In a new study, researchers found that customized diets and lifestyle changes could be key to optimizing mental health.
The research was conducted by a team at Binghamton University and elsewhere.
In the study, they conducted an online survey to examine food intake, dietary practices, exercise and other lifestyle factors in these four subpopulations.
Over a five-year period (2014-19), more than 2,600 participants completed the questionnaire after responding to social media posts advertising the survey.
The team found strong dietary and lifestyle approaches to improve mental well-being among young women include daily breakfast consumption, moderate-to-high exercise frequency, low caffeine intake and abstinence from fast food.
Dietary and lifestyle approaches to improve mental well-being among mature women include daily exercise and breakfast consumption, as well as a high intake of fruits with limited caffeine ingestion.
To improve the mental well-being of young men, dietary and lifestyle approaches include frequent exercise, moderate dairy consumption, high meat intake, as well as low consumption of caffeine and abstinence from fast food.
Dietary approaches to improve mental well-being among mature men include moderate intake of nuts.
The team split the respondents into two age groups because human brain development continues into the late 20s.
For young adults of both genders, quality of diet appears to have an impact on the developing brain.
As a result, young adults who consume a poor-quality diet and experience nutritional deficiencies may suffer from a higher degree of mental distress.
Age is also the reason high caffeine consumption was linked to mental distress in both young men and young women.
The team also split respondents based on biological sex, since brain morphology and connectivity differ between men and women.
Put simply, the male brain is “wired” to enable perception and coordination, whereas the female brain is built to support analysis and intuition.
The researchers believe these differences may influence nutritional needs.
They suggest that men are less likely to be affected by diet than women are.
Women, on the other hand, really need to be consuming a whole spectrum of healthy food and doing exercise in order to have positive mental well-being.
These two things are important for mental well-being in women across age groups.
One author of the study is Lina Begdache, an assistant professor of health and wellness studies.
The study is published in Nutrients.
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