Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today's article is one of those inconvenient truths I wish would just go away.
This study is a meta-study, which means it looked at multiple research studies in order to answer a question. That question was, "Does a healthy diet help people handle depression?" Unsurprisingly, the answer was a resounding "yes!"
Junk food is delicious, has many positive associations for me, and has an immediate positive effect on my mood. If only that was all the effect it had.
In addition to tasting good, junk food is also very bad for your gut bacteria. It encourages the overgrowth of bad bacteria in your intestines. And because it's essentially nutrition-less, it fills you up without giving you anything for your body to use to repair and fuel itself.
The US population at large, but especially autistic people, tend to struggle with both proper diet and exercise. A limited palate, or a preference for very specific foods (often "white" foods- milk, bread, ice cream, crackers, etc) can make for a very nutritionally-limited diet. In addition, many forms of exercise develop a very negative set of connotations for autistic people between poor experiences with team sports and mandatory school exercise experiences.
It's accepted as a given that good health includes a healthy diet and exercise. But in my experience this knowledge is almost immediately set aside when it comes to mental health and weight loss, and pills and special diets sought in their stead. While these things can have their place, the foundation of good health can't be ignored in hopes of finding a "silver bullet" for depression and weight loss.
Instead, specific treatments, like special diets and pills, should be implemented atop the basic pieces of a healthy life: good nutrition and exercise. And then, only when needed. There are forms of depression that can't be helped without pharmaceutical interventions, and imbalances of hormones or brain chemicals that need extra help to become stable. But the basic foundation makes these things more effective, and without that foundation, the additional treatments are less effective.
Now if only I didn't like junk food and hate exercise so much...
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
This study is a meta-study, which means it looked at multiple research studies in order to answer a question. That question was, "Does a healthy diet help people handle depression?" Unsurprisingly, the answer was a resounding "yes!"
Junk food is delicious, has many positive associations for me, and has an immediate positive effect on my mood. If only that was all the effect it had.
In addition to tasting good, junk food is also very bad for your gut bacteria. It encourages the overgrowth of bad bacteria in your intestines. And because it's essentially nutrition-less, it fills you up without giving you anything for your body to use to repair and fuel itself.
The US population at large, but especially autistic people, tend to struggle with both proper diet and exercise. A limited palate, or a preference for very specific foods (often "white" foods- milk, bread, ice cream, crackers, etc) can make for a very nutritionally-limited diet. In addition, many forms of exercise develop a very negative set of connotations for autistic people between poor experiences with team sports and mandatory school exercise experiences.
It's accepted as a given that good health includes a healthy diet and exercise. But in my experience this knowledge is almost immediately set aside when it comes to mental health and weight loss, and pills and special diets sought in their stead. While these things can have their place, the foundation of good health can't be ignored in hopes of finding a "silver bullet" for depression and weight loss.
Instead, specific treatments, like special diets and pills, should be implemented atop the basic pieces of a healthy life: good nutrition and exercise. And then, only when needed. There are forms of depression that can't be helped without pharmaceutical interventions, and imbalances of hormones or brain chemicals that need extra help to become stable. But the basic foundation makes these things more effective, and without that foundation, the additional treatments are less effective.
Now if only I didn't like junk food and hate exercise so much...
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
Alas, one does not need to be autistic to enjoy junk food and despise exercise ...
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