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Diet and Sport Psychology in Nutritional Psychology

Posted on by CNP Staff

Gatorade, Muscle Milk, Protein Powders, and Carb-Loading — all things elite athletes know well. Nutrition is not a new topic as it relates to sports performance. It’s no secret to athletes, coaches, and trainers that diet impacts an athlete’s physical health and their ability to physically train, perform, and recover. But what is a newer, more novel concept is how diet can impact an athlete’s mental health and their ability to perform. 

The field of Sport Psychology has been helping athletes to develop psychological skills that allow them to unlock their potential for years. Sport Psychology can be defined as “the scientific study of the psychological factors that are associated with participation and performance in sport, exercise, and other types of physical activity.” (APA, 2021). Professionals in this field are trained in techniques such as mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and counseling to empower athletes to develop the focus, confidence, and motivation they need to perform optimally in their sport. Only now are we beginning to establish the evidence base showing how diet can influence the mental performance of athletes.

 

Improving an athlete’s mindset through mental training can help improve their athletic performance.

 

It has well been established that improving an athlete’s mindset through mental training can help improve their athletic performance. Research is now showing that a person’s diet plays a strong role in the cognitive processes that are important to peak performance, including maintaining focus (Baker et al., 2014), learning and remembering (Hepsomali et al., 2021), controlling emotions (Dorthy, 2019), and even handling pressure in high-stress situations. In fact, one study found that adding probiotics in the form of yogurt to an elite diver’s diet actually decreased the risk of “choking” under the pressure of competition (Dong et al., 2020). Choking is a phenomenon that occurs often in sports, one that Mental Performance Coaches and Sport Psychologists work with athletes to regulate, and a circumstance that we now know can be improved through dietary changes. 

 

In sport, athletes face intense physical and cognitive demands.

 

In sport, athletes face intense physical and cognitive demands. These demands require unique nutritional needs to support optimal athletic performance, as well as physical and mental health. Current dietary guidelines for athletes take their physical performance into consideration but fail to account for how dietary habits may impact one’s overall physical and mental well-being. For example, it has been shown that endurance athletes may be at higher risk for intestinal permeability (Mach & Fuster-Botella, 2017). Intestinal lining permeability has recently been implicated in several mental disorders and cognitive processes (Mohajeri et al., 2018).

 

The Diet and Sport Psychology research category has been created in CNP’s Nutritional Psychology Research Library (NPRL).

 

The Diet and Sport Psychology research category has been created in CNP’s Nutritional Psychology Research Library (NPRL) to bring awareness of current research to coaches, trainers, athletes, and sport psychologists regarding the connection between athletic performance and nutrition. This research category is contributing to the field of Sport Psychology by making the connection between an athlete’s diet and their ability to perform psychologically, cognitively, and behaviorally. 

 

References 

Baker, L. B., Nuccio, R. P., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2014). Acute effects of dietary constituents on motor skill and cognitive performance in athletes. Nutrition Reviews, 72(12), 790–802. https://doi.org/10.1111/nure.12157

Clark, A., Mach, N. Exercise-induced stress behavior, gut-microbiota-brain axis and diet: A systematic review for athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 13, 43 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-016-0155-6

Defining the practice of Sport and … – APA divisions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.apadivisions.org/division-47/about/resources/defining.pdf. 

Dong, W., Wang, Y., Liao, S., Lai, M., Peng, L., & Song, G. (2020). Reduction in the Choking Phenomenon in Elite Diving Athletes Through Changes in Gut Microbiota Induced by Yogurt Containing Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Microorganisms, 8(4), 597. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8040597

Du, Dorothy. (2019). You may be what you eat, can you be violent due to your food?. European Journal of Biomedical and Phramaceutical Sciences, 6(7), 20-28. 

Hepsomali P, Greyling A, Scholey A and Vauzour D (2021) Acute Effects of Polyphenols on Human Attentional Processes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 678769. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.678769

Mach, N., Fuster-Botella, D. (2017). Endurance exercise and gut microbiota: A review. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 6 (2), 179-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.05.001

Mohajeri, M. H., La Fata, G., Steinert, R. E., & Weber, P. (2018). Relationship between the gut microbiome and brain function. Nutrition Reviews, 76(7), 481–496. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuy009

 

Exploring Dietary Intake Behaviors Related To The Covid-19 Lockdown

Posted on by CNP Staff

In 2019, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) evolved into a worldwide pandemic requiring us to quarantine and isolate ourselves to protect ourselves from catching and spreading the virus. As the world went into isolation for extended periods, many secondary aspects of our lives were impacted, including interrupted schedules and routines, significant changes in our social activities and experiences, and changes in our dietary intake patterns. The list of physical and mental health implications of these impacts is varied and significant and has resulted in both positive and negative effects on our health.

A recent scoping review by Bennett et al. in 2021 reviewed studies that explored the impact of people’s dietary intake changes within the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown. Findings were divided into four themes: 1) dietary patterns, 2) favorable dietary habits, 3) unfavorable dietary habits, and 4) others (physical health factors). 

Findings showed that two prominent dietary intake patterns changed during the pandemic, including an increase in snacking and meal numbers. 

