When we think about health, the focus is often on our physical health. We get regular checkups to learn about our blood pressure, our biomarkers such as cholesterol and fasting glucose, and our overall health status. But our physical health and our mental health are strongly linked. If we ignore our mental health and general well-being, our physical health, including our metabolic health, can suffer—and vice versa.
That’s why focusing on mental and cognitive health—by combatting depression, reducing stress and anxiety, optimizing sleep, and refining our diet—is so important. In this article, we’ll explore how to integrate physical and mental health through different lifestyle changes for boosted well-being and improved metabolic health.
Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder
Depending on where you live and your climate, the ushering in of the new year, despite its celebrations, can be dark and dreary. Though the condition can occur at any time, the winter months are prime time for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a mood disorder that follows a seasonal pattern, meaning your symptoms begin (and resolve) around the same time each year. Symptoms often include depression and tanked energy levels.
With shorter days and more time spent in darkness in the winter, your body can produce additional melatonin. Melatonin, a hormone produced in the pineal gland at night, regulates your circadian rhythm and helps prepare you for sleep. This increased melatonin can make you feel sleepy and lethargic. Additionally, your retinal cells in your eyes send light signals to your brain, playing a role in mood regulation. Getting less light exposure in the morning can lead to a plummet in mood.
These changes can also lead to cravings for comfort foods, usually in the form of starchy carbohydrates, which can lead to even more cravings and potentially weight gain. Plus low energy and mood changes can kill your motivation to engage in physical activity, an important part of any healthy lifestyle.
What you can do: If you suspect you have SAD, consider talking to a doctor who can help you find ways to manage it, which may involve medication. Some natural options include exposure to bright light therapy first thing in the morning with a specialized light box of at least 10,000 luminous flux per unit area (lux). Outdoor exercise in daylight, such as a morning or midday walk, can also significantly help boost energy and mood.
Prioritizing Sleep & Recovery
You’ve probably heard ad nauseam that we need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. The general reason is to help our bodies and brains rest and recover. But the reason goes much deeper.
We undergo several sleep cycles per night, each ranging from 90 to 120 minutes. Adults need four to six generally uninterrupted sleep cycles for optimal health. So that’s where those seven to nine hours come in. Each cycle involves four sleep stages: three of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep (the third is our deepest level) and one of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep before we either wake up or start the next cycle. Each of the four stages within a cycle has specific brain and body benefits. If we experience disrupted cycles, don’t get enough cycles, or don’t spend adequate time in each stage, we can experience both physical and mental health problems, including cognitive issues.
What you can do: If you’re struggling to get those seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep, consider working on your sleep hygiene. Minimize any interruptions from noise or light pollution. Sound machines or earplugs and blackout curtains or eye masks can help. But diet can also help you improve sleep. Sleep disruptions often stem from overactivation of our stress response. So reducing stress is also crucial.
Reducing Stress & Anxiety
Although stress and anxiety seem like mental health concerns, they also affect us physically. If we don’t keep these things in check, we can feel pretty awful.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has two main branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic. Our sympathetic nervous system is our “fight-flight-freeze” system. When stress or anxiety activates your fight-flight-freeze mode, the system ratchets up your heart rate, breath rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and more. These physical changes help you react quickly to threats. But in everyday life, we typically aren’t running from animal predators like our ancient ancestors had to. Instead, we may be dealing with chronic stress from everyday stressors or anxieties, such as work deadlines, endless to-do lists, financial strife, family obligations, relationship woes, car troubles, and more.
When our sympathetic nervous system is always “on” like this, we have trouble tapping into our calmer parasympathetic system, also called our “rest and digest” mode. This system lowers our heart rate, blood pressure, and many biological functions that counteract the stress response. If our stress response remains activated all the time or too much (and we don’t activate our calm response), we can gain weight (and have difficulty losing it), drive inflammation, experience trouble sleeping, exacerbate chronic conditions, and even get sick, since stress affects the immune system.
What you can do: Learning to activate your parasympathetic nervous system regularly—and especially when you’re stressed or anxious—is important. Strategies include getting adequate physical activity and engaging in yoga, breathwork, or meditation, to name a few.
Focusing On Diet For Mood Regulation
So many factors can affect mood, and diet is a big one. If you’ve ever noticed a mid-morning energy slump or a late-afternoon case of everything getting on your nerves, you may be experiencing what’s called reactive hypoglycemia, a blood sugar crash.
When we eat, we typically experience a blood sugar rise. In response to glucose entering the bloodstream and raising blood sugar, our pancreas releases the hormone insulin. Insulin signals to our cells to uptake the glucose to be stored or used for energy. As a result, blood sugar decreases. But if your blood sugar rises too high or too fast, your body may overcompensate with too much insulin. This insulin surge can then cause a more dramatic drop in blood sugar (below your usual baseline), leading to tanked energy, irritability, anxiety, the jitters, and hunger (or feeling “hangry”), even though you may have recently eaten.
What you can do: Aim to keep your blood sugar levels more stable. Some strategies can help. Reduce intake of high-glycemic foods, those that are rapidly absorbed and cause sharp blood sugar spikes. Pair carbs with protein, fiber, and health fats—all of which help blunt a blood sugar spike. Eat whole foods as much as possible and reduce intake of ultra-processed foods, which are often loaded with added sugars that can cause blood sugar spikes.
Consuming Foods That Support Brain Health
You can support your cognitive function and mental health with brain-friendly foods. Consider revamping your diet to include more antioxidants and more omega-3 fatty acids.
You’ve probably heard the term “antioxidant” before, but you may have wondered what it means. Antioxidants scavenge (keep in check) some of the unstable molecules, called free radicals, that can cause us issues, including with brain health.
Our cells produce byproducts when they do their usual jobs. Free radicals are some of these byproducts, and in excess they can cause damage. When we have an imbalance of free radicals compared to antioxidants, we develop oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can damage our DNA and lead to conditions such as neurological disorders, psychological disorders (including depression and anxiety), and more.
Like antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids are also anti-inflammatory and can benefit your cognitive and mental health. Research shows these healthy fats can improve learning, memory, cognitive well-being, and even blood flow to the brain. Of course, both antioxidants and omega-3s have physical benefits, as well, aiding you with whole-body health.
What you can do: You can incorporate more antioxidants into your diet by eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies, adding in leafy greens, drinking tea and coffee (though being mindful that too much caffeine isn’t a good thing), using anti-inflammatory spices (such as turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon), and prioritizing whole grains over refined versions. Get more omega-3s via nuts and seeds and fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and more.
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