Food and mood: how do diet and nutrition affect mental wellbeing?

In the paper

“In addition, relationships between nutrition and longstanding mental illness are compounded by barriers to maintaining a healthy diet.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [4] source

In the paper

“Healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, are associated with better mental health than “unhealthy” eating patterns, such as the Western diet”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [3] source

In the paper

“epidemiological research has observed that adherence to healthy or Mediterranean dietary patterns—high consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes; moderate consumption of poultry, eggs, and dairy products; and only occasional consumption of red meat—is associated with a reduced risk of depression.3”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [3] source

In the paper

“However, the nature of these relations is complicated by the clear potential for reverse causality between diet and mental health (fig 1).”

In the paper

“Poor nutrition may be a causal factor in the experience of low mood, and improving diet may help to protect not only the physical health but also the mental health of the population, say Joseph Firth and colleagues”

In the paper

“These barriers disproportionality affect people with mental illness and include the financial and environmental determinants of health, and even the appetite inducing effects of psychiatric medications.4”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [4] source

In the paper

“Thus, high dietary glycaemic load, and the resultant compensatory responses, could lower plasma glucose to concentrations that trigger the secretion of autonomic counter-regulatory hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, growth hormone, and glucagon.5 9”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [5] source
• Not checked yetcites [9] source

In the paper

“Studies have found that sustained adherence to Mediterranean dietary patterns can reduce markers of inflammation in humans.14”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [14] source

In the paper

“However, other processes may explain the observed relationships.”

In the paper

“Although mood itself can affect our food choices, plausible mechanisms exist by which high consumption of processed carbohydrates could increase the risk of depression and anxiety—for example, through repeated and rapid increases and decreases in blood glucose.”

In the paper

“data from longitudinal research show an association between progressively higher dietary glycaemic index and the incidence of depressive symptoms.6”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [6] source

In the paper

“As well as the physical health risks, diets with a high glycaemic index and load (eg, diets containing high amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars) may also have a detrimental effect on psychological wellbeing”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [6] source

In the paper

“Measures of glycaemic index and glycaemic load can be used to estimate glycaemia and insulin demand in healthy individuals after eating.8”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [8] source

In the paper

“diets with a high glycaemic index are a risk factor for diabetes,5”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [5] source

In the paper

“In addition, observational research has found that recurrent hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) is associated with mood disorders.9”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [9] source

In the paper

“The hypothesis that repeated and rapid increases and decreases in blood glucose explain how consumption of refined carbohydrate could affect psychological state appears to be a good fit given the relatively fast effect of diets with a high glycaemic index or load on depressive symptoms observed in human studies.7”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [7] source

In the paper

“These findings showed that such counter-regulatory hormones may cause changes in anxiety, irritability, and hunger.10”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [10] source

In the paper

“While the main models of disease pathophysiology in diabetes and mental illness are separate, common abnormalities in insulin resistance, brain volume, and neurocognitive performance in both conditions support the hypothesis that these conditions have overlapping pathophysiology.12”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [12] source

In the paper

“Clinical studies have also shown potential causal effects of refined carbohydrates on mood; experimental exposure to diets with a high glycaemic load in controlled settings increases depressive symptoms in healthy volunteers, with a moderately large effect.7”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [7] source

In the paper

“On the other hand, high calorie meals rich in saturated fat appear to stimulate immune activation.13 15”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [13] source
• Not checked yetcites [15] source

In the paper

“which is often a comorbid condition with depression.4 11”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [4] source
• Not checked yetcites [11] source

In the paper

“various mental health conditions, including mood disorders, have been linked to heightened inflammation,16”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [16] source

In the paper

“and transfer of faecal gut microbiota from humans with depression into rodents appears to induce animal behaviours that are hypothesised to indicate depression-like states.25 26”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [25] source
• Not checked yetcites [26] source

