How does your diet impact mental health?
Published May 20, 2023, 3:20 p.m. by Monica Louis
Your diet has a direct impact on your mental health. Eating nutritious foods helps your brain function at its best and can help improve mood, memory and focus. Conversely, a diet high in processed foods and sugar can lead to brain fog, irritability and mood swings.
The link between diet and mental health is well-established. Numerous studies have shown that what you eat directly impacts your mood and cognitive function. For example, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to improve mood, while a diet high in sugar has been linked to increased anxiety and depression.
While there is no one-size-fits-all diet for mental health, there are certain nutrients that are particularly important for brain health. Omega-3 fatty acids, for example, are essential for cognitive function and mood regulation. Other nutrients that are important for mental health include vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium and iron.
Eating a nutritious diet is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. By getting the right nutrients, you can help improve your mood, memory and focus. So, if you’re looking to boost your mental health, start with your diet.
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ah in our morning rounds the emerging
science on how food affects your mood
government figures show more than 16
million American adults report having a
major episode of depression in the past
year women are affected more often than
men a new field of study nutritional
psychiatry looks at how diet can improve
mental health it could help patients
shift from pharmaceuticals to food based
therapies our dr. taryn Narula
is here good morning good morning Nora I
could talk about this forever I'm so
fascinated by this subject so just
broadly speaking what is nutritional
psychiatry well it's the idea that maybe
a psychiatrist should be asking you what
was on your dinner plate last night what
did you eat for lunch the idea that food
plays an essential role in our mental
health in the same way that we think
about it playing a role in
cardiovascular disease in our blood
sugar management in our gastrointestinal
health Jon LaPook just did Sunday
morning we talked about its effects on
cancer so it's it's something that we
don't often think about but there has
been recent research in this emerging
field in the last five years that shows
that healthier dietary patterns can
reduce the risk of things like
depression and anxiety what's the
connection so the brain is a highly
metabolic organ it uses a lot of energy
a lot of nutrients it's always on and it
depends on fuel but not just any fuel
like a car you want to give it expensive
high quality fuel that means foods that
have the right nutrients the right
vitamins the right sources of protein
because these form the building blocks
for the neurotransmitters in the brain
for the cellular structure of the brain
for the enzymes in the brain well I know
as a cheeseburger always puts me in a
really good mood and I know I know
you're not talking about that kind of
food important no we're so when you talk
about healthy kind of food other than
the usual the greens and the legumes and
avocados what what are like those two
what are the unexpected things that
people might not think about than you
think you should yeah it's a mood
booster that's a well there's there are
healthy dietary patterns for instance
the Mediterranean diet that's been
staying and shown to reduce risk of
depression but there's also specific
nutrients and vitamins things like the B
vitamins omega-3 is iron zinc folate
magnesium choline these are some other
things that
can think about probiotics prebiotics
and the idea is that when you eat these
foods essentially many of them can
become the basis for the brain chemicals
the neurotransmitters so serotonin for
instance one of the main
neurotransmitters in the brain 90% of it
is produced in the gastrointestinal
tract
in addition the fruits and vegetables
that you eat give you antioxidants these
can be anti-inflammatory it can boost
your immune system when you get the
right vitamins so there's a lot of ways
or potential pathways that these and
there's a lot of connection to as you're
just getting to I can tell it's the
microbiome bacteria how gut bacteria is
and one of the you know I trainee yogurt
every morning what are the other things
that help your gut bacteria so rou vit
fermented foods so sauerkraut kimchi
probiotics prebiotics things like
Brussels sprouts onions garlic these
things can essentially boost your body's
own natural bacteria but yes the gut
bacteria they work as a defense layer
preventing the flow of bad toxins across
that layer that can potentially get into
the bottom B Pro blood and be
pro-inflammatory they also work to help
the communication in the neurons between
the gut and the brain so practice that's
real quick is there somebody out there
now a doctor if you gave them your diet
they could look at everything that's in
there there are nutritional
psychiatrists yes yeah Wow yes okay you
lost me at sauerkraut but I came back
brussel sprouts
you can thank you dr. Tara and you can
put avocado on a cheeseburger yes you
can yeah it's good see the chef Jeff
