We make a lot of separations between mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, and physical health. This makes the different aspects of your health sound as though they are compartmentalized, but that’s not true. Your health is interconnected, which means your physical health and your mental health often go hand-in-hand.
One example of this is diet. A poor mental health can lead to a poor diet, whether it be eating too much, too little, or eating too much of the wrong things. Likewise, a poor diet can have a negative impact on your mental health. These two are inextricably linked, so to keep up your mental health, you will need to keep up your physical health.
How Your Diet Impacts Your Mental Health
The food you eat impacts the way you feel. Have you ever noticed that after eating fresh vegetables or drinking a cool glass of water, you feel more energized and ready to face the day? Or the “food baby” that you sometimes develop when you stuff yourself? You may also notice that you feel more on edge or tired when you go too long without eating. Each of these things have to do with your diet, but each one has an impact on your feelings.
Our bodies need a balanced diet, with a mixture of fruits and vegetables, protein, grains, and oils. And, of course, regular exercise helps to digest that balanced diet. When your diet lacks certain vital nutrients, it will leave you feeling lethargic and depressed. For instance, if you eat nothing but potato chips all day, you may feel more fatigued than you would otherwise. This fatigue and lethargy can make it difficult to get up and do the things you need to do, which further feeds the depression.
But this is only one side of the coin.
How Your Mental Health Impacts Your Diet
As mentioned above, your physical health and diet are interconnected. When your mental health suffers, it can be difficult to have the energy to take care of yourself by eating well. Stress has often been shown to cause overeating, especially because foods that are high in sugar can numb feelings of distress. In the midst of a bad depressive or anxious episode, you may want to eat to dampen those intense emotions.
Others might forget to eat meals in the midst of high stress, or may be unable to muster up the energy to prepare a meal while depressed. This might lead to ordering takeout instead of cooking a healthy meal, or simply going without eating at all. And, of course, by neglecting your diet, your mental health may continue to suffer, turning into a vicious cycle. So what can you do to continue caring for your diet even when your mental health is poor?
Taking Care of Your Diet When In a Mental Health Slump
You may have set a goal earlier in the year to eat more healthily; but in the midst of a mental health low, it can be a struggle to adhere to that goal. Energy is low and you might feel like eating a bag of cheese puffs rather than a balanced salad. Here are a few tips to try to eat healthily and regularly even when you are in a mental health slump.
#1 – Reach Out To Your Mental Health Provider
Before you do anything else, reach out to your mental health provider. They already know your struggles when it comes to mental health and they may be able to offer more specific advice that can work for you, rather than general advice.
Occasionally, for instance, therapists have suggested that if a client is too depressed to make themselves a sandwich, they simply eat the ingredients that would go into the sandwich. It doesn’t have to be anything organized. The important thing is to try to eat three meals a day, and not to binge eat. If you can, try to make sure those meals are balanced so you get all the nutrients you need.
#2 – Order Groceries Instead of Takeout
Need food but you don’t have the spoons to go grocery shopping? Rather than ordering takeout, consider ordering groceries for a simple meal. It will be more affordable and probably healthier, with more options than your takeout restaurant would have. If you feel too tired to prepare food for yourself when you’re in a mental health slump, you could even sign up for a meal prep subscription, sending you everything you need ready to go.
#3 – Search Pinterest For “Healthy Depression Meals”
Being too depressed to cook might not be pretty, but it is a common issue. You can take comfort in knowing that others have been where you are now, and they’ve shared their solutions online. You may find some one pot recipes to spare you the extra dishes, as well as easy and nutritious meals that you can eat when depressed without having to resort to junk food.
#4 – Be Kind To Yourself
Whether you’re struggling to eat a balanced diet, struggling with your mental health, or both, shame will only make it worse. In the midst of a mental health slump, shame can spiral into feelings of worthlessness, feeling that you are not worth taking care of yourself, which will exacerbate the issues with eating healthy.
The solution? Go easy on yourself. Ask for help when you need it. If you slip up, just try to do better the next day. Remember that what you’re doing isn’t easy, and you’re doing the best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as you keep trying.
Rivia Mind understands the ways that mental health and physical health are connected. You need to be able to manage both in order to live a fulfilling life. Included in our mental health services is our psych nutrition services, offering nutrition counseling from a mental health perspective. Want to learn more? Contact Rivia Mind today for a free 15-minute consultation or to book an appointment with one of our mental health providers.
