You Are What You Eat - But Are You Really?

You've probably heard the expression -You are what you eat. The meaning is the idea that to be fit and healthy you need to eat good food. The origin goes back 1826 from a French medical book. "Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es." [Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are].

It makes sense for a healthy body -BUT- what about a healthy mind? Is there a menu-meal-mood connection? With a lot of folks doing diets for their New Year's Resolution, it's a question worth asking.

EurekAlert says a couple of studies confirms that diet has a significant influence on mental health and well being. Lead study author Suzanne Dickson, with the University of Gottenburg, explains, “We have found that there is increasing evidence of a link between a poor diet and the worsening of mood disorders, including anxiety and depression.

The study of the studies revealed some other interesting findings, like following a ketogenic diet can help children with epilepsy, and vitamin B12 deficiency can cause fatigue, poor memory, and depression.

Still, they say that for many foods or supplements, the evidence is inconclusive.

The EurekAlert article says. "The study confirms that while certain foods can be associated with a mental health condition, this tells us little about why the food causes this effect. It concludes that the need to link mental health effects with provable dietary causes needs to be the main focus of future research in nutritional psychiatry."

Categories: Ag News, Consumer Awareness, Food, Health and Fitness

You Are What You Eat – But Are You Really?