The Power of Food On Our Mental Well-Being

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A lot of times, we think of mental health as thoughts, behaviors, and patterns and how our circumstances, relationships, and environments can impact that. However, what if I told you that what’s on your plate can also support or hurt your mental health as well? Mental health is physical and emotional, and what we eat can impact how we feel. Food is medicine, and here are some tips on how we can practice nourishment, balance, and care from the inside out. 

The Gut-Brain Connection

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What you eat affects how you feel. Our gut, which is sometimes called our “second brain,” has tons of microbes that affect our mood, memory, and even our stress responses. Our gut and our brain are constantly communicating with each other through the gut-brain axis, so this ultimately means that mental stress can disrupt digestion. Moreover, what happens in our gut/poor gut health can, in turn, affect anxiety; depression; stress; mood, and fatigue. To put this simply, our emotional wellbeing and digestive wellbeing are interconnected, not separate. Thus, an out of balance gut can mean an out of balance mood.

How Food Can Help (Or Hurt) Our Mental Health

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Holistic nutrition isn’t about constantly dieting or always eating “clean” or “healthy.” It’s about gently supporting our bodies, listening to our bodies, and practicing balance. Just as our bodies feel weak from pulling all-nighters, we also can’t expect to feel emotionally balanced or strong if our bodies aren’t being fueled with anything other than caffeine. Our brains rely on fuel and key nutrients to regulate our emotions, stress, and focus. Here are some examples on how nutrition can support mental health:

1. Stable Blood Sugar Helps Stabilize Mood

   • Skipping meals or eating meals high in refined sugars and carbs alone without enough fiber, protein, or fat can cause blood sugar to spike and crash. These crashes can lead to irritability; brain fog; anxiety; fatigue, or intense cravings. 

   • Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t have donuts or soda, but it is important to balance and pair carbs with protein, fiber, and/or fat. This is to support, not restrict your nervous system. Here are some examples below:

Instead of This	Try This (Add or Swap)
Just coffee for breakfast	Coffee + smoothie with banana, oats, and flaxseed OR chia seed pudding with greek yogurt
Cereal with no protein	Cereal + milk + greek yogurt on the side
Plain bagel	Bagel + cream cheese + egg and/or avocado on top
Ramen noodles alone	Ramen + spinach + tofu + egg
Plain salad with no protein	Salad + grilled chicken/chickpeas + nuts + edamame
Crackers or chips for quick lunch	Crackers + tuna/chicken salad + fruit
Plain pasta with butter	Pasta + veggies + chicken/shrimp/steak
Skipping breakfast	Overnight oats + chia seeds + fruit
Sugary granola bar	Protein bar  OR apples with nut butter

2. Fermented Foods Feed Your Moods

   • Fermented foods have live probiotics that can help heal your gut microbiome by increasing certain neurotransmitters, reducing inflammation, and activating the vagus nerve, which in turn help increase emotional resilience, improve stress regulation, and promote relaxation. 

   • Specifically, nourished microbiomes produce GABA (calming neurotransmitter) and serotonin (neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, appetite, and memory). 

   • Did you know that about 95% of serotonin is produced in the gut and not the brain? This shows that what you eat matters.

   • Fermented foods can reduce inflammation in the gut, which can then reduce depression, fatigue, and sluggishness.

   • Examples of fermented foods: yogurt; kimchi; miso; sauerkraut, and kefir

     
     

3. Feeding the Brain with Healthy Fats

   • Consuming healthy fats and omega-3’s (specifically DHA and EPA) support mental health by reducing symptoms of depression, increasing dopamine and serotonin, balancing hormones, decreasing inflammation, and improving focus.

   • Those with omega-3 deficiencies tend to experience irritability, brain fog, impulsivity, anxiety, and slower cognitive processing. 

   • Sources of healthy fats: flaxseeds; chia seeds; walnuts; hemp seeds; avocado; olive oil; eggs, or fatty fish (salmon, sardines, trout)

   • Ways to incorporate healthy fats:

     • Add a tablespoon of chia seeds or flax to smoothies or baked goods

     • Eat avocado toast

     • Drizzle olive oil on veggies or bread

     • Eat salmon or other fatty fish once a week

   
   

4. Antioxidants Can Battle Stress

   • Antioxidants are molecules that protect the body from oxidative stress, which is an internal “wear and tear” from trauma, stress, poor nutrition, lack of sleep, and/or inflammation.

