Forget apples—researcher outlines how an orange a day may reduce depression risk by 20%

medicalxpress.com Forget apples—researcher outlines how an orange a day may reduce depression risk by 20%

]Eating an orange a day may lower a person's depression risk by 20%, according to a study published in Microbiome. That might be because citrus stimulates the growth of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), a type of bacteria found in the human gut, to influence production of the neurotrans...

Summary

A Harvard-led study published in Microbiome found that eating one orange a day may reduce depression risk by 20%.

The research links citrus consumption to increased levels of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a gut bacterium associated with higher serotonin and dopamine production, which can boost mood.

The findings were confirmed in both women and men. While not a replacement for antidepressants, citrus may play a role in mental health strategies.

Researchers hope to conduct clinical trials to further explore the connection between diet and mental health.

33 comments

This research was paid for by Big Orange /j

Kinda ironic how an orange man causes depression globally.
- Nice.

mma have to call bullshit on this one

Sure, I'll have one, right after I get out of bed today, should be before 16:00 if I can manage

Let's not forget, orange juice is like $11 a gallon in some places these days. It's cheaper to drink gasoline now.
No, don't drink gasoline.
- Orange juice, unless it's freshly squeezed, is about as far from eating an orange as could be.
  
  You're probably not wrong, but honestly I haven't seen anyone either eat an orange or drink orange juice in over 10 years.
- Is diesel okay?
  
  No, I do not recommend drinking diesel either.
  But that does raise the question of the price of cooking oil...

Neat! I hope they get to do further trials. I'm wondering about possible other explanations, like greater citrus availability in places with more sunny days, or whatever.
it'd be cool to find out for sure this is true.

Lol isn't this simply confounded by the ultra Arnold Schwarzenegger level of effort it takes to prepare an orange?
I.e. it takes a very motivated and determined person to peel an orange and those people tend to be less depressed
- Just buy orange juice then
- Yea it is more possibly a correlation turned to a causation by skillful science communication
- Simple way to eat them, cut from pole to pole into quarters, take a quarter, bite down close to the rind/peel, and then peel the rind off from one pole to the other while still biting the fruit, then nibble off the remaining fruit left on the peel. It's a little messy with the juice, but so much easier and quicker to eat.

Scurvy makes you sad

Cool. Let me know when the acidity won't burn a hole through my stomach.
- This article's about how citrus changes gut bacteria in a way that helps prevent depression, so maybe there are other less burning ways to alter the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in your system.
- Uh... It won't? Your stomach acid is a lot stronger than citric acid.
  
  Some of us are old and our bodies are falling apart. I've been told by many people my age and older that they can't eat onions, let alone garlic, anymore. You gotta stay on top of eating big flavors and capsaicin. Use it or lose it.
- Vitamins?
- Not possible unless your prone to gerd, or have h pylori infection, or taking high doses of nsaids

33 comments