Clients with depression would be well advised to consider
their dietary as well as their exercise habits.
WORDS: CAM MCDONALD
he brain, like the rest of the body,
responds acutely to the influence
of food. The interesting thing about
the brain, however, is that it will generally give
you a response within the hour after eating,
while the heart doesn’t really let you know for
20 to 30 years (depending on your age).
If the brain is affected so rapidly by
what we consume, what effect can diet
have on a condition like depression? Firstly,
we need to understand what depression
is. The World Health Organisation (WHO)
defines it as a common mental disorder,
characterised by sadness, loss of interest
or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low selfworth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings
of tiredness, and poor concentration.
The most important thing to remember
is that depression is on a health continuum
with resilience at the other end (Figure 1).
Resilience is defined as the ability to positively
adapt to current or past adversity.
So, what’s the point? Aim for resilience
and you will not only fight depression,
but start to optimise your wellbeing.
T
The inflammation link
From
a
mental
wellbeing
perspective, one of the most
noticeable
things
about
individuals
who
suffer
from
conditions like diabetes and heart
disease or, more commonly, metabolic
syndrome, is that they experience
dramatically increased levels of depressive
symptoms. For those who are obese or have
metabolic syndrome, the risk of depression
is 30 to 60 per cent higher than for healthy
people of the same age. Depression,
40 | NETWORK SPRING 2014