dietary source of Vitamin D is very much helpful along with sun exposure to treat depression. Try to intake these foods:

Fatty fish

Egg

Cheese

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Antioxidants

Antioxidants are the key components you can have in your diet to reduce the depressive symptoms.

It helps to fight with the oxidative stress caused by free radicals produced in the body. This stress can leads you to depression and anxiety.

Antioxidants or Vitamin A, C and E containing foods must be your target to get rid of depression.  

Take a look on following foods:

Fresh vegetables

Fruits

Berries

Soy

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Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids can also protect the brain and nerve cells and reduces the mood swing and depressive symptoms a bit. More researches are needed for this case.

But now, you can eat these foods:

Salmon, Sardine, Tuna

Walnuts

Flaxseeds

Photo by Me from ConScience

Probiotics

Foods that increase the beneficial bacteria in gut are called probiotics. Healthy biome can reduce the risk of depression.

Yogurt is my main preference. Regular intake of Lactobacillus may help to reduce the risk of depression.

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Zinc

Zinc is very important to control depression. Increased zinc level may act as antidepressants. It can boost immune system also. Try these foods to increase your zinc content.

Chicken

Pork

Nuts

Whole grains

Pumpkin seeds

Proteins

Don’t underestimate the protein power in case of depression. Indulge yourself in different proteins, especially for tryptophan, which is necessary to produce serotonin the feel good hormone in your body. 

Found tryptophan in these foods:

Turkey

Chickpeas

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Foods to avoid regarding depression

In case of depression, you should avoid following foods:

Alcohol

Processed foods

Refined foods

Caffeine

These foods can exaggerate or worsen the symptoms of depression. Don’t take alcohol to diminish a feeling, it can aggravate new depression and anxiety [9].

Processed foods and refined carbs are high in sugar, which leads to originate more depressing symptoms [10].

Very low dose of caffeine as a coffee has a stimulant effect which somehow helps to deal with depression, but, a very large dose can destroy the mood, disrupts sleep and increase anxiety. Don’t take caffeine after sunset [11]. 

ConScience

Our mind is a great structure that has so many compartments to identify till date. No one knows how to tackle all the things of our life carefully without being depressed.

Depression is common now a day amidst a very busy schedule. All you have to control it. I’ll discuss later about another steps to control it, but now just follow a good diet, provide your brain a premium quality fuel.

Treatment by a doctor is the ultimate way out, but what if you can control by your own just by taking proper diet. So, don’t be late, start taking the antidepressant foods from today. Have a happy life.    

#Featured photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash