Eating Citrus May Lower Depression Risk

New findings add another dimension to “gut feelings.”

Eating an orange a day may lower a person’s depression risk by 20 percent, according to a study led by Raaj Mehta, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. That might be because citrus stimulates growth of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), a type of bacteria found in the human gut, to influence production of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine — two biological molecules known to elevate mood.

In this edited conversation with the Gazette, Mehta discusses key takeaways from the study.