What are the social determinants of health?
Social factors affecting mental health are often the most impactful and extensive. Mental health issues and disorders occur on a social gradient. This means they are more common in areas …
Course: Food and Mood: Improving Mental Health Through Diet and Nutrition
Are diet and mental and brain health linked?
A growing pool of evidence directly links diet quality with mental and brain health. Previously, diet and nutrition have been mostly linked to physical health. But rapidly growing evidence associates …
How do you change dietary behaviour?
There are many ways to make small but effective changes to dietary behaviour. Here, we summarise a few practical steps: Try and follow a dietary pattern based on wholefoods Enjoy …
Realistic expectations
An individual approach helps to create a dietary strategy that’s realistic and manageable. When it comes to optimising dietary intake and improving dietary behaviours, it’s important to have positive realistic …
How to change dietary behaviour
Changing behaviours requires motivation and readiness. To change a dietary behaviour, whether it’s your own or someone else’s, everyone needs to be willing to make a change, be able to …
The costs of dietary treatment
It’s a common belief that healthy diets are more expensive. This is one of the most common barriers to healthy eating. Research tells a different story. During the SMILES trial, …
What is the ModiMed diet?
The ModiMedDiet focusses on positive change. To investigate its effects further, a SMILES trial was conducted, within which each individual received sessions with a dietitian. APDs In Australia, Accredited Practicing …
Unpacking the ModiMed diet: the guiding principles
The ModiMed Diet was based on a high consumption of vegetables, wholegrain and fruits. The ModiMed dietary recommendations were based on eating from 12 food groups. Let’s have a closer …
What is the modified Mediterranean diet?
The traditional Mediterranean diet is one of the most researched dietary styles, consistently demonstrating numerous health benefits, including an association with a reduced risk of depression. Developing the ModiMed diet …
What is the SMILES trial?
The SMILES trial was the first study in the world to demonstrate that making dietary changes can be effective in improving the mental health of individuals living with clinically diagnosed …
The latest evidence in diet and mental health
Recent studies show that changing dietary behaviour and improving diet quality can also improve mental health outcomes. A recent review examined the impact of dietary change on depression and anxiety …
Fascinating insides: gut microbiota composition
The gut microbiota is influenced by a range of physical and environmental factors. As we discussed in the Step 2.8, our gut microbiota is unique for each individual. The gut …
The gut-brain axis
The gut-brain axis is described as the two-way communication between the gut (gastrointestinal tract) and the brain. The gut-brain axis concept is used to explain the interaction between microbiota, residing …
Key ideas and principles
The latest research provides valuable evidence on complex biological mechanisms associated with mental health. The processes involved in the mechanisms of diet in mental and brain health are complex. This …
Microbiota: Little things with big impact
We are not alone. The human gastrointestinal tract (the gut) harbours a large number of living microorganisms. Trillions of these microorganisms play an important role in the state of our …
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Food and Mood: Improving Mental Health Through Diet and Nutrition