The Neuliven Health team always aims to help overall health and wellness. We know that following healthy habits can be challenging. We live busy lives, and unhealthy snacks and TV marathons call out to us louder than veggies and running marathons! Committing to healthy patterns is difficult. BP Dove is a new product, but we’ve been working on nutritional supplements for over a decade as a company. We’re committed to living better lives. One of the things we have always found that helps us is focusing on the other benefits healthy patterns offer us.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) can be excellent for people looking to aid their blood pressure through eating. It’s a proven, healthy way of eating that isn’t too restrictive and teaches you to eat well in a sustainable way. But, sometimes, it can be hard to stay with any diet — even one that isn’t overly harsh. It might be easier to stick with it if you know that, on top of helping your heart, DASH may also help depression.
Research has found that following DASH may lower the risk of developing depression and help ease the symptoms of depression. While the research shouldn’t be used in the place of medical advice, it is nice to reinforce the usefulness of DASH. Multiple studies have confirmed that DASH and diets filled with a lot of fruits and veggies and low in saturated fat and sugar are associated with a lower risk for depression.
In one study, researchers saw that people who followed DASH were 11 percent less likely to develop depression. The research looked at 964 adults over six and a half years. They compared people who ate a standard Western-style diet, DASH and the Mediterranean diet. People following DASH did the best; people eating a Western diet fared the least well. Again, this study didn’t show cause and effect and should not be used as medical guidance, just something to consider.
“I think we need to view food as medicine,” Laurel Cherian, an assistant professor of vascular neurology at Rush Univ. Medical Center in Chicago and the study’s lead author, said. “Medications to treat depression are wonderful, but for many people, it’s going to be a combination of things.”
It’s true that a balanced diet is inarguably essential for health. It’s just that what that perfect diet is is so controversial and how much it impacts each aspect of health isn’t quantified yet. But studies have shown that DASH may help lower depression symptoms in teens, reduce major depression and anxiety in women and aid the gut bacteria that influence mood.
If you experience depression or any other mood problems, speak to your doctor. There are many treatments available. Diet is one means of intervention, but there are many ways that doctors can help you. This is one more reason to love DASH, but it’s no replacement for a talk with your doctor!
