Nutrition and Mental Health Part 10 - Correlations between mental health and diet

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Crypto supporter, BCH believer.

1 year ago

Topics: Life, Writing, Food, Random, Mental Health

They can be complex and challenging, as there are many variables to consider. The first question to ask ourselves would be: Is the poor mental health effect of poor diet, is poor diet an effect of poor mental health, or is this a self-sustaining vicious circle? The latest seems to be the right answer, as the relationship seems to be bidirectional.

Physical activity is a confounding variable, as when we are physically active, we also have a better diet and better mental health. But the thing is, we cannot take into account every possible confounding factor, so, a clear single correlation of which is the effect and which is the cause is sometimes impossible to determine.

Back to our subject, we were talking last time about food frequency questionnaires and how they are used around the world, to asses diet habits. What did we find out? First of all, at the top of the list, almost no one is eating the right amount of vegetables. Based on 2015 US data, only 9% of the adults met their vegetable recommendations, and only 12% met their fruit recommendations. More numbers? The cost of not eating your fruit and veg is higher than $3B per year, and just by adding one serving of veg and one serving of fruit to your daily diet, you can save more than $9B per year in health care cost. More? A US study of over 150.000 households showed that in the decade 2002-2012, 61% of the total calorie intake came from ultra-processed foods. Canadians are not far, with 48%, and in New Zealand 69% of the packaged foods are ultra-processed.

We eat a lot of low-quality food and not enough top-quality food. The ultra-processed food is not good for mental health, making you feel sad, nervous, and irritable. And the less financially stable we are, the worst our food will be (of course there are exceptions, but those people know how to buy the right food and cook from scratch). I could swear that one of the reasons for keeping a healthy diet for me, personally, is that I refused to buy a microwave and to make it easier to cook pre-packaged food.

A study made in South Korea, on 17000 children with ADHD, showed that consuming a lot of fast food, soft fizzy drinks, and instant noodles (wow, that was my diet as a student in Uni) is correlated with them becoming more hyperactive. A study made in Australia, for women eating a rural traditional diet of veg, fruit, meat, fish, and whole grains, found that they have lower rates of anxiety and depression. People living in urban settings, who have a Western-type diet based on fried, processed foods, refined grains, sugary products, and alcohol (this was my age gap 20-30 diet), you may guess, is associated with more mental health symptoms. There are many ways to interpret this. For example, for the Omega 3 fatty acids needed to optimize brain health, you can get it by eating fish twice a week. Low seafood consumption is increasing the risks of depression, suicide, and bipolar disorder. Even for pregnant women, a poor diet can increase the depression risk, pre- and post-natally. Poor diet quality alone can lead to a 60% increase in poor mental health. If you increase the intake of raw fruit and veg, this action can reduce depressive symptoms, and increase mood and life satisfaction, while processed foods are only increasing your mood temporarily.

The best foods to improve your mood are: