I was sick for two years but I wasn’t
just sick with a physical illness that
caused all sorts of symptoms including
headaches and nausea
I was also dealing with a mental illness
I was facing depression and anxiety but
on the outside as far as anyone could
tell I was a healthy person but he knew
something was wrong it shouldn’t be
normal for someone to feel this way so
we run tests after tests and yet no
doctor could figure out what was wrong
with me but little did anyone know that
my problem was starting right at me it
was so simple how could we have over
looked at my problem is food and I’m not
talking GMOs or conspiracy theories I’m
talking plain and simple food food was
causing my problem but food was also my
solution after changing my diet I
gradually began to feel better my
headaches became fewer and farther
between until they were altogether gone
I no longer felt nauseous and my mood I
was uplifted and altogether I was a
happier person it felt like a miracle
but then I began to think was it really
when I was sick I had been eating
healthy meals and yet without even
knowing that I was hurting myself so I
wondered if others out there were
experiencing similar symptoms to the
ones I experienced if others out there
had illnesses that were a mystery and as
it turns out I was far from the only one
millions of people suffer from similar
symptoms to the ones I experienced and
doctors don’t often suggest that food
could be the culprit behind third very
illness so that’s began my passion into
looking into food and how it influences
health I wanted to help others help
themselves I think we can all agree the
food is a necessity every person has to
meet in order to survive yeah
only the right food allow you to thrive
science shows that food is associated
with an incredibly diverse array of
diseases certain dietary lifestyles are
linked to an increased risk at
developing all of the top killer
diseases in North America including
heart disease high blood pressure high
cholesterol Alzheimer’s diabetes and of
course cancer but that’s not what I’m
here to talk about today yes the link
between diet and physical health is
incredible but when I’m here to discuss
is what you might not expect and that is
that what you eat impacts your mental
health yes that’s right food influences
the way you think and the way you feel
emotionally anxiety depression stress
and mood are all influenced by what you
eat a growing body of research supports
that diet and mental health are
connected some food choices help prevent
and protect you from developing a mental
illness while other types of food
actually seem to encourage
poor mood now before we get too far I
just want to ask everyone to take a
moment to reflect on a time you have
struggled mentally and if you can’t
think of a time odds are you know
someone who can because in any given
year 1 in 5 people suffer with a mental
health problem anxiety and depression or
the leading mental health illnesses with
nearly 20% of the population having an
anxiety disorder and 1 and 12 adults
suffering with depression and worldwide
over 300 million people suffer with
depression and half the people who have
a mental health illness never seek help
I believe everyone should be offered a
way to help themselves especially when
it can be as simple as diet so you’re
probably wondering what are these
magical foods well it’d be great if
those french fries because then we’d all
be getting our daily dose
but in fact eating meat and fast food
can have harmful effects on your mood
and put you at risk for developing
depression and anxiety well on the other
hand listening to your mother and eating
your fruits and vegetables is beneficial
because if you don’t you’ll be at an
increased risk for depression in fact
there’s ample research to suggest that a
Western diet which is high in meat dairy
and refined carbohydrates and sugars is
detrimental for your mental health but a
plant-based diet well a plant-based diet
is beneficial for your mental health and
with that being said I’m gonna discuss
three types of diet that focus on
plant-based eating and these are the
Mediterranean diet vegetarianism and
veganism a Mediterranean diet is focused
around fruits vegetables whole grains
nuts seeds and fish with a very limited
intake of dairy and meat and in
comparison to the Western diet the
Mediterranean diet is incredibly
beneficial for your mental health a
study with over 9,000 participants found
that a Mediterranean style diet was
associated with positive effect or in
other words a higher frequency of
positive feelings and this was
particularly true for women another
study found that after just 10 days
participants in the experimental group
that ate a Mediterranean diet reported
significant improvements in mood
alertness and contentment in comparison
to the control group of participants who
remained on a western-style diet and to
tie it all together a study followed
over 11,000 participants for four years
and found that adherence to the
Mediterranean diet was associated with
improved overall physical and mental
health so it seems that the
Mediterranean diet is certainly
beneficial for your mental health but
it’s not the only dietary option that
shows promise now you are probably
familiar with the concept of a
vegetarian and vegan diet but to clarify
vegetarians do not eat any meat
but most do consume dairy and eggs
whereas vegans do not consume anything