The researchers in the study categorized the increase in snacking as an unfavorable dietary habit. Most of the snacks consumed during the pandemic involved empty-calorie foods, which were associated with the need for comfort and reducing momentary anxiety levels from the pandemic. This unfavorable dietary habit suspends interest in making healthful food choices because it redirects an individual’s focus on nurturing their emotions (Shen et al., 2020). 

 

Most of the snacks consumed during the pandemic involved empty-calorie foods, which was associated with the need for comfort food.

 

The authors state that although there is much evidence mentioned about the adverse effects of the pandemic, there is some information that shows favorable dietary intake habits arising from being in isolation. Studies have shown that lockdown has decreased the amount of fast-food consumption. Instead, many people have been obliged to make food at home. Isolation has also reduced the consumption of alcohol for those who often drink while socializing. The reduced access to unhealthy foods and drinks has created favorable dietary habits for some individuals as cooking at home increased. However, even if positive dietary intake patterns and habit outcomes have arisen from being in lockdown, this review identifies more undesirable effects on peoples’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Isolation has also reduced the consumption of alcohol for those who often drink while socializing.

 

To see more studies examining the influence of Covid-19 and dietary intake, visit the CNP Research Library Diet and COVID-19 Research Category. Thank you to CNP Intern Hashmin Sajjan for contributing to this blog post!

 

References

Al-Musharaf S. (2020). Prevalence and Predictors of Emotional Eating among Healthy Young Saudi Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nutrients, 12(10), 2923. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12102923

Bennett, G., Young, E., Butler, I., & Coe, S. (2021). The Impact of Lockdown During the COVID-19 Outbreak on Dietary Habits in Various Population Groups: A Scoping Review. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8, 626432–626432. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.626432

Shen, W., Long, L. M., Shih, C. H., & Ludy, M. J. (2020). A Humanities-Based Explanation for the Effects of Emotional Eating and Perceived Stress on Food Choice Motives during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nutrients, 12(9), 2712. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092712

 

What is Diet Diversity (DD) and How is it Related to Depression?

Posted on by CNP Staff

Adding various foods to our diet can significantly improve our dietary intake quality, aiding in the prevention of health issues ranging from chronic diseases to behavioral health conditions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines and the Food Guide Pyramid suggest that eating a diversified diet is health-beneficial. Diet diversity (DD) is defined as the number of different foods or food groups consumed over a given period of time (Ruel, 2003). DD is recognized as a critical element of proper nutrition, as a range of nourishing foods provides a greater abundance of nutrients to support the brain and body.

 

A range of nourishing foods provides a greater abundance of nutrients to support the brain and body.

 

Diet diversity is increasingly associated with numerous factors relating to the diet-mental health relationship (DMHR), including psychological resilience (Yin et al., 2019), memory (Zhang et al., 2020), hippocampal volume (Otsuka et al., 2021), depression (Poorrezaeian et al., 2017), and anxiety (Alenko et al., 2021). 

One method used to measure an individual’s DD involves calculating a Diet Diversity Score (DDS). These scores measure the variability within a person’s diet. In terms of the DMHR, questionnaires can be used to assess the connection between DD with a variety of psychological health and well-being factors.

 

Diet diversity is increasingly associated with numerous factors relating to the diet-mental health relationship.

 

A cross-sectional study examining the connection between DD and mental health was conducted by Poorrezaeian et al. (2017). This study specifically focused on the association of dietary diversity with depression and stress among a sample of 360 randomly selected Iranian women. After conducting interviews to gather information about the participants’ dietary intake, responses were calculated as Diet Diversity Scores. Depression and stress levels were measured through the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-42), which is a validated questionnaire designed to capture self-reported scores on these dimensions. 

As expected, participants who ate diets that included a variety of vitamins and minerals ranked higher in terms of DDS. More critically, results showed that a 1 unit increase in DDS was associated with a 39% reduction in the risk of severe depression. In other words, women who had less varied diets had scored lower on DD, and these lower scores were associated with an increased risk of severe depression. 

 

Results showed a 1 unit increase in DDS was associated with a 39% reduction in the risk of severe depression.

 

Although this study found a significant relationship between DDS and severity of depression, no meaningful relationship between mild/moderate depression or stress with DDS was found. The authors note that since the current study findings indicate a relationship between DDS and eating a nutrient-dense diet, future studies examining the specific connection between stress and DDS are important and should be conducted. Some of the existing evidence demonstrating the relationship between stress and unhealthy eating habits can be found in CNP’s Diet and Stress research category). 

 

Thank you to CNP Intern Hashmin Sajjan for contributing this article!

