Mental health issues have been escalating dramatically over the last two years, mostly due to the pandemic and to restrictive measures put in place during this time. Data in the Samaritans report, June 2021 is based on over 4 million contacts and highlights the growth trend in mental health issues:
“Young people have struggled with family tensions, a lack of peer contact and negativity about their future prospects, as the pandemic has affected both their social and economic opportunities, and some people who self-harm have struggled to resist hurting themselves without their usual coping mechanisms.”
“Middle aged men have found themselves feeling they need to be strong in the face of immense financial and workplace changes, creating a situation that feels both out of their control and one they must cope with alone.”
“Healthcare workers have struggled with feelings of anxiety, trauma and mental fatigue from their work during the pandemic, alongside the impact of being surrounded by serious illness and death at unprecedented levels, while often struggling for support and resources.”
Every day almost 600 people in the UK are diagnosed with cognitive impairment and/or dementia. (Alzheimersresearch.co.uk). Mental ill-health covers a vast range of named conditions including attention deficit disorder (ADHD), autism, eating disorders, anxiety and generalized depression which in some cases leads to self-harm and/or suicide, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Turning to the government or even an employer to ask them “What are they doing about this?” is a reasonable question, but it is also a question that can be reflected backwards to each one of us. What responsibility are we taking for maintaining our personal mental wellbeing and even broader, our health and wellbeing as a whole?
In the UK alone we drink 1.5 billion caffeinated drinks a week, including tea, coffee and colas. We eat six million kilos of sugar and two million kilos of chocolate as well as 120 million alcoholic drinks every week and smoke 1.5 billion cigarettes. The reasons for doing this are many – satisfying cravings, handling stress, boosting low energy, insomnia, lack of time, personal enjoyment and so on. As far as pharmaceutical drugs go that are prescribed by the doctor to help with sleep disorders, anxiety and depression, a staggering 532 million tranquillizers, 463 million sleeping pills and 823 million antidepressants every year! With the escalation in poor mental health since the start of the pandemic, it is likely that the consumption of pharmaceutical products is increasing exponentially.
Typical Symptoms of Mental Ill-Health
Each mental ill-health condition has its own symptoms, but some of the most common signs in adults include:
Rather than turning to a doctor when the symptoms have become intensified and you are feeling desperate for help so that you can return to “normal” life, what are some of the things each one of us can do to manage and take responsibility for our mental health and overall wellbeing?
- Memory loss
- Poor focus and attention
- Slow processing of information due to confused thinking
- Regular headaches
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Feeling excessively sad or low
- Extreme mood changes
- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired with low energy
- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
- Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
Sustaining Optimum Mental Health
As with all serious illness, it doesn’t simply arrive one day, it has been coming for a while, and your body has been giving you the messages necessary to get you to change something, a long time before it becomes a full-blown illness.
Optimum brain health and preventing cognitive decline is made up of a combination of things, each of which requires consideration and inclusion into your daily and weekly routine:
- Maintaining an overall healthy digestive system and gut health. The gut has a direct link to the brain via the gut-brain axis, therefore an unhealthy gut will affect brain health overall.
- Managing stress levels so that the fight and flight response of the nervous system are switched on only when you are under threat of some kind.
- Keeping blood glucose balanced avoiding excessive highs and lows
- Feeding the brain with the right foods including essential fats and amino acids that make up the brain’s messengers as well as the correct balance of vitamins and minerals.
- Keeping the brain active.
- Adequate quality, uninterrupted sleep of between 6-8 hours nightly.
- Keeping hydrated.
- Plenty of fresh air daily – minimum 30 minutes per day, twice per day.
I will not be covering each of these points in this blog, but you can find more information about optimising brain and mental health in our course “Brain Health Mental Agility.”
Foods Essential for Good Mental Health
Dr Dale Bredesen in his book “The End of Alzheimer’s Programme” refers to essential foods as the “Brain Food Pyramid” and essentially is the reverse of what the “recommended food pyramid” has been. Cognition enhancing foods and practices, such as fasting, healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables are at the base of the pyramid going upwards to protein and fruit with indulgences such as chocolate, alcohol and the odd dessert at the top. As the brain has potential to consume 40% of all carbohydrate in your diet to generate necessary energy needed to do things and for an agile brain, it is necessary to ensure an adequate supply of complex carbohydrates found in whole grains and non-starchy vegetables
When there is inadequate glucose in the body or extreme highs and lows caused by a “sugar or caffeine fix”, it will directly affect mental and brain health leading to fatigue, insomnia, irritability, poor concentration, forgetfulness, depression, digestive disturbances and several other symptoms. In order for the body and brain to receive enough glucose and to avoid the need for energy boosts, eating slow releasing carbohydrates, such as whole grains, beans and lentils is beneficial to a consistent energy flow, whereas refined carbohydrates overload the system with a fast release of sugar, triggering a rapid increase in blood sugar of which any excess is stored in the liver and muscles until the stores are full and then it is converted to fat.
