Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

February 24th, 2020

1) Dr. Kandola and colleagues looked at sedentary behavior and teenage depression risk overtime in a new study out of Lancet Psychiatry. They looked at 4257 adolescents over a 6 year period. They found that total physical activity decreased between 12 and 16 years of age overall for the depressed group at age 18 years old. Depression scores were lower at 18 years old for every 60 minutes per day of extra movement over the study period.

This study shows correlation and not causation although there is some clear basic science research showing that movement has positive effects on brain mood. It is likely that mood destabilized teenage individuals are very likely to be vegetative by nature.

However, that being obvious, there is a clear path to depression reduction through active movement. Humans as a species evolved to move often. If you have a teen that suffers from a vegetative nature, get them up and moving with you. If you tackle this as a team, the outcomes are better.

2) Food groups and all cause mortality: Schwingshackl and colleagues systematic meta analysis of food groups and all cause mortality risk is a good read. From the article: "With increasing intake (for each daily serving) of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased; higher intake of red meat and processed meat was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in a linear dose-response meta-analysis. A clear indication of nonlinearity was seen for the relations between vegetables, fruits, nuts, and dairy and all-cause mortality. Optimal consumption of risk-decreasing foods results in a 56% reduction of all-cause mortality, whereas consumption of risk-increasing foods is associated with a 2-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality."

This data set parallels the Blue zones and Mediterranean diet studies to date. Excessive meat consumption increases the saturated fat load while simultaneously reducing the fiber load in the standard American diet, both of which are associated with inflammation and insulin resistance.

 

More data is always a good thing. I find that when we see a recurrent pattern arise, we can feel much more comfortable about a recommendation for change.

 

Dr. M

 

Kandola Lancet Psychiatry Article
Schwingshackl Am J Clin Nutrition Article