How Your Diet Impacts Mental Health

Traditional mental health treatment has often revolved around therapy or medication, but research has recently shown that the gut may be just as important in supporting your mental state. In recent years, researchers have proven a powerful and surprising connection between the gut and the brain, also called the gut-brain axis. The complex system of communication between the two is significantly connected to mood, stress levels, and mental health issues like depression or anxiety. This article will cover the key role that diet plays in your overall mental well-being.

Gut-Brain Axis

The gut and the brain constantly communicate to keep the human body alive and running. The two primarily communicate through nerve pathways (especially the vagus nerve), hormones, and neurotransmitters produced in the gut. To begin, the enteric nervous system (ENS) is the network of neurons that work within the gut. It is an essential part of how the gut and the brain can communicate. The ENS gathers information about the conditions within the GI tract, often referred to as the "second brain." After the ENS gathers information about the conditions in the gut, the vagus nerve transports this information from the ENS toward the brain. In return, the vagus nerve sends motor signals from the brain to the gut. (What to Know about the Gut-Brain Connection, 2023). The next part of the gut-brain axis is gut microbiota. These trillions of bacteria that live in the gut digest food, regulate inflammation, and produce vitamins. They also produce chemical neurotransmitters that send messages between the gut and the brain. Neurotransmitters produced in the gut are a key part of communication between the gut and the brain. For example, more than 90% of serotonin, a key chemical that helps to regulate mood, is produced in the gut (Barandouzi et al., 2022). This surprising fact helps to show the gut’s active role in mental and emotional regulation.

Gut Microbiota and Mental Health

Research in the past years has provided increasing evidence that an unhealthy microbiota negatively impacts your mental health. For instance, imbalances in the gut microbiota, also called dysbiosis, and succeeding gut inflammation have been associated with mental health disorders like anxiety and depression (Clapp et al., 2017). Additionally, dysbiosis may interfere with the gut’s ability to produce neurotransmitters like serotonin or GABA, which play large roles in stabilizing mood and reducing anxiety. When the gut microbiota is disrupted, it can lead to inflammation that can cross into the brain. This inflammation can affect brain chemistry and structure, leading to depression and other disorders. The inflammatory response can also activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the body’s main stress response system, leading to an increase in cortisol levels that can worsen mood and impact emotional regulation (Clapp et al., 2017).

Diet and Mental Health

The fact that an unhealthy gut can lead to a decline in mental health also means that an improved diet can boost your mental health. Certain foods play a strong role in supporting a healthy gut microbiota. To begin, foods rich in fiber have been shown to support gut health significantly. Types of fruit and vegetables are a great way to start. Fruits like bananas and pears, and vegetables like carrots and asparagus all serve as solid gut boosters. According to Berding et al. (2021), “several human and animal studies have indicated that consumption of fruit and vegetables leads to increased microbial diversity and function, a shift in the abundance of bacterial phyla, growth of beneficial bacteria... and reduction in potentially harmful bacteria, including E. coli and Enterococcus. Continually, nuts and pulses, which are beans, lentils, and chickpeas, all serve to improve the gut microbiota composition by feeding beneficial gut bacteria and balancing the gut. Finally, fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and kombucha all contain probiotics that can enhance microbial diversity in the gut. The more diverse your gut bacteria are, the stronger and more balanced your gut becomes, which can in turn enhance mental health.

While there are single nutrients to look at when wanting to improve your gut health, according to Berding et al. (2021), “it has been suggested that the diet should be considered as a whole, which is more reflective of general food consumption patterns and considers the potential synergistic or additive effects from nutrient interactions on the microbiota composition.” Research has shown that diets like the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in all the foods previously mentioned, are connected to lower rates of depression and overall improved cognitive health. This idea supports and reinforces the strong overall connection between diet, gut health, and mental health.

Conclusion

To sum everything up, taking care of your gut goes hand in hand with taking care of your mind. Consuming an assortment of fiber-rich and fermented foods can help to develop a healthy and diverse gut microbiota, which boosts mood, lessens inflammation, and strengthens mental well-being. As continual research reveals the dynamic connection between the gut and the brain, it is obvious that what you eat will affect how you feel.

References

Barandouzi, Z. A., Lee, J., del Carmen Rosas, M., Chen, J., Henderson, W. A., Starkweather, A.

R., & Cong, X. S. (2022). Associations of neurotransmitters and the gut microbiome with

emotional distress in mixed type of irritable bowel syndrome. Scientific Reports, 12(ISSN

2045-2322 (online)), 1648. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05756-0

Berding, K., Vlckova, K., Marx, W., Schellekens, H., Stanton, C., Clarke, G., Jacka, F., Dinan, T.

G., & Cryan, J. F. (2021). Diet and the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis: Sowing the Seeds of

Good Mental Health. Advances in Nutrition, 12(4).

https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmaa181

Clapp, M., Aurora, N., Herrera, L., Bhatia, M., Wilen, E., & Wakefield, S. (2017). Gut

microbiota’s effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis. Clinics and Practice, 7(4).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/

What to know about the gut-brain connection. (2023, September 20). Cleveland Clinic.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/the-gut-brain-connection

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