What is the relationship between nutrition and mental health?

Introduction

Nutrition is the acquisition of nutrients from foods to provide energy and maintain physiological systems and functions. In antiquity, the Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed certain foods to heal medical problems. Since then, health care providers have accepted the concept that food can aid in the treatment of some physical ailments. By the early twentieth century, some medical professionals had developed theories that nutrients obtained during digestion and distributed in blood might also be useful in alleviating mental illnesses by adjusting brain chemistry. Medical guides suggested that poor nutrition and toxins in food could be associated with mental disorders. After scientists discovered many vitamins in the 1920s, articles appeared in medical journals describing experiments into the use of vitamins, especially B and C, and minerals, such as manganese, as treatments to ease psychological symptoms.

During the 1950s, pharmaceutical companies increased the manufacturing of drugs for various psychological therapies and encouraged mental health professionals to prescribe them. Most physicians chose pharmaceuticals rather than nutrients to treat mental disorders. Research investigating how nutrition might help mental health was minimal in the following decades because of insufficient funding and interest. People who supported the use of nutrition to achieve mental health pointed out that studies had linked deficiencies in nutrients and unbalanced diets to various brain development problems. They argued that food influences brain structure and performance and that access to or deprivation of nutrients shapes mental health. Most scientific research in this field, however, has been too inconclusive to convince skeptics that nutrition has a valid role in mental health prevention or treatment.

Orthomolecular Research

Some psychiatrists who were reluctant to rely on antipsychotic medications, including Canadian Abram Hoffer, tested theories that nutrients might aid patients experiencing mental disorders. In 1952, Hoffer initiated clinical trials in which he gave schizophrenic patients niacin (vitamin B3). Pleased by the results, he treated several thousand schizophrenics with nutritional therapies, using vitamin C and riboflavin, among other substances. With his colleague Humphry Osmond, Hoffer wrote “The Biochemistry of Mental Disease,” which the Canadian Medical Association Journal printed in 1961. The next year, Hoffer and Osmond published Niacin Theory in Psychiatry. In 1963, their report, “Massive Niacin Treatment in Schizophrenia: Review of a Nine-Year Study,” appeared in Lancet.

Other scientists recognized that naturally occurring vitamins and minerals in foods might be healthier treatments than prescription medicines, which posed such risks as side effects and physical reactions. In April, 1968, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling
published “Orthomolecular Psychiatry” in Science, introducing the term “orthomolecular” to refer to using natural rather than manufactured resources for medical purposes. Pauling suggested that adjusting brain chemistry naturally with nutrients might help mental processes. Acceptance of orthomolecular practices at that time was hindered by many psychiatrists having minimal knowledge regarding nutrition.

In 1973, the
American Psychiatric Association (APA) Task Force on Vitamin Therapy in Psychiatry criticized the use of vitamins and orthomolecular techniques. The task force’s report targeted the work of Hoffer and Osmond, stating that their experiments testing vitamins for psychiatric treatment lacked scientific controls. The APA also denounced psychiatrists who accepted the popular media promoting orthomolecular studies. Hoffer and Osmond prepared a response defending their methods, which was published by the Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation in 1976. Other groups dismissed orthomolecular therapies for mental illnesses. The National Institute of Mental Health’s Research Advisory Committee and the American Academy of Pediatrics noted the dangers of consuming too many vitamins.

Hoffer and Osmond continued their orthomolecular treatments for psychiatric diseases. Some mental health professionals recognized the importance of vitamin B to memory and cognition, particularly in geriatric patients. Many, however, continued relying on tranquilizers to calm schizophrenics. Patients became aware of alternatives described in popular health guides published in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Many of those books used words such as psychonutrient, psychodietetics, and psychochemical, and promoted the use of vitamins and nutrients to solve common psychological complaints, especially depression. Some authors recommended herbal aids such as St. John’s wort and gingko biloba.

