Doctors find eating one particular fruit could lower your risk of depression by 20%

Well, I hope you like citrus fruit (Getty Stock Images)

The study worked out the effects of a higher intake of citrus on the microbiome of the gut – specifically which microbial species were more present – and then looked at how certain microbial species linked to depression.

The study resolves: “From 2003 through 2017, we identified 2173 cases of depression among 32,427 women free of self-reported physician/clinician-diagnosed depression and regular use of antidepressants at baseline.

“Over 222,923 person-years of follow-up, compared to participants in the lowest quintile of citrus consumption, those in the highest quintile had a 22 percent lower risk of depression.”

The study then checked whether the risk of depression was lowered simply by ‘total fruit’ and ‘total vegetable’ rather than simply citrus fruit.

However, Harvard Medical School instructor and Massachusetts General Hospital physician Raaj Mehta – who led the study – told The Harvard Gazette: “The effect seems to be specific to citrus. When we look at people’s total fruit or vegetable consumption, or at other individual fruits such as apples or bananas, we don’t see any relationship between intake and risk of depression.”

And the effect can be from as little as ‘eating one medium orange a day’.

In two cohorts of data overall, the study shows ‘citrus intake is prospectively associated with a greater abundance of F. prausnitzii, which in turn, is associated with a lower risk of depression’.

While Mehta notes ‘more research is needed’ to compare citrus to traditional antidepressants, the study resolves: “This finding supports the notion that dietary interventions can mitigate or prevent depression symptoms, and, importantly, offers new avenues for therapeutic and/or biomarker development.”