What is the relationship between nutrition and mental well-being? The Roman poet Juvenal wrote in his Satires "Mens sana in corpore sano". With this expression, he focused on the importance of having a fit body and a healthy mind.
Maintaining a healthy body, however, is not only intended as a mere aesthetic sense of beauty (as in the days of the ancient Greeks), but also as a consequence of adequate daily nutrition.
Since then, many studies have been carried out and many of them have attempted to investigate the complex relationship between nutrition and mental well-being.
Over time, great importance has been given to the need to maintain a healthy body, so as to offer psychological benefits as well.
Nutrition and mental health: nutritional psychology
Several studies confirm the role of interdependence between nutrition and psychological well-being. The latter, in fact, is also obtained by adhering to lifestyles and a healthy and balanced diet.
Starting from this conviction, in recent years, nutritional psychiatry has been established, which has as its field of research the elements of correlation between a balanced diet and mental health.
"The mind, in fact, is activated through a series of biochemical processes," says Dr. Ilaria Giannoni, Psychologist in Florence.
"The latter, consequently, need certain nutrients and antioxidants to act properly.
From here we can see the importance of adequate nutrition that can allow the psychological component of the mind to remain active and can preserve a good neurological nature as prevention to any disorders.
In this regard, Sarris and collaborators, in one of their many studies on the subject, try to focus attention on what can act as a prevention for the occurrence of mental disorders.
Nutrition is one of the elements that can have this preventive function.
Food and mind: how they influence each other and which foods to prefer
Sarris himself, also a member of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR), confirms the relationship between adherence to a healthy diet and quality of life in general.
A diet based on nutrients that are beneficial to health can have a positive effect on mood and a feeling of inner well-being.
The preferred dietary style, therefore, is that of the classic Mediterranean diet, but without exaggerating in quantity.
For example, a nutritional style that is too rich in sugars can create a cognitive slowdown due to an increase in insulin levels, which also causes fatigue and drowsiness.
Eating too much-saturated fat still has a negative effect on memory and attention. It is necessary to eat mainly complex carbohydrates such as cereals and legumes, but also products containing high levels of Omega 3 or Omega 6, which promote proper absorption of nutrients at the central nervous level and prevent the onset of diseases.
Protein consumption also influences psychological well-being. Foods rich in these macronutrients, in fact, promote the creation of neuronal links that can act on the mood of the person. Finally, a proper intake of vitamins and minerals also helps the mind to be more active.