 

References

Alenko, A., Agenagnew, L., Beressa, G., Tesfaye, Y., Woldesenbet, Y. M., & Girma, S. (2021). COVID-19-Related Anxiety and Its Association with Dietary Diversity Score Among Health Care Professionals in Ethiopia: A Web-Based Survey. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 14, 987–996. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S305164

Otsuka, R., Nishita, Y., Nakamura, A., Kato, T., Iwata, K., Tange, C., Tomida, M., Kinoshita, K., Nakagawa, T., Ando, F., Shimokata, H., & Arai, H. (2021). Dietary diversity is associated with longitudinal changes in hippocampal volume among Japanese community dwellers. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(6), 946–953. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00734-z

Poorrezaeian, M., Siassi, F., Milajerdi, A. et al. (2017). Depression is related to dietary diversity score in women: a cross-sectional study from a developing country. Ann Gen Psychiatry, 16, 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-017-0162-2

Ruel M. T. (2003). Operationalizing dietary diversity: A review of measurement issues and research priorities. The Journal of Nutrition, 133, (11 Suppl 2), 3911S–3926S. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.11.3911S

Yin, Z., Brasher, M. S., Kraus, V. B., Lv, Y., Shi, X., & Zeng, Y. (2019). Dietary Diversity Was Positively Associated with Psychological Resilience among Elders: A Population-Based Study. Nutrients, 11(3), 650. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11030650

Zhang, J., Zhao, A., Wu, W., Yang, C., Ren, Z., Wang, M., Wang, P., & Zhang, Y. (2020). Dietary Diversity Is Associated With Memory Status in Chinese Adults: A Prospective Study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12, 580760. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2020.580760

 

Neuroplasticity, Behavior, and Dietary Intake — Rewiring the Brain for Better or Worse

Posted on by CNP Staff

What we think, do, say, and eat has the ability to change our brain processes and structures — a process called neuroadaptation (see Diet and Brain and Diet and Cognition in the CNP Research Libraries). These adaptations can influence the long-term rewiring of our brain circuitry. In this post, we explore two different actions that many of us engage in that can influence the development of neuroadaptations in our brain. Becoming aware of these actions can support us in influencing these adaptations to work in our favor. 

Within psychology and neuroscience, the term “neuroplasticity” is used to describe how the brain changes and adapts in response to experience. Dr. Micheal Merzenich, a neuroscientist at The University of California in San Francisco explains it like this: “Your experiences, behaviors, thinking habits, thought patterns, and ways of reacting to the world are inseparable from how your brain wires itself.” (Science explains what happens to someone’s brain from complaining every day, 2020).

 

Your experiences, behaviors, thinking habits, thought patterns, and ways of reacting to the world are inseparable from how your brain wires itself.

 

Let’s explore an example of how what we say and do can result in changes to our brain — take, for example, the act of verbally complaining. Although everyone complains now and then, when we express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something frequently, we can fall into a habitual pattern that results in neuroadaptations in our brain and the rewiring of our brain circuitry.

A study from Stanford University found that just 30 minutes of complaining or even just hearing someone complain, could result in changes to the brain’s structure and function (Pisano, n.d.). As Donald Hebb, a Canadian psychologist known for his work in neuropsychology, states, “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” This means that the more you complain, or think negatively, the more you strengthen those synapses between neurons, creating a vicious cycle that can be hard to break (Pisano, n.d.).

 

Neurons that fire together, wire together.

 

Given that our brain reinforces pathways that are often used (whether supportive or not), do we have any influence in encouraging more positive neuroadaptations and making neuroplasticity work in our favor?  In 2017, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues at the University of North Carolina showed that people who meditate daily tend to have more positive emotions than those who do not. Interestingly enough, meditation has also been shown to strengthen the insula — the part of the brain responsible for Interoception (Sharp et al., 2018). Within Nutritional Psychology, interoceptive awareness plays a key role in developing our ability to monitor our internal states in relation to the foods we eat (more about this can be found in Introduction to Nutritional Psychology Methods (NP 110). 

Just like evidence reveals the impact of frequent complaining on our brain, evidence shows that eating a Western-style dietary intake pattern influences changes to both brain structures (Jacka et al., 2015) and functions (Stevenson et al., 2020). One such area is the hippocampus (Attuquayefio et al., 2017) which is the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. 

 

The western-style dietary pattern results in changes to brain processes and structures in numerous areas of the brain.

 

While consuming highly palatable foods (those high in salt, sugar, and/or processed oils) can result in neuroadaptations that negatively influence brain function and structure, consuming unprocessed nutrient-dense and diverse foods daily, like fresh (or even canned or frozen) vegetables, fruits, high-quality proteins and healthy fats (the kinds found in olive oil, avocados, and nuts), can result in the opposite — a processed called neurogenesis* which involves the proliferate of new neurons and other resident brain cells (Poulose et al., 2017) (Otsuka, et al., 2021).

As we can see, both psychological and dietary factors can influence our brain structure and function, and the resulting neuroadaptations can influence our functioning positively, or negatively. At the end of the day, it is up to us as individuals to steer them in a favorable direction, whether that be through consciously choosing a nutrient-dense diet, maintaining a positive mindset when life events don’t go our way, or engaging in mindfulness techniques.

