How has shifting diet impacted your life? With some studies

[Alchemica]

Keen to hear a few words from people who have adopted a new diet and found benefit, particularly for managing mental health. What was the change and how was it beneficial?

 

Dietary patterns, body mass index and inflammation: Pathways to depression and mental health problems in adolescents.

Habitual intake of a Western dietary pattern may exacerbate low-grade systemic inflammation, not solely attributable to BMI

A 'Western' dietary pattern (characterised most strongly by processed foods, red and processed meats, dairy, potatoes, refined grains, soft drink, sauces and dressings and take away) associates with an increased risk of mental health problems including depressive symptoms in adolescents, through biologically plausible pathways inflammation and adiposity, whereas a 'Healthy' dietary pattern (he ‘Healthy’ pattern was characterised by higher loadings on whole grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes and fish) appears protective in these pathways. Longitudinal modelling into adulthood is indicated to confirm the complex associations of dietary patterns, adiposity, inflammation and mental health problems, including depressive symptoms [1]

http://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.bbi.2018.01.002

Other research has found a study a strong relationship between higher scores for a ‘Western’ dietary pattern and increased BMI, cardiometabolic risk, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and higher withdrawal, depression, delinquency and aggressive behaviours.

 

A significant proportion of depressed persons show up-regulation of inflammatory markers. It has been suggested that chronic inflammation may underlie the association between diet and depression, since negative health behaviors, such as a poor diet, may lead to both inflammation and depression in susceptible individuals

Nutrients such as magnesium, fibre, ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids, flavonoids, and carotenoids from food associate with a Healthy diet and decreased levels of inflammatory markers

 

Dietary influences on cognition.

 

Full text: http://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.052

 

The fact "dietary changes can also affect the biological functioning of the brain and seriously impact cognitive function has yet to fully penetrate our social consciousness, with possibly disastrous consequences as the obesity pandemic threatens to overwhelm healthcare services."

 

Epidemiological studies suggest that introduction of a more healthy diet positively impacts cognitive domains, strongly.

"From a neurobiological perspective, both addictive drugs and highly palatable foods increase dopamine release in the reward centers of the brain, and maladaptive changes in dopamine signaling have long been implicated in the etiology of addiction. In particular, a reduction in striatal D2/3 receptor density ... has also been documented in overweight subjects, coupled with impulsivity. Recent data from the Winstanley lab using one such behavioral assay of impulsivity, the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRT), suggest that macronutrients themselves may be able to alter this form of cognition, the ability of certain hypercaloric macronutrients to increase impulsivity is noted.

 

Consumption of diets high in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates are associated with neurocognitive dysfunction, including increased risk for mild cognitive impairment and dementia. they are associated with impairments in decision-making, planning and problem solving (all of which are features of executive function) with less evidence for associations with other cognitive domains, such as verbal fluency and learning and memory, along with with alterations in appetitive functions, such as, reinforcement learning and effort, reward cue reactivity and incentive motivation, all of which are regulated by neural systems that support executive functions. From a mechanistic perspective, these cognitive deficits may result from decreases in neurotrophic factor expression, increases in oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, as well as structural and functional deficits in brain regions like the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex"

 

It's been shown three weeks on a super healthy diet starts to crank up regions of the brain like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and causes modulation of regions like the nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. This area appears to be critical for working memory, planning, selective attention, temporal integration and volition. Damage in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in humans leads to a lack of spontaneous activity, distractibility by environmental cues, and the repetitive, stereotypic use of inappropriate behavioral responses (perseveration).

I've mentioned the polyphenols lots, in short they seem very helpful

 

Reduced mortality risk by a polyphenol-rich diet: An analysis from the Moli-sani study.

 

High polyphenol and healing phytochemical intake is for me not just the best way to manage my mental health. The polyphenol content of the diet was, in a recent analysis, associated with reduced mortality risk:

 

"Participants included in the highest quintile of intake of various polyphenol classes and subclasses presented a significant lower all-cause mortality risk compared with those in the lowest group of consumption

 

...the present results together with the recent literature, extend the role of dietary polyphenols from natural compounds potentially active on disease prevention to important nutrients for the reduction of mortality risk in a general population."

