March 2023 Newsletter | What is Nutritional Psychiatry? Take a Deeper Dive this National Nutrition Month
February 28, 2023
By Samarah Cook, MSW Clinical Intern
Growing up, we were often told that eating a diet full of nutritious foods would aid our physical health by making us feel less sluggish, help to combat diet-related illness, and help us stay strong. This National Nutrition Month, it’s imperative to also consider the ways nutrition can affect our mental and emotional health. In a field known as nutritional psychiatry, we are now learning that the foods we eat can impact how we feel emotionally.
Before getting into the ways diet and food can help improve our mental health, some terms should be defined. Because of diet culture, we often conflate diet with restriction. However, that is actually not the case. Rather, “diet” denotes the kinds of foods a person chooses to eat. Restriction and prescribed foods is not the definition used here. Secondly, “nutritious” foods includes foods that contain beneficial nutrients, like vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and fiber. No foods are “good” or “bad” but some foods have more nutrition than others. For example, while sourdough and white bread are delicious in their own rights, sourdough is more nutritious because the former has a higher level of available minerals.
Numerous studies have found incorporating more nutritious foods in your diet can improve your mood, give you more energy, and help you think more clearly. In a newer field known as nutritional psychiatry, there is evidence that food can combat mental health symptoms. For example, according to a recent article published by Harvard Business School, a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and seafood was found to lower the risk of depression.
The gut-brain connection is a relationship that’s been heavily studied. In diets rich in prebiotics and fiber, research has shown these nutrients have affects on reducing anxiety, depression, and stabilizing levels of healthy bacteria in the gut. Given the link between our gut and brain, here are some things to consider when planning your next meal:
Incorporate whole foods and limit the amount of packaged and processed foods in your diet. (e.g. opt for a whole orange rather than a cup of orange juice).
Include probiotic-rich foods (like yogurt).
Eat foods rich in fiber (e.g. beans, berries, avocados, apples, dried fruit, broccoli, etc.)
Nutritional psychiatry adds to the list of interventions for mental health conditions by utilizing food and diet to improve well-being. It’s important to acknowledge that with the rising costs of food, it can be hard to eat a diet with less processed and packaged items. That said, do the best you can. Your brain and emotional well-being may thank you later. For those in the New York area, check out FeedNYC, an organization dedicated to alleviating hunger.
This National Nutrition Month, let’s respect inherent body shapes and sizes, and reject idealizing specific weights. Remember that eating is ultimately about your health. Try to be flexible with yourself and eat based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure. And, when you can, support physical activities that allow you to engage in enjoyable, life-enhancing movement.