The topic of eating healthy takes me back to when I was a kid and my parents would have to force feed me my vegetables. I was so reluctant to eating those nasty trees we refer to as broccoli, that I would chew them and go to the bathroom to spit them out. That story does not have a happy ending when my parents found out.
Connection Between our mind and diet
As I matured with age and became more wise, I became more aware of what I was letting my body consume. I may be occasionally inconsistent, but I’m always mindful of what I put inside my body. What we put in our bodies goes much deeper than our bodies, our brain chemistry gets altered as well. A study suggests that there is a strong physical connection between our diet and our mental health. The reasoning behind this is that our brain and our gut are physically linked from the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve contains bacteria that produces neurochemicals the brain uses to control mental processes, such as your mood. Thus supporting the old saying, “you are what you eat.” The food we eat and the way we feel on a regular bases effect the production of beneficial gut bacteria.
Mental benefits of a healthy diet
- Improved confidence
- Improved focus
- Improved attention span
- Better decision making
- Reduced feelings of depression
Well balanced diet
So overall, it is really important to be conscientious of what you eat because ultimately it is a driving factor to make you happy. To maximize your mental health from your diet you should:
- try and not eat the same meal everyday
- eat a healthy balance of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and fatty acids
- stay hydrated
Stay healthy my friends!