Depressive effects of eggs and light-colored vegetables? Food and Mental Health, Color and Nutritional Concepts

【Egg and light-colored vegetable intake strongly associated with depression? Clear differences in eggs for both men and women, and light-colored vegetables for women. Yonezawa Nutrition University Food Survey】
https://www.zakzak.co.jp/article/20240506-QPWCV7BXGZPBTPEDWFN3PHWU5A/

・A team from Yonezawa Nutrition University in Yamagata Prefecture published in an international journal the results of a study on the relationship between the amount of each food group consumed and depression, finding that men and women with low egg intake and women with low intake of light-colored vegetables such as cabbage, radish, and onion were strongly associated with depression.

・The study found that low egg intake was 2.6 times more strongly associated with depression in men, and 2.7 times more strongly in women, compared to those who consumed more eggs. For women, the association was 2.6 times stronger even for those who consumed moderate amounts.

・The association with depression was 2.9 times stronger in women with a low intake of light-colored vegetables than in those with a high intake, and 2.7 times stronger in those with a moderate intake.

・Other comparisons showed no clear differences.

・According to the team, “high” intake corresponds to more than one egg per day and about 230 grams of light-colored vegetables per day, based on government recommendations.

・The team concluded that a “high” intake of eggs and vegetables is equivalent to at least one egg per day and 230 grams of light-colored vegetables per day, based on government recommendations. We could have imagined this for vegetables based on previous studies, but not for eggs,” says the professor.

The above is a quote from the article

Food and Mental Health, Color and Nutritional Concepts

I think it goes without saying that our daily diet builds our bodies. However, through this study, we may be able to say that our daily diet also builds our mentality (mind).

The story that consuming more eggs tends to cause depression seems to make sense, since eggs contain a lot of tryptophan, which is a material for serotonin. (see also the article).

However, it doesn’t specify what substances light-colored vegetables act on to affect depression, and I’m not sure.

Moreover, light-colored vegetables seem to have a depressant effect on women, but this does not seem to be the case for men.

Is there something about light-colored vegetables that affects only women?

To begin with, the term “light-colored vegetables” is not something you see that often. We are more likely to see green and yellow vegetables.

And since green and yellow vegetables are full of nutrients, I think there is a tendency for me to actively try to consume them.

Incidentally, the difference between light-colored vegetables and green-yellow vegetables seems to be the carotene content.

My own image is that dark-colored vegetables are more full of nutrients, but if you think about it again, color is not a matter of dark and light, but even colors that appear light are colors, and colors are splendid colors.

For example,

Black, of course, is a color, but white is also a color.

Blue, of course, is a color, and light blue is also an excellent color called light blue.

When we recognize colors as if they were paints, we tend to think that light blue is a diluted version of blue, but this is not true. （Each color exists as its own color (just as there is a color called “light blue”).

I’m not sure if I’m getting my point across well,

What I am trying to say is this,

The idea that “green and yellow vegetables are full of nutrients because they are dark in color, while light-colored vegetables are not full of nutrients because they are light in color” is incorrect.

It may be correct to think that “the color of green-yellow vegetables = nutrients, and the color of light-colored vegetables = nutrients.

And something about the light-colored vegetables’ own color = nutrition may have a depressive effect on women.

This study made me think about such things again.

So,

I thought to myself, I will actively consume light-colored vegetables from now on.

I think it might be better for women in particular to consume light-colored vegetables more aggressively.

See you then

In the past, there was a rule that one egg a day was the maximum, but that is no longer the case. We should eat more and more eggs. It is really important to update your information.