Happyfood

CLAIRE MUNNINGS

While many of us might pick up the phone to call a friend if we’re feeling anxious or roll out our yoga mat to ease stress, there’s another way we can soothe our mind – and that’s by looking at what we put on our plate. An increasing body of research has shown that good nutrition can support our mental health and scientists are now understanding more about how our diet can impact a number of biological processes in our body, including our ability to respond to stress and balance our emotions. But how exactly does this work?

“A healthy diet can do a lot to enhance your mood and sense of wellbeing,” says registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, author of The Science of Nutrition (rhitrition.com), who adds that the gut-brain axis is key here. “We know good gut health is strongly linked to our brain and overall sense of wellbeing, so ensuring we support our gut through our diet is important in keeping our minds healthy too.”

The gut has many important roles in regulating our emotional state, including the production of serotonin, also known as the happy hormone. As Rhiannon points out, 95 percent of the body’s serotonin is produced here and therefore by looking after our digestive health (through giving it the nutrients it needs to function well and increase the production of key neurotransmitters) we can have a real impact on our mood.

This is particularly important when thinking about our stress levels. Research shows that serotonin is an essential chemical for decreasing anxiety, and when our serotonin levels are normal, we feel more emotionally stable, focused and calm.

Studies have also suggested that GABA, a neurotransmitter which is known for its calming effect, may be produced by the beneficial bacteria in our gut and its levels can be influenced by what we eat.

THE STRESS RESPONSE

It’s clear then, that certain foods can help us feel happy and relaxed, which in turn can dial down our body’s flight-or-fight response, but the relationship between our diet and stress is more complex.

Feelings of anxiety, for example, can dictate the types of things we want to eat, which can then have a further knock-on effect on our mood, and stress can also disrupt our body’s ability to digest food by affecting the communication between the gut-brain axis, which may cause unpleasant symptoms such as gas, bloating or diarrhoea.

“Feeling stressed increases the level of cortisol (our stress hormone) in the body, which impacts our blood sugar lev