Lifestyle medicine, encompassing diet, exercise, sleep hygiene, smoking cessation, and substance use, should be the fundamental starting point for addressing mental health conditions.
Recognize that what you eat significantly impacts your mental and brain health, and aim for simple, basic, and affordable whole foods rather than complex or expensive diets.
Prioritize regular exercise that you enjoy, such as walking or resistance training, as it has flow-on benefits for sleep, mental health, and overall well-being.
Aim for a plant-predominant diet with as much diversity of whole foods as possible, while actively avoiding ultra-processed foods, for optimal health.
To improve gut health, aim for a highly diverse diet rich in whole foods, as a more varied diet leads to a more diverse gut microbiome, which is a marker of health.
Even if you eat lots of healthy food, consuming junk and processed foods is problematic for mental health, as healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns are independently related to mental health outcomes.
Most people do not consume enough dietary fiber, which is essential for gut microbes to function properly, so actively seek to increase your intake from plant foods.
For better gut health, avoid emulsifiers and artificial sugars, which are common in processed foods and have been shown in animal studies to negatively impact the gut lining.
Incorporate foods rich in polyphenols, such as colorful fruits and vegetables, green tea, dark chocolate, and coffee, as they appear to be important for health.
For simple healthy eating, aim for half your plate to be vegetables and salads, a quarter whole grains, a quarter good quality protein, and finish with healthy oil like olive oil.
Focus on cutting down on refined and processed carbohydrates rather than broadly demonizing all carbohydrates, as this distinction is crucial for a healthy diet.
Strive for an 80-20 rule in your food choices, where 80% are healthy, as this approach is realistic and significantly better than average, avoiding the mental health burden of striving for dietary perfection.
Eating a healthy diet, as demonstrated in the SMILES trial, can be significantly cheaper than an unhealthy diet, dispelling the myth that healthy food is inherently expensive.
To improve insulin sensitivity, increase muscle mass, improve sleep, and manage stress levels, and as sensitivity improves, gradually reintroduce fiber-rich, nourishing carbohydrates like sweet potatoes.
For better outcomes with dietary interventions, consult a clinical dietitian or nutrition professional who can provide expert guidance on both what to eat and how to achieve dietary changes.
When clinicians prioritize discussions about nutrition and lifestyle changes in consultations, patients are more likely to prioritize and act upon those recommendations.
For individuals with serious mental illnesses, supporting healthy lifestyle behaviors like diet and exercise can mitigate the noxious impact on their metabolic health and improve overall outcomes.
Taking a lifestyle medicine approach to mental health problems, such as depression or schizophrenia, targets the whole person, leading to huge benefits across the board rather than just specific pathways.
Minimalist shoes, which are thin, wide, and flexible, can be beneficial for musculoskeletal health, improving balance, stability, and reducing various complaints like back, hip, and knee pain.
When experiencing jet lag, engaging in exercise like a run can help you feel fresher and mitigate the effects of sleep deprivation.
For menstruating women, consuming a small amount of unprocessed red meat (3-4 palm-sized servings per week) may be beneficial, based on some observational findings.
If you consume a highly processed Western diet, almost any change you make towards healthier eating patterns is likely to result in significant health improvements.
If using a low FODMAP diet, ensure it is a short-term solution, and then gradually reintroduce FODMAP foods, ideally alongside fermented foods and/or probiotics, to help gut bacteria adapt.
Support and advocate for changes in the food environment at policy and legislative levels to make healthful food choices easier and more accessible for everyone.
While empowering individuals to make healthful food choices, it’s crucial to also advocate for environmental changes that make healthy eating the easier option, rather than solely blaming individual choices.
Recognize that you are the architect of your own health and that making lifestyle changes is always worthwhile, as feeling better directly leads to living a more fulfilling life.
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