Does what we put into our bodies have an effect on our mental health? The link was the subject of a study that appeared in the British Journal of Health Psychology. The researchers in this study choose to look at the positive effects of certain foods on mental health, rather than the negative ones.
Three categories of well-being were associated with increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fish. On average, participants had two portions of fruits and vegetables each day, and over half of the participants reported not eating fish. These results provide more evidence that what we eat may have an effect on our mental health.
There are some problems with this study. Many of the parts were subjective, which could make the real results less important. The dietary data were obtained solely from two 24-hour recall questionnaires. Most of the participants were white, limiting validity, and it focused on middle-aged and older individuals, so younger people may have different outcomes.
A board-certified internist, Yoshua Quinones, MD, from Medical Offices of Manhattan, who was not associated with the research, observed that “People don’t always remember food intake correctly unless they’re actually writing everything down in a food diary.” Read the article
Would you like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Quinones?
