High-Fat Yogurt Lowers Depression Risk

You are what you eat, as the saying goes. But new research suggests what you eat may also be a key factor in how you feel — psychologically.

Spanish researchers have determined that women who consume a lot of full-fat yogurt — but not low- or non-fat varieties — have a lower incidence of clinical depression than those who don’t.

In fact, those who eat low-fat yogurt had higher-than-expected levels of depression, according to the study, published in the Journal of Nutrition.

The research is the latest in a series linking diet — specifically foods like yogurt, aged cheeses, and even beer that contain “healthy” bacteria known as probiotics or prebiotics — to better mental and physical health.

“A growing literature even suggests that diet may be related to its development and that variation in our intestinal bacterial communities may influence depression risk,” said the researchers, led by Miguel Martínez-González of the University of Navarra and Ciberobn, Spain.

“Dietary choices may also play a role in altering what mix of microbes live in our gastrointestinal tracts. Many dietary factors are likely important in this regard, but probiotics (foods, like yogurt, that intentionally contain live bacteria) and prebiotics (food components, like dietary fiber, that serve as food sources for our inhabitant bacteria) … can influence mental health, including depressive symptoms.”

For the study, researchers compared the diets and medical records of 14,539 men and women for a 10-year period, beginning in 1999.

The findings indicated 727 of the individuals were diagnosed with depression during the study. Those consuming the highest levels of full-fat yogurt — at least 7 servings per day — were 22 percent less likely to be diagnosed than those consuming the lowest levels (less than a half-serving per day).

For reasons the researchers could not explain, the benefits of full-fat yogurt were only seen in women, not in men.

What’s more, those who consumed the highest levels of low-fat yogurt had higher rates of depression, particularly in the first few years of the study.