Is your diet affecting your mood?

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Is your diet affecting your mood?

Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S., and nearly one third of U.S. adults are estimated to experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life. Anxiety and depression are just two of many mental health issues that affect the U.S. population, and many of these disorders can have a significant negative impact on a person’s well-being. Nutrition research often focuses on the impact of diet on physical disease states, but what does the research say on diet and mental health?

One study found a connection between the Mediterranean diet and fish oil supplementation and improvements in depression levels and mental health quality of life. This study used an intervention to help participants in one group improve their diet to include more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and less meat, snack foods, and take out. Other research using both humans and animals has found a connection between the gut microbiome and mental health, suggesting that the types of bacteria in the gut can play a role in stress and inflammation, and in turn, mental health disorders. This connection is called the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Studies have shown that both probiotics and prebiotic fiber may potentially impact the gut microbiome.

What does this mean for your diet? Well, research on the microbiome-gut-brain axis is still emerging and not definitive as far as concrete recommendations. While probiotics can be obtained through foods such as yogurt and kefir, supplements can also be found over the counter, however the large variety of strains makes it hard to determine which ones benefit the microbiome the most. Additionally, more research is needed on the connection between fish oil supplements and the Mediterranean diet on mental health, regardless, the Mediterranean diet may still be a good place to start due to it’s well-known beneficial impact on physical health as well.

AC

Dennett, C. (2017). Brain health: Exploring the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Today’s Dietitian 19(2). Retrieved from: https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/0217p14.shtml.

National Institute of Mental Health (2017). Any anxiety disorder. Retrieved from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml.

National Institute of Mental Health (2017). Major depression. Retrieved from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml.

Parletta, N., Zarnowiecki, D., Cho, J., Wilson, A., Bogomolova, S., Villani, A., ... & Segal, L. (2018). A Mediterranean-style dietary intervention supplemented with fish oil improves diet quality and mental health in people with depression: A randomized controlled trial (HELFIMED). Journal of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, 37(1), 6.

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