5 ways to protect your mental health part 2 ??

Would you like to protect your mental health? What factors can work with you or against you?

To read part 1 READ HERE

Yesterday we talked about THE MOUTH ??

Today I invite you to move to the second factor that could work with you or against you, and it is THE WAY YOU EAT or dietary patterns

Let′s face it. In our modern society, most people eat TERRIBLE. This have created all sort of medical problems from obesity to diabetes and even cancer. ??

This goes beyond to lose weight or have any particular diet. Is not about being keto, vegan or carnivore.

Here are FOUR major problems with our food:

NUMBER 1??

The problem with our food is not about calories, but its nutritional value. The Standard American Diet (SAD) have permeate in most cultures, including latin cultures. Here in Mexico, many people are influenced by the "american style" and the other part consume not just SAD but a lot of trans fats and sugar.

Even in the poorest states of Mexico there is a "tiendita" where you can buy snacks and soft drinks. I don′t need to say a brand but you know it because it promise you to "open happiness".

Is that true? Depending of the meaning of this word for you. Happiness is not just about pleasure, but a state of wellbeing.

NUMBER 2??

Unfortunately, all of these products not only make you fat but also make you SAD OR EVEN DEPRESSED.

Why is that? Now we know these type of "foods" trigger proinflammatory states, then in the long run, diseases. Today, we consider depression not just a chemical imbalance, which can also be true, but an inflammation state. A recent study found a correlation between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Depression

NUMBER 3??

Besides most of our modern food have no nutritional value and it could be considered pro-inflammatory there is a third factor: the tons of chemicals, preservatives and food additives such as sugar and gluten.

Have you wondered why most of the food we find in supermarkets contain sugar? I do ??

We were told sugar is necessary to preserve health but IS NOT. Did you know that sugar contributes not just to obesity and diabetes but also cavities, candidiasis and even blood pressure and anxiety? Why then is included in most of our food? ??

NUMBER 4??

Lots of foods are contaminated with PESTICIDES including those what we could consider "healthy", such as vegetables, fruits and grains (not all people consider grains as healthy but some of them). Pesticides can affect your mental health since they alter GUT MICROBIOME.

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DISSAPOINTED? LET′S STAY POSITIVE!

Here are some recomendations to deal with these challenges and preserve your mental health:

1. When you think about food, look for nutritional value and forget calories. The more nutrients, the better your brain and body work and this can improve your MENTAL HEALTH
2. Choose an antiinflammatory diet that not only will help you to lose weight, but also it will improves your BRAIN HEALTH. There are several types of diets, including Mediterranean Diet or MIND DIET that offer reduce inflammation.
3. READ LABELS. At first, you can become crazy ?? but then, you will learn a lot. Avoid those products who have added sugars and food additives such as aspartame and MSG (monosodic glutamate) which overstimulate the neurons in the brain - they are called excitotoxins
4. According to your possibilities, EAT ORGANIC. I suggest you to check the dirty dozen list from EWG. No matter if you are in US, Mexico, or another country. Most apples ?? we eat come from US. So contaminated food is everywhere.

YOUR MENTAL HEALTH AND THE WAY YOU EAT ARE STRONGLY CORRELATED

Would you like to learn more? CONTACT ME

If you are interested to improve your mental and overall health, LET′S TALK ??

THIS ARTICLE IS ORIGINAL FROM THE AUTHOR, SHE HAVEN′T USED CHAT GPT NOR ANY OTHER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM

Acerca de mi

Claudia Juárez es Psicóloga Clínica, Especialista en Estrés y Consultora en Salud y Bienestar Corporativo. Dirige?Transforma tu Estrés, Consultoría Especializada en el Manejo de Estrés Organizacional e Individual. Conferencista y tallerista sobre Manejo de Estrés, Resiliencia, Inteligencia Emocional, Balance de Vida entre otros. Consultora y capacitadora NOM035. Autora del libro?Todo lo que quería saber sobre el estrés de la A a la Z, publicado por Manual Moderno (2019).

Soy también consultora en procesos de cambio organizacional (Change Management) y personal, y practicante certificada de la metodología Heartmath ??