Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Can diet affect your mental health?
Options
Replies
-
I know for a fact when I was undereating and malnourished at one time my mental state was not okay. My hormones were all out of whack and I had no desire to do anything and I would cry at everything. Over time I got better and the more happier I became. I had more energy and wanted to do more things. I have read so many articles that discuss the effects of undereating and overtraining and depression and anxiety are both big red flags.3
-
So someone was telling me the other day about how mentally unwell people tend to have bad diets and a higher risk for obesity. I looked this up and it's somewhat true. However, this person claimed that these people were mentally unwell BECAUSE they had a bad diet. This didn't make sense to me. I always thought that the mental illness came first and because of the illness, the person then has zero energy or motivation to shop, cook, etc and so often just eats crisps, microwave meals, takeaways/fast food etc which then leads to comorbid factors like obesity. What do you think?
I think first we have to define unwell. I don't think eating too much McDonald's will give anybody schizophrenia for example. But I do think your mental state can be affected by many things, including stress and diet.6 -
It certainly can't help! From my own experience, when you're feeling low you also don't take care of yourself as well as you should...you can get out of shape and that feeds back into your negative feelings as your self-image is going to suffer as you become in poor shape.
All of this stuff is probably intertwined, in my opinion. I think it would be associated with mood disorders and probably some other things as well.
Now, I really don't think eating junk food is going to develop in you a dissociative identity or make you into a borderline personality or anything...but who knows? Bad food/chemicals could all be a factor in any number of things affecting your mental health.
I just don't know how they would ever prove it if that were really true.
But...it would only be a factor. I think your personal biology and the learning/stresses that affect you in your environment as you come to age are going to be way more of a factor than bad food.
I also think that when you start to clean up your diet and exercise you're going to feel a lot better...I'm pretty sure that has been looked at before and found to be true but I don't have anything to reference. It does make sense that it would be true.3 -
Your friend is both right and wrong. Mental health CAN be affected by diet, but in many cases a bad diet is a symptom of poor mental health. It's not an either or, that would be too simplistic. One can co-exist with the other without having caused it although there are cases where it can.
A nervous dieter worrying about every detail to perfection may make their anxiety worse, while an excited dieter feeling positive changes may feel better even if it's not strictly caused by nutrition. Don't forget the positive impact of exercise which often goes hand in hand with "trying to eat better".
ETA: this topic reminded me of a couple of small interesting studies some time ago.
Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862297
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/267060227 -
Thanks for the comments and links everyone. Really appreciate your input into this question.1
-
So someone was telling me the other day about how mentally unwell people tend to have bad diets and a higher risk for obesity. I looked this up and it's somewhat true. However, this person claimed that these people were mentally unwell BECAUSE they had a bad diet. This didn't make sense to me. I always thought that the mental illness came first and because of the illness, the person then has zero energy or motivation to shop, cook, etc and so often just eats crisps, microwave meals, takeaways/fast food etc which then leads to comorbid factors like obesity. What do you think?
@Macy9336 it seems to be the old chicken/egg question to a degree since mental illness can be trigger by diet and mental illness can impact our eating choices.
telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/12/anorexia-partly-genetic-eating-disorder-risk-could-passed-onto/
Breaching the Blood-Brain Barrier as a Gate to Psychiatric Disorder
https://hindawi.com/journals/cpn/2009/278531/
Do You Have a Leaky Brain?
Is a Leaky Blood-Brain Barrier part of your mental health problem?
balancingbrainchemistry.co.uk/peter-smith/112/Repairing-&-Making-the-Brain-Healthy/Leaky-blood-brain-barrier-and-mental-health.html
This actually a great article for those interested in the impact diet may have on mental health since it seems a leaking gut that can be triggered by diet may precede a leaking BBB. These may be some of the WHY factors that can impact body weight beyond just calories.
8 -
Eating 'clean' and nutritionally balanced meals helps my mood be more balanced (I have bipolar disorder), however it is not in itself enough to control my mental illness. I also take a mood stabiliser called lithium.
When I am unwell - depressed, manic or mixed - I don't eat as well as my capacity to look after myself is diminished.
