Depression and Inflammation

In Functional Medicine and Chiropractic we've long looked at the whole body as an integrated whole, and not independent body parts. Depression is not something that just happens to the mind and in the mind. The physical body is intimately linked to the mind and vice versa. An unhealthy body can lead to depression. The mainstream medical world is now coming around, although in their own way. An article in the September 3, 2012 Archives of General Psychiatry states that prolonged or excessive inflammation can damage many parts of the body, including the brain. Rather than using diet and nutritional supplements known to reduce inflammation, they used a biologic drug, infliximab, a drug known to block an inflammatory pathway in the body. This drug reduced depression in those patients with the highest level of inflammation. I would wager that an anti-inflammatory diet, one high in fruits and vegetables, low in processed and simple carbohydrates, with healthy fats, would also have an anti-depressant effect on those with higher levels of inflammation.

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