Feeding Your Mood: The Connection Between Food and Mental Health

By Mooyoung Lee

Eating food is one of the most basic elements of motivation in our everyday life, similar to sleeping, as we cannot survive without it. But did you know that food is very closely connected to our mental health? While it's common sense that our mood suffers when we experience the fear of not having enough food or hunger, food can also impact our mental health differently based on our eating habits, types of foods consumed, and more. Eating healthy food is crucial biologically speaking as well. One reason for this is the significant role played by the gut microbiome in our mental health. These microbes don’t directly produce special chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, but they provide the essential components needed for our bodies to manufacture these chemicals (Hamamah et al., 2022). Serotonin and dopamine are chemicals that are known to regulate our feelings and moods. Next, let's dive into some key areas that show how food is associated with our mood.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the connection between food and our mood? We’ve all experienced that we cannot fully focus on our tasks or study when we're experiencing intense hunger or worrying about not having enough food. Food insecurity refers to the situation where individuals lack access to enough food and are uncertain about where their next meal will come from. There is a study (Nicholson et al., 2021) that investigated the connection between food insecurity and mental health among three groups: individuals in middle adulthood with children, individuals in middle adulthood without children, and individuals in late adulthood without children. What the researchers found from that study is that food insecurity was a big factor in predicting anxiety among those in middle and late adulthood without children regardless of age group. We can see from this result how important securing food is for our mental well-being.

Ensuring access to food is essential for our overall well-being, yet not all types of foods might be equal in terms of their impact. People generally prioritize selecting healthier food options when affordable, primarily for their physical health, but often pay less attention to the connection between food types and mental well-being. The Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS) conducted a longitudinal study, following participants for 15 years to examine the relationship between ultra-processed food and mental health. According to this study, people who highly consumed ultra-processed food at the start were associated with higher psychological distress, indicating a higher likelihood of depression after 15 years. Also, those who consumed more ultra-processed foods tended to eat less protein, fiber, saturated fat, fruits, and vegetables. But we also better remember that other factors can be related to this result such as poverty, higher income and better access to high-quality food.

Eating style is also an inseparable factor from mental health. If you've ever tried to lose weight, think about how you approached eating during that time. Whether it was a failure or success, it likely falls into one of these three main styles — restrained eating, emotional eating, and intuitive eating. Restrained eating is when someone tries hard to control how much they eat, often to lose weight or stay thin. Emotional eating is when someone eats because of their feelings rather than hunger. Emotional eaters might eat when they're sad, stressed, or bored, using food to comfort themselves. Intuitive eating is listening to your body and eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full. There is research about these three eating styles among almost 6000 young adults from eight nations (Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United States). In this survey, participants with intuitive eating styles tended to have higher body satisfaction and self-esteem, and lower BMIs compared to those with restrained and emotional eating styles.

These are some recommended eating habits for better mental well-being:

  • Be mindful of food choices and prioritize access to nutritious food

  • Practice mindful eating by paying attention to hunger and fullness cues

  • Plan and prepare balanced meals ahead of time

  • Limit consumption of highly processed and sugary foods

References

Hamamah, S., Aghazarian, A., Nazaryan, A., Hajnal, A., & Covasa, M. (2022). Role of Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis in Regulating Dopaminergic Signaling. Biomedicines, 10(2), 436. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10020436

Lane, M. M., Lotfaliany, M., Hodge, A. M., O'Neil, A., Travica, N., Jacka, F. N., Rocks, T., Machado, P., Forbes, M., Ashtree, D. 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.04.124

Markey, C. H., Strodl, E., Aimé, A., McCabe, M., Rodgers, R., Sicilia, A., Lo Coco, G., Dion, J., Mellor, D., Pietrabissa, G., Gullo, S., Granero‐Gallegos, A., Probst, M., Maïano, C., Bégin, C., Alcaraz‐Ibáñez, M., Blackburn, M., Caltabiano, M. L., Manzoni, G. M., . . . Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M. (2023). A survey of eating styles in eight countries: Examining restrained, emotional, intuitive eating and their correlates. British Journal of Health Psychology, 28(1), 136-155. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12616

Nicholson, J., Villamor, M., & Wright, L. (2022). A developmental lens on food insecurity: The role of children in the household and age groups on food insecurity impacting mental health. Aging & Mental Health, 26(12), 2348-2357. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1989376

Wapner, J. (2023, March 8). The link between our food, gut microbiome and depression. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/01/31/gut-microbiome-anxiety-depression/

Mental HealthKarla Lassonde