New study demonstrates impact of diet and nutrition on mental health

A new international review has shed fresh light on the potentially significant impact that diet quality and nutritional deficiencies can have on mental health.

Examining recent research, the Lancet Psychiatry review indicated that in addition to dietary improvement, evidence now supports the view that nutrient-based prescription has the potential to assist in the management of mental disorders.

A number of nutrients have been specifically identified as having a clear link to brain health, including omega-3s, B vitamins (particularly folate and B12), choline, iron, zinc, magnesium, S-adenosyl methionine, vitamin D and amino acids.

This comes after a systematic review published in late 2014 also confirmed a relationship between unhealthy dietary patterns and poorer mental health in children and adolescents.

Lead author Dr Jerome Sarris, from the University of Melbourne, said: "The emerging and compelling evidence for nutrition as a key factor in the high prevalence and incidence of mental disorders suggests that nutrition is as important to psychiatry as it is to cardiology, endocrinology and gastroenterology."