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Food and Mood: How Nutrition Impacts Mental Health - Grateful Grazer
Turns out, the food you eat is kind of a big deal for your brain. Here’s what you need to know about how nutrition impacts mental health.
Food Impacts Mood—Here’s How Food has the power to change your mood.
Researchers think this happens in a few different ways, including neuroinflammation (an inflammatory response in the brain/nervous system) and changes to the gut microbiome.
Inflammation Like elsewhere in the body, inflammation has both positive and negative effects in the brain. It’s initially helpful, but causes harm when it’s left unchecked for too long. Neuroinflammation can make it difficult to cope with stress and might even lead to depression for some people.
A traditional eating pattern with omega-3s from fish may help decrease inflammation and balance out this system.
Gut Microbiome
Like inflammation, the gut microbiome thrives on balance. Recent studies have discovered that intestinal bacteria are connected to the brain and that they communicate with each other along a biochemical pathway called the the gut-brain axis.
When the microbiome is out of balance, pro-inflammatory compounds travel from the gut to the brain, leading to neuroinflammation in severe cases. This could be one of the reasons a reduction in intestinal bacteria (a sign of intestinal imbalance) is associated with higher risk for brain-related disorders like depression and anxiety.
Turns out, the food you eat is kind of a big deal for your brain. Here’s what you need to know about how nutrition impacts mental health.
Food Impacts Mood—Here’s How Food has the power to change your mood.
Researchers think this happens in a few different ways, including neuroinflammation (an inflammatory response in the brain/nervous system) and changes to the gut microbiome.
Inflammation Like elsewhere in the body, inflammation has both positive and negative effects in the brain. It’s initially helpful, but causes harm when it’s left unchecked for too long. Neuroinflammation can make it difficult to cope with stress and might even lead to depression for some people.
A traditional eating pattern with omega-3s from fish may help decrease inflammation and balance out this system.
Gut Microbiome
Like inflammation, the gut microbiome thrives on balance. Recent studies have discovered that intestinal bacteria are connected to the brain and that they communicate with each other along a biochemical pathway called the the gut-brain axis.
When the microbiome is out of balance, pro-inflammatory compounds travel from the gut to the brain, leading to neuroinflammation in severe cases. This could be one of the reasons a reduction in intestinal bacteria (a sign of intestinal imbalance) is associated with higher risk for brain-related disorders like depression and anxiety.