28 Mar Exploring The Link Between Good Nutrition And Improved Mental Health
Good mental health and good nutrition are significantly linked. The truth is that the food we eat directly impacts our experiences in our bodies mentally and physically. However, this is not always a perspective that is popularly promoted.
When we think of nutrition, we often think of its physiological impact, but rarely do we consider that said impact is connected to our psychological experience. For example, foods that spike blood sugar can quickly result in mood swings that are likely to be experienced as increased irritability and plunging energy levels.
With personal and professional daily stresses to contend with, along with all that is happening in the world today, practices that support good mental health are needed. Consequently, most are willing to learn about the connection between their food and their minds and make needed changes. Therapy at institutions like the ViewPoint center can prove particularly useful in these areas.
The Link Between Good Nutrition and Improved Mental Health
Having a healthy diet would do well for anyone wishing to improve mental health and learn the excellent nutrition habits needed to impact their minds positively. Thankfully, learning and practicing good nutrition may be easier to achieve and less overwhelming than initially thought.
General rules about good nutrition apply to both body and mind. So too is ensuring one is drinking enough water. While increasing the intake of good nutrition, it is easy to forget the effects of bad nutrition. It is essential to remember that some foods have harmful effects.
Therefore, reducing one’s intake of processed food high in sugars, salts, and saturated and trans fats and replacing them with food high in healthy fats like avocados and nuts can improve mental health. Some foods, like potassium from ripe bananas, have been directly linked to improving one’s mood.
By practicing the tips for good nutrition above, you can feel significantly better mentally and physically over time. While it is true that good nutrition may impact the body and mind immediately, the real benefits and effects are felt after some level of consistency. Still, because the improvements to one’s mental health state are so significant, one is always encouraged to stay the course.
Steps for Getting the Help You Need
As is the case with many mental health treatments and tools, the help of a professional may be required when using nutrition as a treatment option. At ViewPoint, students can learn a healthy diet to improve their mental health. An onsite Registered Dietitian Nutritionist is available to meet with our patients to both educate and set goals with them for improved overall health.
A treatment center will ensure that positive nutrition and healthy diet habits are in place and that the same is maintained over time. After all, we can all relate to how difficult it can be to implement and maintain diet changes even in cases of an already healthy mental state. This difficulty level can be significantly increased in light of navigating an already challenging state of mind.
There is also the reality of associated costs. For example, it can be expensive to cater to one’s dietary needs, particularly when there seems to be little to no access to the right resources. Treatment centers can come in handy in this regard.
Typically, the cost of attending a treatment center or leveraging its resources would include nutritional care as a part of the total treatment being offered, which can significantly lower the costs associated with changing one’s diet in isolation. This approach helps ensure that ViewPoint’s cost is accessible to those needing help.
In addition to ensuring that patients get the right food for a healthy mind, professional treatment centers also ensure that these foods are consumed regularly. After all, eating smaller meals regularly throughout the day also lends itself to one’s mental health nutritional needs.
Finally, there is also the importance of physical exercise and a sense of community. Studies have long shown that regular physical exercise (typically a few times weekly) is likely to positively impact one’s food choices. As such, physical exercise and good nutrition go hand-in-hand. The help of professionals and a treatment center program can help one get active and stay consistent – thereby doing wonders for one’s mental state.
Best of all, one’s efforts to use food and exercise to get and stay mentally healthy are not isolated within the context of a treatment center. While a professional may customize your treatment plan, one is experiencing the same journey and others who also need to get mentally healthy.
There is a sense of belonging, and the camaraderie of community helps ensure that there is consistency in your mental health. The message becomes clear that you are not alone and can get better together. Undergoing treatment with this reality in the back of one’s mind is bound to impact both behavior and attitude while undergoing treatment positively.