Dietary intervention in depression - a review

• Published in: Food & function Vol. 13; no. 24; pp. 12475 - 12486
• Main Authors: Wu, Tao, Liu, Ran, Zhang, Ling, Rifky, Mohamed, Sui, Wenjie, Zhu, Qiaomei, Zhang, Jiaojiao, Yin, Jinjin, Zhang, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 13.12.2022
• Subjects: Antidepressants; Brain; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - metabolism; Depression - diet therapy; Depression - metabolism; Diet; Drug therapy; Epigenetics; Humans; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - metabolism; Hypothalamus; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Metabolism; Micronutrients; Nutrition; Pituitary; Pituitary-Adrenal System - metabolism; Probiotics; Tryptophan
• ISSN: 2042-6496; 2042-650X
• DOI: 10.1039/d2fo02795j

Depression is a mental illness that affects the normal lives of over 300 million people. Unfortunately, about 30% to 40% of patients do not adequately respond to pharmacotherapy and other therapies. This review focuses on exploring the relationship between dietary nutrition and depression, aiming to find safer and efficient ingredients to alleviate depression. Diet can affect depression in numerous ways. These pathways include the regulation of tryptophan metabolism, inflammation, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, microbe-gut-brain axis, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and epigenetics. Furthermore, probiotics, micronutrients, and other active substances exhibit significant antidepressant effects by regulating the above pathways. These provide insights for developing antidepressant foods. Probiotics, micronutrients and other active substances by regulating the pathways such as tryptophan metabolism and inflammation showed significant antidepressant effects. These provide insights for developing antidepressant foods.