modern diets lacking in micronutrients may contribute to angry rhetoric

emotional, non-rational, even explosive remarks in public discourse have escalated in recent years. politicians endure insults during  legislative discussions ; scientists receive emails and tweets containing  verbal abuse and threats .

what’s going on? this escalation in angry rhetoric is  sometimes attributed to social media . but are there other influences altering communication styles?

as researchers in the field of nutrition and mental health, and authors of  the better brain , we recognize that many in our society experience brain hunger, impairing their cognitive function and emotion regulation.

ultra-processed products

three published analyses from the 2004 canadian community health survey and the 2018 u.s. national health and nutrition examination survey revealed these sobering statistics: in canada, in 2004,  48 per cent of the caloric intake across all ages  came from ultra-processed products; in the united states  67 per cent of what children aged two to 19 years  consumed and  57 per cent of what adults consumed  in 2018 were ultra-processed products.

most of us are aware that dietary intake is a huge issue in physical health because diet quality is associated with chronic health conditions such as  obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease . the public is less aware of the impact of nutrition on brain health.

micronutrients and mental health symptoms

the scientific evidence base for this statement is now vast, though it is so rarely mentioned in the media that few in the public are familiar with it. a dozen studies from countries  like canada ,  spain ,  japan   and australia  have shown that people who eat a healthy, whole foods diet have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than people who eat a poor diet (mostly ultra-processed products).

in a study of about  89,000 people in japan  with 10-15 years of followup, the suicide rate in those consuming a whole foods diet was half that of those eating less healthy diets, highlighting an important new direction not yet covered in current suicide prevention programs.

here in canada , similarly powerful findings show how children’s dietary patterns, as well as following other health guidelines on exercise and screen time, predicted which children aged 10 to 11 years would be referred for diagnosis of a mental disorder in the subsequent two years. it follows that nutrition education ought to be one of the first lines of treatment for children in this situation.

irritability and unstable mood often characterize depression, so it’s relevant that multiple independent studies have found that teaching people with depression, who were consuming relatively poor diets, how to change to a whole foods mediterranean-style diet resulted in significant improvements. a  mediterranean-style diet  is typically high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, seafood and unsaturated fats such as olive oil.

in  one such study , about one-third of the people who changed to a whole foods diet in addition to their regular treatment found their depression to be in remission after 12 weeks.

important evidence that irritability, explosive rage and unstable mood can be resolved with improved micronutrient intake comes from studies evaluating micronutrient supplements to treat  mental health problems . most public awareness is restricted to the ill-fated search for magic bullets:  studies of a single nutrient at a time . that is a common way to think about causality (for problem x, you need medication y), but that is not how our brains work.

to support brain metabolism,  our brains require at least 30 micronutrients  to ensure the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, as well as breaking down and removing metabolic byproducts. many studies of multi-nutrient treatments have found improved mood regulation and reduced irritability and explosive rage, including in placebo-controlled randomized trials of children with  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder  and  mood dysregulation .

bonnie kaplan is a professor emerita of the cumming school of medicine at university of calgary. julia j rucklidge is a professor of psychology at university of canterbury.

this article is republished from the conversation under a creative commons license. read the original article .

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