#763 The Happiness Diet

vs. The SAD + MAD Diets

In our last +1, we talked about my recent PhilosophersNotes-athon.

25 PN’s in 2.5 days for the win!!

One of the Notes I REALLY enjoyed was on The Happiness Diet by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey, MD.

The whole book/Note is fantastic. As you may have guessed by the title, it’s all about how a MUCH larger percentage of our happiness is driven by our DIET than we may have suspected.

Recall: Something like 90% of your (feel good!) serotonin is produced in YOUR GUT. (That stat always blows me away.)

Therefore, Optimizing our diets should be a primary part of our psychiatrists/therapists protocol. Tragically, it’s typically not. (At least not yet!)

Today I want to focus on this epic little wisdom gem: “A large study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that eating processed foods, such as refined carbohydrates, sweets, and processed meats, increased the risk of depression by about 60%. Eating a whole-food diet, on the other hand, decreased the risk of the disease by about 26%.”

Let’s reread that.

“A large study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that eating processed foods, such as refined carbohydrates, sweets, and processed meats, increased the risk of depression by about 60%. Eating a whole-food diet, on the other hand, decreased the risk of the disease by about 26%.”

And, let’s do the math.

If you’re eating a standard modern diet (also known as the Standard American Diet (or SAD)) with all that processed food and refined carbs, you’re 60% (!!!) more likely to be depressed.

Pause. Reflect on that stat.

If we assume a baseline of 1, a 60% increased risk of depression would put us at 1.6. Now, if you switched to eating a healthier, whole-food based diet, your risk of getting depression would go down by 26% from the baseline. Assuming that baseline of 1, that would put you at .74.

Now, if my rough napkin math is correct, that means that you’re basically TWICE (1.6 vs. .74) as likely to be depressed on the SAD than you would on the happy diet.

Pause. Reflect on that stat.

Then pause and reflect on what makes it into your shopping cart and your mouth Today.

That’s Today’s +1.

Let’s do the happiness diet math for ourselves and for our families and colleagues and loved ones a little more Today.

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