By Orsha Magyar, M.Sc., C.H.N.
Micro but mighty micronutrients!
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals, but don’t let the word “micro” fool you. Just because our bodies need them in very small, or "micro," amounts doesn’t mean they’re not mighty!
They are essential cofactors in thousands of cellular reactions and biochemical pathways that are vital for life. Just a few examples of how vitamins and minerals influence our brain and mental health include:
Making ATP (adenosine triphosphate, our cells’ energy)
- B vitamins, vitamin C
- Magnesium, potassium, iron
Making neurotransmitters
- B vitamins, vitamins C and D
- Iodine, zinc, selenium
Making hormones
- B vitamins, vitamins C, D and E
- Calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, selenium, zinc
Nutritional Neuroscience 101
A fascinating area of research called nutritional neuroscience tells us that what we eat has a very real impact on our brain and mental health.
Scientists who work in this field are revealing that what we eat affects our neurological and psychiatric health because vitamins and minerals play very important roles in:
- Neurotransmitter production
- Hormone synthesis (including stress hormones, more on stress later)
- Gut-brain communication
- Neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to grow new neurons)
- Oxidative stress (aka. free radical damage)
- Inflammation & neuroinflammation (that’s inflammation in your brain, for example, after a brain injury like concussion or stroke or brain disease like Alzheimer’s)
Stress: The silent micronutrient thief
When we are stressed out, a lot of things happen that we can see: Irritability, low mood, brain fog, hard time focusing or remembering, loss of appetite or ravenous appetite. But there are also a lot of things that stress does to our bodies that are invisible (until they show up as imbalances).
Stress can increase our demand for micronutrients and drain our reserves of vitamins and minerals by:
- Reducing our ability to absorb them
- Interfering with our ability to process them
- Increasing excretion of them
As an example, when we are stressed, our kidneys get stressed too. And their symptom of stress is confusion. Instead of filtering brain-loving B vitamins and anti-anxiety magnesium into the blood they filter them into urine, so we excrete them.
Stress management is a critical tool to not only de-stress your brain but also your body (and help it hold onto important micronutrients).
Eating for brain health
Nutritional psychiatry translates the learnings from nutritional neuroscience into practice. It understands that nutrition influences the structure and function of your brain, and ultimately your mood. And it aims to help people improve their mental health with whole foods high in brain essential nutrients including:
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Probiotics & prebiotics
- Antioxidants (eg. Vitamins A, C, E)
- B vitamins & vitamin D
- Magnesium, iron & zinc
It also focuses on reducing foods that science tells us negatively impact brain and mental health, such as sugar, trans fats and processed, refined foods.
Supplements to supplement brain health
Many people simply do not consume an optimal number of micronutrients or have higher needs at different stages and phases of life. Your lifestyle can also increase demand for vitamins and minerals (hello, stress!). Medications can also promote nutritional depletions, as can antinutrients such as oxalates, phytates and even tannins (sorry, red wine).
Also, mental health imbalances and poor diet go together. When someone is struggling with their mental health, it can become difficult to eat a brain healthy diet that requires making grocery lists, going grocery shopping, and prepping meals.
So, while food comes first in a dietary approach to mental health, key evidence-based supplements can also be considered.
A 3-pillar nutritional neuroscience approach to mental health combines foundational micronutrient support with targeted micronutrients depending on individual needs. I often like to recommend easy-to-digest supplements that pair whole foods with micronutrients in a way the body easily recognizes. Here are my mental health and mood balance picks from MegaFood:
PILLAR 1: Foundational Micronutrients
A foundational multivitamin for brain health can be key for many people who are deficient in the essentials due to increased needs, high stress and other factors.
Multivitamins are controversial because they contain lower doses of micronutrients than those shown to be clinically effective. But small amounts of many vitamins and minerals are required in important mental health pathways like building serotonin (and then converting it to melatonin) and turning the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid ALA into EPA and DHA (which are the ones required for brain and mental health).
PILLAR 2: Targeted Vitamins
Key vitamins, namely the B-complex and vitamin D, may offer neuro-nutritional support for people with deficiencies and various mental health concerns.
PILLAR 3: Targeted Minerals
Research suggests that some minerals, like iron and magnesium for brain health, can also offer support to those seeking a nutritional approach.
Micronutrients are “micro” but they sure are mighty, and a growing area of interest in a holistic approach to brain and mental health.