*Dietary components such as curcumin, resveratrol, blueberry polyphenols, sulforaphane, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and diets enriched with polyphenols, have been shown to induce neurogenesis in adult brains (Poulose et al., 2017)

 

References

Attuquayefio, T., Stevenson, R. J., Oaten, M. J., & Francis, H. M. (2017). A four-day Western-style dietary intervention causes reductions in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory and interoceptive sensitivity. PloS one, 12(2), e0172645. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172645Fredrickson, B. L., Boulton, A. J., Firestine, A. M., Van Cappellen, P., Algoe, S. B., Brantley, M. M., Kim, S. L., Brantley, J., & Salzberg, S. (2017). Positive Emotion Correlates of Meditation Practice: A Comparison of Mindfulness Meditation and Loving-kindness Meditation. Mindfulness, 8(6), 1623–1633. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0735-9

Jacka, F. N., Cherbuin, N., Anstey, K. J., Sachdev, P., & Butterworth, P. (2015). Western diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus: a longitudinal investigation. BMC Medicine, 13, 215. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0461-x 

Otsuka, R., Nishita, Y., Nakamura, A., Kato, T., Iwata, K., Tange, C., Tomida, M., Kinoshita, K., Nakagawa, T., Ando, F., Shimokata, H., & Arai, H. (2021). Dietary diversity is associated with longitudinal changes in hippocampal volume among Japanese community dwellers. European journal of clinical nutrition, 75(6), 946–953. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00734-zPisano, T. (n.d.). Complaining is Bad for your Brain! M1 Psychology. https://m1psychology.com/complaining-is-bad-for-your-brain/

Poulose, S. M., Miller, M. G., Scott, T., & Shukitt-Hale, B. (2017). Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function. Advances in Nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 8(6), 804–811. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.117.016261

Science explains what happens to someone’s brain from complaining every day. (2020, July 8). Power of Positivity: Positive Thinking & Attitude. https://www.powerofpositivity.com/complaining-changes-brain-anxious-depressed-research/?fbclid=IwAR0fXxg_NqwWZQAz_d3SkPO3EeE8hTdHnOgdOdFS5WW2o7toZpuwTN55x_k

Sharp, P.B., Sutton, B.P., Paul, E.J. et al. Mindfulness training induces structural connectome changes in insula networks. Sci Rep 8, 7929 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26268-w

Stevenson, R., Francis, H., Attuquayefio, T., Gupta, D., Yeomans, M., Oaten, M., & Davidson, T. (2020) Hippocampal-dependent appetitive control is impaired by experimental exposure to a Western-style diet. Royal Society Open Science, 7(2).

Exploring the Association of Loneliness and Wisdom with Gut Microbial Diversity and Composition

Posted on by CNP Staff

Previous studies have shown that lonely people tend to show less wisdom, and that loneliness and wisdom have opposite effects on well-being. Research has also shown association of loneliness with changes in the cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune functions, including the activation of biological pathways associated with the microbiota-gut-brain axis, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. With this in mind, this study investigated whether the gut microbiome is associated with loneliness, wisdom, or both. 

The study took place with 184 community-dwelling adults with ages ranging from 28 to 97 years. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured loneliness, wisdom, compassion, social support, and social engagement. Also, fecal samples from the participants were profiled with 16S rRNA sequencing to assess the alpha and beta diversity of each participant. Alpha diversity refers to the degree of diversity in bacteria from a specific ecosystem and beta diversity refers to the degree of diversity in bacteria belonging to different ecosystems. 

A partial least square regression analysis showed that having more wisdom, compassion, social support and social engagement was associated with more alpha diversity while loneliness was associated with less alpha diversity. Having more compassion and wisdom was also associated with a higher level of beta diversity. 

The findings of this study suggest that 1) individuals with certain psychosocial traits such as wisdom, compassion, social support, and social engagement are more likely to have a diverse microbiota, and 2) increasing compassion and wisdom may have a positive effect on both loneliness and microbial diversity. 

It should be noticed that the relationship between the microbiome, positive psychosocial traits, and loneliness is likely to be bi-directional. For example, the neurocircuitry of wisdom overlaps with structures implicated in the microbiota-gut-brain axis and a healthy microbiome appear to promote social motivation. As such, improving the microbiome may promote the development of psychosocial factors that themselves have a positive impact on microbiota diversity. 

Read more about the connection between the Gut-Brain-Axis/Microbiome and psychological well-being and mental health in CNP’s upcoming curriculum entitled NP 120: Gut-Brain-Axis/Microbiome and Mental Health (coming 2022) or visit the Diet, Microbiome and Gut-Brain Axis or the Diet and Probiotics Research Categories in the NP Research Library.

 

References

Nguyen, T. T., Zhang, X., Wu, T. C., Liu, J., Le, C., Tu, X. M., Knight, R., & Jeste, D. V. (2021). Association of loneliness and wisdom with gut microbial diversity and composition: An exploratory study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 648475. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.648475

 

Interoceptive Awareness and the Vagus Nerve: Important Elements in the Diet-Mental Health Relationship

Posted on by CNP Staff

Interoception and vagus nerve : Referred to as our “eighth sense,” Interoception is our perception of the internal physiological state of our bodies. It involves the receiving, encoding, and representation of internal bodily signals in the brain and nervous system, as well as our perception of these states (Ceunen et al., 2016). Interoception encompasses non-conscious bodily signals occurring, and our conscious perception of them. These signals play a role in motivating our behavior — including our dietary intake (Paulus & Steward, 2014).

 

Interoceptive signals play a role in motivating our dietary intake behavior.

 

While the physiological characteristics and applications of Interoception are not yet fully understood, the vagus nerve gives us insight into this bidirectional communication consisting of a complex, bodywide system of nerves and hormones. A massive network of fibers, the vagus nerve travels from nearly every internal organ to the base of the brain and back again. It regulates many autonomic functions including heart rate, breathing, and digestion. More recently these vagal fibers have been found to go beyond the brainstem, showcasing a network in the brain that interprets internal changes, anticipates the body’s needs, and sends commands to fulfill them. This vagal network even expands into more complex cognitive systems, revealing insights into how we remember, process emotion, and construct our sense of self (Underwood, 2021).

