Eating healthy foods may lower depression risk
By Agata Blaszczak Boxe Published September 21, 2015
Following a diet rich in produce and low in processed meats
even if you don't do it perfectly may be helpful in preventing
depression, according to a large new study.
To lower the risk of depression, "People can eat everything,
but everything in moderation," as long as they try to eat lots
of vegetables, fruits, nuts and fish, and avoid fast food and
processed meats, said study author Almudena Sanchez-
Villegas of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
At the start of the study, researchers asked 15,000 Spanish
university graduates who had never had depression what they normally ate. Then they asked them
again, 10 years later.
The researchers looked at how closely the participants' everyday diets adhered to three healthy diet
patterns that involved consuming high amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and fish, and
avoiding processed meats. These principles are part of the Mediterranean diet and other healthy diets.
After 8.5 years, 1,550 people in the study reported being diagnosed with depression or using
antidepressant drugs.
The researchers found that the people in the study who stuck to the healthy patterns to a moderate or
a high extent had a lower risk of depression than those who did not follow these diets at all, or who
adhered to them to a low degree.
For example, the risk of depression over the study period for the people who moderately adhered to
the Mediterranean diet was about 25 to 30 percent lower than for those who did not adhere to the
diet at all, or who adhered to it only to a very small extent, the researchers found. [7 Ways to
Recognize Depression in 20-Somethings]
"Even a moderate adherence to these healthy dietary patterns was associated with an important
reduction in the risk of developing depression," Sanchez-Villegas told Live Science.
Moreover, the researchers saw no extra benefit for depression risk when participants followed the
diets very closely, compared with moderate adherence, she said.
The researchers don't know for sure what may explain the link between these dietary patterns and
people's risk of depression. However, one potential mechanism is that people who follow these
patterns may have a lower risk of depression because they get adequate levels of some
micronutrients, such as B vitamins, folate or zinc all of which are essential to brain health, Sanchez-
Villegas said.
Conversely, the people who don’t follow these patterns may have a higher risk of depression because
of their nutrient deficits, she said.
Sanchez-Villegas' previous research, published in 2006 and 2009, also showed a link between
following a Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of depression.
The new study was published Sept. 16 in the journal BMC Medicine.
Taken from: FOX NEWS – Health section [Link]
depression-risk/ Task created and adapted by Karol Adrian Meza
Copyright 2015 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved.
PART I. According to the previous text, b) A period of 8.5 years.
answer the following comprehension
questions/statements: c) It is not mentioned.
5. Who’s the author of this news article?
1. The statement "People can eat everything,
but everything in moderation," can be a) Agata Blaszczak Boxe
interpreted in the next way:
b) A person who works for LiveScience
a) Individuals cannot eat everything they want.
They have to eat all in moderated portions. c) Almudena Sanchez-Villegas
b) You can eat all you want but in reasonable
portions.
PART II. According to the statements given,
c) You can have a balance between eating all complete the chart with the appropriate
you desire and moderating the junk food you numbers from the text.
eat.
2. Which of the following foods do not take
Example:
part of the principles of Mediterranean and
other healthy diets? The date when this newspaper
21st/09/2015
article was published
a) Processed meats
b) Nuts and fish
I. The amount of graduate students
c) Vegetables and legumes that took part of the research study.
3. We can interpret the statement "Even a II. The years when other people
moderate adherence to these healthy dietary were diagnosed with depression.
patterns was associated with an important III. The low percentages of those
reduction in the risk of developing depression," by who adhered to the Mediterranean
Mr. Sanchez-Villegas in the following manner: diet.
IV. The years when Mr. Sanchez-
a) If you follow the healthy dietary habit Villegas published his early work.
patterns in a reasonable way, the possibility of V. The date when a new study was
depression may be reduced. published on the journal.
b) Adhering to healthy dietary habits cannot
reduce depression at all.
c) Depression is associated with unhealthy
dietary habits.
4. At the very beginning of the study,
researchers interviewed university graduates.
How long did it take for them to be part of the
study once again?
a) A decade-long.
Taken from: FOX NEWS – Health section [Link]
depression-risk/ Task created and adapted by Karol Adrian Meza
