Food and Mood - How Nutrition Affects Mental Health

By Daira
Volunteer

As a health and nutrition coach I deeply care about the overall significance of wellbeing including the priority of mental health. With March being a National Nutrition month I wanted to use this opportunity to bridge these two very important subjects, nutrition and mental health. 

I've found that food and nutrition are often helpful places to begin the conversation and address symptoms, as they tend to seem less daunting than other approaches.

Nutrition is a powerful starting point

The link between metabolic health and mental health has now been studied extensively, and eating for improved brain health is also beneficial for our overall health. It is important to start with highlighting the role of insulin, a key hormone that influences many metabolic processes. The level of insulin sensitivity is a good indicator of physical and mental well-being as it is a measure of metabolic health.

How food can support mental well-being

Focusing on what we eat is one of the fastest ways to improve insulin sensitivity, metabolic health, and mental health.The first step is to eat whole, real, unprocessed foods.Here are my top picks for your plate:

  • Food that is rich in a rainbow of colors—this increases the biodiversity of plant foods, which helps support our gut, provide rich antioxidants, and offer anti-inflammatory effects. 

  • Leafy greens are rich in folate, which may help with mood and symptoms of depression. 

  • Herbs and spices like turmeric, sage, cinnamon, and saffron.

  • Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and miso.

  • Healthy fats from foods like avocados, olive oil, walnuts, and chia seeds. Plus, wild-caught fatty fish like sardines and sockeye salmon because they contain omega-3 fatty acids, a polyunsaturated fatty acid that is shown to improve insulin sensitivity as well as support brain health, lower anxiety, and improve mood.

Fatty fish avo sandwich 

Quick lunch recipe for brain health

Ingredients

  • Can of Sardines *

  • Handful of Fresh spinach or other soft greens like arugula

  • 1 Whole Grain English muffin

  • ¼ avocado, mashed 

Instrucitons

  1. Slice English muffin in two and toast. 

  2. Top with mashed avocado and greens and sardines. 

  3. Enjoy! **

*Sardines are an excellent and affordable source of omega 3 fatty acids but if not a fan you can also use tuna. 

**Make two open faced sandwiches or one whole sandwich.

BlogRhonda Watson