 

This vagal network even expands into more complex cognitive systems, revealing insights into how we remember, process emotion, and construct our sense of self (Underwood, 2021).

 

Due to the vagus nerve being involved in both the body’s basic autonomic functions and also these higher cognitive systems, it has become of interest for treating many different conditions. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), which sends pulses of electricity to the vagus nerve has already been approved to treat depression and epilepsy. Other less invasive ways of stimulating the vagus nerve are currently being studied for rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, and Alzheimer’s. However, stimulating the vagus nerve has its limits, as the side effects can be vastly different (Underwood, 2021).

When it comes to stimulating the vagus nerve, and thereby increasing Interoceptive Awareness (Paciorek & Skora, 2020), there are less invasive ways to do so such as mindfulness, including meditation, breathing exercises, and body scans. These exercises can have a significant effect on vagal tone, and tend to activate the Insula — an area of the brain thought to be the hub of Interoception (Craig, 2009).

 

Eating high-quality, nutritious food is another way to increase your brain-to-body connection, and improve your vagal tone.

 

Eating high-quality, nutritious food is another way to increase your brain-to-body connection, and improve your vagal tone. This gut-brain axis is what allows the bacteria in your gut to communicate with your brain (Breit, 2018). Gut microbes also play an important role in your immune system and inflammation by controlling what is passed into the body and what is excreted (Rooks & Garrett, 2016). When you eat a typical Western-style diet categorized by high-sugar, high-fat foods, you are setting yourself up for inflammation in the body (Myles, 2014). By choosing to cultivate healthy gut bacteria through proper nutrition, you can strengthen your vagus nerve, thereby increasing a significant part of your Interoceptive Awareness. This can improve your Diet-Mental Health Relationship, leading to enhanced well-being and mental health.

 

When you eat a typical Western-style diet categorized by high-sugar, high-fat foods, you are setting yourself up for inflammation in the body (Myles, 2014).

 

Learn more about the role of Interoception within Nutritional Psychology in NP 110: Introduction to Nutritional Psychology Methods, and the role of the vagus nerve is NP 120: Gut-Brain/Microbiome Axis and Mental Health (coming Fall of 2021). Thank you to CNP Contributor Chelsea Louise Doswell for this article.

 

References:

Breit, S., Kupferberg, A., Rogler, G., & Hasler, G. (2018). Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 44. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00044

Ceunen, E., Vlaeyen, J. W., & Van Diest, I. (2016). On the origin of interoception. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 743. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00743

Chen, W. G., Schloesser, D., Arensdorf, A. M., Simmons, J. M., Cui, C., Valentino, R., Gnadt, J. W., Nielsen, L., Hillaire-Clarke, C. S., Spruance, V., Horowitz, T. S., Vallejo, Y. F., & Langevin, H. M. (2021). The Emerging Science of Interoception: Sensing, Integrating, Interpreting, and Regulating Signals within the Self. Trends in neurosciences, 44(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.007 

Craig A. D. (2009). How do you feel–now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 10(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2555

Emily Underwood. (2021). Newly detailed nerve links between brain and other organs shape thoughts, memories, and feelings. Science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/newly-detailed-nerve-links-between-brain-and-other-organs-shape-thoughts-memories-and. 

Myles I. A. (2014). Fast food fever: reviewing the impacts of the Western diet on immunity. Nutrition Journal, 13, 61. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-13-61

Paciorek, A., & Skora, L. (2020). Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Gateway to Interoception. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1659. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01659.

Paulus, M. P., & Stewart, J. L. (2014). Interoception and drug addiction. Neuropharmacology, 76, Pt B(0 0), 342–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.07.002

Rooks, M. G., & Garrett, W. S. (2016). Gut microbiota, metabolites and host immunity. Nature Reviews. Immunology, 16(6), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2016.42

 

Study Shows Complex Relationship between Diet, Physical Exercises, and Mental Wellbeing

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In a recent study (Begdache and Patrissy, 2021) examining the complex relationship between dietary habits, physical exercises, and mental wellbeing, researchers found that different dietary habits were associated with both mental distress and physical exercise frequency.

You may have heard that physical exercise is good for both your physical and mental health. While it is common knowledge that dietary habits influence physical health, there is growing awareness of the influence that dietary habits have on psychological health and health-promoting behaviors as well.

This study examined the complex relationship between each of these factors including dietary habits, physical exercises, and mental wellbeing.

 

In this study, an anonymous link was distributed through multiple social media platforms that targeted different social and professional groups aged 30 years or older. The link led participants to a validated food questionnaire that collected data on dietary habits and mood along with demographic information. The data was collected for over 3 years from 329 males and 880 females at different intervals to account for changes in season and the diversity of the population.

The presence of healthy dietary habits was assessed based on the recommendations made by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 (published in 2005). According to this guideline, healthy dietary patterns include nutrient-dense food items such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, lean meat, and low-fat dairy.

