Deficiency of folate (a B vitamin that's essential for proper brain function) has been shown to play a role in depression.

Last year, researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University conducted the first study to examine the association between depression and low levels of folate among a large segment of the general population, including teenagers.

The USDA team examined data from blood tests of almost 3,000 subjects, aged 15 to 39. Through diagnostic interviews, the research team found that subjects who had major depression and subjects who had mild depression both had low red blood cell folate concentrations.

An editorial that accompanies the publication of the study in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics points out that while the results of this and other studies on folate and depression are promising, not enough research has been done to suggest a proper dosage for folate supplements, or exactly who should receive them, or for how long.

Within the context of clinical research that sort of caution is common. But out here in the real world it's not too early to recognize that someone who'depressed would almost certainly help their cause to include folate-rich foods in their diet, along with a supplement of folic acid or a Bcomplex containing folic acid, like B-Complex-75.

By FoodScience of Vermont.

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