Nourish your body, nourish your mind

Can healthy eating affect your mental health? Yes! Your diet can affect your mental health, positively or negatively, just like it can affect your physical health. What you put into your body can impact the chemicals in your brain, therefore impacting your mood.

A balanced mix of nutrients helps keep your brain healthy. Usually, a diet that supports your physical health will also be good for your mental health. A healthy, balanced diet can improve your mood, energy, and concentration.

Studies have shown that there are links between our diet and how we feel. For instance, caffeine and sugar can immediately impact your mood. However, your overall diet can have long-term effects on your mental health as well. Thus, eating a healthy balanced diet can positively affect your mental health long-term.

A balanced diet usually includes:

• Fruits and vegetables (make your plate colorful)
• Whole grains
• Nuts and seeds (raw, unsalted)
• Dairy products
• Oily fish (e.g., salmon, mackerel)
• Healthy unsaturated fats with omega-3s (e.g., extra virgin olive oil)
• Water (avoid sugary drinks)

Aim to eat three meals per day. For snacks, choose healthy options, like a handful of nuts, instead of highly processed treats, like chips or sweets. Additionally, pay attention to your caffeine and sugar intake. High-caffeine products can affect your mood, sleep, and energy.

Important note: This information may not apply to you, depending on your own personal circumstances and health. Your doctor or dietician may have given you dietary advice based on your body (e.g., if you have allergies, diabetes, digestive issues, etc.). Please follow the recommendations of your healthcare provider.  

Limit Alcohol Consumption

There are many reasons why people drink alcohol: to socialize, pass time, cope, etc. Many people drink to cope with negative feelings, like fear, anger, loneliness, sadness, and grief. Alcohol can work as a temporary distraction from these feelings, but the effect is brief. The long-term effects are not worth the short-term relief.

Often, when the alcohol wears off, you end up feeling unwell (mentally and physically). This is due to the effect it has on your brain. Managing your feelings with alcohol is not a healthy coping mechanism. Further, chronic alcohol consumption can cause permanent damage to your brain and body.

Occasional drinking is usually okay for most people. However, ensure that you’re staying within your limits. You may consult your doctor for more information; for instance, whether it’s safe to drink with your condition or medications or not.

Additionally, if you are concerned about your alcohol consumption, there are several resources you can access for help. Check out support groups, help lines, addiction counsellors, or rehabilitation centers in your area. You doctor will have more specific resources for you.

Alcohol addiction is serious and can be life threatening, so please seek help if you need it. There is no shame in seeking help.  

A Brain-Healthy Diet for Supporting Mental Health

Analyzing your diet can be a challenge. If you’ve ever tried to change your diet, you may know how difficult this can be. Figuring out what parts of your diet affect you positively and negatively can take a lot of trial and error. Further, it may be uncomfortable to track your diet.

Unfortunately, an unhealthy or restrictive diet can affect your mood, sleep, energy, and immune system. You may notice this a lot when you’re traveling and eating a lot of fast food. However, a healthy, whole foods diet can boost your energy, improve sleep and mood, and help you feel good, overall.

A whole foods diet is a diet that consists of ingredients that are unprocessed, free of additives, and low in added sugar. This diet consists of foods that are as close to their natural form as possible; for example: fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, lean meats, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Whole foods will have a short list of ingredients, with words you can pronounce (e.g., no long chemical names).

Everyone is unique and can tolerate foods differently. This can depend on your genetics and health conditions. Experiment with including and cutting out certain foods to see how you feel. Begin with cutting out the obvious processed, high sugar, highly saturated fatty foods (e.g., candy, fast food, fried foods, etc.). Replace these with healthy fats and nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables.

You can consult the following lists for suggestions of foods that can adversely or positively affect mood.

Foods to avoid:

• Foods/drinks with high caffeine content
• Sugary alcoholic drinks or any alcohol in large portions
• Trans fats or anything with partially hydrogenated oils
• Foods with added chemicals, preservatives, or hormones
• Sugary snacks or drinks
• Refined carbs (e.g., white rice, white flour, sugars)
• Fried food

Foods to choose:

• Oats
• Whole grains (e.g., brown rice, quinoa, etc.)
• Fresh fruit (e.g., berries, bananas, mangos, oranges)
• Flaxseed
• Avocados
• Raw, unsalted nuts (e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts)
• Fatty fish, rich in omega-3s (e.g., salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, tuna)
• Beans (with no added sodium if canned)
• Leafy greens (e.g., spinach, kale, brussels sprouts)
• Dark chocolate

Nutrition and Chronic Pain

Many of the foods mentioned above, that are supportive to mental health, have also been found to be helpful for chronic pain. 

For instance, foods with healthy fats, omega-3s, antioxidants, and fiber are cited to control inflammation. Conversely, items on the “foods to avoid” list are known to worsen inflammation. 

If you’d like to learn more about this, we offer a course that teaches nutrition from a chronic pain perspective, Nutrition for Chronic Pain: Making Healthy Choices to Control Pain.

Practice

Below, you will find the worksheets for this lesson: the Food vs. Mood Diary and the Diet Reflection Worksheet. These worksheets will help you identify the link between the food you eat and your mood. Additionally, you can think/plan about how you can make positive changes in your diet.

Reflect

Reflect on how you think your mood relates to your diet. Additionally, reflect on how your diet affects your chronic pain. Further, do you think your mood can affect your diet (e.g., you’re sad so you make less healthy choices)?

In the next lesson, you will learn about how quality sleep can improve your mood and overall well-being.