How Diet Alters Brain Chemistry to Cause (or Battle) Depression
Oliver’s mother was informed by his physicians after he was born in 2020 that he had a metabolic abnormality that would harm his brain and put him at risk for depression in later life.
The manner in which depression manifests in individuals with this genetic mutation — a deficiency in particular brain chemicals — tells us a great deal about mood in general. Thankfully, dietary modifications that reverse these brain alterations can help children like Oliver and many other individuals who are at risk for depression.
Depression is common and mysterious; some people never recover from it, while others do; some people recover, while others are unable to. Understanding the chemistry of the brain and how the body as a whole can influence mental processes is essential to solving the enigma of its origins.
Phenylalanine, a large amino acid that the body uses to create proteins, was found in excess in Baby Oliver’s blood. Oliver’s developing brain would be distorted by the phenylalanine thickening of his blood, as an article on his stay at Akron Children’s Hospital recently detailed.
Oliver was identified as having phenylketonuria (PKU), a hereditary condition brought on by an incapacity to convert the related amino acid tyrosine from phenylalanine, which is required for the synthesis of proteins. Like a release valve, the gene that is mutated in PKU children typically limits the amount of phenylalanine in the blood. Although PKU is rare — affecting only one in 25,000 babies — it has uncovered crucial information about human biochemistry that is pertinent to all people.
From genetics to depression
Phenylalanine overload in PKU patients clogs the tunnel other molecules need to enter the brain. Overall, phenylalanine has the same impact as that which New Yorkers find intolerable — a slow pedestrian on a small sidewalk who blocks the path of others.
Other chemicals that the brain needs to produce dopamine and serotonin are blocked by phenylalanine. These neurotransmitters are essential for mood regulation. Depression is caused by low serotonin and dopamine levels. Furthermore, not only PKU patients but everyone else needs these brain chemicals.
Brain inflammation can also alter mood and brain chemistry. Injurious bacteria colonize the stomach due to mutations in the PDE1A gene. These bacteria create intense inflammation by transferring substances into the brain through the blood. In the end, this cascade has multiple repercussions, one of which is serotonin depletion — the same brain chemical that is impacted in children with PKU.
Fat in the liver can make you depressed
In addition, injury to bodily organs, such the liver, can result in inflammation. The normal Western diet, heavy in sugar and saturated fat, damages and fattyates the liver, causing inflammation. Patients who have fatty livers are therefore more likely to experience depression. One in four persons has excess liver fat, which is far more frequent than genetic disorders like PKU.
Deposits of fat harm the liver and accelerate the deterioration of liver cells. These dying cells leak their contents into the bloodstream, causing inflammation to go to the brain and eventually induce serotonin deficiency and depression.
Therefore, dietary deficiencies as well as genetic variations can cause chemical alterations in the brain that result in long-term, harmful effects.
Diets that prevent depression
The good news is that inflammation, fatty liver, and genetics may all be prevented with a healthy diet. Inflammation is reduced by diets rich in certain fatty acids, which are present in foods like fish and olive oil. This may be the reason why eating habits that emphasize whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables while avoiding red meat are associated with a lower incidence of depression in the Mediterranean and MIND diets.
Reducing sugar and saturated fat reduces inflammation and liver damage. A diet rich in fiber and low in sugar can reprogram the composition of gut bacteria, much like a computer.
Even the effects of heredity can be reversed with the correct diet. Patients with PKU can avoid the disease’s related brain damage by eating a diet low in protein, particularly low in phenylalanine. Oliver’s physicians at Akron Children’s Hospital now anticipate that he will lead a rich and normal life because they are aware of the best food for him. Many people’s moods can probably be restored to equilibrium with the correct nutrition.
Deciphering the chemistry of the brain and body is leading to promising prospects for treating depression and enabling millions of individuals to live normal lives, not only those with hereditary illnesses. “The brain is an organ of minor importance,” according to Aristotle. Maybe his instincts informed him that there was more at stake than intelligence for mastering the intellect.
