Most mental health experts now recognise that what you eat plays a major role in good mental health, and there is increasing concern about the role of poor diet in causing depression. Forecast by the WHO to become the world's second leading cause of death by 2020, depression affects 15.5 million in the US, and more than 3 million in the UK. In particular, depression has been linked to a low intake of fish, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for good brain health, and fresh food - a wide range of fruit and vegetables contain important nutrients including B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, magnesium and zinc. A bigger intake of saturated fats and sugars has also been linked with greater rates of depression. Changes in our diet over the past 50 years are amply substantiated by research including Feeding Minds, by the Mental Health Foundation and the food campaigners Sustain. According to Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, treating mental illness with diet shows better results in some cases than drugs or counselling. This practical book shows you how you can use your diet as a powerful self-help tool to help you prevent and treat symptoms of depression. Using the very latest scientific research, it offers a practical plan for nutritional self-help and shows how to beat depression through what you eat. This book also urges the reader to attend to any 'messages' depression may be bearing - a healthy diet is an empowering tool that can help beat depression but it is also important to address imbalances in other areas of life.

• View other titles by Theresa Cheung
• Send us your review of The Depression Diet

ISBN: 9780859699891
Catalogue code: N/A
Publisher: SHELDON PRESS - published 01/01/2007
Format: Paperback