• Market Watch

Food is medicine

• 22 Hours Ago

Research suggests healthy lifestyle behaviours and habits promote mental health and wellness and can be used to both prevent and treat mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, bipolar spectrum disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychotic disorders. These lifestyle behaviours are grouped into five general categories:

• Physical activity

• Nutrition

• Mind-body and mindfulness practices

• Restorative sleep

• Social connections

These practices require motivation and effort on the part of the individual. They can take many forms and be adapted in many ways. It is not all or nothing, individuals can approach the aspects that work and appeal to them and approaches can change over time.

In treating mental health conditions and working with mental health professionals, lifestyle interventions across these domains, such as daily movement or choosing nutritious foods to eat, can work to complement and augment the therapeutic benefit of medication, psychotherapy, and other treatments used to treat mental health conditions. These interventions can also be used to prevent mental illness and have even been shown to promote physical health.

A guiding principle is to develop small sustainable habits across various domains as you see fit, working with professionals to strategize, modify, and incorporate these habits into daily life to improve your mental wellness. In time, changes in one area of lifestyle can often contribute to improvements in other areas. For example, improved sleep and nutrition can contribute to energy for more physical activity.

Physical activity

Physical activity impacts mental health. Exercise has consistently been shown to effectively reduce symptoms of depression and maintain well-being both as a primary treatment and in conjunction with medication or therapy. There is also evidence that exercise benefits individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Exercise “snacks,” or brief episodes of exercise interspersed throughout the day, can be an easy way to incorporate daily movement into daily routines. This could involve a few minutes of climbing stairs or jumping jacks or pushups. Some people report using these brief exercise breaks every hour or so during sedentary tasks also helps with attention and concentration, which can give the added benefit of improved productivity.

Nutrition

Diets focusing on whole foods, particularly vegetables, fruits, beans, unprocessed grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fish, are associated with positive effects on mental health. Conversely, diets high in processed foods, artificial ingredients, refined grains, and excessive sugar have been associated with worse mental health outcomes. For example, some research has found that a healthy diet reduces the risk of depression and for people with depression, helps reduce depressive symptoms,

The Mediterranean diet — which includes substantial vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes and moderate poultry, eggs, and dairy and limited red meat — has been found especially beneficial. While the links between diet and mental health are not yet fully understood, it is believed that components of the Mediterranean diet like fiber, polyphenols (micronutrients found in plants), and polyunsaturated fats (such as omega-3 fatty acids) may foster gut biome diversity. Gut biome diversity may, in turn, contribute to positive mental health.

In addition, there is growing evidence supporting the use of specific nutrients to help treat various psychiatric disorders.

Mind-Body and Mindfulness practices

While some stress is necessary, chronic stress decreases the ability to cope and can lead to negative physical and mental health. These practices can help calm the mind and body and reduce stress and are becoming increasingly popular practices.

Practices such as yoga have been shown to change the structure and function in the brain regions, including significant changes in areas involved in emotion regulation and stress.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has well-established therapeutic benefits as well. For example, one study found an MBSR program to be as effective as medication for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

More recently breath work has been gaining interest as a distinct intervention. These practices have been associated with reduced levels of stress and improvement in anxiety and depressive symptoms. It involves using specific breathing techniques that can help calm the body and mind and reduce stress and is often included in yoga and meditation practices.

Sleep

Sleep helps the brain function properly. Not getting enough sleep or poor quality sleep has many potential consequences. Poor sleep can lead to fatigue and decreased energy, irritability, and problems focusing. The ability to make decisions and mood can also be negatively affected. Sleep difficulties are linked to both physical and emotional problems and contribute to and exacerbate mental health conditions.

Many factors can contribute to lack of quality sleep and sleep problems including modifiable factors like distraction with screens and inconsistent routines. Developing healthy sleep habits and practices, such as consistent sleep times and routines and limiting screen time before sleeping, and exercising during the day, can help improve sleep.

Social connection

Decades of research have firmly established the positive contribution of having social support and physical health, mental health, and longevity.

The benefit of social connection can be seen in the pivotal role that psychosocial rehabilitation interventions play in enhancing function and alleviating symptoms in conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Tips for getting started

1. Assessment - Assess where you are, your primary concerns, what resources you have available to you, and your likely barriers to moving ahead.

2. Formal programs and social integration - Consider structured lifestyle programs that incorporate social elements like clubs or community groups. Try a fitness class with friends for added social support.

3. Health professionals - Work with your primary care or mental health clinician to identify health professionals or specialists for specific support. .

4. Goal Setting - Set S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals to help keep you on track and accountable.

5. Digital Tools - Explore the wide array of available digital tools, such as apps for guided meditation and tracking fitness and nutrition. Source: https://www.psychiatry.org/

Did you know?

Why?

Step one in determining if a diet is going to work for you is figuring out why you’re making this change in the first place