Did you know that depression and anxiety affect over 300 million people worldwide? With this year bringing it’s own set of difficulties, it’s no surprise that figure is increasing day by day with currently 1 in 6 people in the UK experiencing a mental health issue. Conventional medicine addresses this with medication and therapy but have you ever thought that what you eat could be having a huge effect on your mental wellbeing?
Research has shown that our gut health is absolutely essential for our brains to function. There are two things to consider. The first is the balance of the billions of bacteria that live in our guts. The beneficial bacteria help to regulate our mood and help us to digest and absorb important nutrients as well as actually producing some helpful nutrients themselves. The second is food that we choose to eat which can alter both brain chemistry and the function of our nerves. Our dietary and nutrient intake affect the levels of our neurotransmitters which influence mood, behaviour, sleep and general cognitive function. Deficiencies of certain nutrients can actually cause changes to memory, limit our problem solving ability and impair our brain function as well as increasing our risk of anxiety and depression.
So, what should you eat to improve your mental health? To support the balance of gut bacteria, we need a diet rich in fibre (e.g. vegetables, fruit and wholegrains) and a diet that is very low in sugars (sweets, cakes, fizzy drinks) and refined carbohydrates (white flour, white rice) as those are the foods that the opportunistic bacteria love! Take a look at the list below for some examples.
| Foods that are good for your mental health – Lean meat – Tofu and Tempe – Eggs – Seeds – Beans and Lentils – Nuts – Vegetables – Fruits – Wholegrains | Foods to reduce or avoid as much as possible – Sweets – Chocolate – White rice/bread – Crisps – Biscuits – Cakes – Pastries – Processed cereal |
It’s also really important that you drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and keep your mind working to the best of it’s ability. The Government guidelines are currently 1.5ltrs a day for women and 2ltrs a day for men.
Although these are great general dietary guideline, there is really no one size fits all as we are all individuals and have different needs and symptoms. If you or someone close to you suffers from anxiety, depression or mood swings, it is definitely worth considering things from a Functional Medicine perspective – looking for the underlying causes and addressing these rather than just addressing the symptoms.
If you’d like to book in with our expert Registered Nutritional Therapist, please call the clinic on 01252 850800.