Studies focus on “antidepressant” foods

March 21, 2023

While depression is common, this serious medical illness must be addressed and treated as soon as possible. The person suffering from this condition may have a lower quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, depression affects all demographic groups, but it is more common in adolescents and young adults, women of childbearing age (especially after childbirth), and adults over the age of 60.

Depression affects all demographic groups, but it is more prevalent in young adults, pregnant women, people over the age of 60, and people in their twenties and thirties, according to the World Health Organization.

Although there have been many studies on managing and treating depression, more research is being conducted to determine the viability of proposed modalities and available alternatives . As more people prefer a natural approach, studies on the potential of food in treating the disorder provide hope to those who suffer from it.

Having said that, studies on foods that have been found to help with depression management have been conducted, and the antidepressant benefits of matcha tea, turmeric, and probiotics have been evaluated.

Mood and mental boosting power of matcha

Matcha, a traditional Japanese tea made from Camellia sinensis leaves and known to be high in mood-enhancing compounds, was tested for its anti-depressive properties by researchers from Japan’s Kumamoto University. When the matcha tea powder was tested in “socially isolated” mice, the researchers discovered that drinking the tea significantly reduced anxiety-like behavior by triggering dopamine function via dopamine D1 receptor signalling. It is believed that a decline in dopamine in the brain frequently underlies the disease. The neurotransmitter and hormone dopamine is crucial for improving mood. They claimed that the resulting increase in dopamine could help with depression symptoms.

According to the researchers whose study was published in the Nutrients journal in January 2023, the matcha tea study is promising because various antidepressants that have been developed to counteract the effect of low dopamine have many side effects, and some people may develop resistance to antidepressants, requiring higher doses over time or a frequent change in medication.

Turmeric’s potential to beat depression

This popular Asian spice is celebrated for its numerous health benefits and healing properties. Curcumin, a chemical found in the root of turmeric that gives it its yellow color, has been found to help relieve inflammation. Inflammation has been linked to depression in recent studies. Curcumin content in turmeric roots ranges from 2% to 9%.

While more research is needed to prove that curcumin works for depression, animal studies have shown that it can affect serotonin and dopamine, two brain chemicals that control mood and behavior, as well as parts of the brain that respond to stress and protect against mitochondrial damage.

Nonetheless, according to WebMd, an American online publisher, curcumin is not recommended as a replacement for depression medication and therapy until larger studies are conducted to understand curcumin’s long-term effects on people with depression.

Probiotics as a treatment option

Fermented foods should be commonplace on Asian tables not only because they are flavorful but also because they are high in nutrients and probiotics, which have been linked to the treatment of depression.

Probiotics, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, can have a variety of beneficial effects on the body, including “shaping the immune system, producing antimicrobial substances, and fermenting fiber in the diet to produce nutrients for the cells that line our intestines.”

Similarly, a group of Malaysian researchers investigated whether the most popular bacterial strains, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics, could be used as supplementary or primary therapy to manage major depressive disorder. (MDD)

Citing a recent study published in the journal, Nutrients, the researchers reasoned that mental health is a critical domain of healthcare that currently has “limited, adverse-effect prone treatment options, and probiotics may hold the potential to be a novel, customizable treatment for depression.”

Probiotics as a treatment for depression have a scientific basis that is rooted in the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA) mechanisms, which play a role in the pathophysiology of depression.

According to the study, probiotics could also be used as an adjunct and stand-alone treatment in mild MDD patients who do not require pharmacological treatment. In addition, probiotics could be used as a preventive intervention for people who are predisposed to developing MDD.

However, due to a lack of research in this area, validating probiotics use for mental health disorders such as clinical depression remains difficult. Nonetheless, as precision psychiatry gains acceptance, the personalization of probiotics for clinical depression is expected to grow, the researchers said.

Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/depression/turmeric-depression
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/can-probiotics-improve-your-mood