Brain health and mental health is directly related to our diet. I am a strong advocate for mental health through nutrition as I’ve read the research, seen it in patients and experienced it myself. This is true for general health through nutrition, actually. Food gives us the building blocks to produce our much needed neurotransmitters, keep inflammation low and support stable blood sugar, which are all needed for good brain function and mental health.
If you stop to look around you or look at statistics, you will see a close correlation with the type of foods people put in their bodies and the mental health they have. I notice this in myself - how I feel is closely related to what I eat. Of course, this is a gross generalization, and it is not meant to undermine each individual situation, health and other contributing factors (living situation, other health conditions, past trauma, etc). But let’s stick with nutrition for this article.
To keep it brief, this is what you need to consider in terms of nutrition for mental health:
Is your blood sugar balanced? Do you get ‘hangry’? Do you have highs or lows before or after eating?
Make sure you eat protein with every meal. For breakfast, have the eggs, skip the toast! Maybe add a side of avocado and berries! Don’t have cereal or just plain oatmeal - the protein is close to ‘0'g. Have some oatmeal, but add some needs and seeds, including chia or flax seeds, for the extra protein and healthy fats! If you’re really sensitive, you may want to skip those carbs all together in the morning.
Avoid or limit refined sugars, flours, juice, pop, added sugar, etc.
Eat regularly (I often ask individuals to eat something every 2 to 3 hours to get started, help with cravings and to help stabilize blood sugar).
Are you eating enough protein?
Have protein with every meal and snack. 15 to 20g is the ideal. To get an idea, the size of a deck of cards of meat, chicken or fish is approximately 21g, so you don’t have to eat huge servings of meat. You can also use high protein containing legumes - lentils have the most protein per serving!
Have protein with your snacks, such as nuts, hummus, etc.
Are you eating too much sugar, processed foods, inflammatory fats?
These are highly inflammatory. Remember that inflammation in the brain isn’t felt as pain, it’s felt as brain fog, fatigue, trouble concentrating, mood changes, etc.
Avoid vegetable oils, canola oil, processed foods, added sugars and artificial sugars.
Do you have food sensitivities causing reactive hypoglycemia, in other words, are there any foods that really make you crash and want to have a nap shortly after eating them?
If you feel the need to nap after having certain foods, this is reactive hypoglycemia and is often triggered by a food sensitivity or intolerance, gluten and sugar being the most common foods, dairy being a close runner up!
You may want to try an elimination diet or anti-inflammatory diet to identify any foods that cause you to have this reaction. A food sensitivity test can also help you identify these foods.
Are you getting enough nutrients through your food (iron, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, etc).
Some of these nutrients can be identified in a blood test (iron, vitamin B12).
Having a good variety of whole foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, animal proteins) will give you a wide range of essential nutrients. Variety here is really important! Don’t have the same fruits and vegetables everyday. But getting a bigger variety, you will be getting a bigger variety of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and the variety will also support your gut flora!
Sometimes supplementation with key nutrients may also be necessary to boost levels.
Are you absorbing what you are eating?
This is a huge topic all on its own, but regular (daily) bowel movements, a healthy and diverse gut flora (microbiome), an intact gut mucosa, and adequate digestive enzyme production are all essential for optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients.
The health of your digestive system has a direct impact on the health of your brain, so a healthy digestive system is an important part of treating mental health conditions and optimizing brain health.
I invite you to carefully consider each one of these points for yourself. Take a look at them and see how they might be impacting how you’re feeling. Let me know what you think and feel free to share this information with anyone you think it may benefit. Let’s all be advocates for mental health through nutrition!