According to an article from Food Consumer, patients who have diabetes mellitus and/or heart disease are at a higher risk of depression, which can decrease the effectiveness of the medications they take.
“The trial reported in the Dec 30, 2010 issue of New England Journal of Medicine compared two groups of patients, one received the standard care without any so called Teamcare, while the other received a Teamcare intervention.
In the teamcare intervention, a nurse helped monitor disease control like cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and depression and worked closely with each patient’s primary physicians to help patients use medications effectively.”
A study published in the October 2001 issue of Diabetes Care suggests eating a Mediterranean diet could decrease the risk of developing diabetes significantly. The Mediterranean diet has been mentioned in Proactive Chiropractic’s Health blog previously — it includes olive oil, nuts, fish, lots of fruits and vegetables, and more. Vitamin D, which is an antidepressant, is found in fish oil.
Bottom line: the Mediterranean diet is good for your heart as well as your mind. Talk to Dr. Cohen in his San Francisco office if you have questions about nutritional supplements.