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Post by Admin on May 23, 2017 15:03:58 GMT -4
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Post by Megan Tracy on May 23, 2017 15:42:27 GMT -4
I believe nutrition is an under-utilized form of treatment in the medical world as a whole. The typical American diet consists of many substances that our bodies are not equipped to digest, and lead to a build up of toxins within our bodies. We, as a whole, consume an excess amount of processed and fried foods that contain large amounts of fats, carbohydrates, and toxic substances. It is no surprise that there has been evidence of improvement in mental health due to healthier dietary choices. I believe this is just one more reason for all of us, as healthcare providers, to educate our patients on the importance of making healthy dietary choices. This topic can be very overwhelming for patients, so I really like how this author simplified it into 4 easy steps that are easy to remember and will be easy to repeat back to patients.
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Post by Mandeep Gill on May 23, 2017 16:13:08 GMT -4
I totally agree with this article in that diet is a huge factor to determine one's emotional well being as well as physical. We all know of people or it can even be ourselves who indulge in "junk food", eat excessively, or eat too little when we are feeling down, and this kind of behaviour may often lead to temporary mood elevation, but will ultimately cause our mood to plummet if we continue this kind of self-destructive behaviour. An average adult above the age of 12 must try to consume at least 2,000 Calories per day; and although this can be hard for a lot of people depending on their various schedules, this is the amount of food in Calories an average adult will need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. I guarantee if more people were to eat healthy, cook their own food as opposed to always eating out, and combine this healthy eating as an adjunct with a proper exercise regimen, their mood will gradually be elevated, and their lives will forever change with this new outlook on life. There are often too many people who do not like to eat healthy because "it doesn't taste good" and there is this whole notion that what tastes good isn't good for you, and what tastes bad is good for you; well if people can look past these little quirks and find ways to cook healthy and having it taste delicious, they will be more inclined to take care of themselves, their families, and friends by passing on what they know. One saying that has always stuck to me is that "stick to the habit until the habit sticks to you", and I think this saying is a great one. The reason I think this saying is exceptional is because at first it may be hard for some people to stick to a proper diet and exercise regimen, but eventually if they continue with these habits, these habits will become apart of their lifestyles and they will find it to be difficult to stray away from their new habits and go back to their old, bad ones.
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Post by Prerana Rodrigues on May 23, 2017 19:49:07 GMT -4
This article raises an important point that often goes unnoticed when treating mental health problems. There are many factors and components that should be considered when treating anxiety and depression such as emotional trauma, stress and food. Food is one factor that is often under-utilized like the article states but has shown efficacy when used. We know that slight changes in food can impact the way we feel and we all have our go to comfort foods for when we are down. I like how this article stresses that in addition to medications and therapy, we should use these other factors such as food choices to for treatment and further lists 4 techniques that have helped patients in the past.
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Post by Avneet Ghumman on May 23, 2017 21:31:28 GMT -4
As medical students, we live primarily on coffee to help stay awake and give us the energy we need, but often find ourselves crashing mid-day. Dr. Rangan makes a very valid statement stating that eating sugary snacks to increase energy often worsens your mood, and this is due to withdrawal effects. Diet has a great effect on mood and health, and as Jada Pinkett Smith once stated, "you don't eat for taste, you eat for nourishment." Mental health in terms of pharmacology is solely based on balancing neurotransmitters, and as suggested in this article, they can be obtained from certain foods. Tryptophan, a precursor for serotonin can be found in pork, chicken, and walnuts, and could potentially help with the treatment of depression. This article illustrates that there are different approaches in treating mental illness rather than medications and therapy. It is a much simpler approach as we eat food everyday, and making minor changes to what we ingest can potentially make a large impact on our physical and mental health.
