Ashima Sharda Mahindra • 28 Jan 2025
Is There a Link Between Your Diet and Mental Health? Know Tips To Improve Your Mood Through Food
Nutritional psychiatry emphasizes how diet and nutrition affect the way people feel mentally
While it is well known that what you eat plays an important role in your overall health and well-being, experts say your diet does a lot more. According to experts, there are many ways you can improve your mental health conditions, including psychiatric therapies like counselling, medication, and even hospitalization. But today, there is a lot of buzz around the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry, which emphasizes how diet and nutrition affect the way people feel mentally.
It aims to support the treatment of mental health conditions with diet and lifestyle changes. Doctors say your food choices affect your brain through the gastrointestinal system since it is closely connected to the brain.
According to studies, what you may eat influences the health of gut microbe colonies, which subsequently influence our brains and, thus, our mental and emotional health.
How are dietary patterns linked with improved mental health?
Eating a well-balanced and nutrient-dense diet is the best plan that helps improve your mood. Doctors say eating more fruits and vegetables is linked with improved mental well-being, lower stress levels, and greater life satisfaction. Consider focusing on eating nutrient-rich whole foods that are high in protein, fibre, and healthy fats.
Experts say the Mediterranean diet is a good place to begin as it helps support gut health and lowers the risk of depression. The diet, loaded with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes and low in red and processed meats, was associated with 10 per cent lower odds of depressive symptoms.
Diet tips that help improve your mood
A few dietary tips that support your emotional health and well-being include:
Add more nutrients
According to experts, nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds, along with spinach, rice, cereals, dark chocolate, and chickpeas, are loaded with nutrients that help improve mood and brain health.
Eat more prebiotics and probiotics
Prebiotics are loaded with nutrition, while probiotics contain healthy bacteria. These foods maintain a balanced state of homeostasis in the gut and play a vital role in your body’s response to stress and depression. A few foods that contain prebiotics include fermented foods, alliums, vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Eat mindfully
Make sure to pay close attention to how different kinds of foods and beverages affect your feelings and mood through eating. Make sure to stop consuming a certain food that affects your mood and eliminate it from your diet for a while.
Try food swapping
It is important to swap foods that support your mental health. Some of these include:
- Whole foods instead of packaged and ultra-processed foods
- Whole grains instead of refined grains
- Whole fruits instead of juices
- Seafood or lean poultry instead of red and processed meats
- Fermented dairy instead of sweetened dairy
- Still or sparkling water instead of soda
- Kombucha or herbal tea instead of alcohol
- Herbs and spices instead of sugar and salt
- Always monitor your progress
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