Your diet has an impact on your body when it comes to physicality whether you eat too much or eat too little. Your diet also influences your mental health and when either or both are impacted, it can lead to ill-health and problems that can often be devastating to experience.
If you’re looking to improve your mental health, then it’s good to know how your diet and what you consume will affect your state of mind. Here are several ways that food impacts your mental health and how to change it.
How common is it for your mental health to be impacted in life?
For some, the idea of their mental health taking over or controlling their life seems far from what they could ever imagine. However, we all experience knocks to our mental health at some point in our lives. From loved ones passing away to navigating your teenage years and passing exams.
Beyond just managing your mental health in general, there are a lot of complexities within life that can cause your mental health to decline. It may be for a brief time, it could be for a long time or even for the rest of your life.
Back in 2019, 1 in 8 people, or a staggering 970 million people were living with a mental disorder. That’s just diagnosed and not those who struggle with it without getting help.
Several ways your diet affects your mental health
In order to help combat any signs of your mental health taking a toll, it’s good to look at how your diet might be influencing it. Here are a few ways that your diet affects your mental health in general and how you can manage this.
- You’re able to eat yourself into a bad mood
It’s easy enough to eat yourself into a bad mood. When you’re consuming food, the more calories you consume, especially those high in sodium and saturated fat, can lead to a more negative mood over the next few days.
The food we’re eating can directly impact how we feel on the inside and in our minds. If you’re eating too much food regularly or food that is high in the above ingredients, then you’re likely going to see a bad mood that lasts for more days.
It just goes to show that our physical and mental health can be affected by the food we eat. Try to add some healthier foods to your diet and avoid overconsumption of certain foods. Moderation is important in general and the more you can moderate the food you eat, the better.
Your brain’s function is something that you want to understand, so if you’ve noticed a shift in your mood or mental health in general, then it’s worth looking at how to get tested for autism as an adult, just to rule out anything.
- Eating too much fast food can increase the risk of depression
Depression is a mental health disorder that is all too common nowadays. There’s a lot more pressure in life, both for those in a profession and within their own homes too.
Eating too much fast food can contribute to the risk of depression if you’re consuming a lot of it on a regular basis.
There are various fast foods like sausages, hamburgers, and pizza, as well as baked goods, all increase the risk of depression. You should try and balance the food you eat. While no food is unhealthy, it’s good to try and balance the food you eat, whether that’s a hamburger one day or a salad the next.
- Being bored can drive you to eat more
When you’re bored, you might find that you reach for the snack cupboard a lot more than normal. That’s typical for boredom because when you have nothing to do, your mind and body will naturally gravitate towards things that make it happy – like food for example!
Eating when bored is often a response to negative emotions and ultimately, you should only be eating because you’re hungry. It’s therefore important to try and fill your days with activities that interest you, especially during times when you’re prone to boredom and eating as a result.
Look at reading, listening to music, doing chores around the home, seeing friends and family, as well as staying active.
- Staying up late leads to overconsumption of food
Some people are prone to eating more than others. Whether it’s to do with genetics or a healthy or unhealthy approach to food in general. There are those that have a good relationship with food and those who don’t.
An unhealthy relationship with food is not just for those who over consume but for those who may eat a lot less or damage their body with the food they eat.
When you’re staying up late at night, whether it’s due to work or just your body clock, you’re going to end up consuming a lot more food. This is because boredom can come into play but often enough, your body is getting hungry again after dinner.
Typically when your body gets hungry, you’re likely to be asleep. That’s why it’s important to try and have evenings where you go to bed early so that you aren’t prone to snacking every night.
- Your personality can have an impact on the food you eat
Weirdly, your personality can have an impact on the food you eat. Those who are open-minded to new foods and experiences are more likely to choose a lot more fruits, vegetables, and nutritious foods in general.
If you’re more conscientious, then you may end up eating less meat and sugary soft drinks but a greater amount of fruit. People that are more neurotic in their personality, will consume more of both sweet and savory foods.
It’s good to try and find ways in which you can be more aware of the food you’re eating, rather than working to try and change your personality – something that’s not genuinely possible to do.
- Nutritious snacks can help with your emotional wellbeing
When it comes to your emotional well-being and improving your mental health, it’s good practice to try and eat more nutritious snacks where possible.
It’s good to be aware of what’s considered nutritious and how it might be influencing your emotional well-being. Those who consume more fruit are likely to find they have less anxiety and depression. For those who eat more heavily processed and sugary foods like crisps or chocolate, can end up causing more pain in the body both physically and mentally.
From physical pain to fatigue, those snacks that aren’t as nutritious will impact your emotional well-being in a negative way.
- Getting enough sleep can help you stop binge eating
Finally, when you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll often find yourself binge eating more. That’s why it’s important to try and get enough sleep every night, even if you struggle to get in the hours during the week. Try to find time to nap where you can so that your body is well nourished and energized to not need snacks as much.
Ideally, you want to get around several hours of sleep per night in order to help avoid any binge eating from occurring. Binge eating is something that you want to kick the habit of doing where you can.
These tips will certainly help you manage your diet more effectively. If your diet affects your mental health, then it’s something to take charge of for the benefit of your general health in the future.