Im a brain doctor heres the 1 thing to avoid if youre depressed

So long, suckers, gummy bears and candy corn — a renowned psychiatrist says the one thing you should definitely do if you’re depressed is trash the junk food.“Your gut health is critical to brain health,” Dr.Daniel Amen, a brain-imaging researcher in California, said in a TikTok last week.

“If you have, for example, an ultra-processed food diet, you have a dramatically increased risk of struggling with depression.”Researchers have long been highlighting the importance of the gut-brain connection — the idea that the gut and brain constantly communicate through an intricate network of nerves and chemical signals.The brain signals the gut to prepare for food digestion, while stress can trigger signals that cause gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea or diarrhea.For its part, the gut microbiome — the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi in our digestive system — produces chemicals that can influence brain function and affect mood.Amen notes that over 100 trillion microbes, primarily bacteria, make up the microbiome.He refers to them as “bugs” and likens them to “pets.”“You have to feed your gut bugs healthy foods, fiber, colorful fruits and vegetables, healthy protein in order for your gut to support your brain,” Amen explained.Ultra-processed foods have earned a poor reputation for having lots of calories, sugar, fat and salt and little to no vitamins or fiber.

Junk food has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer.A 2023 study from the Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health found that people who consume nine or more servings of ultra-processed foods a day have a 50% higher risk of developing depression than those who eat four or fewer daily servings.Artificial sweeteners and artificially sweetened beverages, in particular, were associated with an increased risk of depression, with researchers suggesting that these chemicals spur certain transmis...