A big part of this influence comes from what we inherit from our genes, which we don’t have much control over. However, diet and exercise also play an important role in maintaining a healthy body and healthy mind – and those are things that we do have the power to change.

Here are some of the latest findings on the importance of diet and exercise in mental health, as well as some suggestions on how to improve these aspects of our lives.

What you eat affects your brain.

Your brain needs nutrients and a healthy diet in order for it function at its best.

High-powered brain foods are rich in complex carbohydrates (your brain’s primary source of energy), fiber (which improves absorption of necessary vitamins and minerals), lean protein (for building new neurotransmitters), and unsaturated fats (especially omega-3 fatty acids, which improve cognitive abilities).

You can satisfy most of these nutritional needs by following a healthy diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and high-quality meat and fish. Psychology studies have found that a healthy diet that follows these core food groups can significantly lower the risk of psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression.

In contrast, an unhealthy diet contains a lot of processed foods and saturated fats, like potato chips, fried foods, chocolate, sweets, ice cream, and other junk food. These are not only associated with physical problems like heart disease and obesity, but have also shown in recent studies to lead to long-term problems in mental health.

The scientific journal PLoS One published a longitudinal study in 2011 showing that changes in diet correlated with changes in mental health. Among 2,000 participants, those who made healthy changes to their diet experienced improved mental health, while participants who made unhealthy changes to their diet experienced a deterioration in mental health. This is one of many empirical examples of how our diets affect our brains.

Key “brain foods” to keep in mind and why.

• Fish, eggs, and grass-fed meats. Several studies have shown a strong association between seafood consumption and mental health, especially mood disorders. This is because most fish (as well as eggs and grass-fed meat) contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to lower depression and anxiety levels, as well as improve memory and cognition. Limited research also suggests that omega-3 fatty acids may be effective in preventing psychotic symptoms in those with schizophrenia. In a six-month study of those with schizophrenia, those who were treated with E-EPA supplements (a concentrate of omega-3 fatty acids) showed a significant increase in grey and white matter, while those who took a placebo had shown a loss in cerebral tissue. Foods such as fish, eggs, and grass-fed meats are widely considered to play an important role in neural growth and healthy brain functioning.
• Nuts and seeds. Many nuts and seeds are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, especially butternuts, walnuts, chia seed, and flax. Nuts and seeds are also a great source of protein, fiber, and vitamins – all of which your brain needs to function most effectively. If you are vegan or vegetarian, nuts and seeds are essential for maintaining a healthy body and mind, since they provide a lot of the same nutritional value that can’t be found in other non-animal food products.

• Whole grains. Whole wheat breads, grains and pasta are great sources of complex carbohydrates, fiber, and B vitamins. Your brain needs a steady supply of carbohydrates, which your body breaks down into glucose, the brain’s main source of energy. When glucose is low, psychological processes that require mental effort (like self-control and conscious decision-making) are impaired. Therefore, it’s important that you give your brain the energy it needs to function effectively throughout the day. Without the right amount of complex carbohydrates, your brain will become fatigued and inefficient – it needs energy to function! Other excellent sources of complex carbohydrates include beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
• Many fruits and vegetables. Many fruits and vegetables contain loads of essential vitamins, dietary fibers, carbohydrates, and antioxidants which improve brain function. Blueberries and strawberries, for example, have shown to improve memory and cognition by cleaning out toxins in the brain that cause age-related memory loss and mental decline. Most fruits and vegetables play an important role in maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. It is therefore preferred that you eat a variety of different fruits and vegetables throughout your day, rather than just increasing the quantity of any one specific fruit.
• Water. Up to 70% of our brains are water. Drinking water is therefore essential for keeping our bodies and brains hydrated. When we don’t get enough water each day, this can lead to long-term declines in brain functioning, including stress and fatigue. Water is key for delivering nutrients to our brains, keeping them healthy, as well as eliminating toxins.
• Coffee or tea. Studies show that a moderate amount of caffeine can be beneficial toward brain health. For example, one study found that coffee can slow down dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as improve cognitive functioning and alertness. Similar effects have been found in green tea, which also includes powerful antioxidants that help clean out the brain. Some research has also suggested that caffeine can mimic some of the effects of antidepressants.

There’s no conclusive research on what exactly the “best diet” is for mental health. In all likelihood, there is probably no such thing, as it probably depends on many factors including each individual’s biochemistry and the combination of foods they consume as a whole.

