Threapy. Done Differently.

Work with Us

Visit our Location
1b, 1 Cookson Street, Camberwell
Give us a Call
03 9077 8194
Send us a Message
hello@theabaker.com.au
Opening Hours
Mon - Sat - 09:00 - 18:00

Blog

Read our latest musings

Thea BakerBlogBlogWhole-person health in practice – part three
By Thea Blog, CPTSD, PTSD, Trauma

Whole-person health in practice – part three

Whole-person health in practice – part three

In case you’ve just arrived here, this week’s blog is the third in a little series exploring ‘whole-person health’ (you can catch up on the introduction by clicking HERE).  The last two weeks have been applying some of these principles in practice – the first on related to physical health / movement and how it impacts the other parts of our health ‘wholeness’, some practical suggestions / considerations and also some links to other resources that you might find interesting. You can click HERE read that one.  And last week we explored the way that we can understand mental / psychological health through this same lens – click HERE for that one.

Just as a reminder, these are the five pillars of health that I believe we need to consider supporting our ‘whole-person health’ are:

  • Physical health / movement
  • Mental / psychological health
  • Nutrition / fluid health
  • Spiritual health / mindfulness
  • Sleep health & rest

So, this week I want to share some practical thoughts, suggestions, prompts and resources for you to dig into some more detail around the third one on our list nutrition / fluid health.

The relationship between food and mood:

In recent years there has been an increased interest in understanding the relationship between nutrition and mental health.  There have been epidemiological studies demonstrating that certain dietary patterns (such as the ‘Mediterranean’ dietary pattern – high in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes; moderate consumption of poultry, eggs and dairy products; occasional consumption of red meat) is associated with lower risks of developing depression.  But it’s a really complex space, where changes to our dietary patterns when stressed / navigating low mood (such as turning to ‘comfort foods’) can reverse the dynamic – these food choices can actually negatively impact mental health. The below figure is a hypothesised relationship between diet, physical health and mental health:

Firth, J. et al. 2020

 Here are a few of the current understanding of where nutrition (i.e., certain foods / dietary patterns) could impact mental health:

  • Consuming high refined carbohydrates increases the risk of obesity and diabetes
  • Eating foods with a high glycaemic index (i.e., with high amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars) may have a detrimental effect on psychological wellbeing / depression and the repeated glycaemic spike and crash is associated with mood disorders such as anxiety and emotional dysregulation
  • Highly processed diets appear to have an inflammatory effect in humans, which are also associated with a range of mental health conditions and mood disorders
  • Dietary patterns that include foods with polyphenols and polyunsaturated fats (e.g., Mediterranean diet) appear to have anti-inflammatory effects
  • The gut microbiome – a broad term that refers to the trillions of microbial organisms that live in the human gut. The gut microbiome appears to play a vital role on mental health via a series of bi-directional pathways (including the vagus nerve) connecting gut to brain
  • Maintaining a healthy and diverse gut microbiome relies on a diverse dietary pattern focused on foods that are high in polyphenols – mainly found in plants and fermented foods, fibre and polyunsaturated fats, and low intake of highly processed (refined) sugars, carbohydrates, saturated fats and artificial sweeteners.

I do want to just flag that we still don’t have all the answers in this space, and it really is complex and nuanced.  There are few things that I’d like to emphasise though.  The first is that as with most things in the health and wellbeing space, whilst research provides us with epidemiological insights, we need to understand the impact of certain foods on our individual body and mood.  There is a real push towards the personal application of this research.

Secondly, whilst I’m a huge fan of eating low amounts of highly processed foods, there is privilege in that position.  Sadly, it’s very expensive to buy fresh, wholefoods that require space, equipment and time to cook fresh meals every day from scratch.  And for many families faced with the stressors of the cost-of-living crisis we’re navigating at the moment, highly processed foods in the form of take-aways or ready-meals are sometimes the only option people can afford.

Lastly, we need to understand that there are huge organisations whose focus is on making enormous profits from making highly processed foods.  I don’t believe that our human bodies were made to consume these foods, especially on a regular basis, however for all the reasons highlighted above I don’t think it’s helpful to focus criticism / judgement at an individual level and instead this should be targeted at these huge multinational organisations.

Where fluids come in:

I don’t want to spend too long on here because I think most of this is pretty obvious but still warrants being included.  There are few different types of drink that I wanted to highlight:

  1. Alcohol – despite being associated with celebration, socialising and ‘good times’, alcohol is a depressant and can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. It affects the part of the brain that controls inhibition – meaning that we can make rash or ill-considered when we’re drinking alcohol. And whilst it might relax us, make us less socially anxious and more confident while we’re drinking, when the effects wear off negative emotions can flood in – anger, depression and anxiety.  It also impacts sleep quality significantly.  Using alcohol to avoid difficult feelings, as a means of relaxation, or to manage anxiety and social situations can quickly lead to dependence.  As with all of our coping strategies, my question is always, ‘not why the addition, but why the pain?’
  2. Caffeine – this one is actually quite complex and nuanced and again comes down to understanding the impact of caffeine on you as an individual. Caffeine has ‘mental activating’ properties – increasing alertness, reducing sleepiness / fatigue and in some situations can contribute to increased performance.  At moderate levels caffeine can protect from mood symptoms, but at higher doses can induce mood changes.  People who are sensitive to caffeine are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety, restlessness, irritability, nervousness, insomnia, agitation and difficulty tracking thoughts.  Similar to alcohol, if a dependence develops, people can find themselves experiencing negative effects of withdrawal, including migraines and emotional dysregulation.
  3. Water – whilst this is a really quite new area of research, it does seem that hydration status is linked to a range of mental health conditions and cognitive function, including depression, anxiety, mental sharpness (‘acuity’), memory and attention. Likewise, dehydration is associated to negative effects on self-esteem, energy, short-term memory and attention.  Again though, this is a very individual thing and the amount of water you need to drink varies depending on activity levels, exposure to heat / humidity, age and body size.

 

Resources:

 

If you’d like somewhere to talk about aspects of your whole-person health, please get in touch with us: www.theabaker.com.au / hello@theabaker.com.au / 03 9077 8194.