In the paper

“which raises the possibility that certain foods could relieve or prevent depressive symptoms associated with heightened inflammatory status.21”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [21] source

In the paper

“major depressive disorder in humans is associated with alterations of the gut microbiome,25”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [25] source

In the paper

“Specific nutritional components (eg, polyphenols and polyunsaturated fats) and general dietary patterns (eg, consumption of a Mediterranean diet) may also have anti-inflammatory effects,14 19 20”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [14] source
• Not checked yetcites [19] source
• Not checked yetcites [20] source

In the paper

“emotion-like behaviour in rodents changes with changes in the gut microbiome,24”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [24] source

In the paper

“Nonetheless, randomised controlled trials of anti-inflammatory agents (eg, cytokine inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) have found that these agents can significantly reduce depressive symptoms.18”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [18] source

In the paper

“This hypothesis is supported by observational studies which have shown that people with depression score significantly higher on measures of “dietary inflammation,”3 17 characterised by a greater consumption of foods that are associated with inflammation (eg, trans fats and refined carbohydrates) and lower intakes of nutritional foods, which are thought to have anti-inflammatory properties (eg, om”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [3] source
• Not checked yetcites [17] source

In the paper

“However, the causal roles of dietary inflammation in mental health have not yet been established.”

In the paper

“The study shows that medications that stimulate inflammation typically induce depressive states in people treated”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [20] source

In the paper

“this mechanism also presents a pathway through which poor diet could increase the risk of depression.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [16] source

In the paper

“The gut microbiome interacts with the brain in bidirectional ways using neural, inflammatory, and hormonal signalling pathways.23”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [23] source

In the paper

“and that giving omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties, before the medication seems to prevent the onset of cytokine induced depression.20”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [20] source

In the paper

“and may even reduce symptoms of depression.30”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [30] source

In the paper

“In addition to genetic factors and exposure to antibiotics, diet is a potentially modifiable determinant of the diversity, relative abundance, and functionality of the gut microbiome throughout life.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] source
• Not checked yetcites [23] source
• Not checked yetcites [27] source

In the paper

“When viewed together, these studies provide promising evidence supporting a role of the gut microbiome in modulating processes that regulate emotion in the human brain.”

In the paper

“Moreover, a recent study found that the ingestion of probiotics by healthy individuals, which theoretically target the gut microbiome, can alter the brain’s response to a task that requires emotional attention29”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [29] source

In the paper

“Such findings suggest a role of altered neuroactive microbial metabolites in depressive symptoms.”

In the paper

“Such a decrease in the function of the gut barrier is sometimes referred to as a “leaky gut” and has been linked to an “unhealthy” gut microbiome resulting from a diet low in fibre and high in saturated fats, refined sugars, and artificial sweeteners.15 23 27”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] source
• Not checked yetcites [23] source
• Not checked yetcites [27] source

In the paper

“For instance, the neurocognitive effects of the Western diet, and the possible mediating role of low grade systemic immune activation (as discussed above) may result from a compromised mucus layer with or without increased epithelial permeability.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] source
• Not checked yetcites [23] source
• Not checked yetcites [27] source

In the paper

“Of note, a recent large clinical trial found no significant benefits of a behavioural intervention promoting a Mediterranean diet for adults with subclinical depressive symptoms.34”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [34] source

In the paper

“Nonetheless, even aside from psychological effects, consideration of dietary factors within mental healthcare may help improve physical health outcomes, given the higher rates of cardiometabolic diseases observed in people with mental illness.33”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [33] source

In the paper

“On the other hand, several recent smaller trials in individuals with current depression observed moderately large improvements from interventions based on the Mediterranean diet.35 36 37”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [35] source
• Not checked yetcites [36] source
• Not checked yetcites [37] source

In the paper

“Such results, however, must be considered within the context of the effect of people’s expectations, particularly given that individuals’ beliefs about the quality of their food or diet may also have a marked effect on their sense of overall health and wellbeing.38”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [38] source