Eat Yourself Happy? Nutrition and Mental Health

28 Jun 2021DediKate Nutritionist, Amy Allport (MSc)

Eat Yourself Happy? Nutrition and Mental Health

What is the link between the food we eat and our mental wellbeing? Read on to find out just how much of an impact our diet can have!

Disclaimer: Only food and dietary supplements have been included in this review, that have been researched in the areas of depression, anxiety or stress. I have not included any herbal remedies, whilst these may be efficacious it is beyond my scope of practise. It is important to understand that whilst there may be evidence for dietary change and supplementation to aid these mental health issues it is still limited in many areas. Supplements should not be utilised in cases of severe mental illness in the place of more extensively researched medications and more personalised medical guidance by a medical health professional. Never suddenly stop taking psychoactive medications without the supervision of your medical health professional.

One in five Australians and one in four New Zealanders have had a mental health issue. Diets have gotten more nutrient poor over the decades and mental health issues have become more prevalent. Now this doesn’t mean that one causes the other, but are they linked? Could we in fact improve our mental health through nutrition and actually eat ourselves happier?

What Nutrients are Required for General Brain Health?

The brain requires a whole host of different nutrients to stay healthy and functioning optimally. These include...

Omega-3 essential fatty acids
Polyphenols (micronutrient like compounds)
Beta-Carotene
B vitamins
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Choline
Calcium
Zinc
Selenium
Copper
Iron

Not to mention the brain needs enough energy to repair and function properly, carbohydrate to fuel itself, fat for structural integrity and proteins to create neurotransmitters. Overall diet is hugely important to brain health and all aspects really do need to be taken care of.

Basically The brain needs a whole host of vitamins, minerals and macronutrients to function at it’s best. The whole diet must be considered when thinking of nutrients for brain health.

Dietary Supplements and Mental Health

When the brain ceases to function adequately we may need to treat it to improve symptoms of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety or stress. In cases of poor mental health supplementation has been found to be effective with a number of different dietary compounds. Read on to find out which supplements may be helpful.

Depression

Fish Oil

Fish oil includes essential fatty acids derived from fish. Supplementation reduces symptoms of major depression but perhaps is not as effective for minor depressive symptoms (1). The EHA fatty acid in particular is thought to be most effective, and therefore supplementation should be higher in EPA than DHA (2). It seems that over 1g of EHA per day works best.

Food Sources: Salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, shellfish.

Saffron

Saffron is a luxurious spice and also can be used for depression. It could be just as effective in the treatment of depression as some depression medications (3). 30mg of saffron daily appears to be an effective dose.

Food Sources: Saffron (spice)

Curcumin

Curcumin is the active compound in turmeric. Supplementation can reduce symptoms of depression but it may take 2-3 months to see the effects. Curcumin also seems to increase the effectiveness of some antidepressants (4). A dose of around 1000mg a day split into 2 serves seems to be effective and is also the recommended dose for reducing inflammation.

Food Sources: Turmeric (spice)

Zinc

Zinc is a mineral. It’s supplementation seems to reduce symptoms of depression predominantly in those who are non responsive to anti-depressant treatment. So it may not be useful for those who are responding well to treatment. It can increase Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels that help brain health (5). 25mg is the dose most often used in research.

Food Sources: Oysters, red meat, poultry, baked beans, chickpeas, nuts.

Creatine

Creatine is a compound derived from amino acids (protein molecules). It significantly reduces depression alongside treatment with antidepressant medications, SSRIs (6). Making this treatment more effective. 3-5g per day is effective and also the recommended amount for sports performance benefit too.

Food Sources: Red meat, fish.

L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine is a chemical derived from amino acids (protein molecules). It can significantly reduce depressive symptoms, and in some cases to a similar extent as antidepressant medications (7). It seems to be more effective in older people. 2-4g per day is an effective dose.

Food Sources: Meat, fish, poultry, milk.

