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How to support emotional stability and brain function with food

Miscellaneous 12/11/2018 8 min read

This week I am doing a few talks for parents at my son’s high school in Manila about nutrition and the teenage brain. The purpose of these talks is to create awareness about the important connection between the food that our children are eating (or not) and its impact on emotional stability, learning, and mental health.

As parents it can feel quite overwhelming to watch your children navigate the turbulent teenage years, especially as they are getting older, more independent and less communicative. Stress, academic pressure, expectations, social media, relationships, raging hormones all contribute to an emotional rollercoaster ride that can be tough to watch from the sidelines, leaving many parents wondering what they can do to help.

What’s more is that there a growing trend of serious mood related disorders such as anxiety and depression as well as learning issues among adolescents. According to the National Institute of Mental Health 6.3 million teens have had an anxiety disorder in the U.S. alone, 3 million teens have had at least one major depressive episode in the past year and one out of 10 children are suffering from serious mood disorders. *

These statistics are alarming and while there are many factors involved in mental health, nutrition gives us a powerful and practical tool as parents to help provide our children with a strong foundation in the form of nutritional brain building blocks that support optimal mental health, emotional balance and performance.

The first step is to recognise that there is a connection between our physical state and how we think, feel and process information. Until fairly recently (and in some cases even today) conventional medicine has been looking at mental health in isolation, as if it has nothing to do with the rest of the body. Fortunately we are seeing a revival of the recognition that the body, mind and our environment are connected and that the interaction between these different factors influences our physical and mental state.

Brain Building Blocks

Our brain (and body’s) cells are made up of molecules that are derived from food, air and water. If you were to squeeze all the water out of your brain, 60% of what’s left is fat. Neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that regulate many different functions in the body including mood, learning, and concentration, are derived from amino acids, which are protein building blocks. The conversion from amino acids to the different neurotransmitters happens in the body with the help of enzymes that require certain vitamins and minerals from food to function properly. Phospholipids, which are a type of fat that insulate our nerves and makes up our cell membranes are found in food as well.

I could go on but in other words: we need to obtain adequate amounts of the right nutrients in our diet to support optimal brain health. Here is a list of some of the key nutritional components:

Healthy fats, of which two types need to be obtained through our diet, since the body cannot make them: omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids. We tend to get too much of the omega 6 fatty acids in our diet and often lack a sufficient amount of omega 3s. This imbalance can be pro-inflammatory. Here and here are articles that talk about the types of fats and how to get them through your diet. In short, you can ensure that your child (and you) is getting an adequate amount of the omega 3 fatty acids in their diet by eating at least 2-3 servings of fatty fish in a week (salmon, mackerel, sardines) and eating plenty of plant based omega 3 rich foods such flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts or taking a more concentrated form like flax seed oil or algal oil (derived from algae). The omega 3 fat that is found in plant based foods needs to be converted in our body into the metabolically active omega 3 fatty acids that we can use and this process is not very efficient. Consuming fish or a fish oil supplement is therefore the preferred choice.

Sufficient protein with every meal, ideally a variety of different kinds. This includes animal protein sources such as chicken, fish, eggs, beef, pork, seafood as well as plant based proteins such as beans, lentils (in combination with whole grains to make a complete protein), quinoa, nuts and seeds and high quality dairy products such as organic (homemade or Greek) yoghurt, kefir and hard cheeses.

Phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine and DMAE from foods such as egg yolks, organ meat (try making your own liver pate, you may be surprised to see your child enjoy it!), and fish.

Key vitamins and minerals, such as the B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium and manganese, which are all crucial for optimal brain function. To obtain adequate amounts of these micronutrients from the diet I recommend eating a diverse whole food diet with plenty of colourful vegetables (6-8 portions a day) and fruits, plenty of leafy greens since these are very nutrient dense, and nuts and seeds.

Blood Sugar Balance

About 40% of the carbohydrates we eat is consumed by the brain after being converted into glucose. If that glucose supply is erratic, we are looking at fluctuating energy levels, mood swings, and issues concentrating and focusing.

This would be the classic example of a child who rushes to school without breakfast or eats a quick sugary cereal and can barely keep his eyes open during class a few hours later. Or the adult who has a white rice based lunch and needs a nap by 4 pm.

To avoid this blood sugar rollercoaster ride I like to recommend my clients the FFP rule: make sure that you eat fat, fiber and protein with every meal or snack. This evens out blood sugar levels and provides you with longer lasting and more sustainable focus, energy and balanced moods.

Last but not least – the gut

There are 4 reasons not to ignore our gut in this conversation. First, it is in our digestive tract that the food we eat is broken down and absorbed. If our digestion is in any way compromised we will not be able to get brain nutrients we need out of our diet and into our cells, no matter how healthy and balanced it is.

Secondly, our digestive tract houses about 70% of our immune system. Any issues with the gut barrier (which is more common than you think) can cause chronic low-grade inflammation in the gut that generates inflammatory molecules, which can find their way into our brain and cause local inflammation. This is one of the underlying reasons for issues such as brain fog and memory problems.

Third, your gut houses, within its tissues, the body’s second brain: the enteric nervous system which has more neurons than your spinal cord and which makes more neurotransmitters than your brain. This second brain and the brain in your skull are in constant communication. Any issues in the digestive system can cause a ripple effect in brain function.

Fourth, the majority of the microbes that you host in and on your body reside in the gut. What we are finding out through cutting edge research is that these micro-organisms are involved in many of the body’s biological processes and that they communicate with the brain and can impact our brain chemistry.

You want to, therefore, nourish this inner ecosystem by eating a diet that contains plenty of probiotic rich foods, such as homemade yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi and prebiotic rich foods, such as legumes, nuts and seeds, and deep coloured vegetables and fruits.

I offer a 10-week digestive health-building program that focuses on restoring gut- and microbiome health and if you feel you need that level of support, please reach out or set up a free initial nutrition breakthrough session with me here.

As adults we can consciously work towards optimal mental and physical health by choosing to make beneficial diet and lifestyle changes. Our children, as they are getting older and more independent will have to learn to engage in these health promoting behaviours on their own.

The best thing we can do as parents is to set the right example, use the windows that we have at home to support our children with high quality food options and to keep connecting them back to how it makes them look and feel when they make better choices. It is this self-awareness and ability to listen to their bodies (and brain) that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Be Well.