The presence of unhealthy dietary patterns was established based on a set of results published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (published in 2021), which describes the standard American diet – one consisting of dairy, meat, high glycemic index food, and fast food and that excludes fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fish.

The level of mental distress among participants was classified with an evidence-based screening scale referred to as the K-6 screening scale (Kessler et al., 2010). The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale has been widely used in assessing psychological distress among general and clinical populations from different cultural backgrounds (Easton, et al., 2017).

Mental distress was classified according to three levels: low (0-7 points), moderate (8-12 points), and high (13 and above).

The analysis of the data collected found that for women, engaging in regular exercise and having a healthy diet correlated with mental wellbeing. In other words, female participants who had a healthy diet and exercised regularly were more likely to report a high level of mental well-being.  Having an unhealthy diet such as the one referred to as the standard American diet, on the other hand, was associated with a higher level of distress.

For women, engaging in regular exercise and having a healthy diet correlated with mental wellbeing.

In men, regular consumption of fast food was associated with mental distress. Men who engaged in regular physical exercises and had a healthy diet, on the other hand, were more likely to have good mental health. The positive relationship between healthy dietary habits and mental well-being was stronger in those who regularly engaged in physical exercises. In other words, men with healthy dietary habits were more likely to report mental wellbeing while men with healthy dietary habits and who practiced physical exercises regularly were even more likely to report mental wellbeing.

 

In men, regular consumption of fast food was associated with mental distress.

 

The researchers also observed that individuals that reported healthy dietary habits were also more likely to engage in physical exercises. One potential explanation for this observation is that healthy dietary habits promote physical health, which in turn makes people more likely to engage in physical exercises. For example, high fiber and low glycemic index food help maintaining a good blood glucose level, food high in potassium and low in sodium can contribute to having normal blood pressure, and complete proteins and omega-3 fats promote muscle integrity.

Another interesting finding is that mental distress in women is more likely to be impacted by dietary habits compared to men. For example, physical exercises appear to reverse the observed negative relationship between caffeine consumption and mental distress in women but do not do the same in men. More so, women benefited from physical exercises in terms of mental wellbeing only when their frequency was at least moderate.

While caffeine can increase mental distress, some caffeine consumers may actually experience less distress. On one hand, caffeine is a stimulant, activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), and consequently, modulating stress response. On the other hand, caffeine is also an adenosine antagonist (that is, it interferes with the activity of adenosine), and this effect delays fatigue during exercise.

For this reason, women who consume a high level of caffeine and do not exercise are more likely to experience mental distress while women who consume caffeine but also exercise are more likely to get the neuromodulator benefit of exercise by working out longer. In other words, if you’re going to drink caffeine, it’s good to also exercise regularly in order to avoid the negative effects of caffeine and actually benefit from it.

The same applies to fast food and mental distress in men. This may occur because fast food tends to be high in salt, sugar, and saturated fat and deficient in several nutrients. Given that exercise is metabolically taxing, it competes with the brain for essential nutrients.

 

The results of this study strongly suggest that having a diet based on nutrient-dense food items can improve physical and mental wellbeing.

 

Overall, the findings of this study strongly suggest that having a diet based on nutrient-dense food items can improve physical and mental wellbeing. Those who have a healthy diet and also engage in physical exercises regularly are even more likely to show mental wellbeing than those who have a healthy diet but do not exercise. Perhaps not surprisingly, not all individuals and groups of individuals are influenced to the same extent by dietary and physical habits. The relationship between diet, physical exercise, and wellbeing is complex and significant, for which it deserves attention and many more research studies.

 

References

Begdache, L., & Patrissy, C. M. (2021). Customization of Diet May Promote Exercise and Improve Mental Wellbeing in Mature Adults: The Role of Exercise as a Mediator. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 11(5), 435.

USDA. (2020) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025. Retrieved from https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans-2020-2025.pdf

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. (2015). Scientific report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: advisory report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service, 2019-09.

Kessler, R. C., Green, J. G., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Bromet, E., Cuitan, M., … & Zaslavsky, A. M. (2010). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population with the K6 screening scale: results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) survey initiative. International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 19(S1), 4-22.

Easton, S. D., Safadi, N. S., Wang, Y., & Hasson, R. G., 3rd (2017). The Kessler psychological distress scale: translation and validation of an Arabic version. Health and quality of life outcomes, 15(1), 215. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0783-9

 

 

Consolidating Research in Nutritional Psychology: The CNP Library Membership

Posted on by CNP Staff

Nutritional Psychology is the area of study that examines the psychological, behavioral, cognitive, sensory-perceptual, interoceptive, and psychosocial elements informing the Diet-Mental Health Relationship. As knowledge supporting our understanding of this relationship continues to grow, an increased need to unify these findings exists. While formal education and training in this area have been largely absent for mental health and allied health professionals, The Center for Nutritional Psychology has taken initiative to develop this area of study and is consistently working to consolidate the world’s research regarding the DMHR.

CNP’s ‘Research Library Membership’ contains the first ‘living’ and evolving database containing links to nearly 3,000 interdisciplinary, multinational scientific research studies informing our understanding of the Diet-Mental Health Relationship. While CNP’s public website contains five curated research libraries containing links to over 45 research categories in nutritional psychology, the CNP Research Library Membership provides educators, students, professionals, and advocates with access to CNP’s full scope of study links informing the field of nutritional psychology.