   • Oxidative stress can cause brain cell damage and increase inflammation, which are associated with depression, anxiety, and brain fog. 

   • Thus, antioxidants are important to consume to combat this and increase our resiliency, improve memory, reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms, and regulate emotions. 

   • Examples of antioxidant-rich foods: leafy greens; berries; turmeric; dark chocolate; beets; carrots; sweet potatoes; green tea, and nuts

     
     

Food is more than just nutrients. It can bring culture, connection, comfort, and survival. Eating with others, exploring novelty and new foods, eating comfort meals when we’re sick, and honoring our cravings are also vital to emotional nourishment. The goal isn’t to eat “perfectly;” it’s balanced holistic nourishment. 

Balance, NOT Diet Culture

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This post isn’t aimed at making you cut out food groups or obsess over eating, but rather to give tips on how to ADD more nutrition and find ways that food can support your mental health--rather than become a source of stress. This is all about balance. You can heal your gut AND honor your cravings. It’s okay to eat ice cream, fast food, french fries, and whatever else you’re craving AND care for your gut and mental health. Food is medicine, and making peace with food is key to healing, so if you would like tips on achieving that, check out this blog post on intuitive eating. 

Tips on Using Food as Medicine

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Here are some compassionate ways to begin using food as medicine without obsession, restriction, and stress:

• Be curious and eat with mindfulness, rather than obsession/rules. Notice how your body and your mood feels before and after meals. Do you feel energized? Fatigued? Calm? Simply notice what your body is telling you without judgment. 

• Honor your natural rhythms. Our nervous systems love consistency and routine. Balancing our nutrition, sleep, and hydration can help regulate our bodies. It’s not control; it’s care.

• Trust and listen to your body. Your body holds so much information. If you have cravings, need comfort, or need something specific, listen to it. It’s important to honor and connect with your body.

• Balance food and therapy. Maybe ask yourself, “How can I support my system with food today?” Small acts of kindness and nourishment with your body can support dysregulation and anxiety. You deserve meals that nourish your body and support your mind.

• Eat the rainbow. Add in color to your body through greens, fruits, fats, and more. This can promote balance. 

• Normalize the emotional side of eating. Remember that food is more than just fuel. It can connect family, culture, and bring a sense of comfort and safety. Healing includes feeding, not just feeling. Eating emotionally means you’re human, but it’s important to notice if our bodies and minds are emotionally or physically hungry so that we can figure out how to cope.

Final Notes

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Food is one of the most overlooked ways to care for our physical and mental wellbeing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to healing, but you do deserve to feel better and more nourished in every way. Be sure to check in with your nutritionist, dietician, therapist, and/or doctor when it comes to making choices about your health. 

Sources

Bame, M. (2022, October 21). Food is medicine. Is food medicine?. PhytoMedicine. https://phytomedicine.plantsforhumanhealth.ncsu.edu/2022/10/21/food-is-medicine-is-food-medicine/

Cleveland Clinic. (2025, June 2). What to know about the gut-brain connection. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/the-gut-brain-connection

DiNicolantonio, J. J., & O’Keefe, J. H. (2020). The importance of marine omega-3s for brain development and the prevention and treatment of behavior, mood, and other brain disorders. Nutrients, 12(8), 2333. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082333

Konduri, Dr. R. (2025, July 11). Is your diet damaging your brain? what to eat instead. Continental Hospitals. https://continentalhospitals.com/blog/is-your-diet-damaging-your-brain-what-to-eat-instead/

Terry, N., & Margolis, K. G. (2016). Serotonergic mechanisms regulating the GI tract: Experimental evidence and therapeutic relevance. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, 319–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2016_103

Valentino, V., Magliulo, R., Farsi, D., Cotter, P. D., O’Sullivan, O., Ercolini, D., & De Filippis, F. (2024). Fermented foods, their microbiome and its potential in boosting human health. Microbial Biotechnology, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14428