Inflammation and Depression

I have been following a line of research that links inflammation and depression.  For example, it has been shown that levels of inflammation can be 40% to 50% higher in depressed people compared to non-depressed people.  In fact, some researchers believe that inflammation the primary cause of depression.  It is now a matter of finding out what physical and mental stressors activiate inflammation in certain people.

This is interesting to me because diet and exercise play a large role in regulating the body's level of inflammation.  Other studies have shown that exercise can often treat depression.  Could the link be through exercises beneficial effects on inflammation?

As I talked about in this post, intermittent fasting can help reduce inflammation as well.  And of course, eating more along the lines of a Paleo diet will help to reduce inflammation as well.

Researchers are now looking at anti-inflammatory medicines as a way to treat depression.  Hopefully, they will not overlook the power of diet and exercise to lower inflammation as well.