Eating for Emotional Balance: Brain-Loving Nutrients.

The interaction between our brain and the foods we eat is really quite fascinating. It might seem, on the surface, that our brain function is completely separate and removed from dietary intake, but as you will soon see, the interplay between our mental and physical health and their reliance on good quality nutrition is linked inextricably.

Your Gut, Your Mood: The Science of Emotional Wellbeing

The brain is a complicated organ, made even more so by all the billions of interactions it has each day with the rest of the body. In relation to mental health, the most important of these are those that occur via the gut-brain connection.

The gut is like a second brain. It’s called this because it also has many interactions with the rest of the body, and is in contact with the external environment, via the food we eat. The gut also influences mental health, by various routes:

• The balance of gut flora. Like everything else in the body, our gut bugs must be kept in balance. An overgrowth of one species, or the lack of another, is implicated in many chronic conditions – from obesity to depression. Overgrowth of pathogenic species is also linked to the development of mental health conditions via inflammation.
• The vagal nerve. This is the main avenue of communication between the gut and the brain.
• Site of absorption of nutrients. We couldn’t access the nutrients we need to synthesize important chemicals, like the neurotransmitters serotonin, GABA and dopamine without the gut.
• Removal of toxins from the body. Yes, one of the main routes of toxin removal is via the digestive tract. If our digestive system is sluggish, and not operating properly, this can impact our brain too.

If you’d like to expand your knowledge on these points, you can read one of my other posts on this topic here – The Gut-Brain Axis – What’s The Connection? – The Inner Source. But for now, we’ll move on to essential nutrition for brain health.

Nutrition for Brain Health

Supporting the brain with good nutrition is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. These are the basics:

1. Avoid processed foods – junk food, fast food, anything packaged or processed. These foods are inflammatory, contain very little usable nutritional value and hijack your metabolism (and not in a good way).
2. Eat wholefoods wherever possible. Cook from scratch, avoiding refined carbohydrates.
3. Eat the rainbow! Lots and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. We not only need the vitamins and minerals, but the fibre too. This helps to feed the helpful bacteria in your gut.
4. Get enough protein. Lean meat, fish, eggs, nuts, tofu – your brain and gut need basic amino acids to synthesize neurotransmitters and other neurochemicals (1).
5. Good fats and healthy oils. This is an important one and often overlooked. Essential fatty acids like omega-3 are required for neurotransmitter function, memory and cognition (1).
6. Include fermented foods. These support healthy populations of beneficial bacteria in the gut (2). Some examples include miso, kimchi, yoghurt and sauerkraut.

Nutrients That Nourish the Nervous System

Now that we know the basic framework, we can talk more about the specific nutrients that are required for nervous system health. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but provides a brief overview of the necessities.

Protein – Provides the basic amino acids that form the backbone of serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, epinephrine, norepinephrine and histamine. Good, clean sources of protein are best; lean meat, fish, eggs and nuts.

B vitamins – Super important for the brain and nervous system for many, many reasons. Humans need to get B vitamins from the food we eat, because we can’t make our own. B vitamins can be found in both plant and animal sources, including green, leafy vegies, eggs, fish, meat, and legumes.

Choline – A vitamin B-like substance that is also really important for neurotransmitter synthesis and neural membrane integrity (3). You can find choline in eggs, mushrooms, meat and seafood.

Magnesium – Is a nervous system regulator, and I often recommend it for supporting with restorative sleep. Good sources of magnesium include nuts, leafy greens, legumes and fish.

From the gut-brain connection to the essential nutrients that power our neurotransmitters, the science is clear: food is not just fuel, it provides nourishment for our nervous system, and supports our mental health in a multitude of different ways.

By choosing whole, nutrient-rich foods—lean proteins, vibrant fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats —we give our brains and bodies the resources needed to thrive.

(1) Patrick, R. P., & Ames, B. N. (2015). Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 29(6), 2207–2222. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.14-268342

(2) Leeuwendaal, N. K., Stanton, C., O’Toole, P. W., & Beresford, T. P. (2022). Fermented Foods, Health and the Gut Microbiome. Nutrients, 14(7), 1527. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14071527

(3) Bekdash, R. A. (2024). Epigenetics, Nutrition, and the Brain: Improving Mental Health through Diet. In International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Vol. 25, Issue 7). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25074036