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Have you ever wondered if the foods you eat affect your mental health?
New research has found they do.
A study by the University of the Sunshine has found you can use certain foods to help reduce anxiety and stress.
Honours graduate at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Lisa Allcock, led the study.
"We did a cross-sectional study in 2022, looking at Mediterranean diet adherence and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in community dwelling older adults in Australia. So what we found in the research is that adherence, greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet was inversely associated with symptoms of anxiety and stress, but not depression. So what that essentially means is greater adherence to this dietary pattern meant that you were less likely to have symptoms of anxiety or stress."
So what exactly is a Mediterranean-style diet?
Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at R-M-I-T University in Melbourne, Catherine Itsiopoulos, says it's predominantly plant-based.
"Plant foods, leafy greens, tomatoes, fresh fruit and snacks of nuts, dried fruit or fresh fruit, fermented dairy foods, that's yoghurt and cheese like feather cheese. Cereals tend to be sourdough and whole grain as a key staple, like a sourdough whole grain bread. Olive oil is the predominant fat in the diet, and animal foods are eaten less often and when they are traditionally, they would be free range or wild meats."
The study of over 300 Australians aged 60 or over suggests higher vegetable intake is associated with fewer symptoms of depression.
Professor Itsiopoulos says that's not surprising.
"The connection between a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle and mental health is newer than the connection between, or the evidence for Mediterranean diet in the prevention of heart disease. So this diet, which is rich in plant foods and rich in nutrients that are important for the brain. So it's probably mediated through a whole range of different factors in this diet. But it was interesting to see that not only chronic disease, this diet not only good for heart disease and diabetes and other chronic diseases, but also mental health."
The study took into account other factors associated with poor mental health in otherwise healthy adults, such as sleep, physical activity, body fat and cognition level.
Academic and practising dietitian, Dr Anthony Villani supervised the research.
He says this means a Mediterranean-style diet can benefit older Australians, regardless of factors like exercise.
"We found these associations independent of things such as physical activity status, BMI, sleep, duration, and cognition. So independent of all of those variables, we found that adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was independently associated with a less intensity of anxiety symptoms."
But what about those in other age groups? Can a Mediterranean-style diet also benefit younger or middle-aged people?
Lisa Allcock says there are reasons to believe it can.
"There's actually probably more research out there on a Mediterranean diet in adolescents as opposed to older adults, which is why we targeted this area. When we did the research, it was covid times, and of course, older adults are a vulnerable population, so what we actually did is we created a long an online survey using validated tools, one to assess the adherence to Mediterranean diet, and then also to assess clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress."
Researchers have encouraged older Australians to take these findings and make small changes to their diet to notice improved mental health.
But Dr Villani says a complete overhaul of what you eat isn't necessary .
"Maybe thinking about consuming less meat throughout the week, in particular red meat and maybe substituting some of that meat with white meat, or better yet, fish, for example, maybe including two to three fish meals per week, if possible. And maybe looking for some more plant-based options during the week, like such as legume based meals, ensuring that they're consuming as many fruits and vegetables in their diet as possible. Of course, good quality oils in their diet, such as extra virgin olive oil."
The team say they hope to next conduct human clinical trials to further examine and prove their findings.
