A 50-year-old female comes to my office with a 10-year-history of major depression. She is chronically depressed and doesn’t  feel medication is that helpful. She wants to explore other ways to feel better.

In fact, there are around 37 different antidepressants used in the United States and they don’t work for everyone. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict which antidepressants work for each individual. However, what the woman above does mention is her poor diet. It is filled with processed and junk foods. She wonders if her poor eating habits are contributing to her depressed mood?

Good question. Does diet impact your mood? This is an area that is now getting more and more attention.

Yes, there is a link between your brain and your gut. Gut health does influence mood. In a large study presented in the journal Nature, scientists identified 12 genera and 1 microbial family in the gut that were associated with depression. Those bacteria found in the gut are related to key neurotransmitters involved in depression. Ok, so what does this mean?

Our gut microbiome is related to our diet and lifestyle. Having too little or too much of one type of gut bacteria creates problems. However, you can influence your gut through healthy eating. For example, changing your diet to include high fiber, fresh fruits, whole grains and vegetables alters a bacteria called butyrate, a good bacteria. Butyrate is a fatty acid that breaks down dietary fiber in your gut and acts as a gut barrier. This means it keeps bacteria and other microbes from entering your blood. Thus our gut and brain are helped by the use of a number of pre and probiotics we can get through food.

Basically our two brains–the one in the gut and the one in the head, talk. Researcher think that the digestive system activity can affect our thinking  and even memory. When the gut bacteria are fed well, they signal the brain in terms of our mood. A happy gut can release mood boosting hormones. Poor gut health also relates to inflammation, which in turn can affect your thinking and mood negatively.

Bottom line: What you eat affects your mental health and could increase your risk for both depression and anxiety. So much so that there is now a field called nutritional psychiatry which looks at what we put in our mouth and how it impacts our mood. And in a world in which we can’t control a lot of what happens to or around us, we can control what we put in our mouth. Eating more food rich in fiber and phytochemical is a place to start. Plants, probiotics, prebiotics found in foods such as blueberries, pears, Greek yogurt, lentils, walnuts, sauerkraut, chia seeds, Jerusalem artichokes and kiwi are good choices. While diet is not a magic pill to cure to depression, it could help improve your mood.