I don’t think we can talk about mental health tips without discussing diet too. Diet and mental health are bound together like fibers in a rope, impossible to separate. Proper diet encourages mental health by supplying our bodies and brains with energy and nutrients we need, and good emotional and mental health are key to ensuring we have the discipline and desire to eat properly.
So what can you do to improve your diet by improving mental and emotional wellbeing?
7 Mental Health Tips For Feeling Better
- Learn gratitude. Gratitude is the art of saying “Thank you.” This doesn’t necessarily mean saying it aloud to one person, but rather maintaining a feeling of gratitude for your life on a daily basis. Write down two or three things you’re grateful for each day. Are you grateful for that random phone call from a friend or family member that brightened your day? Write it down.
- Shake things up. Rearrange your furniture. Do you have a favorite coffee shop? Try a different one. Making changes in your life help build resilience, which may improve mental flexibility.
- Get plenty of sun. Sunshine promotes vitamin D, which improves mood and energy.
- Be quiet. Give yourself time each day to be free of distraction. Read a book. Turn off your electronic devices, which may be the biggest distractions in your life. Have a long soak in your bath. These all help to ground you.
- Manage your stress. Stress may have the greatest impact on mental health today. Practice removing stresses from your life. If you can’t deal with the large problems in your life right now, look at putting small problems behind you. This helps give you a feeling of control over your life, which helps to reduce stress.
- Eat right. This may seem contradictory, as the focus of this article is improving diet by improving your mental health. But one influences the other. In fact, according to researchers, changes in diet over the past several decades may have made major contributions to the increase in mental health issues. Reduce fat intake. Eat plenty of vegetables. Eating right is one of the best mental health tips!
- Exercise. The brain alone uses up to 20 percent of your body’s energy. Regular exercise – even a daily walk – improves your energy levels which helps feed the brain.
Maintaining Your Mental Health
If you suffer from serious mental health issues, talk to your doctor or consult a therapist. But for everyday challenges that affect your emotional wellbeing, these mental health tips can keep you on an even plane. And remember, your brain is like any other organ in your body; it needs a proper diet to supply it with energy and nutrients. The occasional indulgence is fine – in fact it can help improve your emotional and mental health – but too much of anything may quickly have an adverse effect.
[…] – it tells you that you have a vulnerability that you may want to support with lifestyle changes, nutrition or […]