One of the most overlooked factors to mental health wellness is nutrition. Nutrition is the process of nourishing our bodies with food. When mental health challenges occur many people self-prescribe based on recommendations from friends, the internet, or social media.
Although some methods may have few negative side effects, tailoring your supplement or nutrients to your individual psychobiological need will produce a better outcome. It may not bring the relief you are looking for or you may experience significant adverse results.
A holistic approach that incorporates nutrition into treatment can naturally enhance the positive effects of treatments such as anxiety therapy, ADHD therapy and depression therapy. An integrative mental health professional can work with you to assess your needs, bring balance, help you understand the complex relationships between mental and physical health, and incorporate natural approaches such as exercise, culinary medicine, herbal medicine, somatic and other therapies.
What challenges can be faced when adapting to a consistent healthy lifestyle?
The main source of nutrition comes from our food intake, which directly affects our body and mind. Our mindset directly affects our digestion, and mood. One important connection is the gut-brain axis, where your brain affects your digestion, and your gut affects your mood, cognition and stress. A holistic approach to mental health treatment that incorporates psychotherapy addresses your gut-brain experience. It is not uncommon to encounter both emotional and digestive symptoms simultaneously, such as mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, stress-related stomach discomfort, bloating or gas, or constipation.
Small changes can make a big difference in creating the path for positive shifts in your mood. Focusing on small changes can include adding simple activities, balancing your circadian rhythm, enhancing sleep and using food as medicine in your diet. Slowly adding or eliminating certain foods should be done with the aid of a clinician if you are on medication to safely monitor any interactions.
Starting your journey to wellness begins with assessing any vitamin and mineral deficiencies, food sensitivities and learning what nutrients improve mental health and cognitive function, supporting an integrative approach to nutrition and psychotherapy.
What should I do to begin improving my nutrition?
If you are struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, or ADHD, a nutritional approach that includes psychotherapy supports symptom relief or reduction. At Insight Counseling and Care, our nutrition and psychotherapy services assess your nutritional food/mood connection, adrenal stress and biological rhythms, and recommend basic labs that your doctor can request and evaluate. The journey to wellness begins as we work together to understand and set goals, learn through psychoeducation what small changes are needed to engage in change, learn how to form new habits, personalize your needs, and provide accountability by walking alongside you.
