established, and being depressed can certainly lead us to
unhealthy eating. But do poor diets make us depressed, and
if we improve our diets, will our mental health improve? We
now have an answer, thanks to the SMILES trial, published
in 2017 and led by Dr. Felice Jacka, the director of Deakin
University’s Food and Mood Centre in Australia.
Using a modified Mediterranean diet focusing on fresh
vegetables, fruits, raw unsalted nuts, eggs, olive oil, fish,
and grass-fed beef, Jacka and team saw patients with major
depression improve their scores by an average of about
eleven points on a sixty-point depression scale. By the end
of the trial, 32 percent of patients had scores so low that
they no longer met the criteria for depression! Meanwhile,
people in the group with no dietary modification improved
by only about four points, and only 8 percent achieved
remission.
This data adds serious strength to the argument that we
can eat our way to a better mood, and the Genius Plan has
been calibrated to incorporate these findings. To watch an
hour-long, in-depth interview that I conducted with Dr.
Jacka, visit http://maxl.ug/felicejackainterview.
Aside from sunlight, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids
DHA and EPA, what other magic supplement might you
take to boost serotonin? Given the body’s incredible ability
to synthesize neurotransmitters from the most basic of
building blocks, the most potent means we know of
boosting serotonin in the brain is to simply move. As I