It’s time to start feeding your brain It’s time to start feeding
your brain It’s time to start feeding your brain.
For years, research on healthy eating has focused primarily on
physical health and the link between diet, weight and chronic disease. But the
emerging field of nutritional psychiatry studies how foods can make us feel.
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“Many people think about food in terms of their waistlines, but
it also impacts our mental health,” said Uma Naidoo, a Harvard psychiatrist and
director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General
Hospital. “It’s a missing part of the conversation.”
The connection between the stomach and the brain is strong, and
it starts in the womb. The gut and brain originate from the same cells in the
embryo, Naidoo said. One of the main ways the brain and gut remain connected is
through the vagus nerve, a two-way chemical messaging system that explains why
stress can trigger feelings of anxiety in your mind and butterflies in your
stomach.
Debunking a Myth
Often people try to influence their mood by eating comfort foods
such as ice cream, pizza or mac ’n’ cheese. The problem, experts say, is that
while those foods typically offer a tantalizing combination of fat, sugar, salt
and carbs that make them hyperpalatable, they can actually make us feel worse.
Traci Mann, who heads the health and eating laboratory at the
University of Minnesota, ran a series of studies to determine whether a
person's preferred comfort food improves their mood. Participants were asked
the following question: “What foods would make you feel better if you were in a
bad mood?”
The most-common responses were chocolate, ice cream and cookies.
The respondents also rated foods they enjoyed but would not normally eat to
seek comfort.
Before each test, the participants watched film clips that were
known to elicit anger, hostility, fear, anxiety and sadness. After the film,
the viewers filled out a “negative mood” questionnaire to indicate how they
were feeling. Then they were given a heaping portion of their favorite comfort
food; a food they liked but didn’t view as a comfort food; a “neutral” food (an
oat and honey granola bar); or no food at all. Everyone had three minutes alone
to eat their food, or sit quietly. After the break, they filled out the mood
questionnaire again.
Whether a participant ate comfort food, any food or no food didn’t
make a difference in the person's mood. The factor that seemed to matter most
was the passage of time.
“If you eat comfort food, you might feel better, but if you
didn’t eat it, you would also feel better just with time going by,” Mann said.
“People believe in comfort food, and they are giving it credit for mood
improvements that would have happened anyway.”
Using Food to Treat Depression
Mann’s research found that traditional comfort foods don’t have
a meaningful effect on mood, a growing body of research shows that improving
the quality of a person’s diet can have a significant effect on mental health.
An analysis of 16 studies found that dietary interventions significantly
reduced depression symptoms.
Scientists know that about 20% of everything we eat goes to the
brain, said Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor at the
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.
Critical neurotransmitters and receptors are made when you eat specific
nutrients and amino acids, he said. Your glial cells, for example, which make
up a substantial portion of the brain, are dependent on omega-3 fats. Minerals
including zinc, selenium and magnesium provide the foundation for cell activity
and brain tissue and the synthesis of neurotransmitters that directly affect
mood. Iron, folate and vitamin B12 help your body produce serotonin.
“Our brains evolved to eat almost anything to survive, but
increasingly we know there’s a way to fuel it to improve overall mental
health,” said Ramsey, author of the book “Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety.”
“We know if you eat a bunch of garbage, you feel like garbage, but the idea
that it extends into our mental health risk is a connection we haven’t made in
psychiatry until recently.”
Try some new ‘brain’ foods
To help patients remember the best foods to eat to support brain
health, Ramsey has devised a simple mantra: “Seafood, greens, nuts and beans —
and a little dark chocolate.” He also hosts a free online cooking class (the
next one is Feb. 7) called “Mental Fitness Kitchen.”
For this week’s Eat Well Challenge, try adding some new foods to
your plate that have been linked to better brain health. This list is based on
suggestions from Naidoo and Ramsey. Much of the science on the possible brain
benefits of various foods is still in its early stages, and eating these foods
won’t result in mood changes overnight. But incorporating several of these
foods into your meals will improve the overall quality of your daily diet — and
you might notice a difference in how you feel.
Leafy greens: Ramsey calls leafy
greens the foundation of a brain health diet because they’re cheap, versatile
and have a high ratio of nutrients to calories. Kale is his personal favorite,
but spinach, arugula, collards, beet greens and chard are also great sources of
fiber, folate and vitamins C and A. If you’re not a fan of salads, add greens
to soups, stews, stir fries and smoothies, or turn them into a pesto. He also
recommends adding a small serving of seaweed (the “leafy green of the sea”) to
your plate once a week as a source of iodine, fiber, zinc and additional
phytonutrients.
Colorful fruits and vegetables: The
more colorful your plate, the better the food is for your brain. Studies
suggest that the compounds in brightly colored fruits and vegetables like red
peppers, blueberries, broccoli and eggplant can affect inflammation, memory,
sleep and mood. Reddish-purplish foods are “power players” in this category.
And don’t forget avocados, which are high in healthy fats that enhance the
absorption of phytonutrients from other vegetables.
Seafood: Sardines, oysters, mussels,
wild salmon and cod are sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that are
essential for brain health. Seafood is also a good source of vitamin B12,
selenium, iron, zinc and protein. If you don’t eat fish, chia seeds, flax seeds
and sea vegetables are also good sources of omega-3s. For those on a budget,
canned salmon is a more affordable option, said Naidoo.
Nuts, beans and seeds: Try to eat between
a half cup and a full cup of beans, nuts and seeds a day, says Ramsey. Nuts and
seeds, including cashews, almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, are a great
snack, but they can also be added to stir fry dishes and salads. Black and red
beans, lentils and legumes can also be added to soups, salads and stews or
enjoyed as a meal or a side dish. Nut butters count too.
Spices and herbs: Cooking with spices not
only makes your food taste better, but studies suggest certain spices may lead
to a better balance of gut microbes, reduce inflammation and even improve
memory. Naidoo especially likes turmeric; studies suggest that its active ingredient,
curcumin, may have benefits for attention and overall cognition. “Turmeric can
be very powerful over time,” she said. “Try incorporating it into your salad
dressing or roasted vegetables,” or adding it to marinades, curries, sauces,
stews or smoothies. “Adding a pinch of black pepper makes curcumin 2,000% more
bio-available to our brain and body,” she said. “It’s an easy hack to do when
you’re cooking.” Other spices that may support brain health include cinnamon,
rosemary, sage, saffron and ginger.
Fermented foods: Fermented foods are made
by combining milk, vegetables or other raw ingredients with microorganisms such
as yeast and bacteria. A recent study found that six servings a day of
fermented foods can lower inflammation and improve the diversity of your gut
microbiome. Fermented foods include yogurt; sauerkraut; kefir, a fermented milk
beverage; kombucha, a fermented drink made with tea; and kimchi, a traditional
Korean side dish of fermented cabbage and radish. Coconut kefir is a nondairy
option. Other fermented foods include miso, cottage cheese, Gouda cheese and
some types of apple cider vinegar. You can also drink probiotic-containing “gut
shots,” which are small bottles of fermented beverages, usually about two
ounces in size, sold in many grocery stores.
Dark chocolate: People who
regularly eat dark chocolate have a 70% reduced risk of depression symptoms,
according to a large government survey of nearly 14,000 adults. The same effect
was not seen in those who ate a lot of milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is packed
with flavonols, including epicatechin, but milk chocolate and popular candy
bars are so processed that they don’t have much epicatechin left in them.
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