 

In depression, there is an inverse relationship between consumption of fruits and/or vegetables and depressive symptoms. Less than 5% of depressed subjects reported consuming the amount of fruits and vegetables recommended by the WHO. I'm finding mixing up the diet to be more important - just a one-unit increase in the dietary diversity scale was associated with a 39% reduction in the risk of severe depression. Adherence to a high-quality diet, regardless of type (i.e., healthy/prudent or Mediterranean), was associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms over time (odds ratios ranged 0.64-0.78 in a linear dose-response fashion [P < 0.01]). A relatively low dietary inflammatory index was also associated with a somewhat lower incidence of depressive symptom (odds ratio = 0.81), although not in a dose-response fashion. Similar associations were found for the consumption of fish and vegetables (odds ratios 0.86 and 0.82 respectively) but not for other high quality food groups (e.g., fruit).

 

I've touched on this here

 

On 2/13/2018 at 4:21 AM, Alchemica said:

 

Can going more diversely planty make our world a kinder, more compassionate, mentally healthier, less angry society? I don't think it's just vegetarian/vegan mumbo jumbo...

 

It's not just the mood and cognitive improvements that seem impressive, one thing I'm finding is the change in 'pent up anger' and negative emotional dysregulation that seems to improve by getting really diversely planty and avoiding grain-based not particularly nutritious food and sticking with more plant proteins. Studies are still lacking on how crop-based diets with varying macronutrient, mineral or vitamin contents and amino acid composition influence the physiology, behaviour or key life-history traits but it was found monotonous high carbohydrate typical crop-based diets cause high rates of maternal infanticides in the European hamster.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if much of our psychological/emotional disorders, societal issues with anger and violence etc can be attributed to the typical Western diet and trans-generational epigenetic consequences.

 

Diet, stress, anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, emotion among numerous other psychological factors modify things like DNA methylation patterns. Studies underpin the hypothesis that DNA methylation is involved in deviant human behaviour, psychological and psychiatric conditions. The best way for me to get back to healthier emotions and more seems to be food.

 

In my experiences, it's not enough to simply modulate protein/carbs/fats, vitamins and methylation precursors. Plant compounds really help.

 

Polyphenols are effective against chronic diseases and recent reports indicated strong epigenetic effects of polyphenols. They alter traits by altering the structure of chromatin and directly regulate both transcription and translational processes. In this context, dietary polyphenol-targeted epigenetics becomes an attractive approach for disease prevention and intervention. Polyphenols, including flavonoids, curcuminoids, and stilbenes, modulate the establishment and maintenance of key epigenetic marks, thereby influencing gene expression and, hence, disease risk and health.Dietary phenolic compounds modulate DNA methylation

 

Many components of food have the potential to cause epigenetic changes in humans. For example, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain isothiocyanates, which are able to increase histone acetylation. Soya, on the other hand, is a source of the isoflavone genistein, which is thought to decrease DNA methylation in certain genes. Found in green tea, the polyphenol compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate has many biological activities, including the inhibition of DNA methylation. EGCG from tea can re-express many transcriptionally silenced genes through inhibition of DNMT1 enzymatic activity. Curcumin, a compound found in turmeric (Curcuma longa), can have multiple effects on gene activation, because it inhibits DNA methylation but also modulates histone acetylation.

Even huffing some lavender has epigenetic restorations of the epigenetic consequences of stress...

 

 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Alchemica

[Alchemica]

How do you find your food brings you together with others? That's been an interesting thing I've kind of noted as diet shifts

 

Because my food choices are quite non-Western at the moment (breakfast was seaweed salad, turmeric kimchi and saffron), I feel the pull away from much of our society. I feel food and social cohesion runs a very deep connective thread.

 

How much social cohesion is promoted by food and drink? It seems to be beyond simple 'bringing people together via food'. While some of these foods I'm using may be healthier options, there's a social dimension that gets altered by using such. From restoring vitamin and mineral status, to wildly altering mood/emotional/cognitive parameters eg carotenoids and polyphenols, to their epigenetic consequences of different phytochemicals, to inflammatory changes which seem to tightly regulate social behaviours to the microbiome, so much seems to shift.

 

Like I found as soon as I gave up alcohol, tolerating the inebriation and consciousness devolution that alcohol promotes to be undesirable, being around drinking culture was totally undesirable. As my food shifts, tolerating the insanity of the "world out there" shifts too.

 

While I noted social mild shifts in things with plain planty diets, stronger with polyphenol enrichment which I attribute to some epigenetic activity, changes to inflammation, I feel like as soon as I started using more fermented food, there was a large shift. Higher dose carotenoids, too. Like a distaste for the insanity of the Western world started to wildly strengthen... does playing with the microbiome have the ability to shift group social dynamics that quickly?

