Good food, good mood

In recent years, we have put a lot more attention on our mental well-being. Our environment, stress, and trauma could affect our state of mental well-being. Besides that, do you know our diet plays an important role in regulating our mental well-being too?

What we eat can affect our emotions, mood, and well-being. Think of our brain like a prestige car. It only functions best when it gets premium fuel. So, when we give our body anything but the best, it will have a negative effect on our mental health.

Here are 3 things you can do with your diet to manage your mood & well-being:

These foods produce free radical cells (bad cells) in our body as we digest them. As a result, they attack and damage our body's cells, leading to a range of diseases and decline to our health. When free radical cells bring damage to our brain, it increases our risk of developing mental health conditions. By limiting the consumption of alcohol, sugar, salt and fat, it helps to decrease the amount of free radical cells generated by our body.

Antioxidants protect our organs from getting attacked by free radical cells. We can find a huge variety of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is important to include a vast variety of fruits and vegetables in our diet. Remember, fewer attacks means having a lower risk of developing mental health conditions. 

Our gut is where most of our neurotransmitters are produced. Neurotransmitters are hormones that play an important role in regulating our mood and emotions. In order for our body to produce neurotransmitters, we need to ensure that there are sufficient beneficial bacteria living in our gut and are of a good balance. By eating both prebiotic and probiotic rich foods it ensures that our gut is well maintained, and therefore, better regulation of our moods throughout the day too.

Food plays a big part in influencing our mental well-being. Remember to eat well, eat right to make sure we keep our body in the best condition!

This article is contributed by AIA Vitality’s nutrition partner, Holmusk.

1. Dennett, C., 2018. Foods That Increase Free Radicals. Accessed 16 August 2021.
2. Gautam, M., Agrawal, M., Gautam, M., Sharma, P., Gautam, A. and Gautam, S., 2012. Role of antioxidants in generalised anxiety disorder and depression. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 54(3), p.244.
3. Breit, S., Kupferberg, A., Rogler, G. and Hasler, G., 2018. Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9.