I ALWAYS have so much fun with the ‘trivial calendar holidays’. Apparently, last Friday, July 21st was National Junk Food Day in the US. Naturally, I celebrated with a pizza and at the moment, it was great. However, recently I have been trying to eat healthily so the pizza was a rarity.

I realised almost immediately after that I felt tired, lazy and de-motivated. I had plans to go out the same night but skipped the event. It got me thinking about how much your diet can affect mental health- so much so, that we will discuss it today. Maybe some of you already know the serious impact of food on mental health and maybe some of you will now realise why you often feel down.

I believe we all know how a healthy diet affects us physically. It prevents high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes, various forms of cancer and of course, controls weight. However, we know now that diet is as important to mental health as it is to physical health.
The truth is, good nutrition is essential to our mental health- playing an important part in both its prevention and management.

What can a healthy diet do to our mental health?
Diet can intervene with many psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) but is particularly associated with depression and anxiety.
A healthy diet can balance our mood, boost energy levels and overall decreases risk for psychiatric disorders. Healthy eating is impactful on these existing disorders and their symptoms. For example, a balanced diet has been known to reduce depressive symptoms in depression, mood episodes in bi-polar disorder, panic attacks in anxiety disorder and binges in eating disorders. Research also shows people who eat well are more likely to exercise, have better quality of sleep and are less likely to drink alcohol.

Proper nutrition has also been shown to improve and maintain healthy brain activity- decreasing cognitive decline while increasing memory functioning and thought processing. Foods such as dark chocolate, extra virgin olive oil and apples specifically do this. Needless to say, eating healthy drastically increases our self-esteem which subsequently increases our confidence, productivity and efficiency.

Studies show that diet is so powerful, the effects are even passed on via pregnancy. An experiment conducted in the U.S followed 20,000 pregnant women during their pregnancy, birth and years after. The children of mothers who ate a less healthy diet during pregnancy have higher levels of mental illness today.

Of course, the overall rule is to stay away from sugary foods and add more leafy greens. However, there are a few specific diet changes that can be made that make a significant difference. For example, increase B vitamins as people with low B12 levels report higher rates of depression or Omega- 3s (eg. Salmon) as this has been known to improve mood. Yogurt has also been shown to lower stress, anxiety and depression levels while dark chocolate (due to its antioxidants) decidedly aids in mood and memory. Check with your health care provider for more information on specific diets.

Finally, research shows that healthy diets boasts the positive effects of anti-depressant medication. I must say that a healthy diet is not a replacement for prescription medication for mental illnesses. However, it can definitely help with the speed of recovery.
So now that we know eating healthy has tremendous benefits, we can talk about the actual process of cooking it. My research showed that cooking and baking is also amazing for our mental health!

For some people (myself included), cooking can be quite stressful. This is for many reasons- my own personal reason is that I do not think about food until I’m hungry and therefore do not have the patience to cook as I am already quite hungry. However, my recent research (both theoretical and practical) has proven to me that cooking can actually be quite therapeutic. They have actually developed a reasonably new practice called Culinary Art Therapy (CAT) which is used to decrease anxiety, depression, eating disorders and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and various types of addiction.

I read a piece by Julie Ohana, a culinary therapist based in Michigan, who said “Life and cooking is a balancing act of thinking a few steps ahead, but also focusing on what is in front of you in the exact moment. A huge piece of coping and managing anxiety and depression is living in the moment and being aware of that. “It can be done individually or as a family to decrease stress and increase communication, socialisation and support- all things that are highly associated with good mental health.

It is also much easier to control our diet when we prepare the meals ourselves. Other benefits? You will also save money. It is much cheaper to cook at home than always eating out and saving money of course reduces the possibility of stress and anxiety. My research determined that those who are of healthy and appropriate weight also spend an average of 42 percent less money on medical bills and health expenses than those who are overweight.

Last and very importantly, many people- especially those who bake, see it as creative expression. It is a form of art not much different from drawing or painting. This doubles as a coping skill which I hope we already know means that our stress levels are immediately lowered.

Do you feel that you have been eating unhealthily and therefore have been feeling down? Try all the above suggestions and let me know how it has worked for you!

Thank you for reading and please send in any topics to caitlinvieira@gmail.com. Also please remember when you can come to see me.

Georgetown Public Hospital: Monday- Friday – 8am- 12pm
Woodlands Hospital: Outpatient Department
Drug and Alcohol group meetings – Mondays 4:00pm
Good mental health group meetings- Wednesdays 4:00pm

Suicide Prevention Helpline Numbers: 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444, 600-7896
Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!