The Powerful Role of the Body in Mental Health:
Healthy Eating
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food ….God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” GENESIS 1:29-31
After making humankind in His image, God directed Adam and Eve to the perfect diet. It was the diet of paradise: fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. And He looked upon it - seeing bright colors and varied shapes of abundant produce - and thought it was very good. It seems God delighted in providing beautiful, nourishing food, much like a parent who has put their heart into preparing an attractive, healthy meal for their family. It turns out that God’s original creative vision for nutrition is still the optimal diet. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that it is fit for royalty not only by way of flavor but also for the striking physical and mental benefits. Nutrition and mental health interact intimately. Across the lifespan, the developing human brain is profoundly impacted by what we eat. Longitudinal studies of adults show that high intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, dairy, and fish and low intake of sugar-containing beverages are associated with larger gray matter volume, white matter volume, and hippocampal volume.1 When children have a healthy diet, longitudinal data shows greater brain volume and better cognitive performance.2 Research proves that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats consistently improves happiness3 and life satisfaction4 while significantly decreasing the odds of depressive symptoms.5 Eating more produce even makes hard experiences feel less negative, providing a protective effect against significant stressors.6 On the other hand, a diet characterized by sugary7 and processed foods8 is linked to anxiety, depression, and overall poorer well-being.
The Powerful Role of the Body in Mental Health: Healthy Eating
Here are some easy, research-based9 steps you can take that really make a difference in physical, mental, and emotional health: 1. Focus on colorful, whole, and unprocessed ingredients with no added sugar. The more fresh fruits and vegetables, the better! 2. Let kids help with food prep. They’ll likely eat more healthy food when they do. 3. Have more meals as a family. This is strongly associated with eating more produce. 4. Sit just a few extra minutes at mealtime. Ten more minutes at the table means more fruit and veggie eating.10 5. Put screens away and cultivate joy together at mealtime. Focusing on each other in a positive atmosphere contributes to better eating habits. 6. Keep serving vegetables - it will pay off in time. Don’t give up. The research is clear on the benefits over time of sticking with it.11 Remember, kids need the guidance of parents to make sure that they have the best odds of good mental health through healthy physical habits. When it comes to healthy eating, no one has the same influence as parents, in part because the home is where so many of these little habits are formed.
1.
Croll, P. H., Voortman, T., Ikram, M. A., Franco, O. H., Schoufour, J. D., Bos, D., & Vernooij, M. W. (2018). Better diet quality relates to larger brain tissue volumes: The Rotterdam Study. Neurology, 90(24), e2166-e2173.
2.
Mou, Y., Blok, E., Barroso, M., Jansen, P. W., White, T., & Voortman, T. (2023). Dietary patterns, brain morphology and cognitive performance in children: Results from a prospective population-based study. European Journal of Epidemiology, 1-19.
3.
Ocean, N., Howley, P., & Ensor, J. (2019). Lettuce be happy: A longitudinal UK study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 222, 335-345.
4.
Conner, T. S., Brookie, K. L., Carr, A. C., Mainvil, L. A., & Vissers, M. C. (2017). Let them eat fruit! The effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on psychological well-being in young adults: A randomized controlled trial. PloS one, 12(2), e0171206.
5.
Lassale, C., Batty, G. D., Baghdadli, A., Jacka, F., Sánchez-Villegas, A., Kivimäki, M., & Akbaraly, T. (2019). Healthy dietary indices and risk of depressive outcomes: a systematic review and metaanalysis of observational studies. Molecular psychiatry, 24(7), 965-986.
6.
Herselman, M. F., Bailey, S., Deo, P., Zhou, X. F., Gunn, K. M., & Bobrovskaya, L. (2022). The effects of walnuts and academic stress on mental health, general well-being and the gut microbiota in a sample of university students: A randomised clinical trial. Nutrients, 14(22), 4776.
7.
Knüppel, A., Shipley, M. J., Llewellyn, C. H., & Brunner, E. J. (2017). Sugar intake from sweet food and beverages, common mental disorder and depression: prospective findings from the Whitehall II study. Scientific reports, 7(1), 1-10.
8.
Lane, M. M., Lotfaliany, M., Hodge, A. M., O’Neil, A., Travica, N., Jacka, F. N., ... & Marx, W. (2023). High ultra-processed food consumption is associated with elevated psychological distress as an indicator of depression in adults from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 335, 57-66.
9.
Dallacker, M., Hertwig, R., & Mata, J. (2019). Quality matters: A meta-analysis on components of healthy family meals. Health Psychology, 38(12), 1137.
10.
Dallacker, M., Knobl, V., Hertwig, R., & Mata, J. (2023). Effect of Longer Family Meals on Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Intake: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open, 6(4), e236331-e236331.
11.
Appleton, K. M., Hemingway, A., Rajska, J., & Hartwell, H. (2018). Repeated exposure and conditioning strategies for increasing vegetable liking and intake: systematic review and meta-analyses of the published literature. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 108(4), 842-856.
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