Walk fast and sleep tight.

A shower can boost your mood, and lower your diabetes risk.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—If you’re suffering from depression, your odds of facing diabetes are higher, according to a study published in this month’s journal Diabetes Care.

THE DETAILS: Researchers looked at 20 studies trying to figure out which usually occurs first when people suffer from both depression and type 2 diabetes, an all-too-common combination. Thirteen of the studies analyzed depression as a precursor to diabetes, and the other seven studies examined the possibility of diabetes leading to depression. They found that people with depression have a 60% greater risk of developing diabetes than those without depression, while the risk of depression is 15% higher in someone who’s developed diabetes.

WHAT IT MEANS: Evidence suggests that being depressed not only affects one’s mental health, it can lead to diabetes and perhaps other serious health problems.

Here are some strategies to help you ward off the depression/diabetes combo:

• Walk to lower your risk. Walking briskly for 17 minutes daily slashes symptoms of depression by 17%, studies show. Keeping the pace for a half hour a day decreases your chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 30%.

• Boost your mood with a cold shower. Taking a 2- to 3-minute morning shower in 68-degree water could help you ban the blues, according to a recent study. The practice may act as a milder version of electroshock therapy, triggering the brain to release antidepressant chemicals.

• Get Zzzzs to ward off double D. Don’t let gadgets steal your sleep. You need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night to ward off both depression and diabetes. Artificial lights from computer and TV screens fake your brain into thinking it should stay awake, so turn off the technology an hour before bed to start winding down.

You can also try a home remedy to ease depression symptoms.