“Mental health is a lot more than the absence of illness: it is an intrinsic part of our individual and collective health and well-being.”
~World Health Organization
The COVID-19 pandemic triggerd 25% increase in prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide. Not only that, but depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. A wave of mental dis-ease is crashing globally upon us, and some research is looking at the state of our brain health as a factor. Nutrients play a vital but often-overlooked role in mental health. As knowledge about the human microbiome, including its connection to mental health, is unfolding, there seems to be a tie between the microbes living in our body and aspects of our physiology, according to the Journal of Physiological Anthropology. For example, gut microbes influence how our brain communicates with our gut and vice versa. The term to describe how food impacts our brain health is called Nutritional Psychiatry. We’re learning how food influences the brain, changing how we think, feel, understand, and even respond to stress.
Over the last decade, research has shown that a diverse diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fermented and unprocessed foods can help prevent depression. Science shows that the most significant factor under our control to influence our risk of depression is what we eat. Foods rich in things like omega-3 fats, vitamin B12, or iron is vital for brain health. When we lack these nutrients, our brains don’t function as well. According to Dr. Drew Ramsey, “you have to have a healthy gut to have a healthy brain.”
What Are the Best Foods To Help Regulate Mood?
The Mediterranean diet is an excellent example of an eating style with significant evidence-based health benefits for us and our gut microbes, states Dr. Emeran Mayer, MD, and author of The Mind-Gut Connection. Any diet with a high concentration of plant-based foods rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, grains, and naturally fermented foods (For example, sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled vegetables), limited meat, and dairy. These foods listed are associated with a healthier mood because they significantly reduce the risk of low-grade inflammation throughout the body, including the brain. So far, the best data about how to take care of your brain and microbiome shows that eating more plants and probiotic fermented foods is vital. Examples of these foods are:
- Whole foods like fruits and vegetables include a rainbow of colors (for example, leafy greens like watercress, spinach, romaine, kale, and veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, and organic fruit and berries like avocados, strawberries, and wild blueberries – as much color variety as possible!).
- Nuts and seeds (for example, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and almonds – all rich in healthy fats).
- Herbs and spices (for example cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, oregano).
- Fermented foods (for example sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, natto, miso, unsweetened coconut kefir or yogurt).
- High fiber food with whole grains and legumes (for example forbidden rice, quinoa, millet, lentils, black beans, navy beans).
- Oil like organic extra virgin coconut oil helps reduce common bacterial overgrowths in the gut, such as candida/yeast, fungi, parasites, and viruses.
If consuming fish, fatty fish rich in omega-3 fats and a balance of other seafood is supported by eating wild salmon, wild shrimp, and mussels, for example. If you consume meat, poultry, and eggs, select it from sustainable and humanly raised sources without antibiotics – for example, grass-fed or pasture-raised.
Remember that food preservative ingredients in packaged foods disrupt our healthy gut bacteria, so reducing packaged foods or steering clear altogether will significantly benefit your mood and microbes.
Depression and Diet
An upgraded way of eating can be beneficial in regulating our mood. In addition, lifestyle factors such as regular exercise, spirituality, community engagement, good sleep, staying hydrated, and making time for play significantly affect how we feel by lowering our stress levels, which also help keep our microbes healthy.
Food changes can be beneficial when discussing mood regarding mild to moderate depression and anxiety. However, with more severe types of depression or if you are experiencing thoughts of harming yourself contact a mental health hotline immediately.
