Fruits, Not Fries: Eat Better, Feel Better

Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic and alarming spike in prevalence of mental health disorders throughout the world. Amongst the global population, the adolescent age group is one which encounters a staggeringly high risk of experiencing such difficulties. One’s state of mental wellbeing has been shown to be vulnerable and of paramount importance to buffer, in this period of life. Adolescence is oft characterized by an array of prominent mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

With the concurrent rise in prominence of obesity-related issues in adolescents, it becomes intuitive to question the relationship between these two rising phenomenons seen in this age group. In what ways do our diets affect our mental health? We already know through the literature of its astounding effects on one’s mental well being through various metabolic effects.

So what’s next?

What’s still unclear to the researchers? That question would take form in this study’s purpose - Are there biological pathways that can be examined, that relate directly to the interactions between these variables? The researchers sought to answer this question by comparing eating habits and more deep-seated related biological variables like Body Mass Index (BMI) with scores attained on measures of depressive symptoms like the Beck Depression Inventory.

Some interesting findings were uncovered. The Western diet we’ve become accustomed to - yes, the unhealthy red meats, refined foods and sugary snacks, have been shown to be linked to high BMI and of great concern, biomarkers of inflammation. Conversely, a healthier diet consisting of fish, fruit and vegetables predictably engenders effects in the opposite direction, being linked with lower BMI and biomarkers of inflammation.

So what can we take away from these biological variables? Of alarming concern is the fact that the Western diet actually may be a risk factor for mental health problems amongst adolescents. How? Supposedly the adiposity and inflammation biological pathways are the main culprits this unhealthy diet affects, to damage and implicate mental health.

So, what can we do? With the buffering effects of a healthy diet shown in this study, it is important to orient our focus on promoting dietary patterns that consist more of fish, fruit and vegetables and reducing the quantity of all those unhealthy foods we’ve all come to rely and indulge on! With the alarming trends in mental health hardships we have today, it is essential to take every approach possible in the fight to ameliorate them.

Being mindful of what we eat, would be a powerful and impactful first step.

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Source:

• Oddy, W. H., Allen, K. L., Trapp, G. S., Ambrosini, G. L., Black, L. J., Huang, R., . . . Mori, T. A. (2018). Dietary patterns, body mass index and inflammation: Pathways to depression and mental health problems in adolescents. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 69, 428-439. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2018.01.002