Low Carb and Mental Health : The food-mood connection

Dr. Georgia Ede, MD writes:

"Eating a low-carbohydrate whole-foods diet appears to be a powerful strategy for protecting and improving the health of the body. Could this same nutritional strategy benefit the brain as well?

Emerging science and clinical experience suggest that the answer is a resounding yes.

Many people think of mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and ADHD as chemical imbalances that require medication, but how often do we stop to wonder what causes these chemical imbalances? While medications are clearly helpful and important for some individuals, one could argue that the most powerful way to change brain chemistry is through food — because that’s where brain chemicals come from in the first place. 

This logical idea has given birth to the new and exciting field of nutritional psychiatry, dedicated to understanding how dietary choices affect our mood, thinking, and behaviour. Emerging science and real-world experiences are revealing this empowering and hopeful new message: feeding your brain properly has the potential to prevent and reverse symptoms of mental health disorders, and in some cases, help people reduce or even eliminate the need for psychiatric medications. 

The steep rise in mental health problems around the world in recent decades closely parallels the pattern of many other so-called “diseases of civilization” associated with the industrialization of the human diet. 

Although many public health messages blame animal protein and fat for our predicament, meat is not a risky new foreign substance; it is an ancient, highly nutritious whole food that has been available since time immemorial. 

While we can’t know precisely how much meat pre-historic peoples around the world used to eat, we do know that no human being could have survived without animal foods, because plant foods lack certain nutrients essential to human life, most notably vitamin B12, and B12 supplements were not available prior to the 1950s. 

What best distinguishes today’s so-called “Western” diet from every dietary pattern that has ever come before it is not the presence of meat, but the abundance of refined carbohydrates like sugar and flour, and refined seed oils (aka “vegetable oils”) such as soybean and sunflower oil. These two substances, which are found in nearly every processed and prepared food on the market, are the true signature ingredients of modern diets. 

Refined carbohydrates and seed oils may endanger physical and mental health by contributing to inflammation, oxidation, hormonal imbalance, and insulin resistance — all of which science suggests may be key drivers of many physical and mental health problems. (A guide to how sugar and processed food may damage the brain is coming soon.) 

To be clear, these are not the only forces at play, and poor dietary quality is not the only factor influencing our risk for psychiatric disorders. However, since there is solid science connecting food choices with disease-producing processes, improving the quality of our diet makes good sense. 

Low-carbohydrate diets and psychiatric disorders: 

Anxiety disorders 

more to read in original article

Depression
see original article
Bipolar disorders
more to read in original article
Psychosis
see original article
Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)
more to read in original article
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
see original article
Alzheimer’s disease
more to read in original article
Eating disorders

see original article 

Summary 

Although the food-mood link is still an emerging field of study, there is great potential for many to unlock better mental health by modifying our modern diets and giving up processed food."

The above is only a snippet of Dr. Ede's article, please read it in full with all links here 

We bring a variety of articles, studies etc. plus recent news/views and recipe ideas to this blog, we hope something for everyone to read and enjoy.

Please note, not all may be suitable for you.

If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan