Improving Mental Health During the Pandemic (Part 2): Eating and Drinking

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HOW DOES DIET AFFECT THE BRAIN?

Eating a healthy and nutritious diet has a huge impact on our mood and emotions. If you’re still not convinced, here are three main reasons:

1. A healthy digestive system will transmit positive signals to the brain.

Our gut is covered with neurons, which transmit signals to other nerve cells and are considered the most important part of the brain. This complex network of cells is called the enteric nervous system, and it is able to function independently of the brain and spinal cord, often referred to as the body's "second brain".

And while this “second brain” has no “thoughts” or “feelings,” it does more than just process and digest food. The gastrointestinal nervous system has multiple ways of communicating with the brain, and it plays an essential role in supplying the brain with neurotransmitters such as serotonin—a chemical that affects mood and other cognitive functions.

Many studies have shown that much of the information the digestive system transmits to the brain comes from the gut microbiota, which responds to a variety of external influences, from diet to stress levels. It is through the activities and composition of these microorganisms that the digestive system is thought to influence mental health.

2. A healthy diet helps you cope with life's pressures.

Along with many other factors such as genes, diet also indirectly affects how we deal with pressure and trauma in life. Ted Dinan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at University College Cork (Ireland), pointed out that studies on humans and animals have shown that poor diet can easily lead to poor mental health. Poor mental health not only does not help you face difficulties but also makes you more likely to collapse.

These studies also concluded that the proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system has a positive effect on mental health. If a person who has a healthy diet then switches to eating fast food regularly, their microbiome will change rapidly in a very short period of time, the beneficial bacteria in the gut will tend to decrease or disappear significantly.

“A healthy diet helps us build a healthy microbiome, which helps us cope with pressure and stress better,” Professor Dinan affirmed.

3. A healthy diet helps you regulate your emotions

Dr. Johnson explains that scientists have found that depressed patients have very fewbacterioides, a type of bacteria that produces an important chemical called GABA (a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system). This neurochemical helps reduce the effects of stress and helps us sleep through the night. If the brain does not receive enough GABA, it can lead to increased anxiety and insomnia.

Another important compound for the brain is the amino acid tryptophan. When we eat, tryptophan is broken down by a group of gut bacteria calledbifidobacteria, forming smaller metabolites that can cross the blood-brain barrier. The brain needs a constant supply of these tryptophan metabolites, as they are the building blocks of the mood-regulating hormone serotonin. So, if we don’t have enough bifidobacteria in our gut due to poor diet, this process is inhibited, with negative consequences for our mental health.

What is a healthy diet?

Simply put, a healthy diet is a diet that includes healthy foods - including foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, free sugars and salt. To minimize the amount of unhealthy foods while still absorbing adequate nutrients, you should provide your body with daily calories from foods such as: fresh fruits, clean vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, lean proteins...

Using vegetable oil: Consuming too much fat, oil and concentrated energy sources, especially saturated and industrially produced fats, can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Using unsaturated vegetable oils (olive, soybean, sunflower or corn) instead of animal fats or butter, coconut oil and palm oil will help the body consume healthier fats.

Limit sugar intake:A healthy diet should have less than 10% of your total energy intake from sugar, and natural sugars are always better than artificial ones. You can reduce your sugar intake by choosing fresh fruit over sweet snacks like cookies, cakes, and chocolate. Limiting your intake of soft drinks, soda, and other sugary drinks is also a good start.

Reduce salt intake:Using too much salt in your daily diet will increase the risk of many diseases and make your body sluggish and your mind less focused. You should prioritize foods with low salt content such as green vegetables, fruits and lean meats, and limit the use of salty condiments such as fish sauce, seasoning powder, soy sauce.

STEP BY STEP TO BUILDING A HEALTHY DIET

As well asdo exercise, building a balanced and healthy diet is not an easy thing to do right away. You should gradually change your living habits and improve your meals, so that your body gradually gets used to it and you do not feel bored or tired. Here are some tips to make this change easier for you:

1. Start by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, with main meals consisting of high-fiber starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, rice or pasta.

2. Add some nuts to yogurt and smoothies: When eating yogurt or smoothies, try sprinkling in some nuts such as walnuts, almonds or chia seeds, these nuts are not only delicious but also very good for your health.

3. Use spinach leaves instead of lettuce: When eating salad, try swapping lettuce for spinach. Spinach provides more vitamins A, B, E and calcium than the same amount of lettuce, and is delicious too.

4. Drink unsweetened tea instead of bottled tea or soda: A bottle of tea or a can of soda from the grocery store is loaded with sugar and calories. You could save up to 7,840 calories and 448 teaspoons of sugar a month by drinking unsweetened tea instead of soda or sugary drinks every day.

An - Photo: Internet