Can food play a vital role in being a major cause of depression? What does a poor diet do to your mental health? A "poor diet" can be defined in a number of ways- under eating or over eating, having very little healthy food in your diet, eating food that is high in fat, sugar, salt and very little fiber. It's not just the fact that these foods cause major problems to your arteries and blood pressure but that poor nutrition creates a sense of tiredness; a lack energy, unwanted weight gain, skin that is prone to breakouts or looks dull and feelings of low self esteem. Whether it is the fact that your body is not working as it should that causes you to feel depressed or the fall out in terms of the effects that this food has on your body (outwardly), or both, there can be a definite impact on mental health (depression, low mood, irritability and anxiety).
Instead of eating processed foods high in fat, sugar and salt, try replacing a meal (or two) and I say "replace" because you can effectively be breaking a cycle or a definite reliance on salt and sugar and this can be very addictive and thus hard to do (so perhaps do it slowly) with whole grains, beans, spinach, kale, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, quinoa, nuts and tofu for vitamin B (serotonin and dopamine), peppers, tomatoes, kale, broccoli and berries for vitamin C, plant based protein (beans, tofu, lentils, hemp seeds), essential fats like linseeds and avocado, green leafy vegetables for iron and calcium as well as complex carbohydrates like kumara, carrots, pumpkin for energy levels.
Over the weeks ahead I will include recipes and spotlights on certain foods and show you what you can do with them. Yum! Tasty!
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