How Your Diet Can Affect Your Mental Wellbeing

As the world has changed drastically since the start of the pandemic, it may well be your diet has too. But does the food you eat really affect your mental wellbeing? We shall find out today! 

Eating at Regular Intervals 

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By eating regularly, you will keep your blood sugar levels consistent. So why is this a good thing? When blood sugar drops, it leads to tiredness and irritability, and inconsistent blood-sugar levels have even been linked to mood disorders including depression and anxiety. If your blood sugar spikes, this will be followed by a dip, and you’ll be hit by these issues. So, eating erratically might be doing more harm than just leaving you with a rumbly tummy! 

 

Drink Plenty of Fluids 

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Dehydration can impact your mental wellbeing by making it harder for you to think clearly and focus. Dehydration is seen by the body as a stressor, leading to symptoms of low energy, poor focus, confusion and irritation. The brain cells require water just as the body does, and this explains why individuals who are dehydrated are more susceptible to mental stress. Water helps blood flow, so if there isn’t enough water to help clear the toxins out of the body, this leaves one feeling weak. 

 Dehydration can also lead to cravings for unhealthy food like crisps, and refined carbohydrates and drinks containing alcohol and caffeine, which have diuretic effects on the body!  

Eat a Balanced Diet 

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Extensive and consistent research tells us that healthier diets protect against depression. Given that depression is the leading cause of global disability, this is critical to understand. More recently, evidence from randomised controlled trials tells us that helping people with depression to improve the quality of their diets can have a substantial benefit to their mental health and functioning. In these trials, the diet that had the major benefit was one designed to mimic a traditional Mediterranean diet, high in wholegrains, vegetables, fruits, fish and olive oil. 

Try to Avoid Junk Food When You’re Tired 

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Recent science tells us there’s a reason why we’re tempted by those high-carb, sugar and fat products when we’re tired. If this is a short-term problem or one off, it’s not likely to cause issues in the long term, but if it’s ongoing it can become a chicken-and-egg situation. 

Certain foods can impact digestion and make you feel unwell, and this is intricately related to mood. An example is feeling uncomfortably bloated, which leads to sluggish feelings accompanied by a brain fog, and this then impairs mental clarity. It swings both ways, so if you feel tired, with this low mental focus, anxiety, irritation and mood, you may reach for refined foods low in vitamins and minerals, which give you a quick high that is short lived. 

The same applies to comfort eating when stressed. Comfort eating is emotional eating, and the triggers and reasons for it vary from individual to individual.... Food shouldn’t be used as a way to control emotions!