At the start of the twenty-first century, mental health professionals disagreed as to whether nutrition could be credited with bringing about psychological improvements in patients, and the quantity of research examining nutrition and neurochemistry expanded. Many psychologists recognized the importance of nutrition in maintaining physical health. Some psychologist believed that nutrition could also help sustain mental health. Critics suggested that other factors, such as endorphins released when eating delicious food or dining with friends, had greater effects on patients’ moods than nutrition did. Skeptics noted that many studies evaluating nutrition and mental health used supplements rather than food to test participants. They also pointed out that nutrition therapies relied on patients’ eating correctly. Some researchers have continued investigating in this field in search of scientific validation for their theories concerning nutrition’s role in influencing brain biochemistry. Future research may involve scientific trials to advance knowledge of people’s unique genetic and metabolism factors and enable nutrients to be better used in psychotherapy.

Nutritional Balance

Nutrition is the primary source of vitamins, fatty acids, carbohydrates, phytonutrients, minerals, and proteins consisting of amino acids crucial to health but which human bodies cannot manufacture. Scientists have determined that approximately 60 percent of a typical human brain consists of fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids, which are considered essential for the brain to function normally. Researchers have linked consumption of fish, seeds, and nuts, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, to several mental health benefits. Toddlers whose mothers ate fish while pregnant often display better brain development than their peers whose mothers did not eat fish. Clinical studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids improve focus in people with attention disorders. These fatty acids were also shown to ease panic attacks and stabilize moods.

Nutrients enable central nervous system
neurotransmitters, most of which are amino acids, to send impulses to nerve cells. Amino acids create chemicals in the brain that balance moods, so an amino acid shortage can alter neurotransmitters’ actions. For example, the amino acid tryptophan manufactures serotonin, which helps minimize depression and agitation. Tryptophan is found in poultry, cheese, soy, and other proteins. A tryptophan deficiency can contribute to depressed or angry moods.

Researchers hypothesize that because omega-3 fatty acids regulate serotonin activity in brains, they might alleviate depression better than antidepressants. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recognizes that omega-3 fatty acids may aid patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, or mood disorders but warned against relying on them independent of pharmaceuticals.

Research suggests that people who do not consume or do not have access to nutritious foods experience mental impairment. Some scientists, such as Michael A. Crawford of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at London Metropolitan University, associate the rise in the number of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), since the mid-twentieth century with reduced fish consumption and increased consumption of processed foods. Processed foods often contain omega-6 fatty acids and other substances, including additives, refined sugar, and saturated fat, which can impair cognitive abilities. Physiological processes, especially in brains, suffer when diets are draw mainly from convenience foods rather than from foods prepared using fresh ingredients.

Researchers affiliated with the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) in the United Kingdom stated in the foundation’s 2006 report, Feeding Minds: The Impact of Food on Mental Health, that changes in how livestock and crops are cultivated and converted into food have resulted in the loss of important vitamins, fats, and minerals, and that the pesticides and hormones used leave harmful chemicals in the food. The foundation’s researchers found that a nutrient-deficient diet with added omega-6 fatty acids has a negative impact on mental health. An affiliated group, Sustain, distributed the report, Changing Diet, Changing Minds: How Food Affects Mental Health, Well-Being, and Behaviour, seeking to improve farming techniques to produce healthful foods and to influence consumers’ attitudes regarding nutrients.

In April, 2006, the nonprofit Food for the Brain program started educating British schoolchildren about the need to eat nutritiously and avoid junk foods for good mental health. Participants learned about nutrients necessary to maintain healthy brains for desired thinking skills, behavior, and resiliency to such mental conditions as depression. Several studies observed that children and teenagers who ate breakfasts representing varied food groups exhibited better moods than peers who consumed sugary foods or did not eat breakfast.

