A recent study, published in BMC Medicine, has shown that diet counselling and modification can help 1 in 4 patients with Major Depression improve and achieve remission.

What dietary advice did they give?

  1. Increase diet quality with the consumption of 12 key food groups
  • Whole Grains 5-8 servings per day
  • Vegetables 6 servings per day
  • Fruit 3 servings per day
  • Low fat/unsweetened dairy 2-3 servings per day
  • Legumes 3-4 servings per week
  • Raw and unsalted nuts 1 serving per day
  • Fish at least 2 servings per week
  • Lean red meat 3-4 serving per week
  • Chicken 2-3 servings per week
  • Eggs up to 6 per week
  • Olive oil 3 tablespoons per day
                      1. Things to REDUCE
                      • Sweets
                      • Refined cereals
                      • Fried food
                      • Processed meats
                      • Sugary beverages
                              1. Eliminate alcohol except for red wine with meals (maximum 2 standard-size drinks per day)

                              The patients in this study modified their diet with quite intensive support and counselling from a dietitian.  This makes it difficult to say if self-imposed changes to the diet will provide the same benefit, but it can’t hurt.  They also found improvement on anxiety scores however this was not the primary outcome they were looking at.

                              There is other evidence that supports a link between a “healthy” diet and mental health.  This, however, was a randomized controlled trial so can actually establish that the dietary intervention caused the improvement seen (within the limitations of the study.)

                              Reference: Jacka et al. A randomized controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the ‘SMILES’ trial.) BMC Medicine (2017) 15:23