The brain requires essential nutrients to function properly.
I recently completed the Ketogenic Diets for Mental Health training with Nutritional Psychiatrist, Dr Georgia Ede. It’s been incredible to learn in such depth about how nutrition affects the brain.
Who could ever have imagined that what we eat not only affects the metabolic health of our body, but also the health of our brain?
The medical establishment finds it hard to accept chronic conditions today are caused by what we eat… who knows how long it will be before they start to acknowledge its role in brain health too. But the evidence is there, and I am grateful people like Georgia are spreading this message.
I will be sharing lots of information over time, but today I want to focus on the common nutritional deficiencies associated with psychiatric conditions.
Whatever goes in our body also crosses over that blood/brain barrier, which is why there is a lot of evidence showing the benefits of dietary changes for certain psychiatric conditions.
Our brain cannot function properly without essential nutrients. This is what we know.
Below is a list of the most common nutrient deficiencies and the associated mental health conditions.
Zinc – depression
Vitamin D3 – autistic spectrum disorders
Vitamin B6 – depression, concentration problems, dementia.
Iron – developmental disorders: social, emotional, cognitive impairment
Vitamin B12 – depression, psychosis, mania, dementia, personality/behaviour changes
Magnesium – apathy, depression, delirium
Where do we get these essential nutrients from?
Animal sourced foods.
Which is why Dr Ede states that an optimal diet for the brain requires animal foods.
Food for thought, yes?
A question I ask on my client intake form is, “what do you believe is the optimal diet?” What I most often get back is ‘plants’, with a comment that ‘I’m trying really hard to reduce my meat intake and eat more plants.’
Please don’t do that.
It is not true that plants are the gold standard of health. While they are a better option than a diet high in processed foods, they are not the optimal food for our brain. They also contain inbuilt defence mechanisms called anti nutrients, which can have a profoundly negative impact on our body and brain health.
If this is news to you, don’t dismiss it right away. Do your own research. Become an advocate for your own health. But you have to change the place you’re getting your information from. Look to different sources, listen to different people who have no vested interest in your spending.
I have a huge amount of FREE resources on my website, and on the Hub that can help you make informed decisions based on real evidence.
https://www.traceymcbeath.com.au/
https://lowcarblifestylehub.com/
Tracey xxx