Mindfully Healing

Certain dairy products are associated with lower rates of depression. People who consume low-fat dairy products are less likely to be depressed than those who prefer whole-fat. The conclusions come from researchers in Japan and China. They studied 1,159 Japanese adults aged between 19 and 83. All were asked about their dairy consumption and levels of depression. People who ate low-fat dairy between one and four times a week were less depressed, the results showed. The benefits of dairy products could be down to trytophan, the study’s authors write: “Dairy

Back pain treatment could also help treat depression, fatigue and common digestive disorders. Taking a placebo — a fake pill — reduces back pain 30% even when people know it is fake. Professor Ted Kaptchuk, one of the study’s authors, explained: “These findings turn our understanding of the placebo effect on its head. This new research demonstrates that the placebo effect is not necessarily elicited by patients’ conscious expectation that they are getting an active medicine, as long thought. Taking a pill in the context of a patient-clinician relationship —