Depression can really kill you. Here are 6 tips to stay away from depression.

Some time ago, the news of singer Coco Lee's death from depression continued to be on the hot search list, which made many people feel sad. At the same time, it also made everyone pay more attention to depression.

Depression is a common mental disorder. About 350 million people suffer from depression worldwide. [1] The prevalence of depression in my country is 6.9%. Don’t underestimate depression. It is the leading cause of disability worldwide and ranks fourth in the burden of disability. If you suffer from depression, it will not only increase your psychological burden and reduce your quality of life, but it is also a risk factor for suicide.

Depression is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29, and the incidence of depression in women is twice that of men. In addition, depression also increases the risk of cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive and other diseases and mortality. [2]

Nowadays, many people are under great pressure in life and are prone to depression. In order to stay away from depression, in addition to adjusting your mentality in time, you should also follow these suggestions.

Reduce staying up late:

Good sleep quality can make people full of energy and vitality for the whole day. Staying up late will not only affect physical functions, but also mental health.

A university conducted a survey on 752 students and found that the rate of staying up late was as high as 94%. Psychologically, these students may suffer from anxiety, loneliness, strained interpersonal relationships, depression, and mild mental disorders. [3]

Many people have had this experience in life: staying up late the night before and being forced to wake up by the alarm clock the next day. They are severely sleep deprived. Whether they are working or studying, they feel like a frost-bitten eggplant all day long, listless, in a bad mood, and not interested in anything.

Therefore, it is recommended that you try not to stay up late, get enough sleep for 8 hours a day, and it is best to go to bed before 23:00.

Of course, don’t sleep too long. Sleeping ≥9 hours can affect glucose metabolism. Cohort studies have shown that sleeping too long can increase the risk of death in patients with type 2 diabetes. [4]

Don't diet to lose weight

In the hot summer, everyone wants to have a good figure, wear thin clothes, and look refreshed. But some friends are eager to lose weight and embark on the road of dieting. In order to lose weight, they eat very little staple food every day, or even no staple food.

Although not eating staple foods can help you lose weight quickly in the early stages, once you resume eating, the weight will rebound significantly, and you may also experience malnutrition, hair loss, bad breath, dizziness, and amenorrhea in women. This low-carb or ultra-low-carb diet can also easily lead to mental symptoms such as depression and anger. [5]

Therefore, even if we want to lose weight, we should not skip staple foods. We should eat at least one fist of food at each meal, and a combination of coarse and fine foods, such as oatmeal rice, buckwheat rice, brown rice, and chickpea rice.

Eat less fried foods

Fried foods are crispy, fragrant and make a pleasant sound. Eating them occasionally can make people very happy, but if you eat fried foods frequently, you will not be so happy. Instead, it will increase the risk of depression.

Scholars from Zhejiang University analyzed data from the UK Biobank, which included 140,000 participants with an average follow-up of 11.3 years. The results showed that long-term consumption of fried foods, especially fried potatoes and fried white meat, was associated with a 12% and 7% increased risk of anxiety and depression. [6]

This may be attributed to the production of acrylamide during the frying process; long-term exposure to acrylamide induces oxidative stress and inflammation, which may promote brain metabolic disorders and lead to anxiety and depression.[6]

In addition to this aspect, fried foods can also make people fat. Eating more and more fat will naturally make people anxious about their body shape and increase the risk of depression. If you want to be in a good mood and maintain a good figure at the same time, you should try to eat less fried foods.

Vitamin D supplementation

Vitamin D can improve levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can improve mood. Vitamin D supplementation can prevent depression. Even for people who already suffer from depression, vitamin D supplementation can help reduce depression levels and stabilize the patient’s mood. [7]

There are relatively few foods in the diet that can supplement vitamin D. 10 minutes of sunlight exposure can supplement us with 78~80% of vitamin D. However, it is too hot in the summer and many people will take sun protection measures when going out. It is cold in the winter and people wear more clothes, which will affect the body's synthesis of vitamin D.

