There’s a good chance that if you’re not facing a mental health problem yourself, you know someone who is.
In any given year, 26.2 percent of Americans have a diagnosable mental disorder of some kind, according to statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health. That’s almost 60 million people, more than 1 in 4. Of course, included in that number is everything from mild, recurring depression and anxiety to seriously debilitating mental illness. When you look at more serious mental illnesses, the number shrinks to 6 percent, or 1 in 17. That’s still a lot of people.
This is not to minimize in any way the milder forms of mental problems. Even those can interfere with your work and relationships and steal away many of life’s pleasures.
Let’s be clear up front: If you’ve been diagnosed with any kind of mental disorder, you should be under a doctor’s care, working with your doctor to find appropriate medications and/or other therapies. Do not try to substitute diet and nutrition for medical treatment.
The good news, however, is that dietary strategies and certain nutrients can often provide support for conventional medical treatment for mental disorders. In some cases, they can make a tremendous difference in how you feel and in how your mind functions, according to Alan Logan, ND, a naturopathic physician and author of The Brain Diet: The Connection between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence.
Recent years have seen a tremendous amount of scientific research on how nutrition influences brain health, says Dr. Logan. The Western diet, he says, focuses too much on processed foods laced with synthetic chemicals, excess sugar, and the wrong kinds of fats. At the same time, we’re not getting enough of the nutrients that we need in order to make neurotransmitters, protect our nerves, and help the brain function as it should.
What should we be eating? The ideal diet to support brain health and mental functioning, says Dr. Logan, contains a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, fish, seafood, nuts, and whole grains. Such a diet, he explains, helps address two things that show up in almost all chronic neurological and psychiatric conditions: inflammation and oxidative stress.
In addition to eating the right kind of diet, there are a number of nutrients that merit special attention.
Free radicals are naturally occurring molecules that damage body tissues, resulting in what is known as oxidative stress. And antioxidants—including nutrients such as vitamins C and E—are substances that neutralize free radicals.
“There’s greater oxidative stress going on if you’re not eating even a minimum of five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily,” says Dr. Logan. It’s helpful, he says, to concentrate on getting a variety of colorful plant foods on your plate every day—green, red, yellow, orange, purple.
“I’m certainly of the school of ‘let’s focus on the diet,’ but we can’t stick our head in the sand,” says Dr. Logan. Many of us, including those of us who know better, simply don’t get five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Not even close.
So, along with striving to achieve that ideal diet, taking a supplement to ensure that you get sufficient antioxidants is certainly appropriate as well, says Dr. Logan. Plant foods contain a variety of different kinds of antioxidants, so a product known as a superfoods supplement, which is made from a number of plants, is a good choice, he says. He recommends taking one made either from greens or berries. Or better yet, alternate between the two.
The supplements come in the form of powders that can be stirred into juice or yogurt and are readily available in health food stores and natural grocery stores. Follow the package directions to determine the amount to take.
Interestingly enough, a study done in 2007 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia actually showed a connection between low blood levels of antioxidants and a history of attempted suicide. Researchers analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted from 1988 to 1994. They homed in on 6,680 adults ages 17 to 39 who had completed a mental health disorder diagnostic interview and looked at both interview and blood test results.
The researchers concluded: “A history of attempted suicide is associated with low levels of antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids.” (Carotenoids are the orange and yellow pigments found in many fruits and vegetables.)
Eating the right kinds of fats is extremely important for brain function, says Dr. Logan. “The brain itself is 60 percent fat,” he says. It follows that eating the wrong kinds of fats has serious consequences.
Two particular kinds of essential fatty acids concern us here: omega-6s, which are found mainly in vegetable oils and meats from grain-fed animals, and omega-3s, which are found mainly in fish. From prehistoric times, our ancestors ate a diet that gave them these two kinds of fatty acids in a ratio of 1 to 1.
The current Western diet, with its emphasis on processed foods, has altered that ratio, says Dr. Logan. Most Americans currently consume so much more omega-6 fatty acids that the ratio is now somewhere between 10 and 20 to 1. In some individuals, the ratio is as high as 40 to 1, says Dr. Logan. Why is that important?
“When you skew the ratio like that, you’re literally changing the brain, and you’re changing the chemicals that communicate from nerve cell to nerve cell,” explains Dr. Logan.
In fact, he says, numerous high-quality studies have shown that getting more omega-3 fatty acids—specifically EPA and DHA—helps improve symptoms of many conditions that affect mental functioning. These include such wide-ranging conditions as anxiety, low libido, depression, seasonal affective disorder, autism, ADHD, social phobias, aggressive behavior, borderline personality, even schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
One small Australian study published in 2009 examined the effects of fish oil supplements on a particularly heartbreaking population—juveniles with bipolar disorder. Researchers gave a group of 18 children and adolescents fish oil supplements containing 360 milligrams of EPA and 1,560 milligrams of DHA daily for just 6 weeks. At the end of the study, clinicians reported a decrease in both manic and depressive behaviors, and parents also reported improved behavior.
Another study done at the University of Pittsburgh even found that among healthy adults, those with the lowest blood levels of omega-3s were more likely to have a negative outlook and be more impulsive.
In addition to changing brain chemistry for the better, consuming an abundance of omega-3 fatty acids can literally change the structure of the brain, says Dr. Logan. In people who have certain mental disorders, the ventricles (open spaces that contain no brain tissue) are larger than those in the brains of healthy people, he explains. Omega-3s have been shown to reduce the abnormally enlarged ventricles, he says.
One way to get more omega-3 fatty acids is, of course, to consume more fish. And, in fact, experts from the American Psychiatric Association do recommend that adults eat fish at least twice a week.
It’s also a good idea to take a daily fish oil supplement, says Dr. Logan. He recommends taking enough fish oil to get 1 to 2 grams of EPA and DHA combined. The amount of these essential fatty acids can vary from product to product, so you’ll need to read labels and do the math to figure out how much to take.
And while we’re on the subject of fats, it’s also worth noting that you need to do your best to avoid foods containing trans fats, according to Dr. Logan. Besides being bad for the heart, these are also bad for the brain. They contribute to inflammation in the brain, he says. You’ll find trans fats listed on the labels of many processed foods.
A number of studies have found a connection between vitamin D and mental health, says Dr. Logan. Vitamin D is helpful for improving mood and mental outlook, he says. He suggests taking a daily supplement of at least 800 IU.
A number of studies have linked zinc deficiency with depression, and depression comes into play in many mental health conditions. In addition, says Dr. Logan, zinc helps metabolize omega-3 fatty acids. He recommends taking 25 milligrams a day.
The Brain Diet: The Connection between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence by Alan Logan, ND
If you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health problem, you should work with your doctor to find the right medications and/or therapy. Do not try to use nutrients as a substitute for medical treatment.
Antioxidants |
Take a superfoods supplement made either from greens or berries. Follow the package directions. |
Omega-3 fatty acids |
Take enough fish oil to get at least 1 to 2 grams of EPA and DHA combined.** |
Vitamin D |
800 IU |
Zinc |
25 milligrams |
*The amount of EPA and DHA in fish oil varies from product to product. You’ll need to read labels and do the math in order to determine the correct dose. In addition, fish oil has a blood-thinning effect. If you’re taking any kind of blood-thinning drug, talk to your doctor before taking fish oil supplements.