Inflammation and mental health

‘Research has indicated that levels of inflammatory cytokines tend to be higher in people with mood and mental health disorders. Also, those who suffer mood disorders and mental health disorders are more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases arising from inflammation’.

Here are a few worrying statistics from mindframe-media.info

• Approximately one in every five Australians will experience a mental illness in every year.

• Mental illnesses are the third leading cause of disability burden in Australia, accounting for an estimated 27% of the total years lost due to disability.

• About 4% of people will experience a major depressive episode in a 12-month period, with 5% of women and 3% of men affected.

• Approximately 14 % of Australians will be affected by an anxiety disorder in any 12-month period.

• About 3% of Australians are affected by psychotic illness; such as schizophrenia.

The most common course of action to treat mental illness is prescription medicine- especially for the more common conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. We tend to think of mental health issues as chemical imbalance in the brain, affecting the neurotransmitters serotonin, and dopamine, and most medications aim to try to bring these neurotransmitters back into balance. However, we now know that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of mental health issues. And we know that we can reverse inflammation in the body through diet, and other lifestyle changes. So, what if we targeted inflammation instead, and reduced the reliance on pharmaceutical drugs?

Inflammation is the body’s response to a perceived threat or injury and we can generally tell that it is there by symptoms such as redness, swelling and pain. However, that is acute inflammation rather than chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation occurs when the inflammatory process is dys-regulated and causes the body’s cells to be distressed and to release what we call cytokines. They are like little SOS signals that have a specific effect on human cells -and they essentially regulate the immune response. If inflammation goes on for too long then the possibility of disease increases.

Research has indicated that levels of inflammatory cytokines tend to be higher in people with mood and mental health disorders. Also, those who suffer mood disorders and mental health disorders are more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases arising from inflammation.

I strongly believe that the best way to fight inflammation is through good nutrition and stress reduction, rather than resorting to prescription drugs. In fact, it has been my own experience that when I remove inflammation promoting foods from my diet, I can manage my own mental health issues without the need to medicate. This will not be the case for everyone and there are many instances where medication is the only way to successfully function with mental health disorder. However, as a complementary therapy, good nutrition can really improve a person’s quality of life.

So, let’s start with sugar and refined carbohydrate.

I have written a bit about sugar and our gut health- and this is relevant as our gut is a major site of inflammation and is referred to as our ‘second brain. Refined carbohydrates include all processed stuff—sugar, fruit juice, flour, breakfast cereals, muesli bars, commercial baked goods and more. What happens when we eat these refined carbohydrates is that there is a rapid spike in blood sugar, and this triggers insulin secretion, in order to drive the glucose into your cells and out of your bloodstream. This is a normal physiological response, but unfortunately excess insulin promotes the storage of pro-inflammatory body fat.  Insulin encourages the production of arachidonic acid that can promote the production of inflammatory messengers. In addition, high blood sugar levels cause your body to produce molecules called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. These are destructive molecules that trigger inflammation.

Moving on to vegetable or seed oils. These are oils including canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and many others- including margarine. It was believed that these oils were superior as they come from plants, but this is not the case. These oils do not exist in nature, and are full of omega 6 fatty acids. We get far too many omega 6 fatty acids, and not enough omega 3’s. Omega 6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory and compete with omega 3’s – which we need for good mental health. These oils must be chemically extracted, deodorised and altered. In fact, they are some of the most chemically altered food in our food supply and yet are marketed as healthy and natural. They are in practically all processed foods and they cause inflammation. Reducing omega-6 fatty acid intake by replacing seed oils with other fat sources, such as natural butter, coconut oil, and olive oil, has been shown to reduce inflammation, and even reduce chronic pain. Removing most carbohydrate from the diet is also a powerful metabolic intervention for good health. Low-carbohydrate diets have been shown in scientific studies to improve multiple markers of inflammation.  (1) (2) (3) (4).

We don’t know if low-carbohydrate diets reduce mental health disorders, because it is early days and so few studies have been conducted. The research that has been reported focuses mainly on autism. Regardless, as mentioned, there is ample evidence to suggest that a low carbohydrate intake is associated with reduced systemic inflammation. I think if we approach mental health from a more holistic viewpoint,  and make some dietary changes- reducing carbohydrate intake and eradicating the use of vegetable oils, we may find that mood disorders can be managed better. We know that inflammation ends in disease, and so to make changes to reduce inflammation can only be a smart move.