Mediterraan dieet goed voor de hersenen en tegen depressies*
Uit twee studies blijkt dat een mediterraan dieet goed is tegen een herseninfarct en beschadiging van die gedeelten van de hersenen die met het denkvermogen te maken hebben en ook goed is tegen het ontstaan van
depressies. Uit de Spaanse studie onder ruim 10.000 personen blijkt dat zij die zich het meest aan een mediterraandieet houden ruim 30% minder kans hebben op een depressie. Uit een studie onder ruim 700 personen uit New York blijkt dat zij die zich het meest aan dit dieet houden 36% minder kans hebben op beschadigingen van bepaalde
hersengedeelten, die met het denkvermogen te maken hebben. Deze beschadigingen zijn vergelijkbaar met beschadigingen als gevolg van hoge bloeddruk.
Mediterranean Diet Prevents Depression
The Mediterranean diet may improve not just heart health but also mental health, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Universities of La Palma and Navarra in Spain, and published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association.
The Mediterranean diet is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals, fish, and monounsaturated fatty acids like those found in olive oil. It is low in meat, and intake of alcohol and dairy products are kept to moderate levels. Prior research has shown a significant connection between the Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of heart disease and cancer.
Researchers had 10,094 university graduates fill out regular questionnaires that allowed researchers to measure their adherence to the Mediterranean diet over the course of four-and-a-half years. During this time period, 156 male participants developed depression, as did 324 female participants.
After adjusting for depression risk factors such as marital status, number of children, lifestyle habits, anxiety, competitiveness and other personality and lifestyle traits, the researchers found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a 30 percent lower risk of developing depression than those who did not follow
it.
Researcher Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez said that while further studies of longer duration and with more participants would be needed to confirm the findings, the diet "may exert a fair degree of protection against depression."
"Thirty percent is a large reduction in the risk and this could be very important considering the large burden of disease represented by depression," he said. "We know how important the Mediterranean diet is in reducing cardiovascular risk factors and the same inflammatory proteins are also raised in patients with depression."
Clinical psychologist Cecilia D'Felice noted that diet can play a significant role in mental health.
"What we do know is that a diet high in olive oil will enhance the amount of serotonin ... available to you," she said. "Most anti-depression drugs work to keep more serotonin available in the
brain."
The overall diet is likely to provide benefits above and beyond any individual component, Martinez-Gonzalez said.
Mediterranean Diet May Lower Risk Of Brain Damage That Causes Thinking Problems
A Mediterranean diet may help people avoid the small areas of brain damage that can lead to problems with thinking and memory, according to a study released that was presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.
The study found that people who ate a Mediterranean-like diet were less likely to have brain infarcts, or small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking
problems.
The Mediterranean diet includes high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, fish and monounsaturated fatty acids such as olive oil; low intake of saturated fatty acids, dairy products, meat and poultry; and mild to moderate amounts of alcohol.
For the study, researchers assessed the diets of 712 people in New York and divided them into three groups based on how closely they were following the Mediterranean diet. Then they conducted MRI brain scans of the people an average of six years later. A total of 238 people had at least one area of brain damage.
Those who were most closely following a Mediterranean-like diet were 36 percent less likely to have areas of brain damage than those who were least following the diet. Those moderately following the diet were 21 percent less likely to have brain damage than the lowest
group.
"The relationship between this type of brain damage and the Mediterranean diet was comparable with that of high blood pressure," said study author Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, MSc, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "In this study, not eating a Mediterranean-like diet had about the same effect on the brain as having high blood pressure."
Previous research by Scarmeas and his colleagues showed that a Mediterranean-like diet may be associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and may lengthen survival in people with Alzheimer's disease. According to the present study, these associations may be partially explained by fewer brain
infarcts.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Source: American Academy of Neurology (AAN) (April 2010)
