How Healthy Eating Can Help You Think and Feel Better

Healthy eating is harder to do than most people might think.  Just try sticking to a healthy diet for one week and see what happens; it usually results in failure. What with all the busy work schedules and go, go, go attitudes abounding, taking the time to eat a meal that isn’t fried, fast or loaded with carbs isn’t always doable.  

Contrary to most people's wishes, there is no "magic bullet" that will bring about optimal health--at least not the quick-fix, drive-through-window approach that too many Americans take toward eating. It takes a will of iron and months to years of engaging in healthy eating before seeing any beneficial results, such as weight loss, lower cholesterol, improved complexion, increased energy and increased memory and brain function. The health of the mind follows the health of the body--and if the body is being denied the nutrients it needs to be healthy, the mind has no other place from which to draw those nutrients.

Healthy eating in the form of omega 3’s also works to improve mental capacity and mental health.  Omega 3’s are fats, but are good for the body and much safer to consume than coconut, canola and vegetable oils, which are bad fats that are found in most foods, especially the processed variety.  Studies show a correlation between increased consumption of good fats and a reduced risk of stroke and possible mitigation of symptoms of manic-depression. The bad fats--the omega-6 fatty acids—can in large enough quantities keep the body from absorbing the good fats.

A major key to better physical and mental health is a balanced diet high in unprocessed foods--fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, fish and poultry, in which the naturally-occurring nutrients haven't been stripped away. In ‘The Omnivores Dilemma,’ the author discusses how processed foods are made, mostly with corn and its derivatives, and he brings to light the unhealthy aspects of food industrialization.

In fact, the degrees of separation between many people and the original sources of their food--from the farm, field or orchard, through the various levels of processing and distribution, and eventually to the dining room table--are akin to taking one layer after another off the outside of a stalk of corn until the person at the end, the customer, is left with just the cob.

The naturally occurring components of healthy eating that are stripped away during food processing can be replenished--and with them, good health-- one food item at a time. Just remember that you are what you eat, literally. Good mental health and a stronger, more disease-resistant body are only one healthy bite away.

This post is brought to you by Argosy University. Drawing upon our more than 30-year history of granting degrees in professional psychology, Argosy University has developed a curriculum that focuses on interpersonal skills and practical experience alongside academic learning. Because getting a degree is one thing. Succeeding, quite another.