Mental Health and Breakfast: A Delicious Opportunity

Breakfast is a great opportunity for you to give yourself a good start to your day, and can be particularly important if you struggle with a  mental health condition, including anxiety and depression.

Experts have observed positive effects of the Mediterranean diet, which is made up of olive oil, fish, pulses, cereals, leafy vegetables, nuts, chickpeas, and lots of water, according to this article in Huffington Post. Nutritionist Melissa Brunetti is quoted in the piece as saying the ultimate breakfast to prevent and fight depression would include eggs, smashed avocado, and sprouted-grain toast. “Our brain is about 60 percent fat and we need to get our fat from a dietary source. Avocado is rich in tryptophan, which is a precursor to serotonin, which is our feel-good chemical,” Brunetti she says in the article.

She also says that you should have three meals per day, and a snack before and after working out – as well as between lunch and dinner – to avoid feeling the irritability which comes with low blood sugar. She recommends red meat, spinach, lentils, and sweet potatoes.

And despite numerous warnings about the risk of weight gain from having meals late at night, Brunetti says that a carbohydrate as oatmeal with honey can be beneficial for people with sleeping problems. If your blood sugar is low you’re more likely to wake up in the middle of the night, so a light snack before sleeping can help sleep.