The CNP Library Membership also provides individuals with the opportunity to join a like-minded community, and engage with those who support and believe in the importance of incorporating a nutritional component into mental healthcare moving forward.

 

With the CNP Library Membership, members obtain exclusive access to:

    • All five carefully curated, searchable online libraries containing 45+ research categories and links to nearly 3,000 research studies informing the field 
    • A monthly animated video featuring a recent research study
    • The ability to create and organize personalized lists of studies, add your own notes, and easily print all the information you need
    • Nearly 2,40000 CNP-written research summaries (and counting!) that summarize research study abstracts for ease of reading, as well as full study citations
    • Members-only discounts for ALL Nutritional Psychology courses

 

It is through the CNP membership that you will have easy access to the research and tools needed to deepen your understanding of the relationship between our dietary intake, psychological health, and well-being. Whether you are an educator, student, professional, or advocate of Nutritional Psychology, your subscription to the CNP Library Membership will foster increased visibility and improve the mental healthcare system for the better.

 

The CNP Library Membership can be used by:

  • Mental health professionals looking to keep up-to-date with the field
  • Students to prepare reports, papers, thesis, and dissertations
  • Educators to organize and consolidate research studies used in NP-related syllabi
  • Organizations seeking to use Nutritional Psychology research findings and trends to inform education, policy, and research
  • Journalists writing articles related to the Diet-Mental Health Relationship
  • Individuals interested in seeing the latest research on how diet affects all aspects of our psychological functioning and mental health

 

When you become a CNP Member, you also support a valuable cause — The Center for Nutritional Psychology (CNP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all of our proceeds go directly towards furthering the development of Nutritional Psychology. Your subscription helps us continue creating and expanding educational resources for kids and their parents, students, educators, and professionals. Become a member today, and discover the benefits of CNP’s well-organized, user-friendly, and creditable membership database.

Visit our Membership Page for more details and FAQs.

 

Dietary Intake and Resilience: Is There a Connection Across the Lifespan?

Posted on by CNP Staff

Dietary Intake and Resilience: Is There a Connection Across the Lifespan?

Psychologists define resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress (APA, 2012). These can include family, relationship, and social problems, physical or psychological health issues, employment or financial stressors, and world pandemics. By some estimates, most people will experience one or more potentially life-threatening traumatic experiences that can influence their mental health and even result in post-traumatic stress disorder (Karam et al., 2014). 

The latest viewpoint on the construct of resilience is that it is complex, and comprises biological, genetic, epigenetic, developmental, psychological, social, economic, and cultural factors that interact to determine one’s responses to stressful stimuli and experiences (Southwick et al., 2014).

Within Nutritional Psychology, we seek to determine the connections between dietary intake and resilience, and the mechanisms by which these connections occur. Studies demonstrating a relationship between diet and resilience are included in a growing repository of links within the “Diet and Resilience” and “Diet and Quality of Life” research categories in the NPRL and Parent Research Libraries. In these libraries, you will find research to support the connection between dietary intake and resilience across the lifespan. Let’s take a look at a few of these publications.

 

The Diet-Resilience Connection in Youth

Nutritional quality and breakfast intake are two dietary factors among young people that are shown to positively mediate psychological distress and improve resilience. In 2019, Whatnall et al. examined this connection by using diet questionnaires to record 2,710 Australian students’ consumption of fruits, vegetables, soft drinks, and takeaway food, as well as how frequently they ate breakfast. The Kessler Scale and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) were used to assess psychological distress and resilience, with adjustments made for socio-demographic factors, undergraduate/postgraduate status, and health characteristics. Findings showed that higher fruit and vegetable consumption per day (analyzed separately), more consistently having breakfast, and less frequent intake of soft drinks and takeaway foods were all significantly associated with both lower psychological distress and higher resilience. 

 

The Diet-Resilience Connection in Adults

Within the more general population, diet quality is also an important link when it comes to managing stress and adapting in the face of adversity. This is evident in a 2018 study by Bonaccio et al., where adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet (categorized by a high intake of vegetables and olive oil) proved to have a positive connection in terms of resilience. Food intake was measured among 10,812 participants using a Food Frequency Questionnaire, psychological resilience using a Psychological Resilience Score, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet using both a Mediterranean Diet Score and an Italian Mediterranean Index. Increased polyphenol or antioxidants in the diet and greater diversity in fruit and vegetable consumption, as opposed to a nutrient-depleted Western diet, were linked with enhanced psychological resilience. The findings give us insight into the positive associations between adherence to a nutrient-dense Mediterranean-type diet and psychological resilience and suggest that by adopting a similar diet, we too can better handle psychological distress and improve resilience.

 

The Diet-Resilience Connection in Elderly Individuals

Another factor that is shown to positively correlate with increased resilience is dietary diversity. Dietary diversity, defined as the number of different food groups consumed within a given reference period, is a key element of high-quality, nutrient-dense diets. A 2019 study by Yin et al. took a closer look at diet diversity within an elderly Chinese population consisting of 8,571 participants. From this sample, the frequency of consuming different food groups was reported, with the consumption of vegetables, fruits, and nuts contributing the most to dietary diversity. Psychological resilience was assessed using a simplified resilience score (SRS). Analyses showed a significant association between lower dietary diversity and poorer resilience, as compared to those with good dietary diversity and higher resilience. The findings show that greater diet diversity is crucial in maintaining and improving cognitive function as it relates to resilience in older populations.