Folic acid

Folic acid is a B vitamin. It has been found to reduce symptoms of depression in those who had low levels of folic acid before supplementation (8). Meaning that a deficiency in folic acid may increase your risk or increase the severity of depression. 15mg per day is an effective dose.

Food Sources: Dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, peas, seafood, eggs, dairy, meat.

What about nutrition to help with anxiety and stress? More about this below!

Anxiety & Stress

Fish oil

Fish oil includes essential fatty acids derived from fish. Supplementation has been found to decrease symptoms of anxiety by upto 20% (9). EPA fatty acid content over 1g appears to have more of an effect.

Food Sources: Salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, shellfish.

Inositol

Inositol is a vitamin-like molecule. Supplementation has been found to decrease panic attacks and symptoms of anxiety to the same level of some medications (10). 18 mg per day is the dose most researched.

Food Sources: Fruits, beans, grains, nuts.

Curcumin

Curcumin is the active compound in turmeric. It has been found to slightly reduce symptoms of anxiety (11). Supplementation of 1 g per day in a split dose with piperine and some fat increases bioavailability.

Food Sources: Turmeric (spice)

Theanine

Theanine is an amino acid. A small amount of research has found theanine to decrease the physical and perceived stress response (12) in short term stressful situations such as exams. Around 200mg per day seems effective.

Food Sources: Green tea, black tea.

Basically

There is promising research for help in depression with dietary supplements such as fish oil, saffron, curcumin, zinc, creatine, L-carnitine and folic acid. There is also promising research for help in anxiety and stress with dietary supplements such as fish oil, inositol, curcumin and theanine. Whilst the studies are looking positive they are limited in number and in many cases more thorough investigation is required.

Best Overall Lifestyle For Mental Health?

Although supplementation could help those already suffering with poor mental health, as usual in nutrition, prevention is better than cure. Therefore the best thing you can do for your mental health is to work on your overall diet and lifestyle choices to promote long term brain and mental health.

Diet

It appears that an anti-inflammatory diet is amongst the best for mental health with much interest in the mediteranean diet. The king of all anti-inflammatory diets based on lots of healthy fats such as oily fish, nuts and seeds and a wide variety of vegetables. Swapping depressed people to a mediteranean diet for 6 months caused significant reductions in depressive symptoms (13). This was strongly associated with increased nut intake and a larger variety of vegetables consumed.

Although it could be that any healthy and non processed dietary approach will benefit your mental health. There is evidence that a pro-inflammatory diet high in processed, nutrient void foods is associated with increased risk of poor mental health (14). Swapping out processed foods for less processed anti-inflammation promoting foods appears to be a win, win!

Exercise

Exercise has long been suggested as a healthy way to improve mood and provide an outlet for anxious energy. In fact people who meet the weekly recommendations of 150 minutes for aerobic exercise and twice for muscle strengthening exercise have the lowest rate of depression. This may be because exercise promotes feel good endorphins. It can also create a challenge that requires your mind to be focused on something other than your emotional state. Like staying alive!

Meditation

Meditation can reduce anxiety and enhance mood by relaxing you physically and mentally. Meditation can look different for different people. It may be traditional mindfulness, chanting, reading a book, walking or sitting and thinking on something.

Binaural beats

Delta, theta, and alpha beats have been shown to reduce anxiety. This is most often shown in people before going into surgery. You can try this by finding binaural beats on Youtube.

Basically

The best lifestyle for mental health appears to be one that includes an anti-inflammatory diet, low in processed foods with lots of unsaturated fats and vegetables. Exercise can improve mental health and should be around government recommendations. Meditation and binaural beats also have sound evidence that they reduce anxiety and stress.

Let’s Sum It Up

Mental health issues are prevalent and seem to be rising. It has been theorised that our mental wellbeing could be suffering due to not achieving the many different dietary nutrients that our brains require to function properly. There is a growing body of research looking into fish oils, vitamins, minerals and even some spices in the treatment of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. The best lifestyle for general mental wellbeing seems to be a non processed, anti-inflammatory diet, regular exercise and stress management with tactics such as meditation and even music.