That being said, I think we all have an intuitive sense of what makes “healthy” foods and what makes “unhealthy” foods. The truth is most of us probably don’t need to read a book on nutrition to begin making more health-conscious choices. When we choose to have that piece of cake while watching our favorite TV show, instead of the bowl of salad, we know deep-down that we are choosing the less healthy option.

So while some of these health suggestions may seem like commonsense, please remember that the bigger point here is that what we choose to eat matters to our brains and mental health. Therefore, maintaining a healthy diet plays a significant role in also keeping our brains working properly.

Please talk with your doctor and do more research before making any dramatic changes to your diet.

Exercise improves mental health and cognitive ability.

Over the past decade, research has shown that exercise is just as important to our mental health as maintaining a balanced diet. In a 2011 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers did a meta-analysis of over 100 studies looking into the effects of aerobic exercise and strength training on mental health and cognitive ability.

One finding was that exercise during childhood led to a faster rate of cognitive development. Children who were physically inactive tended to perform worse on academic exams and neuropsychological tests, while children who exercised showed improvements in memory, attention, and decision-making.

This was also found to be true in younger and older adults. According to researchers, there is solid evidence that exercise can benefit a variety of executive functions, including multi-tasking, planning, and self-control. Neuroscientists have also done fMRI scans in humans and rats showing that exercise can lead to increases in brain volume, specifically in areas of the brain associated with cognition and memory.

Exercise has also proven to be an effective treatment for several mental disorders. One study published in a 2011 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that exercise can substitute as a second medication for those with depression. Often depressed patients begin to feel better when they receive their first medication, but they don’t feel completely well. In the past, psychiatrists have prescribed a second medication, but now research shows that prescribing exercise instead can be just as, if not more effective.

One of the reasons exercise may help alleviate depression is because it releases neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin, and anandamide, which are known to elevate mood and feelings of pleasure. This experience is sometimes referred to as “runner’s high,” and these biochemical levels are known to stay elevated in the body for up to several weeks at a time, contributing to improvements in happiness and increased self-esteem.

Exercise has also been known to increase neural growth and neuroplasticity, which helps protect against neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and other age-related declines in mental health and cognitive ability.

Minimize alcohol, cigarettes, and drug use.

The other aspect of our physical and mental health are dangerous habits that include excessive alcohol, cigarettes, and drug use. In many ways, substance abuse is a mental illness all on its own. It’s also true, however, that many people who engage in substance abuse can develop other brain abnormalities and mental illnesses later in life, such as alcohol-induced brain damage.

Of course, some drugs can be taken in moderation and not have any adverse effects on your physical or mental health. Every now and then a study comes out showing how the occasional glass of wine or marijuana joint can actually improve certain aspects of our physical and mental health. But even so, it’s important to keep moderation in mind at all times.

There are also some drugs that are probably best avoided altogether. Hard drugs like heroin and cocaine often serve very little long-term benefit physically or mentally (if at all), and the costs just far outweigh the gains.

Make a conscious choice to be smarter about drugs. I can’t realistically tell everyone to avoid alcohol or smoking altogether, but I think it’s wise to do these things with some caution and mindfulness. Because like all things that you consume into your body, it’s going to affect your brain and mental health in some way.

Try one small habit change – just for this week.

I’ve now covered 3 different aspects of your physical and mental health that you could begin improving on today if you really wanted to.

Of course, I understand that making these changes can seem daunting at first. There’s a lot to chew on in this article, and you certainly can’t transform yourself overnight.

By taking small steps, however, you can begin to make changes for the long-term.

If you want to start making changes in your health today, I recommend checking out Try One Small Habit Change – Just for This Week. This article challenges you to a one week experiment on changing one habit. For example, practice substituting soda with water for one week.

By making steady, gradual changes over time, we can instill habits that greatly improve our physical and mental health in the long-term.

You’re not the only one. I’ve felt it too. And the existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard identified a similar experience in his work The Concept of Anxiety.

He explained that the mere fact that we have the choice to throw ourselves over and make such a life-changing decision creates a deep feeling of anxiety. He called this the “dizziness of freedom.”

My Experience with “Existential Anxiety.”

Every morning and night for the past couples of weeks I’ve went up to the roof of my 24 story apartment and looked down on the Williamsburg bridge and New York City skyline.

It’s a beautiful, calm, and empowering view. From up there, I’m a giant, and everything below me is like a colony of ants. Here’s a picture I snapped with my phone to try and capture it’s magnificence:

When I peek over the railing I see just how far down the fall would be. It’s enormous. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I feel that impulse to throw myself off.

