Food Affects Your Mental Health

Hello everyone! It has been quite some time since I’ve blogged, but I’ve been working on something to share from really interesting research.  I am truly excited to be sharing with you today how certain foods affect us and our mental health.  As a teacher, I do care about the children I work with, their families and community they are apart of.  Mental health has had a stronger focus in just the past decade, and it has even become more of an issue and discussion topic due to COVID-19.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they reported a 24% increase of mental health emergencies for 5-11-year-olds and a 31% increase for 12-17-year-olds all between March and October 2020 (2021).  The information being shared is to help you, your children, and families to be aware that not only are certain foods healthy for our bodies but also our brains.

Food affects our mental health? Mental health issues can be labeled as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and more.  The food we eat affects our mental health because it affects our brain on a physical level.  Studies have shown that the “Western Diet”, which is mostly sugary processed fast-foods and drinks, actually causes our brains to shrink (Jacka et al., 2015). Yes, you read that correctly.  Parts of our brain have been found to shrink due to what we often eat here in the United States.  If one part of the brain is affected by diet, then its inability to function and communicate properly with other important parts of the brain could create chemical imbalances. As a result of these imbalances it can cause us to become anxious, stressed, and depressed more often. Our mental health suffers directly from what we eat and drink. 
 
According to First Things First, our brains grow up to 90% of its size by 5 years-old (2022).  Since we specifically work with 3-5-year-olds at our school, we are aware of how much growth  children make during their short time with us.  In case you didn’t know, we operate and approach teaching children at my school with scaffolds and learning through discovery or playing.  If there is a weakness in a child’s mental development due to lack of proper nutrition, then they may have a more difficult time regulating emotions and stress could cause unhealthy behavioral and thinking patterns.

So, which foods have been found the be the most beneficial to our bodies and mind?  Researchers point to fish, greens, nuts, and beans. Think of it as sort of a rhyming jingle, and they’re all mostly classified together as a “Mediterranean Diet”. These major foods carry the crucial nutrients for our bodies and brains. Most of the healthy promotions for years have been about healthy foods helping our bodies be physically strong and reduce chances to high blood pressure, heart attacks, and other chronic illnesses.  This is all true indeed, and the biggest indicators are what’s in the foods we eat and how they affect our brain.  Omega-3, B vitamins, minerals, and more allow parts of our brain like the hippocampus to retain its regular size and operate normally to create new nerve cells (Deans, 2015).
 
How do scientists know that fish, greens, nuts, and beans help our minds and prevent mental health issues?  Well, a study over 4 years following more than 10,000 college students in Spain showing that those with a Mediterranean diet had a 42-51% decrease risk of depression (Sánchez-Villegas et al., 2009). Another study showed results for those already depressed in a dietary intervention over 12 weeks showed 33% of the participants in remission (Jacka et al., 2017).  Over 80,000 Japanese women showed proven results that the intake of fish during pregnancy lowers the chance of postpartum depression (Hamazaki et al., 2020).  These studies and more are just a brief testament showing how foods within a Mediterranean diet are keys to helping our mental health.

(Mosconi, 2018)

According to Mosconi in her book Brain Food, these are comparing images of two 52-year-old women especially indicating the black areas of the one who has eaten much of the Western Diet indicating atrophy (shrinkage) causing neuronal loss accelerating aging (2018).  Again, these are tools of information given to you to be aware of the health issues and how to help you, your family, and your children.  I am not saying fish, greens, nuts, and beans are the only foods you must eat every day for the rest of your life, but to regulate your eating at fast-food establishments in moderation.  If you already don’t eat any of these four food groups very often, then my suggestion is starting small. Ideas could be to include protein such as fish once a month, greens and beans a few times during the week, or nuts as a substitute snack instead of chips. 
 
How to get such foods?  I understand many parents and people in a community may have a difficult time to include these foods for their children and families, and I didn’t want to share a problem without a resolution to acquire some of these foods.  Here are a few free food options specifically within the Southwest Denver region of where I work. 

Clicking the image will open up a large list of food pantry options and partnerships all over the SW Denver region. Their phone # is 720.427.4283

Clicking the image will show you the listing of their food locations and times in the Denver region.

Fish, greens, nuts and beans is a simple rhyme to help remember some of the most important foods for our bodies and minds.  I realize I have shared a lot of information, and I hope it was understandable, helpful, and caused you to pause and think about the sort of foods you’re even eating yourself.  There’s so much more to this topic of mental health and how it affects us, our children, our communities, and more, but this is certainly one tangible step to making a difference and change in our own lives. I will miss my past years’ students, and I earnestly wish them the best in Kindergarten and the years to come as they grow and mature.  If you have any questions about this topic or obtaining healthier foods wherever you live, then feel free to ask. I’m available to communicate even all summer via email.

• Brian Barrett (Coach B.)

Physical Education
[email protected]
 
                                                                         References
 
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2021). Mental Health During COVID-19: Signs Your Child May Need More Support. HealthyChildren.Org. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Signs-your-Teen-May-Need-More-Support.aspx
 
Deans, E. (2015, October 9). Does a Western Diet Shrink the Brain? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201510/does-western-diet-shrink-the-brain
 
First Things First. (2022). Brain Development. https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/early-childhood-matters/brain-development/
 
Hamazaki, K., Matsumura, K., Tsuchida, A., Kasamatsu, H., Tanaka, T., Ito, M., Inadera, H., & Japan Environment and Children's Study Group (2020). Dietary intake of fish and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of postpartum depression: a nationwide longitudinal study - the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Psychological medicine, 50(14), 2416–2424. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719002587
 
Jacka, F. N., Cherbuin, N., Anstey, K. J., Sachdev, P., & Butterworth, P. (2015). Western diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus: a longitudinal investigation. BMC medicine, 13, 215. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0461-x
 
Jacka, F. N., O'Neil, A., Opie, R., Itsiopoulos, C., Cotton, S., Mohebbi, M., Castle, D., Dash, S., Mihalopoulos, C., Chatterton, M. L., Brazionis, L., Dean, O. M., Hodge, A. M., & Berk, M. (2017). A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the 'SMILES' trial). BMC medicine, 15(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y

Mosconi, L. (2018). Brain Food: The surprising science of eating for Cognitive Power. Avery Publishing.

Sánchez-Villegas, A., Delgado-Rodríguez, M., Alonso, A., Schlatter, J., Lahortiga, F., Serra Majem, L., & Martínez-González, M. A. (2009). Association of the Mediterranean dietary pattern with the incidence of depression: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra follow-up (SUN) cohort. Archives of general psychiatry, 66(10), 1090–1098. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.129

Author: Brian Barrett

After teaching and living in Denver for over 5 years, much of Brian's focus is on improving the lives of 3-5 year-olds and their community.  Hiking and travel breaks are often too.