Food For Thought: Nutrition and Its Impact on Mental Health
At this point we’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat," right? Typically this refers to the impact our food choices have on our physical well-being. Donuts, cookies, potato chips, and fruit punch every day can’t be good for our health, and we all seem to agree with that. But what about our mental health? Can the food we consume have any profound effects on our cognitive abilities and mood?
The short answer is, yes, it can! Research, to date, has continued to show major correlations between what we eat and how we feel.
Why is this important?
Mental health disorders are incredibly prevalent in our society. According to the International Health Metrics Evaluation (IHME), 13% of the world’s population suffered from mental health disorders at the end of 2017. This makes psychiatric and psychological help the most sought-after form of health care. Experts are anticipating that the number of people seeking psychiatric treatment will continue to rise over the coming decades, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem is, the current form of applied psychotherapy and psychopharmacotherapy do not always produce the treatment result people seek. This has led to an increase in research and attention on alternative interventions. Not only do we want to find better treatment methods, but preventative care is also important.
So What Does the Research Say?
Despite having access to more food than ever before in history, our society is severely struggling to get the proper amounts of macro- and micronutrients that play a significant role in the functioning of our nervous systems.
Some Important Nutrients
Several specific compounds have been shown to have antidepressant effects and were even associated with lower risk of schizophrenia. I won’t bore you with all the details, but here’s a quick list of these compounds and their effects on mental health:
S-adenosylmethionine - antidepressant effects
N-acetylcysteine - influenced the effectiveness of treatment in schizophrenia, bipolar, and trichotillomania
Zinc - deficiency linked to severity of depressive symptoms
B vitamins - proper functioning of nervous tissue; deficiencies linked to depression
Vitamin D - deficiencies linked to schizophrenia and depression
Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids - anti-inflammatory effect and play a role in neurotransmitter reuptake
Biomarkers & Intestinal Barrier
In psychiatry, there are some biomarkers that are directly related to nutrition. Implicated in the development of psychiatric conditions, the antioxidant system is dependent on the presence of nutrients in food. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), has been shown to have decreased functioning in those with psychiatric disorders. Other biomarkers are inflammation and oxidative stress. Increased inflammation within the blood has been seen to occur at the onset of psychiatric disorders, suggesting inflammation’s role in the genesis of these disorders.
The intestinal barrier is also of note as the role it plays in our system can have a profound effect on cognition and mood. This barrier is made up of several layers to include intestinal microflora, mucus layer, intestinal epithelium, and elements of the circulatory, immune, nervous, and lymphatic systems. Different factors can increase permeability of the intestinal barrier, such as stress, pro-inflammatory factors, and imbalances of the intestinal microflora. When an individual consumes a diet of highly inflammatory foods, this intestinal barrier becomes impaired, increasing their predisposition for psychiatric disorders.
Your Diet Can Help
Studies are ongoing in the realm of “nutritional psychiatry”, but many have shown promising results. Now, it should be noted, one of the most interesting results from these studies was the outcome of supplementation versus whole diet intervention. According to multiple studies, supplementation of nutrients did not reduce episodes of depression or anxiety. However, many studies did confirm that higher nutritional quality in the diet in adulthood is associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline and psychiatric disorders. In an analysis of the ketogenic diet, for example, participants showed improvements in symptoms involving mood, cognitive function, communication skills, energy, anxiety, and auditory and visual hallucinations.
Moving Forward
In short, there is ample evidence to suggest that nutrition has a great impact on mental health. Research is ongoing, but you can take action now to improve and protect your mental health.
Eating a diet consisting of nutrient dense, whole foods is an easy step in the right direction to improving and protecting your mental health. Try filling your home with high quality meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and whole-milk products. Limit consumption of ultra-processed and sugary foods known to have pro-inflammatory effects. This may seem like quite the undertaking, but slowly switching out and incorporating these foods can be relatively feasible for most of us.
Sources:
Grajek, M., Krupa-Kotara, K., Białek-Dratwa, A., Sobczyk, K., Grot, M., Kowalski, O., & Staśkiewicz, W. (2022). Nutrition and mental health: A review of current knowledge about the impact of diet on mental health. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9(943998). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.943998
Firth, J., Gangwisch, J. E., Borisini, A., Wootton, R. E., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Food and mood: how do diet and nutrition affect mental wellbeing? BMJ, 369(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2382