Fruits that relieve depression

All fruits can only be used as an auxiliary means of emotional regulation and can never replace formal drug treatment or psychological intervention. There is no special fruit that can "make you feel better after eating it".

When I worked as a volunteer assistant in the nutrition department of a tertiary hospital, I met many patients who were mildly depressed and asked if there was anything they could eat to make them feel better. The doctors almost always mentioned that they could eat half a banana a day, not more, just half a banana. But the academic community has actually been arguing about the role of bananas for many years - the evidence provided by the supportive group is that the tryptophan in bananas is the precursor of 5-hydroxytryptamine (also known as the "happy hormone"), and it is also rich in magnesium, which can help relax muscles and relieve tension. ； The opposition group directly criticized: more than 90% of the tryptophan in food will be metabolized in the periphery, and very few can cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain. The so-called "happy effect" is more of a psychological suggestion.

In fact, I don’t think I have to fight so hard. I worked on the quarterly report for almost three weeks last year. Every day when I sat in front of the computer, my chest felt like a piece of wet cotton. I didn’t want to talk or move. When I passed by the fruit shop in front of the community after get off work, I accidentally took a box of frozen blueberries. When I got home, I opened it on the sofa and stuffed it into my mouth. The moment the ice cubes mixed with the sweet and sour pulp exploded in my mouth, I shed two tears inexplicably, and the depression that had been suppressed for several days was almost half gone. Later, I turned to nutrition journals and saw that there was a large-sample cohort study in the United States in 2022. The subjects who consumed 150g of fresh blueberries every day for four consecutive weeks reported a 22% lower self-rated frequency of depression than the control group. The logic behind this is that the anthocyanins in blueberries can reduce neuroinflammation, and chronic neuroinflammation itself is one of the high-risk factors for inducing depression.

In addition to blueberries, avocados are also recommended by many clinical nutritionists. A junior sister of mine who is doing cognitive neuroscience conducted a small-scale experiment last year. 21 mildly depressed subjects were given a quarter of an avocado a day. After two weeks, their PHQ-9 self-rating depression scale scores dropped by an average of 7 points. .8 points, but there are also objections here: many fitness bloggers are clearly opposed to relying on avocado to regulate mood. After all, its fat content is as high as about 15%. Eating too much can easily lead to obesity. On the contrary, it may increase emotional burden due to body anxiety, so quantity control is particularly important. At most, half a day is enough.

Many people also ignore the hidden function of citrus fruits, which is not the nutrition of the pulp, but the bitter and sweet aroma that splashes out when you peel the orange peel. A while ago, my friend was sitting in my house crying after losing her love. I stuffed a Gannan orange that I had just taken out of the refrigerator and asked her to peel it. She suddenly stopped while peeling and said, "This smell is actually more useful than the paper towel you handed me." This is really not metaphysics. Studies in the field of aromatherapy have long proven that the volatile oil of citrus peels can reduce the level of cortisol (stress hormone) in the body. Even if you don’t eat it, just peeling the oranges and smelling the fragrance can help relax your tense nerves.

Many marketing accounts on the Internet now list kiwis, grapes, and strawberries as the “Top Ten Antidepressant Fruits.” To be honest, these fruits do have high vitamin content and are good for the body. However, there are currently not enough large-sample randomized controlled trials to prove that they have a clear auxiliary effect on improving depressive mood. There is no need to buy expensive imported fruits for the so-called “antidepressant”. Just eat what you like.

To be very honest, if depression could be cured by eating fruit, psychiatrists and psychological counselors would be out of work long ago. If you have been unable to get motivated for more than two weeks in a row, have no interest in anything, and have disordered sleep and eating, don't rely on eating fruits to adjust. Go to a regular hospital for treatment. Fruits are at best a piece of candy on your way to treatment, making you less miserable when you go. Just like when I was in a bad mood last week, I gnawed half a yellow peach that was frozen hard. It was so sweet that I squinted my eyes. I didn’t care whether it had anti-depressant ingredients or not. It was enough to be happy while eating it.