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In late 2016, a long-circulating claim that cashews could wholly replace prescribed antidepressants like Prozac once again made the rounds on social media. The claim was not new in 2016, but it spiked in circulation after the site Newz Magazine reiterated the rumor on 15 November 2016. According to the newer article, research purportedly proved the efficacy of cashews as an antidepressant, adding that big pharma suppressed the findings in order to cash in on prescription drugs: One popular version was shared by alternative health promoter David Avocado Wolfe on 21 December 2015 (making it possible Facebook's On This Day feature helped bring the story back in December 2016). In his article, Wolfe maintained: The claim appeared to originate with a May 2014 Men's Journal article (The Case for Cashews), which asserted: The claim that two handfuls of cashews could sufficiently replace an antidepressant was potentially dangerous; the original report did not come from a clinical study or credible research, and the doctor quoted identified himself not as a psychiatrist but a nutritionist. The pieces referenced tryptophan as the key antidepressant in cashews, an amino acid which can be purchased in capsule form (but is not accepted as a valid treatment for clinical depression). Tryptophan has long been misidentified as a substitute for medication. In 2003, Psychology Today noted that claims about the amino acid in food were distorted: The rumor's spread was particularly pernicious, as abrupt cessation of antidepressants treatment (encouraged by the articles' suggestion Prozac be replaced with cashews) is linked with severe adverse outcomes: While the meme has been circulating on Facebook since at least May 2014, we located no evidence to support the efficacy of using cashews (or anything containing tryptophan) as a treatment for depression.
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