Mental Health & Diet Choices

Here is a good article from a group that gives hope to those struggling with depression, anxiety, as well as eating disorders.

I would add that some food choices to avoid are highly industrially processed foods. Some additives are known to change mood, oftentimes drastically. We have been able to observe this quite clearly in our own family.

Avoiding alphabet preservatives (BHA, BHT, TBHQ), MSG...in all its many alias forms), artificial colors & artificial flavors, & vanillin & tartrazine, certainly makes a difference. Many of these additives are no longer allowed in the EU due to heavy lobbying by groups that wanted these harmful additives removed from their food system.

To see the difference can be as little as 1 week to 3 months depending on how much this was part of the diet. Being committed will give positive results. I can help & support anyone who is interested in trying this aspect.

"Grow your own" certainly fits this type of lifestyle!


Comments

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nutrition is so overlooked in modern medicine. I was appalled at some of the things we served when I worked in the hospital nutrition services department! Lots of processed foods even there.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    On the rare occasions when I've been in a hospital as a patient, I definitely agree that hospital "nutrition" is really appalling.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    There is quite a bit on the internet now about the gut-brain connection. The vagus nerve (aka the gut-brain axis) connects the stomach and brain. If we are depressed that is going to affect the messages getting to the stomach and vice versa.

    The connection between what and how we eat and our mood is a perfect example of holistic health. A standard treatment for depression has been anti-depressants. But that just treats the brain end of things. You need to look at the whole body and what is going on. Some foods might actually be aggravating your mental state while there are many others that could calm the situation.

    I wonder how long it will take for this information to trickle down to the nutrition department in hospitals.

    My FIL was in the hospital following a stroke and the family was very concerned about his memory. When asked what he had just had for dinner, he would say he didn't know. We arrived a couple of days after the stroke, right after dinner time. My husband asked what he had for dinner and got he same answer. He didn't know. As it turns out, the dinner tray was still in the room. My husband lifted the lid and looked at his dad and said, "Gee, dad, I don't know what it is either." So not his memory, just unable to tell what the mess on his plate was.

    Can't heal any parts of our body without proper nutrition.

  • stephanie447
    stephanie447 Posts: 404 ✭✭✭

    I'd say if you have mood issues the number one thing to reduce or eliminate would be sugar, which can put you on an emotional seesaw.

    Be careful about hidden sugar in things like fruit juices and store-bought "smoothies."

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited April 2022

    @stephanie447 We found that if people cut out high fructose corn syrup, so highly refined gmo liquid sugar, the majority of these additives that I mentioned will come close to being eliminated. Often what people refer to as a "sugar high" (and then a resulting crash) is actually an additive induced change in the brain (they are synthetic, so act as drugs), followed by a definite crash of depression, sadness, crying, etc. We generally would see this the next day if any one if us accidentally or purposely consumed those additives. We were very aware, since we rarely ate/eat them.

    It is usually more pronounced in small children, because they process things faster, but adults all exhibit the same.

    We eat way less sugar than most people. I grew up on half sugar in the majority of recipes and as much as we like sweets, it is not a regular part of our diet. Even juices...

    Yes, store bought is bad for most things. The thought of a store bought smoothie is not pleasant. I've had them and they are like drinking straight sugar. 😵