Proper diet and nutritional intake give us a lot of benefits for our mental health. Eating healthy and full of essential nutrients food affect not only our physical health. But also have great importance on our mental health. In this article, we will learn “How diet and nutrition impact on mental health?” as well as also discuss the importance of basic elements rich foods for our mental health.
Introduction
A balanced diet consists of a variety of foods that fulfill the requirement of minerals, calories, vitamins, and proteins in our body. On the other hand, nutrition is basically about eat healthy food and maintain a balanced diet. We should eat food that gives us energy and essential nutrients, which is very important for our mental health.
First of all, we will go to discuss with you, the impact of diet and nutrition on mental health. So let’s find out the answer to this question.
Impact of diet and nutrition on mental health
Eating well that rich in nuts, cereals, fish, beans, grains, legumes, unsaturated fats, fruits, and vegetables. People who eat well stay healthy. A balanced diet protects us against many mental illnesses. A diet that contains high levels of processed food products, saturated fat, and refined carbohydrates affects adult’s and children’s mental health.
A healthy diet has many benefits that help us to improve our mood, sleep, weight reduction, relieve depression, stress, and anxiety. And it also helps us to increase energy and strengthens our brains.
Some ways diet impacts our mental health:
There are some ways diet affects our mental health, which is discussed below:
Grow mode of brain
Dietary patterns and specific nutrients bring many changes in brain protein, which increases interrelation between cells of the brain. Some nutrients such as zinc and omega-3s, when rich in the diet that increases the level of brain proteins.
Gut fills with healthy bacteria
A diet is rich in favorable bacteria like probiotics, which helps to keep the healthy “biome” or gut habitat. A large number of bacteria live in the gut. They protect against bad germs and maintain our immune system. They also help to relieve inflammation in the body. Some gut germs help in making B vitamins, which strengthen the brain.
Brain development
Eating a diet rich and good food helps us to improve the development of the brain and nourishes our body such as enzymes, neurotransmitters, protein-building blocks, and brain tissue, that helps us to deliver the signals and information to different parts of the body and brain.
Importance of basic elements on our mental health
As we know that every food we eat affects our body and brain. Good food is important in our lives. It also maintains our physical health and strengthens our brain. It also protects us from many mental illnesses and reduces the risk of many chronic diseases. Moreover, eating nutritionally rich food that helps us to keep our heart and body healthy.
Some basic elements play an important role here:
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
(iron, selenium, folate, B vitamins)
Lets we discuss the importance of these elements one by one.
Carbohydrates
The brain needs the energy to focus or concentrate on anything. 20% of energy is used by the brain. This energy we get from the blood glucose, and that glucose comes from carbohydrates in our blood. These carbohydrates go into our bloodstream through a portion of food that rich in carbohydrates.
When our body does not have a limited amount of energy for our brain, so we feel tired, week and we are not capable of thinking well. Some sources of carbohydrates from which we get energy include:
Legumes
Whole grains
Fruits
Vegetables
Lower-fat dairy
Cereals
Seeds
Nuts
Oats
Proteins
As well as taking energy from carbohydrates, we also get protein from them. As we know, our brain needs amino acids, which help to manage the feelings and thoughts in our mind. We need to eat foods that contain enough protein because of amino acids present in the protein. Proteins based sources include:
Nuts
Fish
Soya products
Eggs
Meat
Legumes
Cheese
Seeds
Fats
On the other hand, some people think that all kinds of fats are bad for us and not good for our health, but this is not true it’s just man’s thinking. Some fatty acids, such as omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, are important for our brains to perform a function well. Now let’s see some of healthy fats products include:
Oily fish
Nuts
Avocados
Eggs
Seeds
Dairy products
Poultry
Vitamins and minerals
When we do not have a certain amount of vitamins and minerals, our physical health and mental health will be adversely affected. To know that we are getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals, we must eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible.
Now we will discuss with you the deficiencies of vitamins and minerals that can affect our mental health.
Iron
The deficiency of iron in our body leads to lethargy, weakness, tiredness, etc. Some foods that rich in iron are listed here:
Poultry
Pulses
Fortified cereals
Red meat
Fish
Beans
Selenium
The deficiency of selenium leads to an increase in the risks of depression and negative mood. Selenium-based foods include:
Seeds
Fish
Meat
Wholemeal bread
Brazil nuts
Folate
Not intake of enough amount of folate leads us to a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and stress. Folate is present in food such as:
Citrus fruits
Beans
Liver
Green vegetables
Fortified foods like marmite
B vitamins
When you do not take enough amount of vitamins B1, B3, and B 12 that can cause feel low, irritable, and tired. Foods that contain B vitamins include:
Fish
Dairy products
Meat
Fortified cereals
Eggs
Conclusion
A balanced diet and nutritionally rich foods give us a lot of mental health benefits. We have discussed in this article “how diet and nutrition impact on mental health? as well as we also learn about the importance of elements on our mental health. Hope you have to learn a lot from this article. Continue exploring our website so you can get more knowledge and information about health.
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