Cebu City - In 1847, Hungarian physician, Ignaz Semellweis advised all physicians to wash their hands before touching a pregnant woman. During that time, that idea was considered absurd and laughable. At the end of his lifetime, Semellweis was considered a lunatic and all his peers never took him seriously. Centuries later, his idea is the very reason why the birth mortality rate has dropped since then. Now, the idea of nutrition having big contributions to mental well-being is a radical notion like handwashing is to a doctor in the 19th Century.

When it comes to mental health, what you eat can have a profound impact on your mood and how you feel. Optimizing nutrition is a safe and viable way to avoid, treat, or lessen mental illness. A nutritious diet is not just good for your body but also good for your brain. Research has repeatedly shown that a good diet is important to your mental health just as it is important to your physical wellbeing. Poor nutrition is a significant and modifiable risk factor for the development of mental illness.

Currently, there is a known increase in psychiatric illnesses in children, such as bipolar disease, autism, ADHD, etc. Although the standards of diagnosing these illnesses are better now than they were 20 years ago, it doesn’t change the fact that the rates of disability are a direct consequence of an underlying mental illness.

In a conventional medical model, a diagnosis is first done then medication is given, followed by therapy. This process results in increased use of drug prescriptions. Since this method is being done worldwide, wouldn’t that mean that this approach must be working well? With that said, a food for thought to all of us would have to be, if this way of treatment is truly effective, shouldn’t the rates of disability and disorder as a direct consequence of that mental illness should be decreasing rather than increasing? Watch out for related topics here in this platform. // ND II Mary Carmeli Garrovillo, RND