The You Docs: Beware COVID-19 “treatments”; how diet affects mental health | Columns

A: Every crisis provides an opportunity for scammers and dreamers — and that means there is a huge amount of COVID-19-related products out there that promise to prevent, treat or cure the virus based on nothing but guesses, suppositions, internet gossip and fabrications, and, in some cases, the inclination to perpetrate downright fraud.

Prevention comes from being healthy and minimizing chronic inflammation in your body so your immune strength is good. It also depends on you following proven, risk-reducing protocols: wearing a mask; washing your hands well and frequently; staying away from large gatherings; getting the vaccine; and then continuing to be masked and careful until we are sure about the impact of variants of the virus and how mass vaccination will play out. Treatment, obviously, should be done by your doctor or in a hospital.

The Food and Drug Administration is actively issuing warnings to companies that sell products that exploit your hope for easy solutions. Lately they’ve gone after ones that claim their teletemperature reading devices can diagnose COVID-19 (they can’t) and others that push hyped-up vitamins as treatments and cures for the infection. We always say take a half a multivitamin twice a day along with extra vitamin D to get your blood level into the 50-80 ng/ml range. Stick with that.

The FDA has also sent warning letters to companies selling teas that are supposed to prevent or treat the infection and to others pushing hokey-sounding stuff they claim will detox your cells or boost blood oxygen levels.

It’s impossible for the government to shut down all these fake COVID-19-related companies, so it’s your responsibility to steer clear of products that deliver little more than a hole in your wallet. You can check out the FDA’s list of companies pushing unproven or downright dangerous COVID-19 treatments by Googling “FDA warning letters.”

Q: If what you eat has so much to do with the health of your body, does it also affect your mental health?

— Emily G., Rockford, Ill.

A: Very smart question, and the answer is an emphatic “yes.” Various studies have found that diet and depression are related (both ways — what you eat can fuel depression, and depression can fuel poor nutrition). In fact, it’s been shown that each 10{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4} increase in eating highly-processed foods bumps up the risk of depression by 21{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4}. Seems those foods can change your gut bacteria, and that can lead to brain changes.

Now researchers from Binghamton University have info gathered from 2,600 people over five years that looks at the effect of diet on the mental health of men and women ages 18 to 30 and 30 and older.

Their study, published in Nutrients, found young women have better mental health if they eat breakfast daily, don’t eat fast food or drink too much caffeine. Older women need to follow those guidelines, plus increase their intake of fresh fruit. Young men, on the other hand, thrive mentally if they take it easy on dairy and caffeine, ditch fast food and get plenty of protein. Older men need to make sure they add nuts to their diet.

The researchers believe differences in the physical functioning of the male and female brain influence the distinct impact of diet on men’s and women’s mental health. They say women’s good mental health depends on them eating a wide spectrum of healthy foods; for men, the biggest message is no fast food — that’s their main trigger of mental distress.

But you can’t just eat your way out of mental misery. Turns out that for everyone, moderate to intense exercise is also a requirement for good mental health! So grab some real comfort food — that’s vegetables, fruits and lean proteins that are unprocessed and full of nutrients — and then head out the door for a walk or jog.