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The link between food and mental health, Reference: Clay, A. 2017. The…
The link between food and mental health
Key issues discussed within the article
Small dietary changes can account for big differences in adults with depression. Eating less junk food and more nutrient-rich, whole foods such as fresh produce, fish and legumes can help in the treatment of depression and may eliminate symptoms.
Studies have found that improving one's diet and broad-spectrum micronutrients improves their functioning across the board, not just in specific areas such as ADHD symptoms.
Children and adolescents who consume a diet of fast food, sugar and soft drinks are associated with a higher prevalence of diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This also broadened to children who ate fewer vegetables, fruit, fatty fish and other foods associated with the Mediterranean diet as they were more likely to have ADHD symptoms. This suggests that diet may play a role the development of ADHD.
Diet not only impacts ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents, but also adults.
Omega-3 has a role in brain development and functioning, with deficiencies linked to mental health problems
Main argument
One's diet has many impacts on one's mental health.
A poor diet lacking in fresh fruit, vegetables and omega 3 and consisting of unhealthy foods such as fast food and sugar leads to and worsens depression and ADHD symptoms.
Evidence provided to support the argument
Growing research literature, such as a meta-analysis including studies from 10 countries, conducted by researchers at Linyi People's Hospital in Shandong, China, suggests that dietary patterns and nutrition affects mental health.
According to a study led by Felice Jacka, director of the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University in Australia, dietary patterns impact the amount of hippocampal volume in older adults. This plays a major role in one's cognitive functioning such as episodic memory, verbal learning, processing speed, and executive function.
A study conducted by Jacka whereby 67 depressed adults were randomly assigned to seven individual nutritional consulting sessions with a dietician or seven social support sessions over 12 weeks showed that diet does have an impact on depression. The study found that while only 8 percent of the control group achieved remission, almost a third of the dietary intervention group did.
Kaplan (a professor emerita at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine) has found, in many studies, strong evidence for diet's use in diverse areas as improving emotional control after a traumatic brain injury, treating emotional and behavioural issues in children, and decreasing distress after a natural disaster.
Julia J. Rucklidge (a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand) and colleagues conducted a study using 80 adults with ADHD. They gave these subjects either a broad-based micronutrient formula or a placebo, and after eight weeks, found that in the intervention group, half of the participants had improved in global functioning, as compared with only a quarter of the placebo group. Although participants in the intervention group and their spouses rated their ADHD symptoms as having decreased more than the placebo group, clinicians saw no significant group difference in ADHD symptoms.
Motivation as to why the research is important
Research is still quite limited as it involves single-case studies and observational studies. Researchers are now calling for more rigorous, more expansive research designs and larger, more diverse research samples.
These studies are part of the expanding evidence base within nutritional psychology (the study of the role that nutrition, such as our dietary patterns, broad-based multi-nutrient supplements or specific vitamins, minerals or other nutrients, plays in the development of mental health problems as well as their treatment).
Food is such a prominent aspect in our lives as we need it to survive. Without such knowledge of how our food choices impacts our mental health, we may experience a myriad of mental disorders unnecessarily.
Reference: Clay, A. 2017. The link between food and mental health.
American Psychological Association
, 48(8): 26. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/food-mental-health
[Accessed 10 March 2021].
Alexa Evans - 19001489