Diet and Health: How Your Diet Affects Your Mental Health

 

Diet and Health: How Your Diet Affects Your Mental Health

How Your Diet Affects Your Mental Health

It is not difficult to understand that diet has an important impact on human health.

However, with further in-depth research on diet and health in recent years, people have become more and more aware that diet is equally important to people's mental health.

High sugar, high fat, and other "junk food" not only make your waistline and weight soar but also cause a series of problems such as emotional and mental health.

The importance of diet and blood sugar

First of all, the diet must be regular, so as to ensure the stability of blood sugar.
If you eat irregularly, it may lead to a drop in blood sugar, which can lead to fatigue and irritability.
Fluctuating blood sugar levels can lead to mood disturbances and even symptoms including depression and anxiety.
If you eat erratically, your blood sugar will go up and down, causing more damage to your body than just your hungry stomach.

    With further in-depth research on diet and health in recent years, people

have become more and more aware that diet is equally important to

people's mental health.

Nutritionist Shah explains that if you go hungry frequently during the day, it can affect your mood, concentration, and energy. Therefore, eat regularly during the day to keep your blood sugar stable.

But she also cautions that this doesn't mean you'll have to keep eating, as constant snacking can affect appetite and insulin function.

In addition, not drinking enough water can also affect your mental health. Dehydration can make it difficult to concentrate and think clearly.
Like the rest of the body, brain cells need water to function properly, says Shah.
That's why dehydrated people are more prone to nervousness, she said.
Water helps blood flow, and without enough water to help remove toxins from the body, it can make a person feel weak.
Dehydration also increases cravings for unhealthy foods and beverages such as potato chips, alcohol, and carbonated and caffeinated beverages.
Drinking alcohol reduces cognitive function because the body needs water to remove alcohol from the blood, which can lead to further dehydration in the body, which in turn affects cognitive function.
While sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages quickly replenish the body's energy, the subsequent drop in blood sugar can also make people feel tired and mentally fatigued.

Balanced Diet and Mental Health

So just how important is a balanced diet to mental health?

Professor Jacka, Director of the Centre for Food and Mood at Deakin University in Australia, specializes in research on the links between diet, gut health, brain physiology, and mental health.

She explained that numerous studies have shown that a healthy diet can prevent depression. Depression has now become a major problem for people's mental health worldwide.

Professor Jaka said the link between diet and mental health had been noted, in addition to taking into account education, income level, and other important health factors.

Professor Jaka said evidence from randomized controlled trials showed that helping people with depression to improve their diet could greatly improve their mental health and functioning.

The trial found that mimicking a traditional Mediterranean-style diet, one rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, and olive oil, was most beneficial.

Experts say diet is one of the most important factors affecting the health of the gut and its bacteria. The gut, in turn, affects a person's mental health.

Nutritionist Shah adds that a balanced diet can provide the brain with the nutrients it needs to maintain an optimistic mood and improve signaling between brain cells to keep the brain in top shape.

The nutrients needed to maintain physical and mental health are very rich, so it is important to eat a variety of diets and eat more foods that you usually eat little or not at all.

Recent scientific studies have shown that people are more likely to be tempted by foods high in calories, sugar, and fat when they are tired.

Nutritionist Shah says if you only do it occasionally, it's not a problem. But don't make it a habit and dependence.

Shah warns that some foods not only affect your digestion and make you uncomfortable but also affect your emotions.

But if you develop a bad habit and form a vicious circle, she recommends seeking treatment from a doctor to find the root cause of the problem, such as work stress, anxiety, or other reasons? Then strive to heal.

But it may take some time, as changing one's eating habits is not done in a day. 

Be wary of processed foods and beverages

Many processed foods and beverages have added sugar, fat, salt, and refined flours, which are very bad for your health.

Professor Jaka said there were many studies around the world linking such foods and beverages with worsening mental health and obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases.

Professor Jaka further pointed out that animal studies have shown that sugar and a "Western diet" can adversely affect parts of the brain's hippocampus, resulting in behavioral and cognitive problems.

At the same time, research also shows that an unhealthy diet is closely related to the smaller hippocampus in humans. A healthy diet, meanwhile, was strongly associated with a larger hippocampus.

The hippocampus is a key part of the brain involved in learning and memory, as well as mental health, so it has an important impact on people from childhood to old age.

How unhealthy are pickled and processed foods?

The impact of gut microbes on mood

At present, people pay more and more attention to the role and influence of the gut in human health, and there are more and more studies on this aspect.

The Centre for Food and Mood at the University of Professor Jaka has 15 studies focusing on the three areas of diet-gut-mental health.

Professor Jacka points out that diet is one of the most important factors affecting the health of the gut and its bacteria.

We now know that gut bacteria (the microbiome) play critical roles in immune system health, metabolism, gene expression, and mental and brain health, she said.

For example, drinking a lot of alcohol can damage the intestinal lining, which can lead to inflammation. Inflammation, in turn, increases the risk of several diseases, including depression. 

A traditional Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish and olive oil is most beneficial

 Can diet improve mental health?

Some of Professor Jacka's research projects are in the treatment of people with depression through dietary and lifestyle changes.

In their first randomized controlled trial in patients with moderate to severe clinical depression, they followed a Mediterranean diet for 3 months with good results.

Their trials also showed that the more people improved their diets, the more their depression improved.

They also hope to help treat depression through diet and exercise in the future.

Shah recommends seeking the help of a professional therapist if you want to improve your mental health through diet.

Working with a nutritional therapist, you can gradually make dietary changes to understand why a balanced diet is so important, while also dispelling all your worries.

But Shah says the most important thing is that you have the motivation and mindset to change your diet.

More About Mental Health:

10 Tips to Improve Your Mental Health

Mental Wellness Tips For Improving Mental Health

Tips for maintaining mental health