The impulse isn’t driven by a desire to kill myself, instead it is driven by the recognition that I have the capacity to make very powerful decisions. It’s a metaphor of the millions of other decisions that I make everyday which greatly impact the course of my life.

Kierkegaard and Existential Anxiety

As I mentioned in the introduction, this experience is remarkably similar to what the 19th century existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once described in The Concept of Anxiety.

He uses the example of a man standing on the edge of a tall building or cliff. When the man looks over the edge, he experiences a focused fear of falling, but at the same time, the man feels a terrifying impulse to throw himself intentionally off the edge.

That experience is anxiety because of our complete freedom to choose to either throw oneself off or to stay put. The mere fact that one has the possibility and freedom to do something, even the most terrifying of possibilities, triggers immense feelings of anxiety. Kierkegaard called this our “dizziness of freedom.”

I believe that everyone experiences this “dizziness of freedom” to varying degrees. And the anxiety is rooted in the power we each have as conscious beings to make truly life-changing decisions.

So what about you? Have you ever tasted your own “dizziness of freedom?” What was it like? Did it frighten you, empower you, or was it a little bit of both? Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below.

Sometimes these nightmares can be so intense that they lead to panic attacks, vivid flashbacks of negative past events, and even aggressive behavior.

The U.S. Army is currently doing research on how to counteract these nightmares by placing individuals into a “dream-like” virtual reality designed to quickly calm nerves and relieve anxiety.

The suggested treatment is that whenever a solider or veteran wakes up from one of these traumatic nightmares, they will immediately put on a pair of 3D digital goggles and enter into an “animated world of comforting sights.”

The research is based on other current existing treatments for PTSD, including image rehearsal therapy, where therapists and patients work together to identify stress triggers and how they can be defused in future situations. It also integrates biofeedback, where a patient can monitor their stress levels in real-time and find relaxation techniques that help bring their stress levels back down to their baseline.

Using both of these techniques, those who suffer from PTSD will be able to construct their own unique virtual reality, one that suits them best in lowering stress levels after an unpleasant dream. Researchers are hoping that the use of this kind of therapy over time can decrease the frequency and intensity of these nightmares in the long run.

While the research certainly isn’t finished, virtual reality already shows some promise of being a valuable therapy for other anxieties and phobias. There is some evidence that it can aid in relieving fears of spiders, flying, and public speaking.

It will be interesting to see how virtual reality therapy develops into the future. I’m always fascinated to see how new technologies are integrated into modern psychotherapy and just how beneficial they can be in helping mental disorders of all types. This will definitely be something to keep our eyes on as more research comes out.

On the other end of this research, there is also evidence that pretending to fake happiness can be unhealthy in some situations:

• According to a recent study in the Academy of Management Journal, it was discovered that bus drivers were more likely to experience negative emotions on days when they pretended to be in a good mood.
• Another analysis of over 3 decades of research found that faking positive feelings at work was associated with lower employee satisfaction and increased job burnout.
• A third study published in Anxiety, Stress, and Coping found that volunteers at a call center who were told to “hide negative emotions” had greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate than those told to show their true feelings.

As it turns out, the “emotional labor” it takes to pretend to be in a good mood can actually be very taxing on our physical and mental well-being.

There are a couple of lessons that both business and employees could learn from this research.

One lesson for businesses is to give employees an opportunity to express themselves genuinely and openly. Of course, this doesn’t mean you want customer service yelling at people, but maybe giving employees a way to express their frustrations among each other could provide a valuable emotional release, without necessarily disrupting the “consumer experience.”

There should also be a drive in businesses to try to make work environments as stress-free and enjoyable as possible. Often times the happier workers are, the better their work performance and productivity. Because of this, I believe it is only a matter of time until more businesses begin implementing these principles.

One lesson for employees is to not feel the need to plaster on a smile every time they walk into the office. It is okay to feel down from time to time, and we need not pretend that our jobs are perfect (they rarely are).

This also fits with a common theme of this blog which is that we must give ourselves permission to be negative every now and then.

Another lesson for employees is to raise their standards. If a job isn’t at all satisfying to you, consider searching for something else that makes you genuinely happier. We sometimes underestimate our value and skills in the marketplace. We become complacent to one job, and we stop searching for other opportunities. We begin to accept the idea that a job is supposed to be something we hate, so we settle for something less than what we might really be capable of. Jobs can be difficult and tiresome, but that doesn’t mean they have to be the plague of our existence.

