“Thinking is as biologic as is digestion”
Dr. Weston A. Price
Our current global health crisis does not just involve physical health. Mental health is experiencing its own crisis worldwide and especially in America. More than 40 million Americans report dealing with a mental health concern and mental health problems are one of the most common and costly causes for disability annually. Suicide is also a top cause of death year after year.
If you or someone you know has dealt with a serious mental illness, you are probably aware of the toll it can take on an individual or family. Unfortunately, the mainstream approach to treating mental illness tends to completely separate the mind and body.
“The idea of using food for medicine for mental health is central to nutritional psychiatry, and in my opinion, it is crucial to finding meaningful, lasting solutions to mental health problems.”
Uma Naidoo, MD. Harvard Medical School
As Christians, we are not immune to mental health struggles. Fortunately, we can trust in God’s design and His ways to help us regain mental health. Just as God designed us with an innate ability to prevent and heal chronic physical conditions, He has also built our minds and psyche with the capacity to heal with the right holistic approaches.
“The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Numbers 6:26
While diet and exercise are almost never mentioned in conversations about causes and treatment of mental health disorders, more and more evidence is emerging to support the notion that healthy lifestyle changes should be considered a first-line treatment. In fact, a recent 2023 meta-analysis of nearly 100 randomized control studies looking at exercise as a treatment for clinical depression and anxiety found that exercise and lifestyle changes were 1.5x as effective as antidepressants or cognitive behavior therapy.
There have been numerous studies published in recent decades showing a correlation between the foods we eat and our mental health. Specifically, there is great evidence suggesting sugar consumption could be the greatest factor in predicting rates of depression and anxiety. One study, conducted in 2002, found a nearly perfect statistical correlation between sugar over consumption and the presence of depressive symptoms, which is very rare for the field of research.
This is because processed, sugary foods, often filled with sugar in forms like high fructose corn syrup, flood the brain with too much glucose. This sugar flood can lead to inflammation in the brain and may ultimately lead to depression. Research also shows that higher blood glucose levels are linked to lower levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats. BDNF is found in the brain, gut and other tissues that are critical to helping the brain grow and develop, as well as helping the brain adapt to stress.
“The problem is bigger than psychiatry, extending to medicine as a whole. Despite the huge number of health issues that relate to diet, it may sound far-fetched, but many patients don’t hear food advice from their doctors, let alone their psychiatrists… Thankfully, we are inching toward a moment in healthcare when medicine is no longer strictly about prescriptions.”
Uma Naidoo, MD. Harvard Medical School
More evidence is also emerging about the role neuroplasticity plays in healing from mental illness. Neuroplasticity refers to our brain’s ongoing ability to change and create new neural pathways. Our neural pathways are the paths our brain synapses follow when sparked in our brain, which essentially create our thoughts and reactions.
Our neural pathways become the blueprint for how we approach and live our daily lives. Most of these are subconscious, with many developed during childhood. These subconscious reactions can make up an estimated 95% of what we think, feel and ultimately do on a daily basis.
The good news is, exercise has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to increase your brain’s neural plasticity. That means the more you regularly exercise, the easier it will be for your brain to heal old, dysfunctional neural pathways and create new, empowering ones!
Diet also plays a role here. The more nutrient dense and noninflammatory the foods we eat are, the more we can support our brains healing. Can you guess what kind of food choices have been proven to be the most beneficial to healing and sustaining good mental health? Whole, unprocessed foods closest to the way God originally designed them!
In fact, the Mediterranean eating pattern has long been shown to be one of the healthiest, most healing diets on earth for physical and mental health! Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist who graduated from Harvard Medical School, and the source of the quote at the beginning of this section, has even mentioned in her work that the Jerusalem artichoke and Jerusalem leek are two foods beneficial for healing mental health.
“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
Mark 5:34
Whether you are embarking on this journey to help heal, or prevent, serious physical or mental illness, or just to simply feel better in your body, I hope you can now see that the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle are far reaching into every area of our lives. Oftentimes, God’s design of our body is the very miracle we are looking for. I hope this new understanding can motivate you as we move into the next section of this program where we will cover information to help you get started actively changing your lifestyle.
Modest Fitness 