Can Eating Fruit Reduce Depression? Expert: It’s not that simple

New research suggests that increasing the frequency of eating fruit may improve mood and reduce depression. However, it is not that simple, because the final effect is influenced by a number of different factors that these studies do not take into account. According to a therapist from the Human Givens Institute, such a superficial approach to the problem of depression may lead to erroneous and even harmful conclusions.

1. Researchers at Aston University in Birmingham have conducted studies whose results suggest that eating more fruit improves mental well-being and reduces symptoms of depression
2. In their research, however, the psychologists did not take into account other elements that could have influenced the results. This is pointed out by Denise Winn, a therapist at the Human Givens Institute, in her article on psycholgytoday.com
3. The expert believes that superficial research can lead to erroneous conclusions and warns against treating them too seriously. Especially in the case of depression, which is a disease that depends on many factors
4. More interesting articles can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

Can we improve our mental well-being by increasing the frequency of eating fruit snacks? This is what psychologists at Aston University’s College of Health and Life Sciences suggest, who studied 428 UK adults to establish a link between their mental health and the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sweet and salty snacks. Denise Winn, a therapist at the Human Givens Institute, author of an article on psycholgytoday.com, does not fully agree with the conclusions they reached.

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They ate the fruit and felt better

According to the discoveries of scientists, the more times people ate fruit, the better their mental well-being and the less often they experienced symptoms of depression. At the same time, those surveyed who tended to consume low-nutrient spicy snacks such as crisps had worse mood and more daily problems related to forgetfulness, anxiety, stress and depression.

“Our findings may suggest that frequent eating of nutrient-poor spicy foods can exacerbate daily disturbance, which in turn has a negative effect on mental health.” — informs Nicola-Jayne Tuck, the author of the study, quoted by psychologytoday.com.

Superficial research can lead to wrong conclusions

According to the author of the article such conclusions are wrong because they are based on too superficial research. However, they sound encouraging and can be readily popularized by the media. “I think alarm bells should ring here” — warns Denise Winn, pointing to some research shortcomings. Example?

“You may find that people who ate organic apricots several times a week were less depressed than people who didn’t. But how would we know that it was organic apricots that did the trick, not the amount or type of exercise, how much they liked their job or whether they had a comfortable lifestyle? » — the therapist wonders.

At the same time, he cautions to remain skeptical when reading such simplified statements as about the alleged relationship of a fruit diet with the reduction of depression. While it is known that replacing unhealthy snacks with fruit and vegetables is beneficial to health, it should not be attributed overly therapeutic properties.