It's like the pot conversation: does pot trigger mental illness in some (yes) or are some people who use pot drawn to pot and other drugs to self medicate (also yes) ... both explain the high coronation between certain types of mental illness but neither is difinitive in a cause and effect sense.
Food/diet draws similar corolations.4 -
StarBrightStarBright wrote: »French_Peasant wrote: »Out of curiosity, what did she think the connection was between gut issues and ear infections? Just that a healthy gut might cure one problem so it might cure them all? Or was it to help re-establish his gut flora after the antibiotics did their damage to it?
I think it was more about re-establishing gut flora because it might be so inter-related to our whole body. She'd say things like "Make sure he eats lots of fruits and vegetables and yogurt for the next month, you don't want to mess with bad microbes, we're going to be talking about guts a lot in the next 10 years."
I am extremely skeptical of diet being a primary cause of a mental illness, although in this case the OP did not define what was meant by "mentally unwell".
It is not logical to think that humans have evolved to be so sensitive to diet that eating poorly results in erratic and "mentally unwell" behavior. However, the opposite seems logical... people who are suffering from a mental disorder may have diminished capacity to care for themselves and resort to eating foods that are easy to obtain, which typically means low quality (high fat, low nutrient) foods.
5 -
Actually, a very famous murder case was defended with "The Twinkie Defense." The man who murdered Harvey Milk received something crazy like 2 years in prison due to his junk food diet causing erratic behavior.4
-
Diet as what meaning? What someone eats? Or when someone is in a calorie deficit. Either way one could argue there is a very likely chance. When you go on a "diet" meaning you are eating less to loose weight you put stress on your body, top that with a moderate exercise regimen and your stressing it even more. We all know how stress can affect us mentally. The other way of what someones diet is when they eat *kitten*, they feel like *kitten*.
1 -
I used to ask that question all the time and to be honest with you from personal experience changing my diet has improved my moods my cognitive thinking and my overall health. Also a film came out within the past few years called that Sugar film it was actually really interesting documentary. If you have Amazon Prime it is free. It makes some interesting points6
-
From my personal experience with depression, I think it's a little bit of both. I know that when I'm struggling with depression, I eat terribly (way too many calories and little fruits or vegetables). When I'm feeling good, I eat better.
However, I find that if I can recognize that I'm in the downward depression spiral (which isn't always easy to admit) and I start eating better and exercising, I find that I start feeling better. So, for me, it's both.9 -
Actually, a very famous murder case was defended with "The Twinkie Defense." The man who murdered Harvey Milk received something crazy like 2 years in prison due to his junk food diet causing erratic behavior.
I don't think there was likely a lot of sciencin' going on in that particular defense. Nowadays it could be eviscerated by the Daubert standard, but that also assumes a competent prosecution and scientifically-competent jury (drawn from the same kind of crazy-woo believers you might see on certain fitness sites).5 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Your friend is both right and wrong. Mental health CAN be affected by diet, but in many cases a bad diet is a symptom of poor mental health. It's not an either or, that would be too simplistic. One can co-exist with the other without having caused it although there are cases where it can.
A nervous dieter worrying about every detail to perfection may make their anxiety worse, while an excited dieter feeling positive changes may feel better even if it's not strictly caused by nutrition. Don't forget the positive impact of exercise which often goes hand in hand with "trying to eat better".
ETA: this topic reminded me of a couple of small interesting studies some time ago.
Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862297
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26706022
Did these have full-text out there anywhere easily accessible? I just wanted to be a geek and take a closer look, but these look paywalled. I think these have been referenced in other things I have read but I haven't dug into them yet.
1 -
French_Peasant wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »Your friend is both right and wrong. Mental health CAN be affected by diet, but in many cases a bad diet is a symptom of poor mental health. It's not an either or, that would be too simplistic. One can co-exist with the other without having caused it although there are cases where it can.
A nervous dieter worrying about every detail to perfection may make their anxiety worse, while an excited dieter feeling positive changes may feel better even if it's not strictly caused by nutrition. Don't forget the positive impact of exercise which often goes hand in hand with "trying to eat better".
