How a Mediterranean Diet Can Help Fight Teen Depression

“You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.” —John Ciardi

Good food, good mood

Midjourney

A recent study by José Francisco López-Gil and colleagues looked at 700 Spanish kids between 12 and 17 years old to find if there was a connection between diet and depression. What they found is quite astounding: kids who loosely followed a Mediterranean diet were 60 percent less likely to be depressed, and kids who more closely adhered to that diet were 77 percent less likely to be depressed.

Emotional disorders like depression and anxiety affect 10 to 20 percent of kids worldwide, a greater percentage than other age groups. If you remember your teen years, you know how traumatic it can be. As prolific writer Harlan Coben says, “Make no mistake, adolescence is a war. No one gets out unscathed.” This is partly because kids this age are going through hormonal changes, and—as this study points out—partly because they often have poor diets.

But this is the age when behavioral patterns, both good and bad, start to congeal. Half of all chronic mental health issues develop before our 18th birthday. That means to treat adult depression, we ought to pay better attention to teen depression.

The Role of Diet in Mental Health

This new study strongly suggests that our modern high-fat, high-carb diet is making teenage angst worse. This diet originated in the U.S. and is one of our more popular—and shameful—exports. The standard American diet (with the unusually appropriate acronym SAD) is comparatively monotonous, with lots of unctuous burgers and fries and plenty of sweet treats. Many Americans eat meat and potatoes every single day.

It is a badge of pride for many fast foodies to hate green vegetables. President George H.W. Bush famously decreed that broccoli would never grace his table. “I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!'' he proclaimed. It endeared him to a wide sector of Americans.

President Bush did not have the final word, however. His wife Barbara threatened to serve him a complete meal of broccoli, capped off with broccoli ice cream. That introduces an important veggie, but sadly no diversity.

The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, is characterized by a wide variety of foods, especially veggies, grains, nuts, beans, and ferments, with some fish thrown in. Two things seem to be most salient about the health factors of the Mediterranean diet: diversity and fiber. These key features create a luxurious environment for good gut microbes.

Why Fiber and Diversity Are Key

Fiber, mostly from veggies, is indigestible by our own humble enzymes, but is manna to certain bacteria in our gut. They convert fiber into fatty acids like butyrate, which is both a food and a balm for the cells lining our gut.

In the brain, butyrate has a salutary effect on brain growth and health. Butyrate can repair a “leaky gut” that allows bacteria to enter our bloodstream where they are not welcome.

Once in the bloodstream, bacteria can reach every organ in the body—including the brain. This is systemic inflammation, the root of most diseases. Thus butyrate, by reducing inflammation and improving brain health, contributes to a better mood and less psychopathy.

Diversity in the diet promotes variety in the collection of microbes called the gut microbiota. This is an impressive batch of microbes, weighing a pound or two, that is like a complex jungle ecosystem, rich with bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Variety makes this intestinal ecosystem resilient to change, since so many species are available to jump into action whenever we eat something new. It also prevents rogue microbes from taking over, since the competition is fierce.

A diverse microbiota keeps inflammation under control, which is why the Mediterranean diet is associated with lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and mental disorders. A diet lacking diversity, on the other hand, will allow microbial bullies to dominate, creating a pro-inflammatory environment that can be a threat to mental and physical health.

This study buttresses similar results found in Felice Jacka’s studies going back to 2010. In 2013, among adolescents in East London, Jacka found that kids on the unhealthiest diet were twice as likely to have mental health issues than those on the healthiest diet.

The Bottom Line

So, is it time to start your Mediterranean diet? Emphatically yes. Jacka has shown that eating better isn’t more expensive. However, instead of microwaving ramen, you may actually have to cook something.

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Fast food is not only faster to prepare, but because it is designed to be hyper-palatable, it is faster to eat as well. But the time you may save is likely to be offset by poor health and mental misery. That is a dreadful tradeoff.

For our sake and the sake of our children, we need to start increasing fiber and diversity in our diet. When we take care of our gut microbes, everything runs smoother. When our health and happiness can be enhanced by something as simple as diet, it’s crazy to ignore it.

So make sure to increase variety in your diet—and it wouldn’t hurt to eat some broccoli.