Nutritionist, author and expert speaker on all things health and wellbeing, Michele Chevalley Hedge shares her top tips on bolstering mental health in the time of COVID-19.
There are many things we can’t control during the coronavirus pandemic, but we can control what we eat, how that affects our sleep and the knock-on effects on our mental health.
In these times of working and learning from home, we require mental stamina and a positive mindset to succeed. We need to have a mentally fit mind if we are to maintain structure to our workday, homeschool our children and set boundaries on how often we go to the pantry.
There are many factors to improving our mental positive mindset – meditation, sleep, exercise, illnesses and even genetics, but most important is food and its nutrients. If the brain is well nourished, our thoughts are clearer and calmer, and we push into a proactive, positive mind-set. Good nutrition has the power to influence:
- Meditation – how are we able to meditate, be present or mindful if we are on a sugar swing from picking up healthy-looking foods packed with hidden sugar
- Sleep – whole real foods rich in protein like fish, grass-fed meats, dairy, cheese, legumes breakdown to an amino acid called tryptophan which is a precursor to our sleep hormone called melatonin
- Exercise – ask yourself are you more like to exercise after a good night sleep and do you really feel like exercise after too much food or food that doesn’t make you feel strong, positive and energised?
- Genetics – did you know that you should not let your genes affect your jean size or your mental resilience? Research is showing stronger links between a positive mindset and a healthy body and brain rather than looking at your genetic history. In other words, we can influence our genes by what we eat.
Does food affect my mood?
New research has shown for the first time that the part of the brain used for learning, memory and mental health is smaller in people with unhealthy diets. The results of the study by researchers at Deakin University and the Australian National University (ANU) suggest that older Australians with unhealthy diets have smaller hippocampi – the hippocampus is a part of the brain believed to be integral to learning, memory and mental health. It has also shown that older people with healthier diets have larger hippocampi. The professors of this study said that as the negative impact of unhealthy foods on the waistline of the population grows, so does the evidence suggesting that our brain health is also affected.
Feed your brain!
Michele Chevalley Hedge’s top three mental fitness hacks:
1. Only eat whole, real food; not packaged or processed or as minimal as possible. This is because real, whole food has an abundance of vitamins and essential fatty acids which are imperative for happy neurotransmitters like serotonin. And real, whole food doesn’t have added sugar which is a culprit in mood swings.
2. When eating whole food consider eating a bit of protein, good fat, and some smart carb in every meal. Protein keeps your blood sugar balanced which is key to energy for the entire day. Good fats are an excellent source of reducing inflammation, providing satiations, and dampen down sugar craving. And smart carbs? They are not called smart, slow carbs for nothing as they are our main fuel source for our thinking, productive, decision making brain.
- Quality Protein – fish, chicken, grass-fed beef, dairy, legumes, seeds and nuts, cold-water fish like salmon, trout, seeds and nuts
- Good Fat – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Nut oils, Nut butters,
- Smart Carbs – root vegetables like sweet potato, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth.
(Check out Michele’s cookbook, Eat, Drink and Still Shrink for healthy #covidcooking whole food recipes.)
3. Stay hydrated. Drink water with lemon, lime and splashes of squeezed fruit. Become addicted to herbal teas and drink them hot or cold. Too many people confuse hunger for thirst. Before you go on your next impulsive grab and go of food ask yourself if your hungry or thirsty. Drink a big glass of water and then if you still hungry 10 minutes later make a wise decision on what will satisfy your stomach, feed your brain and empower your wellbeing.
Michele Chevalley Hedge is a nutritional medicine practitioner, wellbeing author, media personality, and Cure Cancer Ambassador. Check out her Low Sugar Lifestyle Online Program: https://ahealthyview.com/low-sugar-lifestyle/
