The report pulls together the published evidence linking what we eat to how we feel – from foetal brain development to adolescent behaviour through to Alzheimer’s disease. Due to both the quantity and quality of the evidence (epidemiological, physiological and through randomised controlled trials), the report proposes that the changes to the food system seen in the past century may be partly responsible for the rise in mental health and behavioural problems at the same time. Issues addressed throughout the lifecycle include: preconceptual nutrition; maternal nutrition and foetal development; cognitive advantages of breastfeeding; diet and academic attainment and anti-social behaviour in childhood and adolescence; day-to-day food-related mood changes in adults; and cognitive decline in older people in relation to a life time of diet. Specific mental diseases discussed include: ADHD, depression, schizophrenia and dementia (particularly Alzheimer’s disease). This research is then placed in the context of our changing diets – addressing diet and evolution, the agricultural and Industrial revolution and the upheaval of the 20th century (namely processed foods, food additives, industrialised farming, animal fat, declining fish stocks and the increasing use of pesticides). The roles of specific nutrients such as essential fatty acids (omega-3, or fish oils, and omega-6), hydrogenated (or trans) fats and various micronutrients (e.g., selenium, magnesium, iron and vitamin C) are also examined. The report was researched and written by Courtney Van de Weyer.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
  
• An important note on the nature of this report
  
• Foreword
  
• Summary
  
  
• Introduction
  The cost of mental illness
  The role of food?
  Resistance to the link
  The purpose of this report
  
  
• The science of nutrition and the brain
  What do we need to eat?
  Proteins
  Dietary fats
  Carbohydrates
  Micronutrients - vitamins and minerals
  How the nutrients are used
  How do nutrients physically affect the brain?
  How the brain works
  How the brain is made
  Essential nutrients for the brain
  Nutrients and neurotransmitters
  Serotonin
  Catecholamines
  Acetlycholine
  Nutrients and neurons
  Essential fatty acids
  Micronutrients, oxidation and other factors
  Conclusion
  
  
• Diet, brain development and mental well being throughout the lifecycle
  Nutrition in prenatal, postnatal and early life stages
  Birth weight
  Preconception
  Low birth weight
  Folic acid
  Maternal nutrition and foetal development
  Essential fatty acids
  Micronutrients
  Toxic substances
  Infants and early childhood
  Breastfeeding and infant formula
  Cognitive advantages of breastfeeding
  Pre-term infants
  General malnutrition
  Anaemia
  Childhood and Adolescence
  Academic attainment
  Anti-social behaviour
  Adults
  Meals and foods
  Macronutrients
  Tryptophan and tyrosine
  Micronutrients
  Older people
  Micronutrients
  Fats and vegetables
  Parkinson's disease
  Nutrients
  Pesticides
  Conclusion
  
  
• The role of diet in specific mental health conditions
  ADHD
  Food additives
  Dietary epidemiological evidence
  Relevant physiology in those with ADHD
  Research trials
  Few foods diets
  Nutrients
  Polyunsaturated fatty acids
  Micronutrients
  Sugar
  Summary
  Depression
  Dietary epidemiological evidence
  Relevant physiology in those with depression
  Neurotransmitter precursors
  Micronutrients
  Polyunsaturated fatty acids
  Oxidation
  Research trials
  Neurotransmitter precursors
  Vitamins
  Polyunsaturated fatty acids
  Summary
  Schizophrenia
  Dietary epidemiological evidence
  Breastfeeding and prenatal nutrition
  Coeliac disease
  Relevant physiology in those with schizophrenia
  Research trials
  Polyunsaturated fatty acids
  Antioxidants
  Tardive dykinesia
  Summary
  Dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease
  Dietary epidemiological evidence
  Relevant physiology in those with Alzheimer's
  Research trials
  Summary
  Conclusion
  
  
• Changing diets and the implications for our mental health
  An historical perspective
  Diet and evolution
  Agricultural revolution
  The Industrial Revolution
  Upheaval in the 20th century
  What are we eating now?
  Processed food
  Food additives
  Industrialised farming
  Animal fat
  Pesticides
  And the results?
  
  
• Conclusion and recommendations
  Fish stocks: No more food for thought?
  What policy makers could do now
  
  
• Organisations to contact for more information
  
• References