ETA: this topic reminded me of a couple of small interesting studies some time ago.
Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862297
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26706022
Did these have full-text out there anywhere easily accessible? I just wanted to be a geek and take a closer look, but these look paywalled. I think these have been referenced in other things I have read but I haven't dug into them yet.
Unfortunately I don't. I think I found one one of them through a research review, but I don't remember which and where.1 -
Actually, a very famous murder case was defended with "The Twinkie Defense." The man who murdered Harvey Milk received something crazy like 2 years in prison due to his junk food diet causing erratic behavior.
Cart before the horse there. His lawyers used his rapidly declining nutritional choices and personal hygiene as evidence, not cause of, his mental state.9 -
Yes, absolutely. I have struggled with mental illness for over twenty years. I've been on meds and off meds and have learned an abundance of coping mechanisms. But, when I learned how to HELP my mental state by controlling my diet and eating in a way that was best for me, I started feeling amazing. Was a cured? Of course not. Could I stop taking all of my meds? Hell no! But, did my diet make a world of difference? Absolutely. I feel happier, I have more energy, I am less lethargic, my cognitive ability is improved...so, in my opinion, diet plays a huge role in mental health and will permanently play a role in mine.13
-
Mental health is tied into the digestive biome. We eat a vastly reduced diet in 2017 to the one we would have eaten a 100, 500 or a 1000 years ago. People who are closer to their original ways of eating have fewer health issues than we in the industrial world we have many fewer species of microbes as a result.
Anyone who has taken even one round of antibiotic will have lost beneficial microbes. Years ago before the thyroid numbers game was started doctors used to treat mental health issues with NDT, natural desiccated thyroid which contains both the t4 and t3 hormones. Many responded to this regime and it was popular. Unfortunately big pharma got in on the act post tsh, t4 testing and this natural form is shunned because they got away with saying it was not of the required standard but all medicines have to be made to a proper standard.
It is possible to ensure you have adequate levels of iodine and other minerals and vitamins in your diet. Nutritional advice says we need 150 microns of iodine a day, I think at least this. This level amounts to about half a teaspoon a year but it is vital for each and every cell particularly those in the brain. Looking for foods to supply iodine, examples, a medium egg is 24, dark green veg 100 grams have about 4, milk 100 ml has 30, yoghurt doubles this. Fish like cod is higher, possibly 70 per 100 grams. Salmon is lower in iodine but has selenium which is essential for the conversion of t4,iodine to t3 the active form. so it is all too easy for us to be unaware we are deficient in these and other minerals as well as other vitamins d,c,and e for starters.
A consequence of having restricted microbes and or too many of the least helpful microbes (yeasts) is that we are less able to absorb sufficient nutrients from our diet. The microbes are responsible for breaking down the foods along with the digestive enzymes we should all produce.
Someone said, thinking of autism in this thread is not necessarily appropriate. I need digestive enzymes made for first for children with autism who share my issue with phenol. When our digestive biome is out of balance it sets in place the potential for a chain of issues relating to how we eliminate the chemicals we encounter in our modern world.
Someone else said of their undereating they felt better when the started to eat better again. One study done in London a couple of years ago and was the topic of a radio programme cited better t3 levels as crucial for the anorexic person. Ironically doctors are not permitted to test our t3 levels here in the UK.11 -
Actually, a very famous murder case was defended with "The Twinkie Defense." The man who murdered Harvey Milk received something crazy like 2 years in prison due to his junk food diet causing erratic behavior.
That's not correct, though that is the common belief.
The actual defense was that Harvey was suffering from depression that was untreated and therefore he was mentally impaired. That was proposed to have made him less capable of distinguishing right from wrong and not capable of premeditation.
The drastic change in his diet from health-conscious to junk foods was used as one evidence of his depression.5 -
Your diet and exercise regimen can affect your mental health. I always feel better if I exercise, even just a brisk walk and what I put in to my body affects how I feel as well. There are foods that I eat that will make me feel moody or grouchy after I eat them so I avoid them.2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 388 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 918 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions