Folate deficiency related to depression risk

The B vitamin family is a large one. If they owned an actual home, they would probably have to a housekeeper named Alice. But, not only are the B vitamins many in number, they are also extremely important to a healthy diet. This is especially true of folate, number 9 in the B vitamin family.

A recent study on the effects of low folate levels revealed a link to higher rates of depression in both men and women. Although this correlation had been previously observed, the association was not considered conclusive until now.

The new research on the folate/depression link was based on a meta-analysis of 11 studies involving a total of 15,315 participants, 1,769 of whom were diagnosed with clinical depression. The numbers revealed that low folate levels were associated with a 42-percent greater risk of depression.

Care to read more on the study? Here's the press release from the University of York.