 

Resilience: The Other Side of Stress

While it is important to examine the mechanisms and outcomes associated with our experience of stress, it is also important to investigate the mechanisms and outcomes associated with our experience of resilience. These and other studies in the CNP Research Libraries show that an association between stress, resilience, and diet in fact exists.  Nutritional Psychology encompasses the examination of this and other connections between dietary intake and psychological functioning.

 

References

Building your Resilience. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience

Karam E. G., Friedman M. J., Hill E. D., Kessler R. C., McLaughlin K. A., Petukhova M. (2014). Cumulative traumas and risk thresholds: 12-month PTSD in the world mental health (WMH) surveys. Depression and Anxiety, 31, 130–142. 

Denckla, C. A., Cicchetti, D., Kubzansky, L. D., Seedat, S., Teicher, M. H., Williams, D. R., & Koenen, K. C. (2020). Psychological resilience: an update on definitions, a critical appraisal, and research recommendations. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1822064. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1822064

Southwick, S. M., Bonanno, G. A., Masten, A. S., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5, 10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338. https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338

Whatnall, M. C., Patterson, A. J., Siew, Y. Y., Kay-Lambkin, F., & Hutchesson, M. J. (2019). Are psychological distress and resilience associated with dietary intake among Australian university students?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(21), 4099.

Bonaccio, M., Di Castelnuovo, A., Costanzo, S., Pounis, G., Persichillo, M., Cerletti, C., Donati, M. B., de Gaetano, G., & Iacoviello, L. (2018). Mediterranean-type diet is associated with higher psychological resilience in a general adult population: findings from the Moli-sani study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(1), 154–160.

Yin, Z., Brasher, M. S., Kraus, V. B., Lv, Y., Shi, X., & Zeng, Y. (2019). Dietary diversity was positively associated with psychological resilience among elders: A population-based study. Nutrients, 11(3), 650.

 

The Psychology of Food Insecurity: Effects of Early COVID-19 on Mental Health

Posted on by CNP Staff

The Psychology of Food Insecurity: A major component of nutritional psychology is the psychological impact of food insecurity on mental health. In the United States (as in many areas around the world), food insecurity has increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and is playing a role in the rise of mental health issues. The number of U.S. households experiencing food insecurity has tripled from 11% in 2018 to 35-38% during the initial months of COVID-19. As of March 2020, 44% of those in the low-income adult population experienced food insecurity along with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress.

In a study by Wolfson, Garcia, & Leung (2021), the association between food insecurity, depression, anxiety, and stress was examined in a low-income adult population of 1,476 individuals between March 19th-24th in 2020. 

The researchers captured food security data using an 18-item U.S. Household Food Security questionnaire measuring household food insecurity status over the previous 30 days. Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were used to define the food security categories which included high, marginal, low, or very low. Overall food insecurity was defined to include both the low and very low categories.  

A Patient Health Questionnaire measured how often participants felt anxiety and depression during the previous two weeks. Anxiety was assessed by capturing how often they felt nervous, anxious, on edge, or not able to stop or control their worrying. Depression was captured by how frequently they experienced pleasure in doing things, and how often they felt down, depressed, or hopeless. 

Participants used a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1) not at all, 2) somewhat, 3) very, or 4) extremely to rate their level of worry stemming from their ability to feed their families. The results revealed that very low food secure individuals were 7.49 times more likely to experience depression, 6.19 times more likely to have anxiety, and 10.91 times to perceive stress compared to food-secure individuals.  The researchers concluded a clear association between increased food insecurity levels with higher depression, anxiety, and stress levels.

For the open question on how COVID-19 was affecting participants’ lives, they expressed feeling depressed, scared, anxious, and depressed and shared that the pandemic was intensifying their pre-existing mental health conditions. 

The authors state that both short- and long-term mental health services must prioritize and provide equitable access to care for the low-income American population. Policies and solutions are needed to mitigate and prevent food insecure situations that impact mental health, such as the continuation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and access to emergency food resources.

More studies like these informing the Diet-Mental Health Relationship can be found in the CNP Food Insecurity and Mental Health research library.

 

References

Wolfson, J. A., Garcia, T., & Leung, C. W. (2021). Food insecurity is associated with depression, anxiety, and stress: Evidence from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Health Equity, 5(1), 64–71. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2020.0059

 

Further Reading

Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M. P., Gregory, C.A., & Singh, A. (2020). Household food security in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from Household Food Security in the United States in 2019 – Summary (usda.gov)

Martinez, S. M., Frongillo, E. A., Leung, C., & Ritchie, L. (2020). No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance among students in California’s public university system. Journal of Health Psychology, 25(12), 1930–1939. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318783028

Martinez, S. M., Esaryk, E. E., Moffat, L., & Ritchie, L. (2021). Redefining basic needs for higher education: It’s more than minimal food and housing according to California university students. American Journal of Health Promotion: AJHP, 890117121992295. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117121992295

 

 

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