that has come from an animal well both a
balanced vegetarian and vegan diet seem
to be beneficial for your mental health
in a randomized control trial
meat-eating adults placed on a two-week
vegetarian diet reported significant
improvements in mood compared to
participants who continued to eat fish
or meat in a study with over 500
participants they examined mood between
vegans vegetarians and omnivores and
found that vegans reported the lowest
levels of stress and anxiety
followed by vegetarians so it certainly
seems that a plant-based diet shows
promising benefits for your mental
health not much like I was you may be
wondering why and what products are
harmful for your mental health science
can’t conclude anything just yet but
this relationship is likely explained
because depression is associated with
inflammation in the body and foods such
as dairy meat particularly red meat and
processed foods are linked to causing
increased inflammation these foods cause
inflammation through increasing blood
pressure and cholesterol is there all
high and saturated fats for more than
that often our bodies can’t digest these
foods in fact it may surprise you to
learn that over 75% of the world’s
population is lactose intolerant and
when you consume a food so your body
can’t properly digest your body reacts
by attacking it and this results in
inflammation so if you are one of the
billions of people who can’t digest
lactose and it’s likely that you are
then dairy for your mental health but
your physical health too on the other
hand a plant-based diet is wholesome of
nutrients particularly essential fatty
acids antioxidants and B vitamins and
this helps reduce bodily inflammation
there’s also other dietary habits
associated with mental health such as
not surprisingly ow
call consumption is linked to an
increased risk at developing depression
but perhaps surprisingly and too much
joy for many moderate caffeine
consumption doesn’t seem to negatively
impact mental health and is actually
associated with a reduced risk at
depression caffeine is a biological
stimulant and this effect is thought to
help lift mood and build positive energy
in the consumer that’s creating an
antidepressant effect so no I’m not
recommending to stop your daily morning
cup of coffee rest assured when it comes
to our food there are certain macro and
micro nutrients that are better for your
mental health now you may be under the
impression that eating fats makes you
fat but this isn’t necessarily true so
if you’re one of these people
we’ll listen carefully there are good
fats also known as unsaturated fats then
there’s the not so good for you fats
saturated fats unsaturated fats are
nutritious and an important factor in
maintaining good health they can help
lower cholesterol and boost the brains
ability to function omega-3 fats are an
example of unsaturated fats and nuts
seeds and avocados are some of the foods
that provide a good dosage of these
omega-3 fats are very important in
maintaining mental health and they seem
to act as protection against depression
however saturated fats are linked to
inflammation depression and even early
death yet many people consume more bad
fats than good fats saturated fats are
found in cheese meat and processed foods
like french fries bacon and lunch meats
almost any food that comes in a pretty
package from the store is likely to have
a high concentration of saturated fats
there’s also certain micronutrients like
the minerals iron zinc and selenium and
then vitamin D and the B vitamins group
that are known to be important in
maintaining good mental health and it
efficiency in any of these can result in
poor mood now that I’ve shared all this
with you it sounds simple enough to
change your diet free mental health
right
it may seem complicated and overwhelming
at first but I promise it doesn’t have
to be and it doesn’t have to be
expensive and you don’t have to be
boring foods to show people how simple
it can be to eat with your mental health
in mind I’ve decided to create a cooking
blog called better than butter I thought
that this would be a great way to not
only encourage people to eat with your
mental health in mind but to show you
how simple and delicious it can be to
give you some examples many foods that
you eat in your everyday life are
naturally plant-based and packed with
nutrients to boost your mood some of my
favorites include vegetable chili black
bean and couscous salad granola and
Buddha bowls the research is so
convincing the diet impacts mental
health that some psychologists and
physicians are beginning to prescribe
dietary changes as a long-term method to
improve mental health particularly as a
treatment for depression even more so
the same carb refined saturated fat an
animal-based diet that negatively
impacts your mental health also hurts
your physical health so there’s every
reason this information should be shared
many people suffer with depression and
anxiety and I was once one of them but
changing your diet is a relatively
simple way to improve your mood and your
life your health is in your hands and we
should all be equipped with the
knowledge to improve it you are what you
eat of course no body is the same and
what works for one may not work for
another but doesn’t everybody deserve to
be their healthiest and happiest
everyone considers how food affects the
waistline but I encourage you to
consider how food influences your brain
[Applause]