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Post by Harneet Ghumman on May 23, 2017 22:02:12 GMT -4
Psychiatry is a fascinating field to study in that treatment is often so versatile. Mental health is not limited to pharmacotherapy and instead can involve things like behavioural therapy, TMS, and now nutrition. I have always believed that nutrition plays a great role in how we feel as we often hear “you are what you eat”. We are often told to have a large breakfast, as when we do not eat we cannot function. Like all treatments, diet is not a one size fits all as many people have dietary restrictions due to other medical conditions or religion and it can take some time in finding what works with each patient. Hence although nutrition can aid in treating mental illness what works for one person may not work for the next. Furthermore like all treatments food can also be abused and we often see mental health patients such as patients with binge-eating disorder, eating away their feelings. Therefore I believe food is something that can be beneficial or harmful depending on how you manage your intake. I am interested to see the future of psychiatry and how nutrition will be incorporated with treatment.
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Post by Sara Massey on May 23, 2017 23:04:15 GMT -4
This article was a great eye-opener to how important it is to have a healthy and balanced diet for mental health. If an individual is eating sugary, processed foods, instead of fresh homemade foods, this can affect their mood by causing them to feel more fatigued, and even depressed. What you put into your body definitely has a huge impact on how you feel, and I believe this needs to be more emphasized in our society, as well as by physicians who can sometimes rely too much on medications, instead of more natural options. The phrase “you are what you eat” has never applied more.
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Post by Brume Okrokoto on May 24, 2017 0:03:18 GMT -4
Even if proper diet does not have a direct link to any mental well being, I believe that improper dieting can in fact contribute to a lot of mental health problem. Take for instance, a lot of the fast food we buy and consume are made with oils that contain a high amount of saturated fats. This type of fat not only causes heart diseases, but also causes weight gain and a low energy status. The body have very difficult time trying to digest it. And this fat tends to stay in the body for a very long time. While the effect of this is not immediate, it certainly can add up and eventually cause mood problems. High sugar intake as stated in the article is also a huge contributor to the feeling of tiredness and low energy. This may seem contradictory since high sugar is known to create hyperactivity. But such a burst of energy that leads to the hyperactivity from taking sugar is only short lived. And in a matter of time, the body starts craving more sugar again. The best thing to do is train the body to get used to consuming healthy diet such as vegetables and fish as described in the article. If the body starts learning to get its sugar and oils from these healthy form of diet, not only the physical parts of the human body can benefit from it, but also the mental aspects as well.
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Margaret Armour-Jones
Guest
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Post by Margaret Armour-Jones on May 24, 2017 8:10:55 GMT -4
This is an interesting topic, but also commonly misrepresented. I feel like this article is placing too much importance on diet, while ignoring the idea of "holistic" care (in the sense of caring for patients in their entirety and not just in one area). I will not deny that I imagine that diet can impact mental health probably as dramatically as it can impact physical health. However I stand firm in the belief that it is a component of care, and not the treatment itself. You would never put a severe epileptic in just a Ketogenic diet without any seizure medication. Just as in that case, psych patients should encorporate diet into their treatment plan as one aspect. I would imagine that if you studied groups of psych patients, some with just diet modification, some with just medical and psych therapy, and some with all, the last group would have the best outcome, not because the diet or the medication, but because when you take care of a whole patient and give them control of everything in their life, they will have a better outcome.
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Post by Jared Lambert on May 24, 2017 9:01:52 GMT -4
Within healthcare an often overlooked means of patient treatment, and a patient's overall well-being, is the almost glaringly obvious power that nutrition plays in health. This article does a great job of presenting a patient suffering from panic disorder and illustrating how despite solid foundational psychiatric treatment, what laid the groundwork for this patient’s recovery was ensuring proper nutritional support and eliminating unnecessarily unhealthy food choices (alcohol and sugar to name a few) from her diet. It was encouraging to hear that with this simple life modification the patient described feeling mentally stronger, having a clearer head, more energy and a greater ability to cope with stress. In summary, this article goes to show that psychiatric illnesses are complex matters, that can and need to be treated from many angles, including proper nutrition.
