Antibiotics May Cause This Mental Health Condition (M)

Antibiotics appear to upset the microbes in the gut, which in turn affects mental health.

Antibiotics appear to upset the microbes in the gut, which in turn affects mental health.

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The Mental Health Benefits Of Gardening (M)

Humans probably have a natural, in-built tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.

Humans probably have a natural, in-built tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.

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The Diet Linked To 40% Higher Depression Risk

Cutting these out of your diet helps reduce depression risk.

Cutting these out of your diet helps reduce depression risk.

A diet of ‘inflammatory foods’ is linked to a 40 percent higher risk of depression, research concludes.

Common inflammatory foods include fast food, cake and processed meats.

These all have high levels of saturated fats, cholesterol and carbohydrate.

Fast foods and the like cause excess inflammation in the body, which is linked to depression.

An anti-inflammatory diet includes more vitamins, fibre and unsaturated fats.

The Mediterranean diet, containing tomatoes, green vegetables, olive oil and fatty fish is anti-inflammatory.

The conclusions come a review of 11 separate studies that included over 100,000 people living in the US, Australia and Europe.

Everyone reported how inflammatory their diet was, as well as any depression symptoms.

The results showed that people eating ‘pro-inflammatory’ diets had a 40 percent higher risk of developing depression or depressive symptoms.

The same was true for young and old.

Inflammation is how the body protects itself against toxins.

However, brain cells are killed when the body remains in a constant state of high alert, while fighting toxins.

Dr Steven Bradburn, study co-author, said:

“These results have tremendous clinical potential for the treatment of depression, and if it holds true, other diseases such as Alzheimer’s which also have an underlying inflammatory component.

Simply changing what we eat may be a cheaper alternative to pharmacological interventions, which often come with side-effects.

This work builds on recent advances in the field by others, including the first ever clinical trial into dietary interventions for treating depression, which have shown beneficial improvements in depressive symptoms.

It should be stressed, however, that our findings are an association, rather than causality.

Further work is needed to confirm the efficacy of modulating dietary patterns in treating depression with relation to inflammation.”

The study was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition (Tolkein et al., 2018).

How Children Inherit Anxiety And Depression From Their Parents (M)

Research provides insights into how parents pass anxiety and depression onto their children.

Research provides insights into how parents pass anxiety and depression onto their children.

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This Thinking Style Is A Sign Of Depression — And What To Do About It (M)

When metacognitions repeatedly tend towards the negative, they can be problematic.

When metacognitions repeatedly tend towards the negative, they can be problematic.

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Combining Two Free Activities Can Reduce Depression By 40% in Two Months (M)

Reduce depression by combining two activities well-known to make you feel better.

Reduce depression by combining two activities well-known to make you feel better.

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