You are what you eat: how diet affects mental well-being

[ErikJ]

By Felice Jacka, Deakin University

Over the last half century, the global food industry has profoundly changed the way we eat. While we understand how these dietary changes have impacted physical health, their effect on mental well-being is only now being realised.

Big business has successfully developed and marketed food products that appeal to our evolutionary preferences and have addictive properties.

Highly-processed snack and takeaway food products, rich in tasty fat and sugar, have now displaced much of the fruit, vegetables and other nutritious, unprocessed foods in our diets.

Largely as a result of these changes, there has been a staggering increase in the proportion of overweight and obese people across many countries. Common non-infectious illnesses, many driven by poor diets, are now the leading cause of death worldwide.

And we’re now realising that unhealthy diets may also be contributing to poor mental health.
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http://www.psypost.org/2014/07/eat-diet-affects-mental-well-26730

[Warpy]

1. Well, it's too damned hot to cook here in the high desert

so I'll be living on frozen arancini (herbed rice balls with a center of cheese, breaded and deep fried), steamed fresh broccoli, and salads. Lots of salads.

Arancini are Sicilian, the recipe dating from the tenth century, and are a great way to use up leftover rice. The fillings can vary from cheese to "Sunday gravy" to just about anything that can be tucked into rice to flavor it. The breading (I use 1:grated parmesan to 1: cornmeal, if you can use wheat, use it) fried golden and crunchy is a foil to the softness of rice and filling.

They freeze and reheat in a toaster oven very well, the toaster oven restoring the crunchiness of the outside coating.

I'm not nuts about the change in the US diet and avoid it as much as I can. While there are chain restaurants here and they (mostly) manage to stay in business, give me a grotty little hole in the wall every time--that's where you find fresh ingredients cooked well.

[Avalux]

2. I'm going to try that!

Hot as hell here too, so I'm always looking for meal items that require none or very little cooking. What else do you put in them?

[Warpy]

5. I like them simple

Mozzarella is my favorite cheese and I spice the rice with a little snipped parsley and some black pepper. It's enough. I also add an egg if the rice isn't gummy enough to hold together.

It's one of those really simple recipes that has stood the test of time (1100 years of it) because it's just so good.

[Avalux]

8. Thanks.

I think this may actually be something my daughter will eat!

[kcr]

3. That sounds delicious

I want to try that too

[KurtNYC]

4. the author points to correlation without ever proposing a theory for causation

HOW diet allegedly causes depression is a key element of any theory in this area and it is missing here.

More thorough analyses have cited potential mechanisms like lack of zinc, and gluten sensitivity in some people.

One study done in Norway found lowest depression rates among those eating traditional meat and veg, with higher rates for BOTH a processed/fast food diet AND "health food, tofu and salads." Without a mechanism, these are just statistics. Even the researchers admit:

It’s unclear how diet relates to mental health, said Rif El-Mallakh, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. “There seems to be a clear link, but it’s an association — it doesn’t tell you cause and effect,” he said. “We don’t know which is the chicken and which is the egg.”

It could be, he said, that mood disorders change how and what people choose to eat.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/can-what-you-eat-affect-your-mental-health-new-research-links-diet-and-the-mind/2014/03/24/c6b40876-abc0-11e3-af5f-4c56b834c4bf_story.html

[Warpy]

7. Laudanum (tincture of opium), cocaine and benzedrine were all OTC and pot was legal

during his dietary Golden Age. I'm sure chemical help was a big factor in improved mental health. It certainly helped people get through those 14-16 hour workdays.

Since the rich want us to return to those conditions, they need to end the drug war now.

[leftstreet]

6. What crap

(Not you, the article)

They admit that depression and mood disorders might actually cause the less healthy food choices. So the title could have been the exact opposite

Not a clue what they're doing here...

[JCMach1]

10. not more you are what you eat woo