Your brain is a nonstop, high powered, supercomputer that your body allocates over 20% of energy output into. Needless to say, our brains require an absurd amount of nutrients to operate at an efficient level. So, what are you feeding it? We all have a clear understanding of the correlation between your physical health and your diet, however, we often negligent the effects of our everyday food consumption to our mood and mental health.

Though there are numerous factors linked to depression and mood irregularities, the rise of nutritional psychiatry has found strong links between the intake of unprocessed whole grains, fruits, and lean proteins with the decreased likelihood of depressive symptoms. “Traditional Diets”, Like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, compared to the Western diet, have shown that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat a traditional diet. Traditional diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, seafood, and a modest amount of lean meats. Whereas, traditional western diets consist of unprocessed foods, probiotics, and high sugar content. According to an analysis posted by Harvard Health Publishing stated, “A dietary pattern characterized by a high intake of fruit, vegetables, whole grain, fish, olive oil, low-fat dairy and antioxidants and low intakes of animal foods was apparently associated with a decreased risk of depression. A dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of red and/or processed meat, refined grains, sweets, high-fat dairy products, butter, potatoes and high-fat gravy, and low intakes of fruits and vegetables is associated with an increased risk of depression.”

Though appropriate medication and therapy are avenues of treatment that have helped those who suffer from depression, we aren’t helping ourselves by continuing the consumption of unnatural foods and unprocessed sugars. We need to reassess what we’re feeding ourselves, and with the increase of depression amongst this upcoming generation, it has become imperative that we take a closer look at what we’re feeding ourselves. It could be killing us.