Food For Healing: A Shopping List for Mental Health

Summary: There are countless articles online about the connection between food and mental health, but very few contain the one thing many people need: a grocery shopping list that prioritizes foods that promote positive mental health.

Key Points:

• The food you eat has a direct impact on your body, brain, and emotions
• A poor diet is associated with increased risk of chronic physical illness
• A poor diet is associated with increased risk of mental health disorders
• Most people know the information in the first three bullets in this list, but don’t know what foods improve mental health: our list solves that problem

Food For Thought: Improve Body, Brain, and Emotions

This year, as part of their Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM) advocacy efforts, the people at Mental Health America (MHA) compiled just that – and we’ll summarize and share that list below. As a reminder, the old adage is true: a balanced, healthy diet is not only the foundation of physical health, but also mental health and overall wellbeing.

Let’s get right to that shopping list.

Grocery Shopping for Mental Health: What to Get

We’ll quickly review the basics. For optimal health:

1. Prioritize fresh vegetables and fruits over frozen or prepared fruits and vegetables.
2. Choose whole grains over processed grains.
3. Prioritize lean protein over fatty protein.
4. Reduce added sugar, salt, and any processed foods, especially sugary snack foods.
5. Avoid alcohol and caffeine

That advice is all well and good. It’s easy to give, easy to understand, and fairly easy to remember. However, one thing lists like this don’t do is tell you what to actually buy at the store. Below, we won’t tell you what to buy, but we’ll go through the main categories of food – meat, veggies, dairy, grains, and others – and identify specific items you can consider adding to your cart.

Ready?

Proteins: Seafood, Poultry, Meats

• Seafood: Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Perch, Trout, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, Clams
• Poultry: Chicken, Turkey
• Meats: Grass-fed beef, small portions, Grass-fed lamb, small portions

Vegetables

• Leafy Greens: spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, chard
• Brassicas: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, brussels sprouts (almost no one knows the name brassicas, but these veggies are in the brassicas family
• Root vegetables/other vegetables: sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, onions, celery, romaine lettuce

Dairy

• Eggs, Vitamin D fortified milk, unprocessed cheese, i.e. products like cheez-whiz, Velveeta, and individually wrapped single slices

Grains

• Breads: whole grain rye, whole wheat, or spelt
• Oats: whole oats and/or whole grain oatmeal
• Other grains: quinoa, brown rice, barley, buckwheat, bulgur
• Cereals: any unsweetened, whole grain breakfast cereal

Beans and Legumes

• Black beans, lima beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, edamame, garbanzo beans/chickpeas, green peas, lentils

Probiotics

• Yogurt/Kefir, preferably unsweetened, containing live and active cultures – label should say with life and active culture
• Kombucha, a fermented black tea
• Tempeh, made from fermented soybeans
• Sauerkraut, made from fermented cabbage
• Kimchi, made from fermented vegetable, primarily cabbage and daikon radish

Spices, Flavors, Dressings

• Salad dressings: extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar
• Herbs: fresh basil, cilantro, oregano, dill, rosemary, mint, thyme, chives
• Other: fresh garlic

Here’s another thing to know about the relationship between food and mental health: cooking for yourself can be a healing activity that promotes positive mental health. From the process of shopping for foods you know are good for you, to preparing and cooking the healthy ingredients you buy, to the finale – eating an excellent home-cooked meal – the entire process can be relaxing and restorative.

The Four Pillars of Good Health

It’s important to understand that changing your eating habits alone can help, but your diet is one part of the big picture. When we think about overall health, it’s helpful to think of four pillars, as elucidate by experts at John’s Hopkins Hospital:

• Food: healthy food improves overall physical and mental health
• Activity: getting exercise and activity in some form is essential – any is better than none
• Sleep: adults need 7-8 hours of sleep per night
• Stress Management: this includes social connection, i.e. regularly participating in social activity, as well as techniques like mindful meditation, yoga, and self-guided relaxation.

We’ll add that for a person with a mental health diagnosis, professional support is an essential component of good health. Treatment – sooner rather than later – combined with the four pillars of health, can create a strong foundation for overall wellbeing.