Can Eating Mushrooms Improve Depression?
Maintaining physical health is important, but mental health often plays an equally significant role in shaping one’s well-being, especially when it comes to depression.
Clinical depression is a mental health illness characterized by negative feelings and low self-esteem that can make normal tasks more difficult and impact quality of life. Mood disorders (which include depression) are the leading cause of hospitalization for Americans under the age of 45, and depression annually affects approximately 1 in 15 adults. Although there is currently no cure for depression, there are effective treatment options, such as medications and psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy).
However, researchers want to explore additional options to treat depression, particularly simpler ones that involve changes in diet. A recent study from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) found a potential correlation between eating mushrooms and reduced symptoms of depression in adults. Mushrooms are a fungus rich in vitamin B1, vitamin B12, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory agents. Since some former studies have concluded that these nutrients have antidepressant effects, the PSU public health researchers hypothesized that mushroom intake could be useful for combating depression.
To investigate this possibility, the researchers explored data from 24,699 participants collected from 2005–2016 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This program is used to evaluate the health of children and adults in the United States (US) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two rounds of interviews were conducted by trained interviewers three to ten days apart, in which participants were asked to share information on every food or beverage they had consumed in the past 24 hours. Meals that had a significant proportion of mushrooms were treated as sources of data, and the exact amount of mushrooms consumed in grams—as well as its nutritional value—was determined by using various guidelines established by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Commodity Intake Database (FCID).
Clinical depression is a mental health illness characterized by negative feelings and low self-esteem that can make normal tasks more difficult and impact quality of life. Mood disorders (which include depression) are the leading cause of hospitalization for Americans under the age of 45, and depression annually affects approximately 1 in 15 adults. Although there is currently no cure for depression, there are effective treatment options, such as medications and psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy).
However, researchers want to explore additional options to treat depression, particularly simpler ones that involve changes in diet. A recent study from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) found a potential correlation between eating mushrooms and reduced symptoms of depression in adults. Mushrooms are a fungus rich in vitamin B1, vitamin B12, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory agents. Since some former studies have concluded that these nutrients have antidepressant effects, the PSU public health researchers hypothesized that mushroom intake could be useful for combating depression.
To investigate this possibility, the researchers explored data from 24,699 participants collected from 2005–2016 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This program is used to evaluate the health of children and adults in the United States (US) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two rounds of interviews were conducted by trained interviewers three to ten days apart, in which participants were asked to share information on every food or beverage they had consumed in the past 24 hours. Meals that had a significant proportion of mushrooms were treated as sources of data, and the exact amount of mushrooms consumed in grams—as well as its nutritional value—was determined by using various guidelines established by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Commodity Intake Database (FCID).
According to the National Institutes of Health, depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States.
Image Source: Anemone123
To collect data on the participants’ mental well-being, the researchers also asked them to take a self-reported assessment known as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), which is based on depression criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. Through a series of questions to which participants could respond “not at all,” “several days,” “more than half the days,” and “nearly every day”, the questionnaire compiled a ranking score from 0–27, on which a score of 10 or above corresponded to depression.
To account for confounding factors, or aspects that can affect a study’s accuracy, the researchers’ interviews also included questions about the participants’ personal background history. These questions focused on their basic demographics, socioeconomic status, marital status, body mass index (BMI), substance abuse history, exercise habits, and chronic illnesses. Because these factors could potentially disrupt the relationship between mushroom intake and depression prevalence, the researchers attempted to account for them by factoring them into their various statistical analyses.
After all data was collected from 24,699 adults, the researchers discovered that only 5.9% of participants had depression, and also that 5.2% of participants had a daily diet containing mushrooms. They concluded that participants who were in the middle tertile of mushroom consumers (4.9 grams eaten per day) experienced lower amounts of depressive symptoms. However, as a cross-sectional study, the work certainly has its limitations—since the researchers did not find a clear relationship between the exact mushroom dosage and depression likelihood, the results may have been due to chance.
Nevertheless, this public health research finding is still exciting because it suggests that something as simple as adding mushrooms to one’s plate could improve emotional well-being.
To account for confounding factors, or aspects that can affect a study’s accuracy, the researchers’ interviews also included questions about the participants’ personal background history. These questions focused on their basic demographics, socioeconomic status, marital status, body mass index (BMI), substance abuse history, exercise habits, and chronic illnesses. Because these factors could potentially disrupt the relationship between mushroom intake and depression prevalence, the researchers attempted to account for them by factoring them into their various statistical analyses.
After all data was collected from 24,699 adults, the researchers discovered that only 5.9% of participants had depression, and also that 5.2% of participants had a daily diet containing mushrooms. They concluded that participants who were in the middle tertile of mushroom consumers (4.9 grams eaten per day) experienced lower amounts of depressive symptoms. However, as a cross-sectional study, the work certainly has its limitations—since the researchers did not find a clear relationship between the exact mushroom dosage and depression likelihood, the results may have been due to chance.
Nevertheless, this public health research finding is still exciting because it suggests that something as simple as adding mushrooms to one’s plate could improve emotional well-being.
Featured Image Source: TomaszProszek
RELATED ARTICLES
|
Vertical Divider
|
Vertical Divider
|
Vertical Divider
|
