Mental Health and Food
“The time is now right for nutrition to become a mainstream everyday component of mental health care.” Dr. Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation at UK
During the few years that we spent in the Nutrition program at Ryerson, we’ve learned a lot about the importance of food to our bodily health and emotional well-being. Much more was discussed on the integrative approach of health, of incorporating active living and healthy eating into our daily lives. However, little of its implications on our mental health was touched upon, let alone putting such knowledge into clinical and community practice. This is the reason that triggered our interest to look into the role of diet in the care and treatment of people with mental health problems. Through this journey, we’ve learned to re-examine the complex relationship between food and how it in turn operates the mind as well as to question why the impact of food on our mental health has been understudied for so long.
What do we know? How little do we know?
Did you know that most of the brain is derived directly from food? The dry weight of the brain is 60% fat. The fats that we eat, therefore, directly affect the structure and substance of our brain cell membranes. Consumption of too much saturated fat would make our brain cell membranes less flexible and healthy. In nutrition, we also learned that a balanced intake of essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 is very important. How does it relate to mental health? Is there a direct impact to the functioning of our brain? We haven’t discussed them in our courses yet, but through our investigation we learned that 20% of the fat in our brain is made from omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. More importantly, equal intakes of these 2 EFAs are important for the normal functioning of the brain, as unequal intakes are implicated in a number of mental health problems, including depression, and concentration and memory problems (McCulloch, 2010). In class, we’ve also discussed that intakes of proteins and amino acids are important for the production of neurotransmitters that regulate our feelings of contentment, anxiety, memory function and cognitive function. What we didn’t learn was that regular consumption of certain substances such as coffee and alcohol may contribute to the over-production of some of these neurotransmitters, leading to mood swings and even chronic diseases.
The role of diet in relation to specific mental health problems
Often times, diagnoses of a mental illness are first examined against personal genetic profiles and family histories. Hereditary factors are strongly associated with the various mental conditions. In addition, we’ve also learned that the onset of certain diseases can be triggered by many interacting factors other than genetics. This leaves us to wonder how big of a role diet plays among all these other factor. So far, it has been shown through clinical research that EFAs and iron levels affect the onset of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and that dietary changes can result in significant improvements in hyperactive children (McCulloch, 2010). Low intakes of folate, vitamins and tryptophan are associated with higher incidences of depression symptoms (McCulloch, 2010). We also know that consumption of foods that are rich in saturated fat is not good for us, but why is that? In what ways does it impact our mental health? Here through reading related articles and writing this journal, we learned that many clinical trial studies have demonstrated a positive association between saturated fat intake and the incidence of dementia (McCulloch, 2010). As more interesting evidence unveils, we feel an urgent need for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to work in synergy, make studies in food and mental health possible, and bridge the gap between nutrition knowledge and its applications in healthy eating practice.
What does it mean to us?
It means that we, as nutrition students and future nutrition and health care professionals, need to be more knowledgeable and sensitive about the long-term impact of consuming certain food products. Food is much more than just the carbohydrates, the proteins, and the fats. Perhaps a balanced intake from the four food groups is no longer sufficient for healthy eating and living. We also need to take into consideration of whether consumption of these foods meets the needs of our brain. Many questions linking diet and mental health are yet to be looked at and answered. We should definitely increase communications between dietitians, psychologists, and psychiatrists as part of an integrative approach of health care.
References
McCulloch, A. (2010). Feeding Minds:The impact of food on mental health. Glasgow: The Foundation of Mental Health.
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