FOOD HABITS AND MENTAL HEALTH

    

On the off chance that you are in any way similar to me, great food makes your essence move. Individuals think little of the force that food can have over your emotional wellness. Your mind on food is a lot more joyful. An extraordinary food however, food that is bright, pressed with supplements and leaves you feeling satisfied. My purpose in blogging this is to help you know how our Food Habits can affect Mental Health.

          Diet and mental health 

  • The advantages of a sound adjusted eating regimen on physical wellbeing are settled. However, does slim down influence your emotional well-being? In the previous ten years research on the impact of Food Habits  on psychological well-being has soar, with mounting proof showing that diet and nourishment are as essential to psychiatry as they are to cardiology. New examination distributed as of late in BMC Psychiatry proposes that leafy foods utilization might be related with diminished mental trouble. 
  • Mental issues represent noteworthy worldwide wellbeing trouble, with information from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys evaluating that over 25% of the populace worldwide will create at least one mental health issue during their lifetime. Burdensome issues are normal mental issues, happening in individuals of any age over every world district, and were the subsequent driving reason for years lived with handicap worldwide in 2010. 
  • Amassing proof proposes that low quality weight control plans are hazard factors for basic mental issues, including burdensome issues, while sound eating regimens are defensive. A large number of the examinations exploring the connection between food habits, nourishment and psychological well-being have demonstrated that specific eating regimen examples might be related with decreased rate of gloom. 

Can food habits affect Mental health in adolescents? 

FOOD HABITS AND MENTAL HEALTH
  •  Mental health problems include a wide range of mental disorders including anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, depression. 
  •  Eating disorders are generally caused by some combination of abnormal thoughts, emotions, behavior    and relationships. 
  • Unhealthy eating behaviors are important determinants of mental health problem like the ones     mentioned because Adequate nutrition and healthy food choices play a role in the development of brain and prevention of cognitive disorders; 

According to a population-based study, the majority of western diet include 

  •  High intake of – total and saturated fat, refined grains and sugars, processed meat and sodium. 
  •  Lower intake of – fruits, vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. 

This diet pattern was associated with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). 

 In similar other studies, dietary patterns and poor health behaviors were associated with depressive disorders and anxiety. 

What can be the reason behind this? 

  •  There are many potential biological explanations for the relationship between eating patterns and mental health in adolescents.  
  • First of all, the poor dietary quality leads to lack of nutrient-dense foods which can affect mental problems; for example, a diet low in folate, zinc, magnesium and long chain omega-3 fatty acids is associated with depressive and anxiety disorders. 
  • Secondly poor diet is directly associated with higher inflammation and oxidative stress which finally leads to mental disorders. 
  • Moreover, diets high in simple sugars and saturated fats could affect proteins involved in the brain development like brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). 

In another study by Ollingrath of youngsters (12-15 Yrs.) with high scores of healthy eating pattern, which includes “nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains and fish combined with regular meals”, were less likely to have indicators of any psychiatric disorders. 

Whereas, high scores of “snacking” eating pattern was associated with higher indicators of mental health problems. 

Can Mental health affect eating behavior? 

  • Yes, the relation between eating habits and mental health is Bi-directional. Meaning the presence of either one of the factors can have an impact on the other factor just as much. 
  •  Unhealthy eating might lead to mental health issues, but on the other hands, Stress, and other mental health issues can also lead to an individual changing his eating patterns from healthy to unhealthy or the other way around. 
  • According to a few studies, skipping meals play a MAJOR role in hyperactive individuals which can further lead to a disruptive, irregular eating schedule. Moreover, in adolescents, Meal skipping can lead to reduced academic performance. 
  • Based on the numerous studies, the relation between eating patterns and mental health were established, but no difference was established in comparison of BMI (Body mass Index) and nutrient intake in different categories. This suggest there are limitations to these studies. 
  •  For e.g. The design of these studies doesn’t identify the casual relation between an adolescent eating behavior and mental health. Moreover, the demographic features like physical activity of the adolescent or the socio-economic status of the family, were not taken into account. But they also play a major role in this relation. 
  • All in all, eating patterns and behaviors play a major role in affecting and individual’s mental health, and is something which cannot be overlooked Habits like snacking and convenience’, ‘planning ahead’ and ‘meal skipping’ can lead to mental health or can be indicators of the mental health disorders already existing in the first place. 

How can you improve your mental health with healthier eating habits? 

  • As indicated by the Mental Health Foundation, eating admirably might be related with sentiments of prosperity. An ongoing report found that a Mediterranean-style diet – high in vegetables, natural products, nuts, beans, and so forth – enhanced with fish oil prompted a decrease in misery among members, and was continued a half year after the mediation.   

How great quality sustenance can help : 
 

  • Eating well nourishments can give your cerebrum the lift it needs. Food sources that contain a lot of nutrients, minerals and cancer prevention agents can sustain the mind and shield it from oxidative pressure, which is created when the body utilizes oxygen. Now and again the oxidative pressure can harm cells if your mind needs more sustenance to battle it.  
     
  • Make certain to maintain a strategic distance from refined sugars. Numerous investigations have connected an eating routine high in refined sugars with disabled mind work. This can compound manifestations of temperament issues, similar to sadness.  
     

 Cerebrum food : 
 

 So as to gracefully your mind with the supplements it needs, you ought to follow these   eating routine proposals:  
 

  • Cut out prepared nourishments and nourishments that are high in refined sugar  
  • Eat more leafy foods every day  
     
  • Attempt to eat more slender meats like chicken, turkey, and fish  
  • A few people feel better when they are on a sans dairy diet. You can give it a shot and check whether that is something that works better for your body.  
     

     Notwithstanding altering your eating routine, you can likewise attempt these speedy and       simple psychological wellness tips:  
 

  • Set aside some effort to concentrate on your relaxing. Reflection is a decent method to deliver pressure. This can be viable for you regardless of whether you just remove a little ways from your day to reflect.  
     
  • Locate a physical movement that you love doing. Exercise is an incredible method to ease pressure in the body. It can help improve both mental and physical wellbeing.  
     
  • Converse with a companion or relative. On the off chance that you are feeling focused on, discover somebody to converse with.  
     
  • Give your cerebrum the nourishment it merits! You’ll see an improvement in both your psychological and physical wellbeing. 

REFERENCES: 

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/diet-and-mental-health

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3039289

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/mediterr

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/14/132

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28 Responses

  1. What you eat is how you feel and the way you feel is how you behave. This relation is best described in this blog. Changing our food habits is the need of the hour in order to move towards a better mental and physical health. Kudos to you shruti on writing this blog!!

  2. What a blog … great exposure to the mental health problems and how the food affects it … waiting to read more from you shruti..!!!

  3. This blog is very nicely written Shruti. This blog with good amount information will surely help in some or the other way.

  4. This is awesome, didn’t know food really plays such an important part in our mental health. Thank you for the information Shruti, loved your blog

    1. Ikr, while I was researching on this even I was surprised that how food play the major role!
      Thankyou amey for reading the whole blog!❤

  5. What a great info to know and actually presented so nicely with relatable images.loved your view and the way of showing it.waiting for more

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