Visit any greengrocer and you know what you'll find; fruit and vegetables of course but usually you'll also find a selection of dried and canned legumes, nuts and a small deli selection. It's the type of food we typically associate with a Mediterranean diet which is hardly surprising given that the majority of greengrocers originate from countries geographically close to the Med. But did you know that the foods the greengrocer sells can help fight depression?

Everyone knows that a Mediterranean diet is rich in nutrients and good for our physical health, but perhaps they don't know that a diet low in nutrients is closely linked to depression. According to a study conducted on over 15,000 people, nutrient deficits may lead to poor physiological health and the onset of depression.

The researchers compared three diets and scored certain food items. Meats and sweet foods which were high in saturated fat and sugar were given negative scores while, vegetables fruits and nuts - the foods you can buy from the greengrocer which are rich in vitamins, minerals and Omega-3 fatty acids - were scored positively. Participants used the scoring system to calculate how healthy their diet was. Although the study was based on individuals self-reporting, their findings will hopefully lead to further research to identify which foods specifically lead to depression.

Until then, what they concluded - and this is something we can all learn from - is this: Sticking to a moderately healthy diet which includes a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and legumes will reduce the chance of developing depression. There's no need to be fanatical about it either; simply adding more of the good stuff on a daily basis will help.

1.Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, Patricia Henríquez-Sánchez, Miguel Ruiz-Canela, Francisca Lahortiga, Patricio Molero, Estefanía Toledo, Miguel A. Martínez-González. A longitudinal analysis of diet quality scores and the risk of incident depression in the SUN Project. BMC Medicine, 2015; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12916-015-0428-y

Source : http://www.thefoodcoach.com.au/articles/?ArticleID=1726