By Paula Baniotaite, Healthier Jupiter Intern

Mental health is a key element to a person’s overall health. It plays an equally important role as healthy eating and active living to ensure people live their healthiest life. To help make sense of mental health’s role in healthy living, Healthier Jupiter worked with a student intern from Florida Atlantic University’s John D. MacArthur Campus to research various topics related to mental health and healthy eating or active living. In the HEAL (Healthy Eating and Active Living) Series, read about promising interventions encouraging people to engage both mentally and physically in healthy behaviors. The following blog post looks at the impact of the Mediterranean diet on anxiety and severe depression.

In a study conducted by Jacka et al., (2017), the researchers wanted to examine the role that dietary intervention may play in the treatment of moderate to severe depression. Most of the individuals assessed were already receiving some form of treatment for their depression, such as psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy.

The participants were randomized to receive either social support or dietary support for 12 weeks. The group that received dietary support received motivational interviewing, goal setting and mindful eating advice from a clinical dietician (Jacka et al., 2017).

The dietitians focused on increasing 12 key food groups in the participants: whole grains (5–8 servings per day), vegetables (6 per day), fruit (3 per day), legumes (3–4 per week), low-fat and unsweetened dairy foods (2–3 per day), raw and unsalted nuts (1 per day), fish (at least 2 per week), lean red meats (3–4 per week), chicken (2–3 per week), eggs (up to 6 per week), and olive oil (3 tablespoons per day) (Jacka et al., 2017). The composition of the diet followed 18% protein, 40% fat, 37% carbohydrates, 2% alcohol and 3% fiber/other. The dietitians also discouraged eating sweets and processed foods.

Following the 12-week program, the group receiving dietary intervention showed far greater improvements in their depression symptomology when compared to the group that was not receiving nutritional support. The group receiving nutritional support also self-reported lower anxiety and depression symptoms.

This study is applicable to not just individuals suffering with major depression disorder, but also to individuals seeking to improve their mild anxiety or depression; the Mediterranean diet is an accessible, and possibly beneficial, strategy for individuals seeking to improve their mental health. Likely partners to address some of these practices may include nutrition centered associations as well as mental health organizations.

The HEAL Series focusing on mental health’s connection to healthy eating and active living is part of an internship opportunity with FAU John D. MacArthur Campus at Jupiter student Paula Baniotaite. Paula holds a Bachelor's in Psychology.Strong advocate for mental health and spending time in nature. Animal lover. Avid hiker and camper. Dedicated to spreading the message about healthy eating habits and living an active life. Proud vegan. If you are interested in interning with Healthier Jupiter, please contact joanna.peluso@jupitermed.com.

READ MORE IN THE HEAL SERIES

Sources:

Jacka, F. N., O'Neil, A., Opie, R., Itsiopoulos, C., Cotton, S., Mohebbi, M., Castle, D., Dash, S., Mihalopoulos, C., Chatterton, M. L., Brazionis, L., Dean, O. M., Hodge, A. M., & Berk, M. (2017). A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the 'SMILES' trial). BMC medicine, 15(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y

HEAL Series: The Mediterranean Diet & Mental Health