Are you curious about food and its impact on your well-being? Many are fascinated by food - what it is, how it influences us, and how it behaves in our bodies. Each person’s chemistry is unique. While some dietary guidelines apply to everyone, others need to be tailored to the individual. The goal is to provide information to design the diet that is best for you.
Introduction: The Gut-Brain Connection
Mental healthcare is undergoing a paradigm shift, and nutrition is at the forefront. The connection between dietary choices and overall well-being, including improved mood and brain function, is powerful. Dietary changes can be a gateway to better health, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their nutrition.
The relationship between diet and mental health is complex, but the correlation is clear. An unhealthy gut microbiome often leads to an unhealthy brain, while a healthy microbiome supports a healthy brain.
The Science Behind the Connection
The gut-brain system involves two-way communication between the central and enteric nervous systems, linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions. When you’re nervous and experience "butterflies" in your stomach, there’s more actually going on than just the sensation that the term suggests.
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is referred to as our body’s "second brain" or "gut brain" and facilitates gastrointestinal function. The ENS also sends signals to the brain that trigger changes in our mood, emotions, and cognitive function.
Read also: Does losing weight change shoe size?
The brain and gut are in constant communication with each other through four main channels:
- The vagus nerve: Acts as a communication highway between the brain and gut.
- Gut microbes: Produce chemicals and metabolites that circulate in the blood to the brain.
- Immune system: Gut microbes play an important role in inflammation and the immune system by controlling what is circulated in the body and what is excreted from the body.
- Endocrine cells: Produce hormones, neuropeptides, and neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters are not only produced in the brain, but are also produced by gut cells. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with mental health, is primarily produced in the gut by good bacteria. Up to 95% of serotonin is produced in the gut.
The Role of Diet in Brain Health
The food we eat provides the fuel our brain needs to function optimally. The brain requires a constant supply of fuel, and the quality of that fuel makes all the difference. Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel. Unfortunately, just like an expensive car, your brain can be damaged if you ingest anything other than premium fuel. If substances from "low-premium" fuel (such as what you get from processed or refined foods) get to the brain, it has little ability to get rid of them.
Diets high in refined sugars, for example, are harmful to the brain. In addition to worsening your body's regulation of insulin, they also promote inflammation and oxidative stress. If your brain is deprived of good-quality nutrition, or if free radicals or damaging inflammatory cells are circulating within the brain's enclosed space, further contributing to brain tissue injury, consequences are to be expected.
The Impact of Processed Foods
Processed foods can have undesirable effects on the brain. There are studies that show the connection between highly processed foods and depression and anxiety. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) include carbonated drinks, sweet or savory packaged snacks, processed meats, candy, and fried fast food. These foods have been clearly linked to depression.
Read also: Side Effects of New Diets
However, enjoying such food occasionally won’t have a negative impact on your mental health or mood, as long as you’re following a healthy dietary pattern.
Traditional Diets vs. Western Diets
Studies have compared "traditional" diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a typical "Western" diet and have shown that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat a traditional diet. Scientists account for this difference because these traditional diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and seafood, and to contain only modest amounts of lean meats and dairy. They are also void of processed and refined foods and sugars, which are staples of the "Western" dietary pattern.
Foods to Feed the Gut-Brain Axis
Increasing your intake of probiotic and prebiotic foods are important to improving the gut-brain interaction. Probiotic foods and beverages include:
- Yogurt
- Sauerkraut
- Kefir
- Miso
- Tempeh
- Kombucha
- Kimchi
The fresher, the better. It’s important to get foods like this from the refrigerated section of the grocery store so their beneficial bacteria remain intact and have not been destroyed, as they are when the food is canned or processed.
Probiotic foods are most effective when the diet also includes prebiotic-rich foods, which serve to feed the good bacteria in probiotic foods. Prebiotic foods include:
Read also: "X Be the Change" Program
- Asparagus
- Apples
- Jerusalem artichokes
- Bananas
- Oats
- Onions
- Garlic
- Leek
The MIND Diet: A Brain-Protective Approach
The MIND diet emphasizes fruits, mainly berries, green leafy vegetables, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, fish, beans, and poultry. The MIND diet also limits the consumption of butter, cheese, red meat, fried foods, and sweets. A higher score for the MIND dietary pattern is associated with a reduction in the rate of cognitive dysfunction in healthy older adults.
Obesity and Cognitive Decline
Obesity, characterized by excess accumulation of fat mass, is considered one of the most growing health issues facing the world. Aside from the known metabolic and physiological concomitant medical risks, research supports the view that higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with alteration in global cognitive performance as well as overall brain volume. Middle-aged obesity has been consistently recognized in epidemiological studies as a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent research shows that obesity in middle age is not only associated with an increased risk of dementia in old age but also with a decrease in the rate of cognitive function in middle age itself. These findings suggest that obesity may affect cognitive functions in the middle-life before any age-related dementia occurs.
A longitudinal cross-sectional study in over 2000 middle-aged adults revealed that overweight and obese people recall fewer words and took a long time to complete the cognitive tests compared to normal-weight participants. Similar results observed in a wide age range (20-82 years) research on obesity and overweight individuals illustrated that obesity without interaction with aging also has a devastating effect on cognitive performance. The hippocampal formation, which plays a crucial role in learning and memory, is particularly impacted by obesity and aging, and its small size predicts cognitive impairment and dementia in individuals. As reported in a population-based cohort study of healthy adults which used magnetic resonance image-based brain anatomy, in 527 individuals aged 20-87 years, a greater degree of atrophy in cerebral white matter volume in overweight and obese participants is associated with maximal effects in middle age. These findings imply that obesity in middle age is a powerful predictor of dementia in the elderly. Being obese in middle age raises the likelihood of functional impairment and brain disease. Therefore, if obesity in mid-life threatens cognition, obesity intervention (e.g., weight loss) may reduce the risk of dementia in the future.
Insulin Resistance and Alzheimer's Disease
A staggering 81 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease have insulin resistance. Furthermore, the younger you are when you are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the greater your risk of developing Alzheimer's as you age.
Practical Steps for Dietary Change
- Pay attention to how eating different foods makes you feel: Not just in the moment, but the next day.
- Try eating a "clean" diet for two to three weeks: That means cutting out all processed foods and sugar. See how you feel.
- Focus on whole, unprocessed foods: Prioritize vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
- Limit refined carbohydrates and sugars: These can lead to insulin spikes and hormonal imbalances that impact mood, energy, and sleep.
- Incorporate probiotic and prebiotic foods: Support a healthy gut microbiome with yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, asparagus, apples, and other beneficial foods.
- Consider continuous glucose monitoring (CGM): A CGM can provide valuable insights into your metabolism and how different foods affect your blood sugar levels.
- Monitor your morning fasting glucose: It should be no higher than 99 mg/dL (between 70 and 85 is ideal).
The Importance of Protein and Balanced Macronutrients
It is important to eat more protein and less carbs and balance your diet more. My plan is to aim for 50% of my macronutrients being carbs which, if my protein needs to be 72g based on my weight, I can have 144g.