A Balanced Diet for a Healthy Mind

What does a balanced diet for a healthy mind require?

For anyone looking to get into good physical and mental shape today, your diet is an essential part of the process. Your body needs good food to help maintain your physical condition, but so does your mind. Our mind craves and desires a whole host of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. Without it, we are depriving our bodies and minds of the resources they need to be the best that they can be.

The majority of people, though, don’t give their brain and body the nutrients they require. Then, what, matters? What should you be trying to add into your diet on a regular basis? What nutrients and vitamins are essential to a balanced diet for a healthy mind?

Let’s take a look.

How much food should I eat in any one day?

The average person needs around 2,000-2,500 calories in a single day to maintain your weight. However, if you wished to start losing weight you could easily cut that down to around 1,500-2,000 calories in a day. Eat the right foods for those calories, too, and you can make sure that you become healthy and trim. Sound good? Sadly, life isn’t as easy as that!

The average amount of food that you should eat in any one day comes down to so many factors. First off, you should be looking to get some kind of physical check-up by a doctor. You need to also find out what kind of vitamins and nutrients that you are getting in a single day. What levels are high? What needs to come up in terms of your vitamin and nutrient intake?

It’s a tough thing to learn about, but it’s absolutely essential that you do all that you can to learn about this. The average amount of food that you should eat in any given day is entirely down to your own body. However, it’s about both eating a good variety of food and eating the right quantity at the correct times.

Therefore, don’t try and think of how much food you eat per day in pure calorie content alone. Instead, you need to think about what makes that food up.

What nutrients and vitamins are the most important to my well being?

There are a great many nutrients and vitamins that you should be looking to add to your system. The secret here comes from both researching foods that you can eat that involve the following nutrients and vitamins, and also trying out some of the ideas that we have listed further below. For a healthy body and healthy mind, we suggest you try to get your recommended daily intake of at least the following vitamins and minerals.

Omega-3 fatty acids & Omega-6 fatty acids -These are essential for brain function, and have been shown in various studies to help our brains as well as our joints.

Folic acid is an outstanding tool for helping to improve cell reproduction, and also has been linked to dealing with anemia.

Magnesium is a must-have for various reasons; not only is it linked to fighting depression, but it’s a natural anti-inflammatory and can reduce blood pressure.

Iron really helps our bodies to preserve our most essential vital functions, including helping us to retain focus, to keep our immune system strong, and to manage body temperature.

Selenium has been linked with various benefits for both body and mind, including helping to boost your immune system and keep your mind focused during periods of stress.

Vitamin B and its many forms are linked with everything from healthy brain function to increased energy levels as well as cell healthy and nerve function. Essential!

Vitamin D helps our bodies to regulate both calcium and phosphate, which are vital parts of our bone and muscle structure. Linked with good bone health overall.

As you can imagine, then, boosting your food intake of all of the above vitamins and minerals can only benefit you. Of course, this is only the start!

Should I eat any foods in particular for wellness?

Retaining a balanced diet fora healthy mind means using all of the above and more to help improve how you feel and think. However, we recommend that you try and boost the following intake of certain foods as well. Not only do these foods contain some of the above, but they are also rich in other life-affirming benefits. Try and add the following to your diet, if you can.

Beans

While most certainly not for everyone, good old beans are excellent for boosting your energy levels and helping you to get more done in a small period of time. beans are rich in thiamine, too, which is capable of helping our bodies produce vital neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine. You might not be a huge fan of beans in some ways but get them into your food for a fibre-rich muscle mate!

Seafood

Another favourite for some and enemy for others, of course, is seafood. Any form of oily fish is likely to contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which are vital. Try and add more prawns and salmon to your diet, and you’ll be able to enjoy the intake of some very vital fatty acids. While many fats aren’t good for us, this form of particular fatty acid can be marked as essential!

Berries

Berries in almost all forms are great for body and mind. Strawberries and blueberries are rich in various antioxidants, helping to retain strong cells. However, berries are also linked with helping to ease feelings of anxiety, too.

The polyphenolics found in berries can even help with improving mental function and memory!

Yoghurt

While some people aren’t a fan of yoghurt, it’s very good for someone trying to keep healthy. Yoghurt is rich in probiotics, which are useful for both helping your stomach stay strong and keep your mind in good condition. Yoghurt probiotics are linked with reducing stress and minimising anxiety.

Kale

While it’s been on the diet of many people for a long time now, kale is an essential part of wellness and looking after yourself in full. It’s linked with reducing cognitive decline, as well as being linked with keeping our hearts and our bodies in generally good condition. A must for many of your dinners!

Taking the next step towards a balanced diet and a healthy mind

Now, the next step for you comes down to putting all of the above into action. You now have a better idea of what to eat, what to look out for in ingredients, and some useful ideas for food to eat and to look out for when shopping. Now, you need to take that all-important next step and keep learning.

Well-being comes not only from learning new things but from continuing to educate yourself on those matters. This is only the start of your education about the kind of diet that a healthy body and mind needs. Keep reading, keep learning, and continue to open your mind to self-improvement. Most of all, enjoy it!

If you’d like to read more about diet and mental health, check out our article on Diet and Exercise Effects on Mental Health here!