How Diet Impacts Your Mind

May is mental health awareness month, here’s how you can be in a better mood and invite more positivity in work and relationship

In young working professionals, mood swings, feeling low, anxiety over the future, and depression are a common fallout of Post Covid trauma. But a new study conducted by University of Technology Sydney has discovered a very simple method to overcome all this. Young men with a poor diet saw a significant improvement in their symptoms of depression when they switched to the healthy Mediterranean diet, as per this study published on May, 2022. The study recommends that medical doctors and psychologists should consider referring depressed young men to a nutritionist as an important component of treating clinical depression.

There are many reasons why scientifically food affects mood. For example, around 90 per cent of serotonin, a chemical that helps us feel happy, is made in our gut by our gut microbes. There is emerging evidence that these microbes can communicate to the brain via the vagus nerve, in what is called the gut-brain axis. And to have beneficial microbes, we need to feed them fibre, which is found in legumes, fruits and vegetables. when we replace refined carbohydrates and overcooked vegetables with whole foods like fresh salads, lightly stirfried vegetables, whole fruits instead of fruit juices and good fats like extra-virgin olive oil, the impact on even those in depression, is remarkable. The study also found that participants found it easy to adapt to this new way of eating as it doesn’t keep them hungry, instead it helps them get in a better mood. The most important breakthrough? Not only is your mood going to be more positive, but this diet is also extremely heart-healthy.

Below are a few simple steps to adapt this to your new diet.

Replace carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are our powerhouse of energy and without them, you will experience fatigue, brain fog and poor sleep. So don’t ditch them if you are scared of gaining weight, swap from wheat and white rice to quinoa and brown rice as 25% of your meal. These are richer in fibre, minerals and make the body burn more calories to digest.

Include whole foods. Of course it’s wonderful to have your moong dal yellow, however, whole lentils in small quantities have more fibre and also target visceral fat. Even if you don’t need to lose a little bit of weight or have high sugar levels, eating 25% of your meal as protein from whole lentils will benefit your mood, heart, weight and sugar levels.

Heap on vegetables. It’s important that 50% of your plate is full of multicoloured vegetables. So how do you achieve that? Have a large bowl of regular home-cooked mixed vegetables, a portion of cut salad like cucumber, carrots, onions and sprinkle with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. This completes your nutrient requirement of fibre and vegetables to keep your heart healthy, your gut and your brain calm.

Snack on fruits and nuts. Combine a seasonal fruit with a handful of nuts, a cup of green tea to get the benefits of fruits, good fats and protein in nuts and the antioxidant effect of green tea.

The Mediterranean diet is a combination of all the above with extremely reduced quantities of animal protein like oily fish, eggs, milk products and very little and red meats. Follow this balance to reduce anxiety, risk of depression and strengthen the heart. Even latest research says that.