Nutrition and Your Mental Health
As a mental health professional and registered dietitian, I’ve dedicated a good portion of my career to helping individuals with anxiety, depression, eating disorders and addictions on their recovery journey. I’ve also spent a good portion of that portion of my career researching how nutrition affects mental health. This article is not meant to be comprehensive but simply a starting point for those who feel they may need some more information about how to manage their mental health with nutrition.
Stress and Mental Health: How Nutrition Plays a Role
Chronic stress can wreak havoc on a variety of systems in the body and from a mental health perspective the ones that take the biggest hit are your nervous system and endocrine system. Put more simply, your neurotransmitters in your brain that help regulate mood and your hormones that help regulate behaviors, appetite, energy and metabolism take the brunt of the “stress assault.” Over time stress will begin to cause severe imbalances in these areas. Most of your neurotransmitters have building blocks that come from food so we can help to regulate our ‘brain balance’ by what we eat. Additionally, hormones are very much at the mercy of the foods we eat. Therefore, optimizing what you eat can help to optimize your nervous system, endocrine system and thus your mental health. If this is an area that you would like to have more in-depth guidance on feel free to reach out to me here.
Your Gut Microbiome and Mental Health
The research is definitive, the bacteria in your gut play a massive role in mental health. We dictate how this gut flora proliferates and manifests by what we eat. A whole-foods, minimally-processed and balanced diet will lay the foundation for a good gut microbiome as well as balanced mental health. A diet composed of processed, packaged foods and/or medications can lead to mental health imbalances such as anxiety and depression. Optimizing your gut flora is one of the easiest and best ways to promote wellbeing and feel good both physically and mentally.
Fad Diets, Restriction and Mental Health
Just say NO to fad diets, restrictive eating or any other kind of eating pattern which severely limits your access to major food groups. Most eating disorders manifest in some sort of restrictive eating as do fad diets which limit your access to foods your body needs to build a strong base of neurotransmitters which help balance your mood, cravings, motivation and drive. For example, serotonin is a neurotransmitter that requires amino acid building blocks found in lean animal protein and some whole grains. Imagine a diet limited in these foods groups and imagine that the body now has limited access to building blocks required to make these mood-balancing chemicals. You get the picture. For more on restrictive eating, eating disorders and breaking the diet habit, connect with me here.
Food Addictions and Mental Health
In the realm of nutrition and mental health I’d say this is a lesser talked-about topic because….can we really be addicted to food? In short, yes. More specifically we can be addicted to the way food chemicals react with brain chemicals causing a potent addictive cascade of behaviors and cravings. Combatting the fight for your mind as it relates to food addiction is something that takes time along with working aside a mental health professional who understands both the science of food as well as behavior and habit change. If you are looking for help in this area don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
The above information provides a brief overview of how nutrition can affect mental health and ways to identify if you may need help in these areas.
Wishing you joy, vitality, and longevity as you continue to pursue your best self!
In health,
Jen