Friday, February 6, 2015

Diet, Nutrition Essential for Mental Health

News Brief by Kathryn Gibb

            Nutritional supplements may be part of new prevention and treatment plans for mental disorders.  A recent article in published in The Lancet Psychiatry claims that both diet and nutrition are important determinants of mental health status.  In fact, Dr. Jerome Sarris, a researcher at the University of Melbourne, claims that nutrition is as important to one’s mental health as it is to other aspects of physical health.  Certain nutrients such as omega-3’s, B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D have been proven to have a connection to mental health.  Dr. Sarris states that nutritional supplements may be prescribed in the future to help manage mental disorders.  In addition, the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research states that there are other studies that show the connection between consumption of the aforementioned nutrients and the development of depression or other mental health disorders during critical life stages.  For example, there is a confirmed relationship between “unhealthy dietary patterns” and a lower mental health status in adolescents and children.  This is important news for public health advocates in that promoting a healthier diet could potentially prevent the development of certain mental disorders.

University of Melbourne. "Diet, nutrition essential for mental health." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 January 2015. .


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