When I get a patient facing depression, one of the first things I do — before I run a single test — is ask what they’ve been eating.

And most of the time, the answer to that question tells me everything I need to know — because people who eat garbage usually end up with a mood down in the dumps.

This food-mood connection has been proven time and again. And now, a new study out of Europe on nearly 9,000 people finds that a steady junk-food habit can boost your risk of depression by up to 51 percent.

The two specific categories with the strongest links to depression were fast food like burgers and pizza and processed pastries such as donuts and croissants.

It didn’t take much, either, because the researchers say patients with even a moderate junk habit had a higher risk of depression than those who ate better foods.

The only flaw here is that the consumption levels were tracked using a food frequency questionnaire — a fairly weak form of research that relies on people to recall not only what they ate, but how much and how often they ate it.

And, as you might imagine, people have a tendency to lie on those things to make it seem like they have better habits than they really do.

Still, there’s something to this — because it’s been proven by stronger studies, and it’s not hard to see why. Junk food is completely lacking in the nutrients your body needs to function… especially your brain.

What’s more, empty carbs can cause your sugar levels to fluctuate wildly — elevating your mood briefly, and then bringing it crashing back down.

And let’s not forget that many people have hidden or undiagnosed food sensitivities that cause or worsen depression and other mood disorders — and the ingredients and chemicals used in junk food are often the culprit.

Junk in the diet also creates body fat — and excess body fat can cause your hormones to go haywire. And yes, hormonal imbalances are also a major cause of depression.

I’ve found that any number of supposedly mental disorders can be cured, or at least dramatically improved, through better diet — including depression, anxiety, and ADHD.

From food to drink — I’ve got something brewing next that you definitely want to see. Keep reading!

You might think heart attacks don’t discriminate, but that’s not actually true. They do discriminate — and it’s a form of discrimination that’s killing women.

Believe it or not, women are actually more likely to die and more likely to die young as a result of a heart attack, and it’s because they don’t always experience the classic heart attack warning signs.

You know the big one: chest pain. That sudden pain is a direct and urgent message from the body that something’s wrong — and you need to get to the hospital.

But according to a study of more than 1.4 million heart patients tracked for up to 12 years, only 58 percent of women experience chest pain during a heart attack. Compare that to 70 percent of men who feel chest pain, and it’s not hard to see why women are 40 percent more likely to die as a result.

They simply never had a fair chance in the first place.

Overall, the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that 10.3 percent of men who experience heart attacks die as a result of them, versus 14.6 percent of women — with the biggest increase in risk among younger women, especially those 55 years old or younger.

Because they feel just about anything other than chest pain, these women are more likely to blame their symptoms on just about anything else: the flu, nerve or muscle pain, simple stress or something else entirely.

So instead of getting help, they pop a few painkillers or go lay down for a little while.

And some of them never get back up.

Don’t let this happen to you or your loved ones. Make it your mission to get to know the rest of the heart attack warning signs, which include:

• Pain or a numb sensation in other parts of the body — including the jaw, arms, stomach or back;
• Sudden fatigue;
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath;
• Dizziness;
• Nausea, vomiting and/or stomachache;
• Anxiety;
• Lightheadedness; and
• A cold sweat.

Don’t wait to see if these symptoms pass. Get help — especially if you’re younger and especially if you’re thinking “I couldn’t possibly be having a heart attack.”

That’s the kind of attitude that’s clearly getting people killed.

For more on heart protection, keep reading.

Looks like the savage beast isn’t the only thing music can soothe: A good tune can also help ease pain.

Of course, that’s not too much of a surprise since many people already use music to soothe both physical and mental pain — but the latest research shows how there’s one group of folks in particular who stand to benefit the most.

And if you’re the type that finds yourself getting anxious at the very thought of pain — the type who breaks out into a sweat even thinking about a routine dental cleaning, for example — then get the headphones out and fire up some tunes, because music might be better than a painkiller for you.

In the new study, researchers sent painful jolts of electricity through the fingertips of 143 volunteers and measured their levels of pain as they listened to music. The volunteers were also told to pay attention to the music by focusing on certain melodies and listening for specific tones.

And it worked: Pain levels went down as the musical concentration went up for at least some of the patients.

But it didn’t quite work for everyone. In fact, people who didn’t have much anxiety over pain didn’t get much of a benefit — and I’m guessing it’s because these folks probably don’t feel the same levels of pain either.

Pain, after all, is as much mental as it is physical — and that’s why people who get anxious over it stand to benefit the most.

And if that’s you, the researchers behind the new study say be sure to pick music that will hold your interest. Because, let’s face it, that’s rarely going to be the sleepy office Muzak and “light FM” droning in the background of most medical clinics.

So next time you have a medical or dental appointment, bring your own music player and a pair of headphones (as long as it’s allowed in the room, of course). Tune in to your tunes… and tune out the pain.

Everyone should make sure they get moving during the day — but no one needs to turn into a treadmill-racing workout fiend to get the benefits of exercise.

In fact, too much exercise can be as bad for you as too little — bad for you knees, bad for your heart and maybe even bad for your mood.

One new study finds that women who exercise moderately — in other words, get the steady regular movements they need without overdoing it — are actually much happier than women who exhaust themselves during intensive gym sessions.

Turkish researchers randomly assigned 255 women between the ages of 40 and 60 years old to one of two two-week workout regimens: Either 30 minutes a day on a treadmill at a moderate pace, or a run-till-you-drop session where they were told to go as fast as they could on that treadmill for as long as they could take it.

Sound like fun? Of course it doesn’t — and the results speak for themselves: The moderate exercisers had a better mood, lower levels of anxiety, higher levels of psychological wellbeing and more energy than those assigned to the torture-like workout sessions.

Women who got the intense workouts, on the other hand, were less likely to report the confidence to keep going with their exercise program. Overweight women in particular were stressed out by the more vigorous workouts and reported lower levels of calmness afterwards.

Who wouldn’t?

Whether you’re a man or a woman — and whether you’re badly overweight or slim and trim — you don’t have to drive yourself to the brink of physical exhaustion to get the benefits of a light workout.

Just pick something you like — and like the women in this study, you can enjoy some mood-boosting benefits along with your great fitness: At least one study has shown that a little sweat-inducing activity can be as powerful as antidepressant drugs… with none of the side effects.

Good examples of moderate workouts include traditional ones like tennis or a brisk walk/jog through the park, to a few things you might not think of as “exercise” — like gardening or even some home improvement projects.

In fact, keeping fit can actually be — dare I say it? — fun.