Struggling with Mental Health? Don’t Ignore the Role of Nutrients
You are what you eat
A Non-Medical Intervention
My cousin is my “go-to doctor” to decode anything medical into a layperson’s English.
While reviewing a draft of my post on coping with mental health, she asked if I had read The Better Brain by Dr. Bonnie Kaplan & Dr. Julia Rucklidge. I had heard the name.
“Did you know that some mental health conditions can be improved by better nutrition? You should read the book whenever you can.”
What caught my attention is the possibility of a non-medicative option for individuals dealing with mental health challenges. The average perception of treatment is therapy and medication such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, mood stabilizers, etc.
Allow me some leeway to build a context for the meatier part of this post. Let’s get down to the brass tacks.
Physical Signs of Poor Mental Health
Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food. ~ Hippocrates
Your mental and physical health are entwined like the double helical structure of DNA. Often the onset of a decline in mental health is evident from certain physical signs. Or the beginning of these physical changes leads to a rapid decline in your mental health. It goes both ways.
- Changes in sleep pattern
- Loss of appetite or hunger
- Poor digestion and related gastrointestinal problems (due to poor sleep and no exercise, or eating more whatever the case may be)
- Headaches
- Cardiovascular health problems
You might start observing that your memory is becoming blurry (brain fog) and you are fighting to concentrate and think. Your quality of life gradually diminishes.
The Role of Nutrients in Mental Health
Our brain’s development, functioning, mood, and body’s energy levels depend on what we eat. It is working twenty-four hours.
The brain comprises 2% of our body weight and uses 20% of the body’s energy requirements. Hence. it needs the best nutrition possible. Recent research explains the significance of the gut-brain-microbiota axis in maintaining optimal mental health in the age group of 18–25 years.
Diet and sleep affect the gut microbiota.
The brain itself is made up of proteins, lipids or fats, amino acids, micronutrients, and minerals. How it works is based on our nutrient intake or lack of it that causes deficiency.
Nutrients such as amino acids help in maintaining the balance of neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine which in turn affect our mood and energy levels. Amino acids need micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals to produce neurotransmitters. A deficiency of these nutrients affects the balance of brain chemicals and causes mental disorders.
Are you getting the link between nutrients and mental health?
Micronutrients are of particular interest because their levels often decline with age leading to mental decline. Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients because the body needs them in milligrams or micrograms, unlike carbohydrates and proteins. These help in producing and maintaining the level of neurotransmitters.
Doctors advise proper intake of Vitamins B 1, 6, and 12, biotin, and folic acid at the least. You also need to ensure your body has the requisite amount of magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc.
This post is not about a list of incredible foods to balance your nutrient intake. There are a bunch of informative sites for that kind of information and I have the links for you here and here to flip through.
This post is ultimately about what you can do about your mental health with the knowledge that nutrients play a significant role in its upkeep.
Awareness of the effect of nutrients in maintaining robust mental health is critical for making a few smart choices. There are things in your locus of control. Let’s have a look.
#1 What do you buy and eat?
Developing knowledge of nutrients and their specific importance for your body and mind will push you to decide what to buy and what to leave out at the stores or the farmer’s market.
But before that, make an honest list of your regular diet — what you have been eating for at least a year or two. Look at the intake of protein, fiber, sugar, and leafy green vegetables and fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.
I was a non-believer in journaling but now I know it works. Records and data are indispensable while trying to make any change. Sift through the pages and see how you have been feeling lately. That’s priceless information.
How?
Combining the knowledge of how you are feeling, and what you have been eating with what you should be eating will show you the nutrient gap that needs to be bridged. What you will need is lifestyle adjustment.
Next time you are out shopping for food, choosing what to eat at the restaurant or at home; you will know what to go for and the stuff to avoid. Check your journal 6 months later and see if your conditions have improved, and become manageable.
#2 Seek Help
I am not great at figuring out the biology and my nutrient intake. I take the help of a professional —nutritionist, especially someone trained in food and mental health. She has helped me figure out what I should ideally eat, what I am allowed to eat once in a while, and what I MUST avoid.
Now I have a chart of what I can cook and eat at home or choose to eat outside. It takes away a serious load off of my head. You should do it too. Armed with your journal entries, you can see your nutritionist once in 6 months to evaluate your progress or if you have digressed from your path.
I am not too fond of online self-help sites though because it is about our mental health and not the recommendation for a shoe. You can’t gamble on it.
#3 Read and improve your knowledge base.
I had been to a doctor for a cervical cancer vaccine. I asked him a few questions about patient safety, data, contraindications, and for how long each vaccine was in effect in our country. The doctor immediately figured that I know what I want, why I want, and have a fair idea of my options.
Continuing with the last line of the previous point, I read online sources on nutrients to chew and swallow the science.
Your health is ultimately your concern.
The doctors, therapists, friends, and relatives can only help, support, guide, and prescribe. They cannot make the horse drink.
My advice to you would be to start reading up and educating yourself. Read a wide range of content, make notes, and check if some nutrient ideas are contradicted. When you see your therapist or nutritionist, have some basic ideas and know-how. It affects the way you’re treated.
Up Your Nutrient Know-how Factor
Here is a podcast by Dr. Julia Rucklidge about the role of micronutrients in mental health. I found the segment on the pros and cons of drugs for psychiatric disorders particularly informative.
Read the book — Better Brain. Following a healthy body, and healthy mind concept; proper nutrition ensures that our body functions normally and staves off any disease.
Having better nutrition cannot harm you. Even if it does not significantly abate the mental health condition, it won’t worsen it. There is a possibility that in time, it will help you become healthier in combination with talk therapy and regular physical and mental exercises.
The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but will rather cure and prevent disease with nutrition. ~ Thomas Edison
Ipshita Guha is an ambivert, who aspires to be a ghostwriter and pass the second half of her life vicariously through those who have exciting lives. She also writes about other stuff on Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter, and her website.
