Did you know that consuming less processed food and maintaining a balanced diet can help you to not only maintain an ideal weight and stay away from chronic wellness, but also ensure mental health? Yes, you read it right! This week for our new segment of FYI, The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha brings to you the link between a balanced diet and depression as we interact with the experts.
Every time we eat junk food, our mothers are always ready to tell us, “Stop eating junk; eat the food that’s made in the house.” We’re always taught that eating well helps us look and feel our physical best. What we’re not told is that good nutrition significantly affects our mental health, too. A healthy, well-balanced diet can help us think clearly and feel more alert. It can also improve concentration and attention span.
Conversely, an inadequate diet can lead to fatigue, impaired decision-making, and slowed reaction times. In fact, a poor diet can actually aggravate and even lead to stress and depression.
According to a study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information on “Understanding nutrition, depression, and mental illnesses,” only a few people are aware of the connection between nutrition and depression, while they easily understand the connection between nutritional deficiencies and physical illness.
Depression is widely assumed to be solely biochemical or emotional in nature. On the contrary, nutrition can play a key role in the onset, severity, and duration of depression. Many of the easily noticeable food patterns that precede depression are the same as those that occur during depression. These may include a poor appetite, skipping meals, and a dominant desire for sweet foods. Nutritional neuroscience is an emerging discipline that sheds light on the fact that nutritional factors are intertwined with human cognition, behavior, and emotions.
According to the American Dietetic Association, people tend to either eat too much or too little when depressed or under stress. Eat too much, and you find yourself dealing with sluggishness and weight gain. Eat too little, and the resulting exhaustion makes this a hard habit to break. In either case, a poor diet during periods of stress and depression only makes matters worse. This cycle is a vicious one, but it can be overcome.
Dr. Kalpana Sringar, a mental health professional seconding the above research, shared, “When a person is depressed, the person might either not eat at all, not sleep at all, or in other extreme cases, eat a lot and sleep a lot. People who do not eat when they are depressed become very irritable and start crying because they have nothing in their stomachs. In fact, their cholesterol level dips and their vitamin levels are low.
On the other hand, people who eat too much start putting on a lot of weight and end up having cardiovascular diseases, and they cannot stop eating. They go on bingeing on food. They feel hungry most of the time, start eating, and gain weight. In fact, when they begin taking antidepressants to return to an average level of functionality and reduce the symptoms of depression, they begin to gain weight. They almost come back to normal; they eat normally, but it takes a while for such a stage to come.”
And so, the doctor advises that along with maintaining a healthy diet, it is equally important to exercise.
“If your relatives or any of your near and dear ones are going through depression and you see them eating a lot, you should definitely make them exercise, because once you put on weight after your 30s, it’s difficult to lose it. Furthermore, taking antidepressants can result in weight gain.They must be advised to exercise regularly or do some yoga or meditation. A person going through depression will be demotivated to do anything, and those who don’t eat at all won’t be motivated to even sit or do anything. It takes them time to get back to normal functionality. Even the other, when they begin to overeat and become obese, this can lead to depression because they are unable to run or even walk quickly,” added the doctor.
“Along with maintaining a healthy diet, it is equally important for one, especially someone diagnosed with depression, to exercise well and go out of the box and try meeting people,” believes Maria Singha, founder of Maria’s Fitness Studio.
“Maintaining a proper diet may help in the reduction of depression. However, it is essential that they exercise and workout too, because just maintaining a diet can make a person feel very low. It is important to exercise or do an activity like Zumba not just to maintain your tummy but also for your complete well-being. Depression is widely spread among various age groups and is not always associated with food. Maintain a balanced diet, exercise, and come out and meet people,” shared Maria, who is also a creative core strengthening functional training certified diet counsellor.
But now a question that arises is: what to have? Dr. Kalpana believes that instead of people cutting down on their cravings, they should continue having them but in small quantities. “There have been studies that claim that having confectionery products can help reduce depression. I don’t believe in these because then people would just end up eating more and gaining weight, which could further get them stressed about their weight. However, it’s important to maintain a balanced diet. Having these foods that you’re craving once in a while is fine and in a small quantity.”
Foods to incorporate for a healthy mental diet:
• Complex carbohydrates like millet and brown rice.
• Lean proteins like chicken and soybean.
• Fatty acids like fish and eggs.
Some healthy eating habits:
• Steer clear of processed snack foods, such as potato chips, which can impair your ability to concentrate.
• Pass up sugar-filled snacks, such as candy and soft drinks, which lead to ups and downs in energy levels.
• Consume plenty of healthy fats, such as olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado. This will support your brain function.
• Have a healthy snack when hunger strikes, such as fruit, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, baked sweet potatoes, or edamame. This will give you more energy than packaged products.
• Develop a healthy shopping list and stick to it.
• Don’t shop while hungry, since you’ll be more likely to make unhealthy impulse purchases.
• Think about where and when you eat. Don’t eat in front of the television, which can be distracting and cause you to overeat. Instead, find a place to sit, relax, and really notice what you’re eating. Chew slowly. Savor the taste and texture.
