Did you know that what you eat can not only impact your physical but also your mental health?

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Studies have found that a poor diet (with high levels of saturated fat, refined carbohydrates and processed food products) is linked to poorer mental health in children, adolescents and adults. As a result of this impact, immunity along with overall mental wellbeing drops significantly as we grow older. To explain this further, we will borrow words from Dr. Drew Ramsey, MD, Columbia University -

 "the risk of depression increases about 80% when you compare teens with the lowest-quality diet, or what we call the "Western diet", to those who eat a higher-quality, whole-foods diet. The risk of attention-deficit disorder (ADD) doubles".

 

Some of you may also know of our popular little friend - the hippocampus, which is a tiny curved structure in our brain, responsible for helping create new neurons (brain cells) that also regulate mood and cognition. The hippocampus's ability to perform neurogenesis gets highly impacted by stress among other factors like aging, high fat diets, high sugar diets, alcohol and opioids. So when someone gets prescribed antidepressants, it is to help the hippocampus maintain that process which has been impacted by symptoms of depression. Even if all this sounds like medical jargon that may, in turn, be causing you more stress now, we cannot deny the importance that a healthy diet (a diet healthy for you - specifically) can do to increase your brains ability to regulate your emotions and mood.

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If you agree with Dr. Ramsey, you'll know that "diet is potentially the most powerful intervention we have. By helping people shape their diets, we can improve their mental health and decrease their risk of psychiatric disorders".

 

If you need help figuring out your food habits for a mental health goal or a physical ailment/fitness goal, schedule a free consult with our Diet and Nutrition Coach.

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Get in touch to inquire more.