DR MEGAN Rossi, aka The Gut Health Doctor (@theguthealthdoctor), says eating with our gut in mind can help bolster mental health during lockdown.
:: Gut health:
"Rather than 'you are what you eat', I like to think of health as being 'you are what you digest'. No matter how healthy your diet is, you won't be able to extract the nutrition from your food and absorb it, if you don't have a healthy gut lining," says Rossi.
She says our gut flora can have a major effect on our immunity too. "Most people don't realise that 70 per cent of your immune system lies along your nine-metre digestive tract", meaning it's important to keep your gut healthy.
"We contain trillions of bacteria as well as beneficial viruses, yeast and fungi in the lower part of that digestive tract. We're just learning that it's this community of microorganisms, working together, that do so much for us in terms of communicating to our brain, heart and kidneys," Rossi says.
:: Feeling blue?
"When I first trained as a dietitian, a decade ago, we were taught that if someone has depression or other health issues, that diet could have a small role to play," says Rossi. "However, in the last couple of years, thanks to some amazing research we now appreciate that diet can have a significant impact on people's mental health."
Rossi says fibre is particularly important because of how we digest it: "Humans actually don't have the enzymes needed to break down fibre. We malabsorb the fibre in the top part of our gut, and it isn't broken down until it reaches the bacteria in the lower part of our digestive tract.
"The process of breaking down the fibre produces a range different chemicals. Some of them are short-chain fatty acids, which are like communication molecules – it's these acids which we think can have an impact on your mental health."
:: Fibre for lockdown:
The optimal fibrous diet involves wide plant-based diversity. Ideally aim for 30 different types of plant-based foods per week. "It might sound like a lot, especially when we're in lockdown," Rossi says, "but start with simple things, like adding a teaspoon of mixed seeds to your breakfast, or a can of kidney beans to your steamed vegetables.
"Just think about getting as much diversity as possible when you're shopping."
