Have you ever noticed that some days you have tons of energy and feel like you can tackle anything life throws at you? On other days you feel exhausted and couldn’t do simple math if your life depended on it. If you were to track what you ate on each of those days you might be surprised to see how related they are.
How does that work? Our brain is filled with nutrients that play a role in both its structure and how it functions. A regular supply of these healthy nutrients helps us have a good outlook while filling up on less healthy foods can make us feel sluggish and irritable. What we eat plays a huge role in how we feel and our mental health.
While many nutrients help our mental health, I feel a few have the biggest impact. Let’s take a look.
Which Nutrients are Most Beneficial for Our Mental Health?
I’ve seen it myself in the clinic. People who start to focus on eating a healthy diet - one that is full of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and seafood have a brighter outlook on life.
Others who tend toward more fast food and sugary treats, feel more sluggish, irritable, and rundown. That old saying, “You are what you eat” is true. Nutrition makes a difference!
So what is it about those foods that help? It’s the nutrients they provide. While there are many nutrients involved in supporting our mental health, I feel these nutrients play the biggest role. They help with sending messages throughout our brain, keep the lines of communication free and open, and help keep our energy levels up.
B VITAMINS
B vitamins are known to help with energy production, but some also play a key role in our mental health. While their main role is breaking food down to give us energy, in our brains they also help by producing and signaling the mood-boosting neurotransmitters, serotonin, and dopamine.
The three B vitamins that have the biggest impact on our mental health are vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folate.
- Vitamin B12 - Research has found that low levels of Vitamin B12 may be linked to depression, mood disorders, and cognitive decline.
Vitamin B12 is found in meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, and fortified cereals. For people who follow a vegan lifestyle, fortified nutritional yeast is a good source.
- Vitamin B 6 - This B vitamin is found in both animal and plant foods with the highest amounts in chickpeas, beef liver, tuna fish and salmon, potatoes, and bananas.
It helps our brain send messages that affect our mood. Research has shown people with low levels of vitamin B6 are at a higher risk for depression, irritability, and even confusion.
- Folic Acid - Probably best known for its role in preventing birth defects, it is also important in regulating our moods. Not getting enough folic acid impacts the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine - all “feel good” chemicals that support our mood. Lower levels of folic acid have been found in people with depression.
While folic acid supplements are very popular, it’s synthetic and not very absorbable. Instead, I recommend my patients take L. methyl folate because it is a bioavailable form meaning our bodies absorb it easily, and it crosses the blood-brain barrier so it gets into our brains where we need it.
Many foods are also a good source of it. Because of its role in preventing birth defects, in the U.S., grain products are fortified with folate. Eating whole grains is a good way to get enough folic acid daily.
If you are interested in evaluating your vitamin B status, I have a short evaluation you can go through that will give you lots of information on B vitamins and you’ll be able to see how you are doing.
VITAMIN D
You may know this one as the sunshine vitamin! That’s because the sun is one way we get vitamin D. Our body takes the UVB rays from the sun and converts them to vitamin D.
How is this related to our mental health? Well, for one, we know getting outside and getting some fresh air is a great way to lower our stress levels. Does this have something to do with boosting our vitamin D levels? Possibly, but there is more to it than just that.
While we know vitamin D is good for our bones, recent research has shown us that it also helps reduce inflammation in our blood vessels and brain and helps support our immune system. So how is it involved in our mental health?
Our brains have receptors for vitamin D. Think of these receptors like welcome centers along the highway. While these receptors are found throughout our brain, many are in the areas that regulate our mood, memory, and emotions.
Those welcome centers are there for a reason and the thought is that vitamin D attaches to these receptors which then help to support our nervous system and the neurons, or messengers, in our brain.
These messengers are what help regulate our moods and emotions. Scientists are still teasing out exactly how this works, but we do know that some people with lower levels of vitamin D have a higher risk for depression.
While the research on vitamin D and mental health is still in the early stages it’s a good idea to make sure you are getting enough vitamin D. Besides spending 10 minutes a day outside in the sunlight, your best food sources of vitamin D are fortified dairy products, some plant-based dairy foods, and seafood.
Check how much Vitamin D you are getting by doing my short online evaluation.
OMEGA - 3S
These healthy unsaturated fats are found in seafood, nuts, and seeds. While you may know they are super important for protecting against heart disease, you may not realize how big a role they play in brain function.
Their role is to keep the communication lines in your brain open by decreasing inflammation and protecting the neurotransmitters so that messages can travel freely throughout. They also protect the neurons, or cells in our brains that carry messages that help regulate our breathing, muscle contractions, and how we think and feel.
Some research has shown people who don’t get enough omega-3 fatty acids have higher rates of depression while other studies have shown people with depression who increase their omega-3 intake see improvements.
Most Americans are lacking in omega-3s so take my short quiz to see how you are doing and follow the tips I provide to help increase your intake.
FIBER
I’ve talked about how the communication system within our brain and from our brain to other parts of our body can affect our mood, but there is another system that we are learning more about. That is called our “gut-brain axis.” This is a 2-way communication system between our GI tract and our brain.
Our GI tract is lined with something called our “microbiome.” This means that our GI tract is lined with healthy bacteria that help us digest food, and is what interacts and supports this “gut-brain axis.”
We need to keep those healthy bacteria happy and fed and their favorite nutrient is fiber. When our GI tract is healthy, this communication system works wonderfully and supports our mental health. When it doesn’t get enough food it is sluggish and so are we.
Fruits, vegetables, beans, and legumes as well as whole-grain foods are your best sources of fiber. If you are wondering if you are getting enough fiber, run through my short evaluation here and follow my suggestions for increasing your intake if you need to.
Many other nutrients are good for our mental health, but these are the four that I feel are a good place to start.
Final Thoughts
Eating foods that are rich in healthy nutrients is one of the keys to good mental health. Focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and seafood while cutting back on sugary foods and fried foods is one of the first things I tell my clients to work on when they are trying to work on their mental health.
Disclaimer: This information is being provided to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is being provided to you to educate you about wellness and as a self-help tool for your own use. It is not medical or psychological advice. Please do not stop psychiatric medications or any current medications abruptly as this may cause serious physical and emotional reactions. If your goal is to wean off psychiatric medications, please see your healthcare provider for further guidance.