you [Music]
just sick with a physical illness that
caused all sorts of symptoms including
headaches and nausea
I was also dealing with a mental illness
I was facing depression and anxiety but
on the outside as far as anyone could
tell I was a healthy person but he knew
something was wrong it shouldn’t be
normal for someone to feel this way so
we run tests after tests and yet no
doctor could figure out what was wrong
with me but little did anyone know that
my problem was starting right at me it
was so simple how could we have over
looked at my problem is food and I’m not
talking GMOs or conspiracy theories I’m
talking plain and simple food food was
causing my problem but food was also my
solution after changing my diet I
gradually began to feel better my
headaches became fewer and farther
between until they were altogether gone
I no longer felt nauseous and my mood I
was uplifted and altogether I was a
happier person it felt like a miracle
but then I began to think was it really
when I was sick I had been eating
healthy meals and yet without even
knowing that I was hurting myself so I
wondered if others out there were
experiencing similar symptoms to the
ones I experienced if others out there
had illnesses that were a mystery and as
it turns out I was far from the only one
millions of people suffer from similar
symptoms to the ones I experienced and
doctors don’t often suggest that food
could be the culprit behind third very
illness so that’s began my passion into
looking into food and how it influences
health I wanted to help others help
themselves I think we can all agree the
food is a necessity every person has to
meet in order to survive yeah
only the right food allow you to thrive
science shows that food is associated
with an incredibly diverse array of
diseases certain dietary lifestyles are
linked to an increased risk at
developing all of the top killer
diseases in North America including
heart disease high blood pressure high
cholesterol Alzheimer’s diabetes and of
course cancer but that’s not what I’m
here to talk about today yes the link
between diet and physical health is
incredible but when I’m here to discuss
is what you might not expect and that is
that what you eat impacts your mental
health yes that’s right food influences
the way you think and the way you feel
emotionally anxiety depression stress
and mood are all influenced by what you
eat a growing body of research supports
that diet and mental health are
connected some food choices help prevent
and protect you from developing a mental
illness while other types of food
actually seem to encourage
poor mood now before we get too far I
just want to ask everyone to take a
moment to reflect on a time you have
struggled mentally and if you can’t
think of a time odds are you know
someone who can because in any given
year 1 in 5 people suffer with a mental
health problem anxiety and depression or
the leading mental health illnesses with
nearly 20% of the population having an
anxiety disorder and 1 and 12 adults
suffering with depression and worldwide
over 300 million people suffer with
depression and half the people who have
a mental health illness never seek help
I believe everyone should be offered a
way to help themselves especially when
it can be as simple as diet so you’re
probably wondering what are these
magical foods well it’d be great if
those french fries because then we’d all
be getting our daily dose
but in fact eating meat and fast food
can have harmful effects on your mood
and put you at risk for developing
depression and anxiety well on the other
hand listening to your mother and eating
your fruits and vegetables is beneficial
because if you don’t you’ll be at an
increased risk for depression in fact
there’s ample research to suggest that a
Western diet which is high in meat dairy
and refined carbohydrates and sugars is
detrimental for your mental health but a
plant-based diet well a plant-based diet
is beneficial for your mental health and
with that being said I’m gonna discuss
three types of diet that focus on
plant-based eating and these are the
Mediterranean diet vegetarianism and
veganism a Mediterranean diet is focused
around fruits vegetables whole grains
nuts seeds and fish with a very limited
intake of dairy and meat and in
comparison to the Western diet the
Mediterranean diet is incredibly
beneficial for your mental health a
study with over 9,000 participants found
that a Mediterranean style diet was
associated with positive effect or in
other words a higher frequency of
positive feelings and this was
particularly true for women another
study found that after just 10 days
participants in the experimental group
that ate a Mediterranean diet reported
significant improvements in mood
alertness and contentment in comparison
to the control group of participants who
remained on a western-style diet and to
tie it all together a study followed
over 11,000 participants for four years
and found that adherence to the
Mediterranean diet was associated with
improved overall physical and mental
health so it seems that the
Mediterranean diet is certainly
beneficial for your mental health but
it’s not the only dietary option that
shows promise now you are probably
familiar with the concept of a
vegetarian and vegan diet but to clarify
vegetarians do not eat any meat
but most do consume dairy and eggs
whereas vegans do not consume anything
that has come from an animal well both a
