Mental Health

Exercise can prevent or treat mild to moderate cases of stress-induced depression, although the mechanisms weren’t known. We found one mechanism that protects the brain from changes elicited by unpredictable stress, which are associated with the development of depression. In brief, if you train your muscles (through aerobic exercise), they acquire the capacity to filter out of the blood a molecule called kynurenine. Kynurenine is known to increase in circulation under stress and to accumulate in the brain, where it correlates with the development of depression.

This is a review article that summarizes current knowledge on how some nutrients obtained from food play a dual role in human health: they provide energy and building blocks for cells and tissues, but they also constitute important messengers that can impact mental health or how an organism decides to store energy or use it

The amino acid tryptophan, which we get from food since our bodies cannot make it, has many different roles in the human body. We need it to make new proteins, but it is mostly used to generate many other molecules with different biological activities. From serotonin – that regulates mood, to melatonin – that regulates sleep, to a group of compounds called kynurenines that regulate many different processes in the body. This review summarizes what we known about the many roles of kynurenines