Therefore, when it comes to supplementing vitamin D, it is recommended to supplement with vitamin D preparations, 10 micrograms per day for the general population, 15 micrograms per day for people over 65 years old, and 20 micrograms per day for people over 70 years old.

Regulate intestinal flora

Gut flora plays an important role in the occurrence and development of depression. It can participate in the occurrence and development of depression through multiple pathways such as inflammatory response, HPA axis regulation, monoamine neurotransmitter regulation, and neurotrophic factor regulation. Therefore, depression can be prevented and treated by regulating the gut flora. [8]

In order to balance the intestinal flora, the most indispensable thing in the diet is foods containing prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics help the proliferation of probiotics in the intestines and can help intestinal health.

For example, whole grains such as oatmeal, highland barley, and barley are rich in β-glucan; vegetables such as leeks, onions, dandelion petals, and asparagus shoots are rich in inulin; fruits such as apples, pears, papayas, and plums are rich in pectin; beans such as tofu, tofu skin, and dried tofu are rich in soy oligosaccharides; dairy products such as yogurt and cheese are rich in lactic acid bacteria.

Eating these foods regularly can help us regulate our intestinal flora.

Keep exercising

Exercise can stimulate the secretion of dopamine, help relieve stress, reduce negative emotions, and prevent the occurrence of depression.

A meta-analysis on the relationship between physical exercise and depression showed that exercise is a very good measure to prevent and improve depression. In terms of exercise frequency and duration, exercising 3 to 4 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes each time has the best effect; in terms of exercise intensity, moderate-intensity exercise is most effective in improving depression, and team sports such as basketball and football are more effective in intervening in depression than badminton, table tennis and other competitive sports. [9]

Summarize:

The key to preventing depression: timely adjustment of mentality, balanced diet, and exercise. I hope everyone will not be depressed and live a healthy and happy life.

References:

[1]WHO. Depression[EB/OL]. [2022-3-2].

[2] Ding Xianbin, Jiao Yan, Xu Jie, et al. Trends in depression mortality and mortality burden in Chongqing from 2012 to 2020[J]. Chinese Journal of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, 2022, 30(07): 517-520. DOI: 10.16386/j.cjpccd.issn.1004-6194.2022.07.008.

[3] Tang Liping, He Yuanming. Investigation and analysis of the impact of staying up late on college students' mental health: A case study of Hunan University of Science and Technology [J]. Journal of Hunan University of Science and Technology, 2018, 39(04): 130-131+156. DOI: 10.16336/j.cnki.cn43-1459/z.2018.04.045.

[4]. Chen Yijia, Su Jian, Qin Yu, et al. Prospective cohort study on sleep duration and mortality risk in patients with type 2 diabetes[J]. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, 2019, 40(4):394-399.

[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Blue Book on Obesity Prevention and Control in China[M]. Peking University Medical Press. 2019

[6]Wang, Anli et al. “High fried food consumption impacts anxiety and depression due to lipid metabolism disturbance and neuroinflammation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 120,18 (2023): e2221097120. doi:10.1073/pnas.2221097120

[7] Dai Zhe, Wang Jing, Zheng Caixia, et al. Meta-analysis of the effects of vitamin D supplementation on patients with depression[J]. Evidence-Based Nursing, 2023, 9(11): 1907-1913.

[8] Li Qiuying, Cai Lun, Wei Liping. Research progress on intestinal flora in the mechanism of depression and traditional Chinese medicine treatment [J/OL]. Journal of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 1-15 [2023-07-11]. http://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/21.1543.R.20230531.1751.004.html.

[9] Huang Jiaqi. Dose-effect relationship of different exercise modes on depression in college students: based on network meta-analysis[J]. Bulletin of Sports Science and Technology, 2023, 31(03): 178-183. DOI: 10.19379/j.cnki.issn.1005-0256.2023.03.049.