Diet Linked to Depression
Geelong Advertiser
Saturday 27th February, 2010
Geelong-based researcher Felice Jacka has made a medical breakthrough after discovering a connection between diet and depression. She speaks with Sarah Bieske of the Geelong Advertiser.
FELICE Jacka has proof we are what we eat.
In an age when obesity and mental health are among the nation's most common health problems, the Geelong-based researcher has uncovered a direct link between diet and depression.
The University of Melbourne research fellow, who works at Barwon Health's Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences with the Geelong Osteoporosis Study, has long believed junk food is not only bad for your figure but also for your mental health.
She says it's no co-incidence that instances of depression disorders are rising at the same time our diets have increased in refined carbohydrates and sugars and has spent the past four years proving she's right.
"We've known for a long time that diet is linked to heart disease, diabetes and obesity, but no one had looked at diet in regards to mental health," Felice says.
"When I started research in this field, there were no other studies that looked at diet quality.
"Studies have shown that nutrition affects many of the biological processes associated with depression, but nutrition has not seriously been considered as a factor in the cause of depression disorders.
"But to me it made sense to look at someone's overall diet."
Awarded a $78,000 scholarship in 2004 from Australian Rotary Health, Felice has analysed data collected from more than 1000 women of all ages and backgrounds from the Geelong region, including everything from their diet intake, weight, age and medical history to education level and socioeconomic status.
"From that we found that people who had higher scores on unhealthy diet were more likely to have depression, while those who had higher scores on healthy diets were less likely to have depression or anxiety disorders," Felice says.
"So even after taking into account other demographic and lifestyle factors, this finding persisted."
After compiling her findings, Felice travelled to Norway for several months to conduct a comparable study.
The results of the tests when collated were very similar.
"Norway has such a different population and people didn't think the findings would be the same, but they were," she says.
"There was a lot of scepticism as I was doing this study, particularly among psychiatrists.
"No one really believed diet would have anything to do with mental health, but our findings show the opposite."
Despite the initial scepticism, Felice's study - accepted for publication in the American Journal of Psychiatry - could soon have a major impact on how depression is now viewed.
While awareness of depression is ever-growing, how to deal with depression and anxiety disorders is another thing altogether.
"The World Health Organisation has said that by 2020 depression will be the second most common cause of disability in the world, second only to heart disease, and yet we don't really know the best way to fix it," Felice says.
"Psychotherapies and antidepressants work for some, but not all.
"And even though there is a lot of talk about treatment, prevention is never really discussed.
"So the next step will be to test whether people who are depressed and if they improve their diet, whether that in fact helps treat their depression or anxiety.
"We really hope this study reinforces the message that's already out there about healthy eating."
What the study found
· Women who were higher on a healthy dietary pattern were approximately 35per cent less likely to have depression and 32per cent less likely to have an anxiety disorder.
· Women who were higher on a western (unhealthy) diet were approximately 50per cent more likely to be depressed.
· Diet quality was also associated with fewer psychological symptoms.