Physician-researcher outlines gut-brain clues behind ‘orange a day’ finding
By Saima Sidik, The Harvard Gazette, Image: screenshot from article, February 21, 2025
New findings add another dimension to “gut feelings.”
Eating an orange a day may lower a person’s depression risk by 20 percent, according to a study led by Raaj Mehta, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. That might be because citrus stimulates growth of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), a type of bacteria found in the human gut, to influence production of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine — two biological molecules known to elevate mood.
In this edited conversation with the Gazette, Mehta discusses key takeaways from the study.
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