WHY A VARIED WHOLEFOOD VEGAN DIET CAN HELP BEAT THE BLUES

By Juliet Gellatley, founder & director of Viva! and nutritional therapist

Our pace of life has changed beyond recognition over the last century and many of us have difficulty keeping up. Take a long weekend away and you return to 300 emails. Walk with your kids in the park and your mobile phone rings and texts beckon. You’re always accessible and expected to respond immediately.

Information comes belting at us from across the world and it’s impossible to keep up, to know everything you feel you should. The average British diet has changed, too — becoming more refined and sugary and more laden with meat, dairy, eggs, fat and alcohol.

Does it matter? It does and is partly why a survey of 37,000 people for Optimum Nutrition UK, found that:

• 82 per cent of people in the UK said they become impatient quickly;

• 80 per cent reported low energy levels;

• 67 per cent felt they have too much to do;

• and 64 per cent became anxious or tense easily.

In 2016, GPs wrote a record number of prescriptions for antidepressants in England — a staggering 65 million, about double the amount ten years previously (NHS Digital). Other people turn to yoga, meditation, self-help books and counsellors but very few who are mentally stressed ever think of improving their diet. Truth is, our brains can’t function properly without a good diet, let alone imbue us with the right mood.

MIND, the mental health charity, carried out a Food and Mood project with 200 people and found that 88 per cent reported that changing their diet improved their mental health significantly: 26 per cent said they had big reductions in mood swings, 26 per cent in panic attacks and anxiety and 24 per cent in depression. They also found that cutting down on food “stressors” and increasing “supporters” helped their mood.

The main stressors included saturated animal fats, which are high in both meat and dairy, sugar, milk chocolate, caffeine and alcohol. Supporters included water, vegetables, fruit and omega-3-rich foods. Eating regularly and not skipping breakfast were also highlighted as ways to boost mental health.