The brain also has a massive demand for essential fats. Cutting out fat from your diet is the equivalent of dehydrating the brain! Alzheimer’s, fatigue, ADHD, depression and memory problems have all been linked to a deficiency of essential fats – Omega 3’s and 6’s. Termed essential fats because the body cannot manufacture them and therefore have to be supplied through what we eat. Rich sources of essential fats include oily fish, such as herring, mackerel and sardine, eggs, flax seed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and avocados.
Good brain and mental health is reliant on the effective functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain which are made from amino acids – protein. Essential amino acids, those that cannot be made by the body can be obtained from grains and pulses, fish, meat, nuts, seeds, eggs and some vegetables such as peas, beans, broccoli and spinach. Eating a balanced diet will almost certainly provide enough protein for most health needs.
Brain health is also reliant upon B vitamins, especially B12. These vitamins if deficient will negatively affect how you think and feel. A regular intake on a daily basis through diet essentially and only if under stress or recovering from illness, through supplements or herbs, is vital to supply the brain with the energy and food it needs. Food sources of B vitamins include green leafy vegetables, wheat germ, meat, yeast extract, cheese and avocados. In addition to B vitamins, Vitamin C and zinc are also very important to maintain a healthy brain. When under stress, suffering some kind of infection, or with premenstrual syndrome, demand for zinc to support physical and mental health increases. The contraceptive pill and drinking alcohol regularly also depletes levels of zinc in the body.
Good brain health is dependent on a healthy body, especially healthy gut and that means a diet of fresh, organic food if possible as well as foods free from additives. In other words, foods that you prepare yourself from base ingredients.
Useful Herbs
There are several well-known herbs that can be used to support diet and lifestyle choices to maintain healthy brain function and good mental health, including:
Gingko biloba, this prehistoric tree has been around a long time! Main actions include
- Increasing blood circulation
- Gingko and gingko extracts are used for its anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant properties, cerebral glucose utilization, neurotransmitter regulation, and vasomotor effects.
Bacopa monnieri, better known as Brahmi. This herb has been used in Ayurvedic medicine to enhance cognitive function for centuries. Main actions include:
- Enhancing nerve impulse transmission by repairing damaged neurons, and stimulating neuronal synthesis in the brain.
- Increasing antioxidant activity in the hippocampus, frontal cortex and striatum, decreasing loss of cholinergic activity. The cholinergic system of the brain is involved in the regulation of attention and higher-order cognitive processing. Down-regulation of the cholinergic system has been observed in aging as well as in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Enhancing cholinergic neurotransmission = improvement of cognitive properties: memory stability and attention sharpness.
Centella asiatica, more commonly known as Gotu kola is also traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat memory loss and can be found listed in the Ancient Indian Ayurvedic herbal text “Caraka Susmita” for dementia treatment. Main actions include:
- Neuro-protective effects against oxidative damage
- Rejuvenates nerve brain cells increasing longevity and memory
- Protects cholinergic neurons from toxic side effects of aluminium (well known for its negative affect on brain health). On this topic in order to limit the build-up of aluminium toxicity in the brain, avoid cooking with aluminium foil and cookware – the “convenient” non-stick cookware.
Note: It is best to take herbal remedies under the supervision of a specialist practitioner to ensure there are no contraindications when taking pharmaceutical medication or when pregnant.
Hydration
Of course, simply taking herbs is not the complete solution. Good quality and adequate sleep, fresh air on a daily basis and hydration in combination with a diet mentioned are also very important. As the brain is made up of approximately 85% water to keep it functioning women need to drink 2 to 2.5 litres (8-11 cups daily and men 2.5-3.7 litres (10-15 cups) though individual needs may vary depending on activity levels. When your brain depletes 1% of water, you’re likely to have a 5% decrease in cognitive/brain function. Without adequate hydration the brain becomes sluggish, you might experience brain fog or suffer headaches, both of which are often the first sign of poor hydration in the body. Before reaching for that Panadol, try drinking a glass of water first.
Tips for reaching your water quota each day:
- Use a litre bottle to help keep track of how much you are drinking. Make a note the number of refills you are doing during the day.
- If you don’t like plain water, add some lemon or some herbs such as mint or cucumber to flavour the water. Avoid sugar based squashes.
- Avoid sugary foods that are high in sodium as this causes dehydration.
- Eating watery fruits, kiwi, watermelon and other varieties of melon as well as cucumber and tomatoes can be another way to keep hydrated.
- Drink herbal teas.
As Alzheimer’s is now the third leading cause of death in the USA and continues to rise and the UK is not far behind, it is not someone else’s responsibility to manage your mental health and prevent cognitive decline. Maintaining good mental and physical health is complex, includes more than what is written in this blog, but not difficult once you understand what is required. As President Truman once said, “The buck stops here.” Getting the right help from a professional practitioner before symptoms before acute, to support steps to preventing cognitive decline and re-balancing mental and physical health will provide the joy, energy, health and wellbeing each and everyone of us deserves.
Brain Health Mental agility course subscription options
References:
The End to Alzheimer’s Programme, Dr Dale Bredesen.
https://neurogrow.com/water-your-brain/f
https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/dementia-information/quick-guide-dementia/
https://media.samaritans.org/documents/Samaritans_Covid_1YearOn_Report_2021_BJCM8rI.pdf
https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Warning-Signs-and-Symptoms