Nutrition and Mental Health: Part IV

Summary

Our bodies are comprised of many components. Each of these parts is built using construction materials which come from what we eat. Our mental health can be affected by the interaction of our bodies with our dietary intake. Because psychiatric medications interact with our body components, dietary habits can affect the ability of psychiatric medications to help with our symptoms and the level of these medications in our body. Speak with your healthcare team if you have questions about your nutritional intake.

Psychotropic (Psychiatric) Medications

I want to preface by emphasizing the importance of psychotropic medications in symptom management.

Medications to treat mental health symptoms can be life savers, literally.

PLEASE DO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS. ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR PRESCRIBER.

Psychotropic Medications And Nutrition

Psychotropic medications are prescribed to help with certain mental health symptoms. Not everyone will respond the same way to each medication. And, we do not always know why a medication is effective for symptom management; this unknown may apply to everyone who takes the medication OR it may apply only to a subset of people whose response to the medication is the effective relief of their symptoms.

Our diets can affect the efficacy of psychotropic medications.

We Are What We Eat

Our cells are made up of various components which our bodies need to make. As we move from smaller parts of our bodies to larger or more global parts of our bodies, we have tissues and organs and systems. Our bodies can only build the components of the different parts of our body if we have the building blocks necessary for this complex architectural process.

Thus, it is important to include in our diets the sources for these building blocks.

Neurotransmitters And Psychotropic Medications

One of the ways that many psychotropic medications are hypothesized to operate in relieving mental health symptoms is via neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals which interact with components of neurons. Neurons are cells located all over our body which communicate with our brains.

Disclaimer: I am only mentioning neurotransmitters in the context of mental health. However, neurotransmitters are not only involved in processes related to mental health. Think myasthenia gravis, a disorder that affects neurons and their communication with muscles. Neurotransmitters are implicated in bodily processes not specifically related to mental health.

You can probably see how nutrition is important for the efficacy of psychotropic medications.

Psychotropic Medications Interact With Our Body

Neurons need to be built. They have elements in them that need to be built. Those neuronal elements can include channels, receptors, and transporters; some of those elements interact directly with psychotropic medications or the chemical that is derived from the psychotropic medication after the medication is altered by our bodies.

Some medications are carried around in our bodies on proteins and this affects how much of the medication is available for our bodies to use. If we change the balance in the amount of medication being transported and the amount of medication available to be used, we can cause a medication level that is too high (potentially toxic) or too low to be of benefit (subtherapeutic).

Some medications cannot be absorbed unless we take them with food. And, the number of calories as well as the fat content of the food ingested may play a part in how effective that medication is in our bodies.

Some foods can affect the metabolism of psychotropic and other medications. A dietary recommendation, such as avoiding grapefruit juice, may be part of the treatment plan.

Recommendations

Eat a balanced diet. If you need help with figuring out whether your diet is balanced or not, speak with your health care team.

Ask your health care team if there are any dietary recommendations that you should follow while taking the medications prescribed to you.

Remember the benefit of eating with others. The very act of socializing can improve our mood; stimulate our mind; warm our heart; and create an environment of seeking healthy foods to prepare together.

Be an informed consumer, as a client, as a healthcare professional, as a caregiver. There is no shame in asking for information when we do not understand something. In fact, without recognizing we have knowledge deficits, how can we continue to learn?

Health to all!

An interesting review of the literature: Neurotransmitters Regulation and Food Intake: The Role of Dietary Sources in Neurotransmission; Gasmi et al, 2023 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9822089/)