Diet and Mental Health

Photo by Sydney Sims

“Health is a state of complete mental, social and physical well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” – World Health Organization

There has been a lot of research recently looking at the connection between diet and mental health. Both mental health and obesity are more prevalent than ever and scientists are trying to better understand the determinants of these issues and what the best solutions would be. We know the prevalence of obesity among adults is 42% (1), but we also know that good health involves more than just good physical health. Mental health issues are impacting people on a global scale. The WHO states that 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime (10).

What does this mean for us? Does what we eat have an effect on our mental health? This semester I researched the connection between diet and mental health for a class and I am going to summarize what the literature has to say about this topic.

1. Increased consumption of processed foods is associated with depression/anxiety (3,5,7,8,9,11,12)

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics defines processed food as “food that has been cooked, canned, frozen, packaged or changed in nutritional composition with fortifying, preserving or preparing in different ways”(4). Processed foods contain higher amounts of sodium, refined sugar, and saturated fat. Of the ten studies listed below nine of them found some connection between what we eat and the state of our mental health. The studies show a positive association between processed food consumption and increased risk of depression and anxiety disorders.

2. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a decrease in depression/anxiety (2,3,6,8,12)

It’s important to look not only at what causes negative health outcomes but what foods can promote positive outcomes. Two randomized control trials found a causal relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and well-being. By increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, participants showed a decrease in depressive and anxiety related symptoms.

3. No study is perfect

Nutrition research, by nature, is a complex field of study. Causal relationships between diet and diseases are difficult to identify because there are so many factors that influence negative (or positive) health outcomes. Diet is definitely an important aspect to consider when looking at how we can prevent non-communicable diseases such as mental health issues, but the degree to which it can prevent such diseases will always be up for debate. Nutrition science is relatively new compared to other scientific fields of study. There is a lot to learn.

More experimental research needs to be done related to this topic. The more research that is done, the more confident we will be in the generalizability of the findings. If you want to read the articles in detail you can find the resources below. For now, eat more fruits and vegetables! Your physical and mental health will thank you.

Keep thriving.

Erica

Photo by Dainis Graveris

References

1. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

2. Conner TS, Brookie KL, Carr AC, Mainvil LA, Vissers MCM (2017) Let them eat fruit! The effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on psychological well-being in young adults: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0171206.

3. Davison, K.M.; Lin, S.L.; Tong, H.; Kobayashi, K.M.; Mora-Almanza, J.G.; Fuller-Thomson, E. Nutritional Factors, Physical Health and Immigrant Status Are Associated with Anxiety Disorders among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Findings from Baseline Data of The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 1493.

4. Ellis, Esther. “Processed Foods Whats OK and What to Avoid.” EatRight, www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/nutrition-facts-and-food-labels/processed-foods-whats-ok-and-what-to-avoid.

5. Firth, J., Stubbs, B., Teasdale, S. B., Ward, P. B., Veronese, N., Shivappa, N., Hebert, J. R., Berk, M., Yung, A. R., & Sarris, J. (2018). Diet as a hot topic in psychiatry: a population-scale study of nutritional intake and inflammatory potential in severe mental illness. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 17(3), 365–367. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20571

6. Francis HM, Stevenson RJ, Chambers JR, Gupta D, Newey B, Lim CK. A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults - A randomised controlled trial. PLoS ONE. 2019;14(10):e0222768. Accessed Feb 9, 2020. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222768.

7. Gómez-Donoso C, Sánchez-Villegas A, Martínez-González MA, et al. Ultra-processed food consumption and the incidence of depression in a Mediterranean cohort: the SUN Project [published online ahead of print, 2019 May 4]. Eur J Nutr. 2019;10.1007/s00394-019-01970-1. doi:10.1007/s00394-019-01970-1.

8. Jacka FN, Pasco JA, Mykletun A, et al. Association of Western and traditional diets with depression and anxiety in women. Am J Psychiatry. 2010;167(3):305–311. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09060881.

9. Lazarevich I, Irigoyen Camacho ME, Velazquez-Alva MC, Flores NL, Najera Medina O, Zepeda Zepeda MA. Depression and food consumption in Mexican college students. Nutr Hosp. 2018; 10;35(3):620-626. doi: 10.20960/nh.1500

10. “Mental Health Action Plan 2013 - 2020.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 17 Sept. 2015, www.who.int/mental_health/publications/action_plan/en/.

11. Sánchez-Villegas A, Toledo E, de Irala J, Ruiz-Canela M, Pla-Vidal J, Martínez-González MA. Fast-food and commercial baked goods consumption and the risk of depression. Public Health Nutr. 2012;15(3):424-432. Accessed Feb 6, 2020. doi: 10.1017/S1368980011001856.

12. Shakya PR, Melaku YA, Page A, Gill TK. Association between dietary patterns and adult depression symptoms based on principal component analysis, reduced-rank regression and partial least-squares. Clin Nutr. 2019. Accessed Mar 6, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.12.011.

13. Vermeulen E, Knüppel A, Shipley MJ, et al. High-sugar, high-saturated-fat dietary patterns are not associated with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults in a prospective study. J Nutr. 2018;148(10):1598-1604. Accessed Feb 9, 2020. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy154.