[Xperiment]

I know what you're talking about. 

I gave up alcohol completely,  almost 18 months ago, and I consider it the beginning of my spiritual and conscious awakening. 

I went from being a daily drinker, and an avid home brewer,  growing hops,  culturing yeast strains, and temperature controlled fermentations -  to tipping it down the sink. 

A change in diet for me was almost unavoidable. I didn't really care what I shoved down my food-hole when I was under the influence. I didn't really care about much at all. Maybe that's one of the reasons alcohol use is so prevalent in our society. 

And culturally, not drinking is even more unacceptable and suspicious to the average bloke  than not being interested in football (which I am also guilty of).  These cultural obsessions, or lack of participation in them,  tend to put one on the fringe of society anyway. And that's a good thing, for me anyway. 

So I try to eat what i know is good for me, and try to get my family doing the same. 

 

[Alchemica]

What are people's favourite protein sources for plant based diets?

I'm not happy with the spectrum of amino acids that are going into my diet yet, I was becoming a little anti-social and mood heading down a bit.

 

Impact of nutrition on social decision making

 

Food intake is essential for survival in all species for meeting energetic demands. However, food intake also modulates various biochemical processes underlying cognition. Across two studies, we showed that different macronutrient compositions in standard European meals affect plasma neurotransmitter precursor levels, and these in turn influence social decision making. Our results provide evidence that variations in the macronutrient content of a normal European meal exert a significant impact on high-level human cognition. This study opens perspectives on nutrition-driven cognition modulation. The results have implications for education, economics, and public policy by emphasizing the importance of a balanced diet on fundamental expressions of cognition.

 

I have to admit, going more plant-based can limit protein intake and if macronutrient profiles not addressed, pathologically alter the profile of what amino acids are going in and lead to less desirable health outcomes.

 

I've been looking for complete good protein sources, have to get back to keeping on top of that maybe. While I've been staying on top of vitamins/minerals and phytochemicals, I was thinking it was OK to run a quite low protein, albeit good quality protein sources, intake, I was feeling OK that way for awhile.

 

This morning, seeing what, along with a planty polyphenol rich, good fatty acid and carotenoid breakfast, seeing what providing a solid dose of the spectrum of essential amino acids does. Going to dose up on my lysine powder during the day which I tried some years ago.

 

Aside from monoaminergic modulation through the phenylalanine/tyrosine/tryptophan etc, many amino acids modulate mTOR, mammalian (or mechanistic) target of rapamycin, the master regulator of cell growth and proliferation.

 

While acute BCAA administration, I elevated BCAAs quite a bit this morning (along with some monoamine precursor amino acids), seems to increase the pro-BDNF/total-BDNF ratio (decreasing NGF through oxidative stress long term and acutely, prevented by suitable antioxidant treatment)  and can promote mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination, longer term BCAA administration, while increasing hippocampal and cortical BDNF, increases oxidative stress and causes memory impairments which can be prevented by antioxidant treatment

 

Changing the amino acid composition may alter social behaviours - dietary interventions that reduce mTOR activity rescue autistic-like behavioural deficits

 

In one study, the amino acids histidine, lysine, threonine inhibited mTOR signaling and IgE-mediated mast cell activation, while the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, valine had no effect on mTOR signaling (other studies note leucine influences critical cellular processes through mTOR activation)

 

Preliminary clinical evidence suggests that consuming wheat that has been fortified with lysine 4.2 grams/kg reduces stress in females and reduces anxiety in males in economically weak populations that typically consume cereal-based diets

 

Dietary L-lysine deficiency increases stress-induced anxiety through serotonergic mechanisms in the amygdala and interfered with the normal circadian rhythm. This amino acid, particularly with arginine, may induce anxiolytic effects, modify hormonal responses during psychosocial stress in humans.

 

Clinical research suggests that taking L-lysine 2 grams three times daily for 8 weeks improves symptoms by approximately 34% compared to placebo in schizophrenia patients who are not stabilized on risperidone (up to 6 mg/day). Negative and psychopathology symptoms appear to improve the most. In schizophrenic patients stabilized on antipsychotic medications, preliminary clinical research suggests that taking L-lysine 6 grams daily for 4 weeks in a single drink improves positive symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly delusions and suspiciousness/persecution, compared to baseline.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Alchemica