Rule for a Healthier, Happier Life: Avoid Articles With the Word “May” in the Title
How Food May Improve Your Mood
New York Times | May 6, 2021 | Anahd O’ConnerA healthy diet promotes a healthy gut, which communicates with the brain through what is known as the gut-brain axis.
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Microbes in the gut produce neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which regulate our mood and emotions, and the gut microbiome has been implicated in mental health outcomes.
The first major trial to shed light on the food-mood connection was published in 2017. A team of researchers wanted to know whether dietary changes would help alleviate depression, so they recruited 67 people who were clinically depressed and split them into groups. One group went to meetings with a dietitian who taught them to follow a traditional Mediterranean-style diet. The other group, serving as the control, met regularly with a research assistant who provided social support but no dietary advice.
But the diet group made big changes. They replaced candy, fast food and pastries with whole foods such as nuts, beans, fruits and legumes.
Some research assistant substituting beans for candy made them less depressed?
They switched from white bread to whole grain and sourdough bread.
Not a big sacrifice. Store-bought white bread isn’t actually tasty anymore.
They gave up sugary cereals and ate muesli and oatmeal. Instead of pizza, they ate vegetable stir-fries.
No freaking way.
And they replaced highly processed meats like ham, sausages and bacon with seafood and small amounts of lean red meats.
Nooooo!
The diet benefited mental health even though the participants did not lose any weight. People also saved money by eating the more nutritious foods, demonstrating that a healthy diet can be economical. Before the study, the participants spent on average $138 per week on food. Those who switched to the healthy diet lowered their food costs to $112 per week.
OK, I’ll give them that — unpopular foods cost less.
The recommended foods were relatively inexpensive and available at most grocery stores. They included things like canned beans and lentils, canned salmon, tuna and sardines, and frozen and conventional produce, said Felice Jacka, the lead author of the study.
Sounds like a made-up name.
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