Leafy greens, seafood and seeds are potent foods for mental health

It’s time to start feeding your brain.

For years, research on healthy eating has focused on physical health and the link between diet, weight and chronic disease. But the new field of nutritional psychiatry studies how food can make us feel.

“A lot of people think of food in terms of waistlines, but it also affects our mental health,” said Uma Naidoo, a Harvard psychiatrist and director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US. “It’s a part that doesn’t enter into the conversation.”

The connection between the stomach and the brain is strong, and it starts in the womb. The gut and brain originate from the same cells as the embryo, Naidoo said. One of the main ways the brain and gut stay connected is through the vagus nerve, a two-way chemical messaging system that explains why stress can trigger feelings of anxiety in your mind and butterflies in your stomach.

debunking a myth

People often try to change their mood by eating comfort foods. The problem, experts say, is that while these foods typically offer a tempting combination of fat, sugar, salt and carbohydrates that make them hyper-palatable, they can actually make us feel worse.

Traci Mann, who directs the University of Minnesota’s Health and Food Laboratory, has conducted a series of studies to determine whether comfort food improves mood. Participants answered the following question: “What foods would make you feel better if you were in a bad mood?”

Before each test, participants watched movie scenes known to provoke anger, hostility, fear, anxiety and sadness. After the film, viewers filled out a “negative mood” questionnaire to indicate how they were feeling.

Then they were given a large portion of their favorite food; food they liked but didn’t find comforting; a “neutral” food (a honey oat granola bar); or no food. Everyone had three minutes alone to eat, or to sit in silence. After the break, they filled out the mood questionnaire again.

If a participant had eaten a comforting dish, any food or no food made no difference in mood. The factor that seemed to matter most was the passage of time.

treatment for depression

A four-year study of more than 10,000 university students in Spain found that people who strictly followed a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of depression.

Australian researchers examined food diaries of 12,385 adults randomly chosen from an ongoing government survey. They found that a higher intake of fruits and vegetables led to greater happiness, life satisfaction and well-being.

We still have a lot to learn about which foods and in what amounts can improve mental health.

“Our brains have evolved to eat almost anything to survive, but we increasingly know that there is a way to feed it that improves overall mental health,” said Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. from Columbia University in New York and author of the book “Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety”.

try something new

The list is based on suggestions from Naidoo and Ramsey.

Leafy vegetables: Ramsey calls leafy greens the foundation of a brain-healthy diet because they are cheap and versatile and have a high nutrient-to-calorie ratio. Kale is his favorite, but spinach, arugula, beet greens, and Swiss chard are also great sources of fiber, folate, and vitamins C and A.

Colorful fruits and vegetables: The more colorful your plate, the better the food for your brain. Studies suggest that compounds in brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as red peppers, blueberries, broccoli and eggplant can affect inflammation, memory, sleep and mood.

Reddish-purple foods are “power players” in this category. And don’t forget about avocados, which are rich in healthy fats that improve the absorption of phytonutrients from other vegetables.

Seafood: Sardines, oysters, mussels, wild salmon and cod are sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain health. Seafood is also a good source of vitamin B12, selenium, iron, zinc and protein. If you don’t eat fish, you can find sources of omega-3s in chia and flax seeds and sea vegetables.

Nuts, beans and seeds: Try to eat between half a cup and a full cup of beans, nuts and seeds a day, Ramsey said. Nuts and seeds, including cashews, almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds, make a great snack, but they can also be added to stir-fries and salads. Black and red beans, lentils and vegetables can also be added to soups, salads and stews or enjoyed as a side dish.

Spices and herbs: Cooking with spices not only improves the taste of food, certain spices can lead to a better balance of gut microbes, reduce inflammation and even improve memory, studies suggest. Naidoo is especially fond of turmeric or turmeric. According to studies, its active ingredient, curcumin, may benefit attention and cognition in general.

“Turmeric can be very powerful over time,” she said. “Try incorporating it into your salad dressing or roasted vegetables” or adding it to marinades, curries, sauces, stews or shakes. “Adding a pinch of black pepper makes curcumin 2,000% more bioavailable to our brain and body,” she said.

Fermented foods: Fermented foods are made by combining milk, vegetables or other raw ingredients with microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria. A recent study found that six servings of fermented foods a day can decrease inflammation and improve gut microbiome diversity. Fermented foods include yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir (a fermented dairy drink), kombucha, a fermented drink made with tea, and kimchi, a traditional Korean side dish with fermented cabbage and radish.

Dark chocolate: People who regularly eat dark chocolate have a 70% lower risk of symptoms of depression, according to a large US government survey of nearly 14,000 adults. The same effect was not seen in those who ate a lot of milk chocolate.

Dark chocolate is full of flavonols, including epicatechin, but milk chocolate and popular chocolate bars are so processed that they don’t contain much epicatechin.

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves