The cause of depressed mood is considered to be stress. External stressors are able to cause changes to the delicate tissues of the brain that include the development of inflammation. This inflammation then leads to oxidative stress via the generation of free radicals, and this causes detrimental changes to brain chemistry. Targeting inflammation is therefore a major route to treating mood disorders therapeutically. The benefits of reducing inflammation in the treatment of mood has been investigated in spinal cord injury patients with depression. The subjects received either 12 weeks of an anti-inflammatory diet, or 12 weeks of a control diet, and during this period their mood and their levels of inflammation measured. The results of the study showed that the anti-inflammatory diet was significantly effective at reducing inflammation in the subjects and this was accompanied by improvements in mood and improvements in the levels of neuroactive compounds relating to serotonin synthesis in the blood.
The anti-inflammatory diet eaten by the subjects in this study was designed to remove foods that might be a cause of inflammation. Food removed from the diet included high glycemic index starch, refined wheat products and refined sugars, commonly intolerant foods such as cow’s milk, as well as foods which may negatively influence cardiovascular health such as hydrogenated vegetable oils. The subjects in the study also consumed supplements including omega-3 softgels (containing 500 mg EPA and 250 mg DHA, at a dosage of three per day), 6000 mg chlorella per day, an antioxidant (containing 100 mg coenzyme Q10, 200 mg n-acetylcysteine, 150 mg mixed tocopherols, 100 mg alpha lipoic acid, 60 mg green tea extract, 5.5 mg zinc, and 100 μg selenium, at a dosage of two per day), and 400 mg curcumin (at a dosage of three per day). Subjects also took a scoop of vegetable-based protein powder each morning.
Eat Well, Stay Healthy, Protect Yourself
RdB
