People are already wanting to know when the isolation period will be eased as Australia successfully flattens the curve of COVID-19 cases. With no cure, no vaccine in sight and no herd immunity strategy on the table it is highly likely we will be in isolation for some time. No doubt this situation calls for a positive attitude and looking at this as a marathon and not a sprint.
However, the novelty of isolation is wearing off for many of us, me included. What we know is there is going to be not only a huge economic cost but also a mental health one. Mental illness is increasing and will continue to do so as people feel anxious, depressed, stressed and scared about what life now looks like for them and their loved ones. Knowing this, it is now more important than ever to be doing all we can to look after our mental health.
Obviously if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health it is crucial that you speak to your doctor, discuss the need for a mental health care plan and look into the possibility that you may need to explore medication options. What we know is that medications don’t help everyone but need to be considered if you are experiencing debilitating anxiety or depression that negatively impacts your quality of life and relationships.
Mental illness is not always caused by imbalances in neurotransmitters. Sometimes the drivers can be a number of things including inflammation, blood sugar dysregulation, heavy metal toxicity, nutrient deficiencies, digestive problems and even diet quality. Ideally all possibilities get explored, identified and addressed to resolve or manage mental illness.
One thing you can be doing today to support your mental well being if you are not already doing it is taking control of what you eat. The research now demonstrates development of depression and anxiety is influenced by what we eat. Professor Felice Jacka at Deakin University’s Food and Mood Centre has worked tirelessly over the last decade to identify the connection between diet quality and mental health. What she and her fellow researchers found was that the body and the brain were in fact connected. While the role of diet in many other physical illnesses has been established, the exploration of diet and mental health in research is in its infancy. Today it’s called nutritional psychiatry.
The Standard Australian/American diet (SAD) is a diet high in trans fats, refined sugars, additives and preservatives. It’s low in fibre and is increasingly made up of ultra processed ‘food like’ products that have taken over supermarket shelves. Over 60% of foods on the supermarket shelves fall into the ultra processed category and that is the food that can make us feel anxious and depressed. Right now many of us are probably eating more of these foods because they are addictive and give us little hits of serotonin to make us feel good for a short time after we eat them. Great during a time where people are struggling to feel good about anything.
The diet that has been found to improve mental health outcomes is a modified Mediterranean diet. This diet is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and healthy fats, including olive oil, avocado and fish. Eating moderate amounts of protein including eggs, red meat and poultry.
So why does the SAD diet make us sad or anxious? There are many complicated biochemical links to how the diet influences mood, but to put things simply, here are just three of the many ways that diet influences mood:
• Processed, poor quality diets are devoid of important vitamins and minerals that provide the body with the nutritional co-factors to make neurotransmitters that keep us feeling happy and well.
• Low fibre, high additive diets damage the gut microbiome (the bacteria that live in your large bowel) and the gut is responsible for the immune-signalling molecules being produced. When we eat a diet high in processed food we create pro-inflammatory molecules, and inflammation is what leads to the development and progression of depression.
• Eating a junk food diet has also been found to cause changes in brain function which leads to mental health problems. Shrinking of the hippocampus happens and this contributes to memory problems and the development of depression and/or anxiety.
During a time that there is little that we can control, focusing on what we eat is a way to take the power back and feel better for it.