balanced vegetarian and vegan diet seem
to be beneficial for your mental health
in a randomized control trial
meat-eating adults placed on a two-week
vegetarian diet reported significant
improvements in mood compared to
participants who continued to eat fish
or meat in a study with over 500
participants they examined mood between
vegans vegetarians and omnivores and
found that vegans reported the lowest
levels of stress and anxiety
followed by vegetarians so it certainly
seems that a plant-based diet shows
promising benefits for your mental
health not much like I was you may be
wondering why and what products are
harmful for your mental health science
can’t conclude anything just yet but
this relationship is likely explained
because depression is associated with
inflammation in the body and foods such
as dairy meat particularly red meat and
processed foods are linked to causing
increased inflammation these foods cause
inflammation through increasing blood
pressure and cholesterol is there all
high and saturated fats for more than
that often our bodies can’t digest these
foods in fact it may surprise you to
learn that over 75% of the world’s
population is lactose intolerant and
when you consume a food so your body
can’t properly digest your body reacts
by attacking it and this results in
inflammation so if you are one of the
billions of people who can’t digest
lactose and it’s likely that you are
then dairy for your mental health but
your physical health too on the other
hand a plant-based diet is wholesome of
nutrients particularly essential fatty
acids antioxidants and B vitamins and
this helps reduce bodily inflammation
there’s also other dietary habits
associated with mental health such as
not surprisingly ow
call consumption is linked to an
increased risk at developing depression
but perhaps surprisingly and too much
joy for many moderate caffeine
consumption doesn’t seem to negatively
impact mental health and is actually
associated with a reduced risk at
depression caffeine is a biological
stimulant and this effect is thought to
help lift mood and build positive energy
in the consumer that’s creating an
antidepressant effect so no I’m not
recommending to stop your daily morning
cup of coffee rest assured when it comes
to our food there are certain macro and
micro nutrients that are better for your
mental health now you may be under the
impression that eating fats makes you
fat but this isn’t necessarily true so
if you’re one of these people
we’ll listen carefully there are good
fats also known as unsaturated fats then
there’s the not so good for you fats
saturated fats unsaturated fats are
nutritious and an important factor in
maintaining good health they can help
lower cholesterol and boost the brains
ability to function omega-3 fats are an
example of unsaturated fats and nuts
seeds and avocados are some of the foods
that provide a good dosage of these
omega-3 fats are very important in
maintaining mental health and they seem
to act as protection against depression
however saturated fats are linked to
inflammation depression and even early
death yet many people consume more bad
fats than good fats saturated fats are
found in cheese meat and processed foods
like french fries bacon and lunch meats
almost any food that comes in a pretty
package from the store is likely to have
a high concentration of saturated fats
there’s also certain micronutrients like
the minerals iron zinc and selenium and
then vitamin D and the B vitamins group
that are known to be important in
maintaining good mental health and it
efficiency in any of these can result in
poor mood now that I’ve shared all this
with you it sounds simple enough to
change your diet free mental health
right
it may seem complicated and overwhelming
at first but I promise it doesn’t have
to be and it doesn’t have to be
expensive and you don’t have to be
boring foods to show people how simple
it can be to eat with your mental health
in mind I’ve decided to create a cooking
blog called better than butter I thought
that this would be a great way to not
only encourage people to eat with your
mental health in mind but to show you
how simple and delicious it can be to
give you some examples many foods that
you eat in your everyday life are
naturally plant-based and packed with
nutrients to boost your mood some of my
favorites include vegetable chili black
bean and couscous salad granola and
Buddha bowls the research is so
convincing the diet impacts mental
health that some psychologists and
physicians are beginning to prescribe
dietary changes as a long-term method to
improve mental health particularly as a
treatment for depression even more so
the same carb refined saturated fat an
animal-based diet that negatively
impacts your mental health also hurts
your physical health so there’s every
reason this information should be shared
many people suffer with depression and
anxiety and I was once one of them but
changing your diet is a relatively
simple way to improve your mood and your
life your health is in your hands and we
should all be equipped with the
knowledge to improve it you are what you
eat of course no body is the same and
what works for one may not work for
another but doesn’t everybody deserve to
be their healthiest and happiest
everyone considers how food affects the
waistline but I encourage you to
consider how food influences your brain
[Applause]
you [Music]
Please follow and like us: