Low folate levels linked to dementia, depression and mental health issues

Mental health could be significantly enhanced through improved nutrition, according to scientists specialising in the treatment of depression and other psychiatric disorders.

Despite the fact that the brain is an organ that responds to biochemical interventions such as drugs, many doctors still regard those studying the effects of nutrition on the brain as being at the fringes of medical science, said professor David Smith. "Nutrition is virtually ignored by British medical science, I'm sorry to say."

While elevated levels of homocysteine and low folate levels are linked to dementia, they are also associated with increased risk of depression and other mental health problems, said Dr Philip Cowen, a professor of psychiatry at Oxford University. "Generally speaking, there is a correlation between low mood and low folate status, but there could be several confounding factors."

It is also known that subjects with a certain variant of the MTHFR gene (and correspondingly higher homocysteine levels) were particularly prone to depression.

While the causes of depression are usually psychological, they can result from biochemical imbalances such as deficiencies in B vitamins, folate, zinc, magnesium and omega-3 or imbalances in blood sugar or neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, adrenalin and histamine, claimed Dr Patrick Holford, who has written extensively on the nutritional treatment of mood disorders.

"RDAs [Recommended Daily Allowances] don't take into account what our brains need. We're no longer eating what we were designed to eat. We're eating fewer fruits and vegetables, less protein, less fibre and more fat, carbs, salt and sugar - and yet our genes haven't changed.

"One in nine women in the US is on anti-depressants, so something has gone very awry."