Five Key Takeaways from Dr. Drew Ramsey on How To Nourish Your Mental Health
It was an immense pleasure to team up with Dr. Drew Ramsey here in Jackson, Wyoming recently for a week of informative talks and a very special Brain Health Kitchen cooking class. Dr. Ramsey is a nutritional psychiatrist, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and the director of its Brain Food Clinic. In his field of nutritional psychiatry, Dr. Ramsey specifically focuses on crushing the stigma around mental health. The author of three books, most recently a cookbook and guide to eating for mental health, Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients That Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform Your Health, Dr. Ramsey is passionate about helping his patients eat the right foods for their brains.
When it comes to brain health and mental health, it turns out there is a ton of overlap. Here are the five takeaways from Dr. Ramsey’s Grand Rounds discussion for mental health professionals at St. John’s Health and a community talk in Jackson, Wyoming, as well as a few tips from our time in the kitchen. He has also graciously agreed to share his recipe for the Nutty Cacao Brain Bars we made during our cooking class. They’re an easy, no-bake treat packed with many brain-healthy staples like sunflower seeds, olive oil, and cacao nibs. (Scroll right to the bottom to find the recipe.)
Nutritional psychiatry and the science of eating for mental health
Dr. Ramsey defines his field of nutritional psychiatry as “The use of nutrition to optimize brain health and to treat and prevent mental health disorders.” This means he prescribes talk therapy and medication for his patients when needed, but he is also using nutrition in a novel way to support mental health.
Eating a plant-rich, Mediterranean-style diet promotes brain health and slows down cognitive decline, and can even reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. But what about food and mental health? Does what we eat impact whether or not we suffer from anxiety, depression, or other types of mental disorders? And, can food be used as a tool to help treat keep these disorders in remission? After learning from Dr. Ramsey, the resounding answer is Yes! What we eat really matters for mental health, just like it does for fending off cognitive decline.
“When I’m talking about mental health, I really mean brain health. Mental health starts in your brain cells. How do we make those more resilient, stronger, and better connected?” — Drew Ramsey, M.D.
One in five adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each year. Dr. Ramsey would like us all to be stewards of our mental health. Even though only 20% may experience a mental disorder at some point in their lives, 100% of us are vulnerable to mental health problems. Our mental well-being is something we can take care of like we do our physical health. It can be nurtured, protected, and nourished with the right foods and daily habits.
So, while it may be true that 1 in 5 of us have mental illness, we all need to take care of our mental health.
Women are at higher risk for anxiety and depression, and poor diet is a factor.
Women suffer disproportionately from mental conditions, especially anxiety and depression. Data from the Nurses’ Health Study of more than 43,000 women shows that eating an inflammatory, poor quality diet may be a large factor in a woman’s brain mental health. Women who follow a standard American diet (sometimes called SAD or the Western diet, which is characterized by ultra-processed foods, excess refined sugar and unhealthy fats) are 30% more likely to suffer from these mental disorders.
The takeaway: Dietary quality really matters for women’s brain health. Women who follow an inflammatory dietary pattern suffer from more anxiety and depression.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet can help alleviate anxiety and depression, too.
In the Australian SMILES (Supporting the Modification of Lifestyle in Lowered Emotional States) study published in 2017, treatments for anxiety and depression were 25% more effective when participants adhered to a Mediterranean-style diet. This was defined as a diet rich in leafy greens, vegetables, fish and seafood, nuts, and beans, and that is limited in sweets, refined cereals, fried food, fast food, processed meats, and sugary drinks. This dietary strategy proved to be an effective treatment adjunct for anxiety and depression for both men and women.
In the HELFIMED study, depression sufferers who joined Mediterranean cooking workshops (with the addition of fish oil supplementation) had 45% improved depression scores after 3 months. The control group, a twice-monthly social support meeting, also improved (by 26.8%.) Results in both groups were sustained for 6 months after the study was over.
The takeaway: If you are being treated for anxiety or depression, the Mediterranean-style of eating is proven to help you get better and stay better, while saving money on groceries.
The impact of diet on the mental health of teens and young adults.
Dr. Ramsey shared data from a study of over 7,000 adolescents whose diets were ranked as a spectrum of “healthy” to “unhealthy.” Teens with the lowest quality diets were 79% more likely to get depressed. In fact, there is a linear relationship between dietary quality and the risk of depression in teens. One facet of poor diet—trans fats, such as those found in fast foods and ultra-processed foods—is also linked to an increased risk of mental illness in young adults. In the SUN project, a study of 12,059 university graduates over 6.1 years, a diet high in trans fats correlated with 42% increased risk of depression.