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Post by Amy Emtage on May 24, 2017 9:52:56 GMT -4
I appreciate that this article reminds the medical community of an option often overlooked. Nutrition is one component of treatment and while not perhaps directly targeting the direct cause of the mental health issue it enhances the patient's ability to cope with the symptoms. Dr Rangan shared some very practical principles showing the link between nutrition and mental well being including avoiding sugar crashes, enhancing mood with increased tryptophan/serotonin, improving clarity with increased omega-3 fats and promoting gut health. Dr Rangan states that his goal is to empower his patients. In this case I believe that the patient felt more control over her life by choosing the discipline of a nutritious diet. She was empowered to change the areas of her life that she could control and therefore felt more confident to gain control in the area of her mental health. Nutrition seems like such a simple solution that we may forget its effectiveness. At least for this young women, who had tried seemingly everything else, the impact of proper nutrition was clearly beneficial.
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Post by Sara Witten on May 24, 2017 11:01:30 GMT -4
This article highlights an interesting perspective on treating mental health, which has implications not only for psychiatry, but also for family practice – especially with the benefits that eating well can have for the rest of the body. The only barrier that I could see with trying to institute healthy eating for mental illness would be the same barrier that many low-income individuals cite for obesity/hypertension/hyperlipidemia - the cost of good nutrition. Education would need to be implemented regarding low-cost options for healthy foods, and the patient would need to "buy into" the idea that food could actually improve their mental well-being. However, this could be a great way to assist in the management of mental illness.
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Post by Silky Kataria on May 24, 2017 21:16:14 GMT -4
When conducting a patient interview, I have noticed that "Diet and Exercise" are two topics that are very easy to overlook. Although it might be simple to consult a patient regarding better eating habits or exercising daily, almost all of us are guilty of having a hard time trying to improve. Thus, it may be even harder to get this point across to a person who is struggling with mental health issues. Therefore, I definitely agree with Dr. Chatterjee's statement that such practice "has not translated into routine patient care and most doctors still do not discuss food with their mental health patients." It seems the problem might be that patients along with the physicians are not able to just yet pinpoint the relationship between nutrition and mood changes as it is difficult to touch upon many topics with mental health patients. Nonetheless, it is easy for me to believe that there must be a correlation in making oneself feel emotionally healthy by eating healthier and I am sure there will be a lot more studies that will be done regarding this topic. It is definitely a topic that will be highly beneficial in the mental health community as such slight alteration to their lives can bring an incredible transition in their personality.
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Post by AlanaWharton on May 24, 2017 23:12:15 GMT -4
This article highlights an area of mental health that is usually overlooked or forgotten. With in the medical fraternity it is common knowledge that a diet deficient or in excess of certain foods, vitamins or nutrients can result in diseases and impairments. This is why we advise patients to be mindful of the types of food they consume and avoid foods loaded with refined sugars and fats. Conversely the nutrients found in some foods are also beneficial as they can prevent illness, act as antioxidants to help get rid of free radicles; this is why certain foods are vitamin enriched, salt has iodine, and why we encourage patients to take multi-vitamins and supplements. With all of this knowledge we never seem to focus on how foods can alter a person's mental well-being, even though we are aware for example that low blood sugar can alter a person's mood or a diet deficient of vitamin B3 (naicin) may cause depression. Of course not all mental health issues will be the result of a person's diet, but their diet should be considered and ruled in or out as a contributing factor. As clinicians we ought to look at our patient's holistically since everything is connected. Just as we have educated patients on the link between diet and illness we should do the same for mental health. Also we should consider diet as a complimentary form of therapy to augment pharmacotherapy.
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Post by Nanki A. on May 24, 2017 23:40:44 GMT -4
I do find that discussing and promoting a healthy and so to speak "cleaner" diet can be beneficial to some aspects of mental health but I can't help think if some of it also has to do more with changes in patient's own belief that a new change is working well with his/her mental health. We do use terms like stress-eating so, no doubt what you eat can also lower the threshold for triggering certain mental health issues. It is definitely an interesting field to research and dwell more into. We cannot go wrong, as (future)physicians, to promote a healthy lifestyle that includes a nutritious and cleaner diet that will not only benefit the patient's over all health but also biochemically change mental health for the better. A bigger challenge for us, I think, would be to promote this new change in the patient's lifestyle and encourage them to implement it for long term in order to reap its benefits.
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