The trial, dubbed SMILES (for Supporting the Modification of lifestyle In Lowered Emotional States), involved 67 men and women who were taking antidepressants and/or were in regular psychotherapy. All of the subjects had pretty unhealthy diets at the start, with low intakes of fruits and vegetables, little daily dietary fiber, and lots of sweets, processed meats, and salty snacks.
Half of the subjects were placed on the intervention diet, which was a modified Mediterranean diet (researchers called it the “ModiMed” diet—details on this in a moment) and attended regular sessions with a dietician.
The other half continued eating their usual diets, but were required to attend social support “befriending” sessions.
Before and after the 3-month study, everyone’s depression symptoms were graded. The test the research group chose to focus on was the MADRS scale (Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale), which rates mood on a scale of 0 to 60. The higher the score, the more depressed the individual, with 60 being the most severely depressed. (The average score of study participants was 25.)
After 3 months, people in the ModiMed diet group saw their MADRS scores improve on average by about 11 points. Thirty-two percent had MADRS scores so low that they no longer met criteria for depression! Meanwhile, people in the social support group with no dietary modification improved by only about 4 points, and only 8% achieved remission. (R)