The takeaway: What teenagers and young adults eat really matters for their mental health. Consuming a diet of ultra-processed foods high in sugar and trans fats is directly correlated to depression in these age groups.
Feed your microbiota to promote good mental health.
There is a large body of evidence that shows how important our gut health is for brain health. Help the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in the gut thrive by feeding them a steady diet of prebiotics (mostly plant fibers that microbes ferment to produce health-promoting chemical byproducts of food). Dietary fiber (found in plants like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, and beans) is the preferred food of the beneficial microbes bugs that live in your gut. Fermented foods with live cultures (known as probiotics) can also help you get health-promoting microbes into your diet. These include kefir, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi.
A healthy gut microbiota contributes to our mental health in ways that we are just beginning to understand. One meta-analysis of supplementing with probiotics (bacteria that may confer a benefit on the host’s health) for treatment of depression showed benefit. Another study of giving probiotics to those with mania showed it to be an effective adjunct to treatment. In addition, another study looked at giving prebiotics (a type of fermentable fiber) and probiotics for the treatment of anxiety and depression, with success.
The takeaway: By feeding the health-promoting microbes in your gut the right foods, you can alleviate or even possibly prevent mental health problems.
Dr. Ramey’s tips for feeding your mental health.
As an enthusiastic eater and cook, Dr. Ramsey is brimming with ideas to help you eat more brain-healthy food. You might notice that these overlap with the guidelines for brain-healthy eating!
- Seafood is especially important for brain health, providing zinc, iron, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin B12. Choose seafood that is high in omega-3s yet low in mercury, such as mackerel, salmon, herring, sardines, anchovies, Rainbow trout, oysters, and shad.
- Leafy greens pack in vitamins K and C, folate, calcium, phytonutrients and fiber.
- Eating a wide variety of different colored plant foods provides a diet rich in flavonoids, phytonutrients known to be protective of oxidative stress in blood vessels and brain cells. These include berries, alliums (onions, scallions, garlic), celery, parsley, cocoa, green tea, citrus fruits, soy beans, and fermented soy products like miso or tempeh.
- Meat eaters: choose meat from cows fed only grass (not corn) for a more brain-friendly fat profile.
- Kefir is a fermented food plentiful in the type of microbes that may help you cultivate healthy bugs in the gut.
- Potatoes are full of potassium and great for the microbiota. Dr. Ramsey shared this brain health secret: eat smaller potatoes so you get more skin and less starch. If you cook and then cool them, you create what’s called “resistant starch.” You’ve created a potato that doesn’t spike your blood sugar as much and gets down to the gut where it feeds the microbiota.
“Eat seafood, greens, nuts, and beans, and a little dark chocolate.” — Drew Ramsey, M.D.
Learn more about Dr. Ramsey’s work on his website drdrewramsey.com, his books (Eat Complete, 50 Shades of Kale, and The Happiness Diet), and in his TED talks. Follow him on Instagram @drewramseymd, on Facebook at Drew RamseyMD, on Twitter @DrewRamseyMD. Learn how to cook with his top antidepressant foods in his online course: Eat to Beat Depression. Visit here for information about the Brain Food Clinic. And be sure to look for his next book Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety from Harper Wave, coming soon.
Servings |
bars
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- olive oil for the pan
- ½ cup packed soft dates pitted (soak dates in hot water for several minutes to soften if necessary.)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup roasted unsalted almonds roughly chopped
- ½ cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds
- ¾ cup cacao nibs
- ½ cup creamy peanut or almond butter preferably no sugar added
- ¼ cup honey
Ingredients
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- Coat an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with olive oil.
- Put the dates in a food processor and process until a thick paste forms. Add the oats and almonds and pulse until a chunky mixture forms and the dates are evenly distributed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the sunflower seeds and the cacao nibs.
- Combine the peanut butter or almond butter and the honey in a small saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until well mixed. Pour over the oat mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon until a thick and gooey paste forms.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and press down with a rubber spatula to flatten. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge or freezer for 15 to 20 minutes until set and hardened.
- Remove from the baking dish and cut into 10 even bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Adapted from Eat Complete by Dr. Drew Ramsey.
Be sure to press the ingredients firmly into the pan. I like to use the flat bottom of a muffin tin or a glass jar. Also, I find that freezing these in the pan for 30 minutes before cutting keeps the bars from crumbling.
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