A bad diet can cause depression

The brain works constantly throughout your life, both during the day and at night when you are asleep. The brain never rests and therefore requires a constant supply of energy, which is obtained from food. The quality of “fuel” that feeds the brain depends on the components of your diet.

What you eat directly affects the functions of the brain and its structure, as well as your mood.

Depression is a common condition. About 5% of people around the world suffer from it. Even the most delicate symptoms of depression are associated with a decrease in quality of life, deterioration of well-being, decreased productivity at work and during study, and deterioration of psychosocial relations.

Calming-hypnotics, the so-called benzodiazepines (relanium, lorafen) do not cure depression. They can only be used as an adjuvant to relieve symptoms, reduce anxiety or improve the quality of sleep. However, using such measures for more than one or two months can lead to addiction.

How does nutrition affect brain function?

Everyone knows that the car engine must receive fuel of an appropriate quality, otherwise it will stop working. By analogy, the brain can be damaged if you supply it with poor quality fuel. In addition, processed and refined products create harmful metabolic by-products that also act destructively on cells of the nervous system. For example, a diet rich in refined sugars is harmful to the brain. In addition to the deterioration of the insulin balance in the body, these types of products promote the formation of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Research confirms the correlation between diet rich in refined sugars and impaired brain function as well as mood and depression.

Probiotics help in maintaining a good mood

People using probiotics (dietary supplements that supplement beneficial bacteria in the digestive system) notice a reduction in stress-related ailments. Researchers argue that the cause of this reaction is serotonin – a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep and appetite. Over 90% of serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract by “good” bacteria in the intestines, which is why bringing the intestinal flora into order is essential in the treatment of stress.

Good bacteria protect the intestinal mucosa and provide proper protection against toxins and pathogens. In addition, the natural bacterial flora does not produce toxic substances that could penetrate the bloodstream, enter the brain and cause toxic reactions leading to malfunctions of the nervous system.