Mental Disorders and Nutrition

Some scientists have hypothesized that foods can cause mental disorders. Since the 1960’s, researchers have noted that people with an allergy to gluten, a protein in grains, sometimes exhibit psychological distress. In 2004, the British Medical Journal reported that some schizophrenics are gluten intolerant. Researchers looked at whether gluten, usually associated with celiac disease, might be a factor causing schizophrenia. They found that removing gluten from schizophrenics’ diets often eased symptoms. Psychologist Patrick Holford, who studied with Hoffer and Pauling, served as director of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and the Brain Bio Centre. He recognized that food allergies could impair mental health. The Brain Bio Centre devised nutritional plans for patients, based on physical examinations to identify nutritional vulnerabilities. These plans were designed to use appropriate foods, with nutrients recommended for specific mental conditions, to balance brain biochemistry.

Mental health professionals often monitor patients with mental disorders to ensure that they eat healthful foods. Caregivers note any distorted ideas that mentally ill patients may have that could interfere with therapeutic nutrition. People with eating disorders are often affected by nutrient deficiencies, and their psychiatric treatment includes the restoration of adequate nourishment to their body and brain. Mental illness affects how aware people are of their own nutritional needs as well as those of any one who depends on them. Clinical trials have demonstrated that some mothers with mental disorders neglect their children’s nutrition, both before and after birth.

Malnourishment intensifies some mental health concerns. Deficiencies of zinc are often associated with ADHD. Diets insufficient in iodine damage brains and can cause mental retardation. Malnutrition deprives pregnant women of crucial nutrition and is usually detrimental to prenatal brain development. In 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund estimated that each year insufficient vitamins and minerals result in the deaths of one million children and in impaired mental abilities in twenty million youths. Approximately 250,000 infants are born with defects each year. The Micronutrient Initiative reported that iodine deficiencies annually result in eighteen million infants displaying symptoms of mental retardation. Adults also suffer, with iodine deficiencies affecting approximately 700 million people in 2006. Health professionals realized that fortifying salt with iodine and enriching flour with thiamine, riboflavin, or niacin could prevent some nutritional dilemmas.

Bibliography

Bottomley, Alan, and Jane McKeown. “Promoting Nutrition for People with Mental Health Problems.” Nursing Standard 22.49 (13 Aug. 2008): 48–55. Print.

Christensen, Larry. Diet-Behavior Relationships: Focus on Depression. Washington: APA, 1996. Print.

Dunne, Annette. "Food and Mood: Evidence for Diet-Related Changes in Mental Health." British Journ. of Community Nursing. Nutrition Supplement, Nov. 2012: S20–24. Print.

Hoffer, Abram. Vitamin B-3 and Schizophrenia: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy. Kingston: Quarry Press, 1999. Print.

Holford, Patrick. Optimum Nutrition for the Mind. Bergen: Basic Health Publications, 2004. Print.

Kaplan, Bonnie J., Susan G. Crawford, Catherine J. Field, and J. Steven A. Simpson. “Vitamins, Minerals, and Mood.” Psychological Bulletin 133. 5 (September 2007): 747–60. Print.

Leyse-Wallace, Ruth. Nutrition and Mental Health. Boca Raton: Taylor, 2013. Print.

Logan, Alan C. The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence. Rev. ed. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007. Print.

Null, Gary. The Food-Mood Connection: Nutritional and Environmental Approaches to Mental Health and Physical Well-Being. Rev. ed. New York: Seven Stories, 2008. Print.

Oddy, Wendy H. “Fatty Acid Nutrition, Immune, and Mental Health Development Through Childhood.” Frontiers in Nutrition Research. eEd. Julie D. Huang. New York: Nova Science, 2006. Print.

Rahman, Atif, Vikram Patel, Joanna Maselko, and Betty Kirkwood. “The Neglected ’M’ in MCH Programmes—Why Mental Health of Mothers Is Important for Child Nutrition.” Tropical Medicine & International Health 13.4 (April 2008): 579–83. Print.

Terry, Nicola. "Food and Mood." Therapy Today 25.1 (2014): 14–18. Print.