Boosting your mental health may be just a mouthful away - Food and mood are closely linked
But there's promising news - we may be able to eat our way to better mental health. New and exciting research is showing that our mental health can be strongly influenced by what we eat. It’s important to note that it’s the overall quality of our diets that matters most, not single nutrients or foods. We need to see nutrition and our diets through a wider lens. Current research in nutritional psychiatry is showing that the adoption of a healthy diet, in particular, the Mediterranean Diet, can reduce depressive symptoms and boost our mental wellbeing in the long-term. The Mediterranean Diet largely consists of plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish, legumes, nuts and seeds and whole grains. The predominant fat source in the diet is extra virgin olive oil. Much of the research is focusing on how our diets impact the diverse colonies of bacteria (microbiota) that live in our digestive systems. Studies are also examining the role of foods that appear to help f...