Bad diets degrade mental health

Research by the UK’s Mental Health Foundation has suggested that modern diets are altering the balance of certain important nutrients in our food and are adversely affecting our mental health.

Food experts say the research is not conclusive, but Canadian doctors have been treating scores of patients with a number of mental illnesses using a nutritional approach called orthomolecular psychiatry. They have successfully used food and vitamins to treat major psychiatric disorders.

Some areas of interest in the research include:

Sixty percent of the brain’s dry weight is fat, in particular essential fatty acids (EFAs) like omega-3s. These EFAs are good fats, and are important components of nerve cell walls and are involved in the transmission of electrical activity in the brain.

Lack of these fats can cause the brain to malfunction and promote mental illness. There is a great need for EFA supplementation in conditions like ADHD, anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Several major medical centers around the world are now using high doses of omega-3 fatty acids to treat these disorders.

People with schizophrenia commonly have nerve cell degeneration and brain shrinkage. Omega-3s provide a means of maintaining brain membrane structure and avoiding loss of brain mass.

As well, brain allergies cause many adverse outcomes. Fifteen percent of people with schizophrenia have brain allergies. These allergies involve a gut reaction when poorly-digested food particles are absorbed into the bloodstream (the so-called “leaky gut syndrome”). This results in the release of toxins from the brain that cause malaise, depression, irritability and psychosis.

The brain runs on glucose, or blood sugar. A sugar imbalance can lead to dysfunction in the brain. Hypoglycemia is the term for low blood sugar. Poor memory, problems concentrating, fatigue, cold hands, irritability, muscle cramps, sugar cravings and feeling better after eating carbohydrates, then worse, are all symptoms of hypoglycemia.

Many vitamins and minerals are essential for the brain to function properly. For example, metabolism of adrenaline in the brain is affected by vitamin B3 (niacin). This may be a factor in Parkinson’s disease or schizophrenia. Niacin also plays a role in the essential fatty acid metabolism of the brain that is disrupted in schizophrenics. It, along with vitamin C, is active in the brain, creating a valium-like effect.

The new research may possibly open doors for further study in this area. It appears that, indeed, we are what we eat.

© Copyright 2007 Insight Journal Online Magazine.

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