Studying the link between food and mood

Combining her interests in nutritional epidemiology and mental health, Brenda Leung, a PhD student at the University of Calgary, has designed a study to examine the link between nutrition and depression in pregnant women and new mothers. She notes that her work in the mental-health area is filling a gap.

“Most nutrition-based studies deal with physical-health issues, such as diabetes and heart disease,” she says.

Two aspects of Leung’s work break new ground: her long-term approach to this study of nutrition and depression; and her focus on pregnant women, who are often excluded in such studies.

Leung began work on the first stage of this project in September 2006 and plans to have preliminary data by late 2009. Working with a seven-member team, including the directors of three prenatal clinics in Calgary, Leung is recruiting women who are in the first trimester of pregnancy to help her find out whether there is any link between diet and depression.

Leung’s study will follow these women throughout their pregnancies and after their children are born. She hopes that it will determine what pregnant women are really eating, and whether there is any connection between certain nutrients (or combinations of nutrients) and mood.

Depression is one of the fastest-rising medical conditions in the world. The World Health Organization ranks depression second on the list of disabilities that reduce productivity worldwide. Leung also points out that depression in women can have far-reaching effects. “Depressed mothers may be less capable of caring for their children, which may result in poorer child development, mentally and physically.”

The impact of Leung’s work may also be far-reaching. It could alter the way health-care practitioners teach mothers-to-be about good nutrition—to enhance their mental health, prenatal and postpartum, as well as their physical fitness.

A doctor of naturopathic medicine by training, Leung’s interest in pure research grew while she was practising as a naturopathic doctor in Surrey, B.C. Intrigued by questions arising in her clinical practice—questions for which she had no answers—she decided on a period of further study. She chose the area of nutrition in maternal mental health as one where she could put her naturopathic experience to good use.

At the University of Calgary, Leung first tackled master’s studies in the Department of Community Health Sciences. Her supervisor was Dr. Marja Verhoef, a Canada Research Chair in Complementary Medicine and one of the few scientists in Canada doing research in this field.

In 2005, Leung began doctoral work under research psychologist Dr. Bonnie Kaplan in the Department of Pediatrics. Leung’s PhD studies are funded by AHFMR and the Alberta Mental Health Board through a new and innovative partnership.