What you need to know about a high quality diet and its positive impact on mental health!
Hey Uplifters!
Here at Uplift Food we believe taking care of our mental and emotional health is equally as important as ensuring our bodies are physically and functionally fit and healthy! Today, we want to share some evidence about the important role our diet plays in mental wellbeing.
A well-known study called the SMILE trial (Supporting the Modification of lifestyle In Lowered Emotional States) published by researchers from Deakin University in Australia, investigated whether following a healthy diet had any effect on a participant’s experience with depression compared to receiving social support.
The study followed 67 participants over 12 weeks and compared the two different groups: one group having to eat a diet which was rich in fruits, vegetables, moderate amounts of lean red meat, healthy fats like those from oily fish and reduced-fat dairy, and the other group received social support from health professionals.
The study used scored tests to assess symptoms of depression, where higher scores are associated with more severe symptoms. One of the key outcomes showed those in the dietary support group scored lower in their tests compared to the social support control group. In addition, improvements in self-reported depressive and anxiety-related symptoms were also more favourable for those in the diet-focused group.
Importantly, the use of diet as a way to improve symptoms of depression was not influenced by changes in factors such as BMI or physical activity, so we can be sure the results seen really do support how diet can play an important role in mental illnesses. For more details on the SMILE trial, see this link.
At Uplift Food, we absolutely support a food-focused message for better mental health, like we say for our signature Daily Uplifter powder - it’s good mood food! The Daily Uplifter contains many of the nutrients found in the foods eaten by those in the SMILE trial. These include vitamins and minerals for immunity, prebiotics from fibrous fruits and vegetables for a healthy digestive system and plant-based protein sources for muscle rebuilding and growth.
Diet is considered a part of our lives we are able to change to decrease our risk of diseases, a great example of this is preventing heart disease and obesity by ensuring our diets contain plenty of fresh and nutritious foods. If you’re looking for a great place to kick-start and maintain a healthy mood with food, check out our Daily Uplifter prebiotic powder!
We are dedicated to continue to share what research and evidence is supporting in the world of health and nutrition and in the mean-time, let’s make sure we eat foods which are jam-packed full of good nutrition for better overall mental, emotional, physical and functional health.
In good gut health,
Team Uplifters!