What lifestyle changes can help our clients improve their mental health? This article explores the latest research on the connection between diet and mental health outcomes and how you can integrate these findings into your practice. Recently, research has shifted our understanding of how diet influences mental well-being, recognizing it as a modifiable risk factor in the onset and progression of mental conditions. Although previous studies just focused on the connection between depression and poor dietary choices, the impact of nutrition is deeper than that, extending to a wide range of psychological disorders.
Mental health results from a complex interaction of biological, environmental, and lifestyle factors; recent advances in nutritional psychiatry show that dietary habits play a key role in mood regulation, cognitive functions, and the risk of developing anxiety, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. These findings underscore the importance of integrating dietary assessments and interventions into clinical practice.
Diet and Mental Health: The Gut Brain Axis
One of the most fascinating advances in nutritional psychiatry is the growing understanding of the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication system that involves: microbial metabolites, immune pathways, and metabolic processes (Berding et al., 2021). The gut microbiota is the community of microorganisms that lie within the gastrointestinal tract, and recent research points out that also interacts with the brain. This suggests that diet plays a significant role in maintaining microflora, which in turn influences mental health.
As mental health practitioners, recognizing the role of nutrition in gut microbiota health can provide new intervention pathways for clients struggling with mood disorders. Research suggests that high consumption of processed food is an important contributor to most mental conditions, including depression and anxiety – two of the leading causes of disability in recent years. A thorough literature review and meta-analysis carried out by Lane et al. (2022) show that the consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with chronic non-communicable diseases, cognitive impairment, and dementia risk.
The impacts of a diet based on fast food, sugary snacks, and to-go meals are quite alarming. These types of food contain high levels of refined sugars, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives, which can disrupt the gut microbiota. According to Lane et al. (2022), the additives in ultra-processed foods could impact the metabolism and neural system profoundly, contributing to both physical health problems, mood dysregulation, and psychological distress. Artificial sweeteners and monosodium glutamate (MSG), can interfere with the processes of neurotransmitter synthesis by changing the modulation pathways.
Diet and Mental Health: The Cumulative Effect
Unhealthy nutrition has a cumulative and long-term impact on adulthood. Diet is essential during formative ages due to the physical, hormonal, and emotional changes. Berding et al. (2021) highlight that maternal diet and early feeding practices are crucial in shaping the infant’s gut microbiota. Additionally, especially during adolescence, ultra-processed foods can contribute to a high risk of developing mental disorders as they affect the regulation of neurotransmitters. Similarly, monosodium glutamate (MSG) may interfere with the synthesis of neurotransmitters that regulate mood and behavior like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
In today’s society, healthy diets are being substituted with prepackaged chips, cookies, fast food, sweetened beverages, and highly processed microwave meals, which have little to no nutrient value. Processed meats lack important methyl-donor micronutrients such as vitamin B12, folate, and choline, which are crucial for brain function (Verma et al., 2024). The overconsumption of artificial chemicals, preservatives, and fat unhealthy food items, greatly alters the axis of the brain and gut microbiota, resulting in negative impacts on cognitive function and emotional stability.
The latest research indicates that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin that are added to diet drinks and low-calorie food are associated with mood swings. More evidence is coming to light linking the intake of higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages SSB to more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms in teenagers, impacting more males (Dabravolskaj et al., 2024).
The Western-style diet, characterized by high levels of processed foods, sugars, and processed fats, has been associated with a higher likelihood of suffering from depression and anxiety. Whereas, a diet based on plants as well as a Mediterranean diet filled with fruits, fish, vegetables, and nuts have been found to shield these ailments. Owen and Corfe (2017) assert that diet influences mental health before symptoms appear; therefore, healthy nutrition may play a preventive role.
Diet and Mental Health: Gut Microbiota
Research has identified that diets focusing on the development of gut microbiota are related to a better psychological state while the Western diet, containing high amounts of processed foods and low amounts of fiber, was found to be associated with a less diverse microbiota and poor emotional health. A healthier diet with a high intake of fiber, vegetables, fruits, and fermented foods contributes to an increase in beneficial microorganisms, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Berding et al. (2021) explain that these beneficial bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from dietary fiber, which have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects for anxiety and depression.
As the connection between diet and mental well-being becomes increasingly apparent, Epigenetics provides a greater scope of the importance of personalized intervention. Berding et al. (2021) suggest that personalized nutrition based on an individual’s microbiota profile could help improve mental health outcomes; such strategies would take into consideration the specific composition of a person’s gut microbiota and prescribe a diet aimed at strengthening the gut-brain axis. Understanding the effects of methyl-donor micronutrients on epigenetic mechanisms may lead to personalized strategies that mitigate mental health concerns. By understanding how specific dietary patterns influence gene expression and mental health, healthcare providers can offer more effective prevention, and treatment approaches for mental health illnesses.
Diet and Mental Health: Practical Dietary Recommendations for Mental Health Practitioners
As practitioners, understanding the cumulative impact of diet on mental health allows us to guide clients toward evidence-based nutritional strategies for well-being. Here are key considerations:
- Address diet in clinical assessments: Incorporate simple questions about eating habits, UPF consumption, and gut health symptoms into intake forms and therapy sessions.
- Help clients recognize the connection between nutrition and mental health: A balanced diet, especially when fortified with antioxidants, vitamins, probiotics, and essential minerals, plays a crucial role in cognitive function and inflammation control. Educate clients on how excessive sugar, artificial sweeteners, and processed fats contribute to mood fluctuations and mental health challenges.
- Encourage clients to increase their intake of fiber-rich foods: Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains have a positive effect on the gut microbiota. More importantly, they help boost neuroprotective short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which support cognitive function and emotional regulation.
- Highlight the role of essential micronutrients: Nutrients such as folate, choline, and vitamin B12 are key methyl donors that support neurotransmitter synthesis and brain function (Verma et al., 2024).
- Support personalized nutritional strategies: For clients with chronic mental health conditions, collaborating with a specialist in nutritional psychiatry may enhance treatment outcomes.
Diet and Mental Health: References
- Lane, M.M., Gamage, E., Travica, N., et al. (2022). Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Nutrients, 14(2568). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14132568
- Owen, L., & Corfe, B. (2017). The role of diet and nutrition on mental health and wellbeing. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(4), 425-426. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665117001057
- Berding, K., Vickova, K., Marx, W., et al. (2021). Diet and the microbiota–gut–brain axis: Sowing the seeds of good mental health. Advances in Nutrition, 12(4), 1239–1285. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35807749/
- Dabravolskaj, J., et al. (2024). Association between diet and mental health outcomes in a sample of 13,887 adolescents in Canada. Preventing Chronic Disease, 21(E82). https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd21.240187
- Verma, A., Inslicht, S.S., & Bhargava, A. (2024). Gut-brain axis: Role of microbiome, metabolomics, hormones, and stress in mental health disorders. Cells, 13(1436). https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13171436
