Over the past several years, researchers have identified a range of health benefits—from lower blood pressure to improved memory skills and mental acuity—linked with the consumption of certain foods and beverages. A new study to be published next week in the journal Biological Psychiatry indicates that some foods could even help fight depression. A team of researchers at McLean Hospital, associated with Harvard University, found that omega-3 fatty acids and uridine, two substances that occur naturally in foods such as fish, walnuts, molasses and sugar beets, prevented the development of signs of depression in rats as effectively as antidepressant drugs. Another study published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that green tea, which has already been shown to help fight heart disease, cancer and other diseases, may also fight fat.