(I understand there are some limitations to the above, maybe based on your prior work experience, intelligence, and other factors. I only recommend that you keep yourself open to alternatives. You may not have a whole lot of different jobs to choose from, but there is often more than just one path.)

On that note, I want to remind you one last time that it’s completely natural to not be 100% in love with your job. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that needs to be the case. Often times, by acknowledging life’s imperfections, we can handle them better than if we try to bury ourselves in delusions and false promises.

Stay updated on new articles on psychology and self-improvement here.

Mindfulness is a state of deliberate and conscious awareness directed toward the present moment. The practice is incredibly simple on paper, but with diligent practice can reap many, many benefits.

A great entry level exercise to mindfulness is the 100 Breaths Meditation. It teaches you how to use your breathing as an object of focus, by deliberately directing your awareness toward the motions of your breath. The goal is to remain fixated on your breath, while ignoring distractions and any other outside stimuli. Often the stronger and more focused your awareness becomes, the more you enter into a state of relaxation, bliss, and insight.

(If you’re serious about practicing this stuff, I also recommend reading a post I wrote awhile back called Mindfulness of Mindlessness. This one was intended to help people overcome the common problem of getting too distracted during meditation. It emphasizes how in fact acknowledging your distractions is a key first step toward cultivating greater mindfulness. This is true for both meditation, and also practicing mindfulness throughout our daily life.)

The purpose of this article, however, is to put together a list of all the ways mindfulness has been scientifically shown to improve our physical and mental health. It is a complete list of all the benefits I know that come from mindfulness. And to be honest, if this doesn’t convince you to start developing a mindfulness practice of your own, I don’t know what will.

The Benefits of Mindfulness

Research into mindfulness has really picked up over the past few decades. Here are some of the benefits we are just beginning to discover:

Improving Attention

One of the most obvious benefits from meditation is that it improves our attention. One study has shown that just 5 days of 20 minute training can show significant improvements in our ability to focus and concentrate. The fact that mindfulness meditation can improve our attention is one of the most well-documented benefits. And the practice of staying focused on our breath can build concentration that often spills over into many other activities.

Improving Cognition

Another interesting study showed that just 4 days of 20 minute training showed significant increases in cognitive functioning, especially memory and learning. Other related research indicates that meditation can help slow down Alzheimer’s and dementia. Some of this may in part be due to our increased attention, but it seems meditation also acts on other parts of the brain more directly related to learning and memory, such as increasing gray matter in the hippocampus.

Managing Stress and Anxiety

Meditation has also been shown to reduce gray matter in the amygdala, which is a part of the brain commonly associated with stress, anxiety, and emotional processing. This demonstrates why meditation does so well in relieving stress and increasing relaxation. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of The Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness in Medicine at the University of Massachusetts, is one of the leading teachers and researchers in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Here you can find a wonderful lecture he gave to Google summarizing a lot of the research demonstrating how effective mindfulness meditation is for reducing stress and improving medical outcomes.

Improving Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

In light of meditation’s ability to reduce stress, it has also been reported to lower your blood pressure and heart rate. This particular study followed 200 participants for 5 years who were at a “high risk” for heart attacks and strokes. They found that those who practiced meditation regularly reduced their risk for heart attacks and strokes by almost 50%.

Reducing Pain

Mindful breathing has also been discovered to reduce pain, according to a recent study in the Journal of Neuroscience. After just four 20 minute mindfulness sessions, participants did better at reducing unpleasant sensations (such as 120 degrees of heat, a temperature that most people find painful) than those who did not receive mindfulness training. Researchers theorize that mindfulness trainees have an easier time keeping their focus directed toward their breathing and thereby ignoring the discomfort caused by the heat. It’s likely that mindfulness can show similar effects on other types of pain as well.

Overcoming Depression

Surprisingly, mindfulness meditation is said to be on par with antidepressants in preventing depression relapse. According to researchers, mindfulness prevents excessive rumination (a common cause of depression) by teaching individuals how to reflect on thoughts and emotional states in a non-judgmental and non-attaching way. Instead of clinging to “negative” thoughts and feelings – and feeding into them – mindfulness teaches us to sit back and watch these emotions and thoughts without needing to overreact or feel guilty about how we feel. This makes it a lot easier to fully experience these passing thoughts and emotions, and then let them go.

Overcoming Fears of Death

Another recent study published earlier this year found that mindfulness can also ease fears and anxieties related to death. Mindful people tend to be more accepting of their limited time while alive. They also tend to be less dependent on fantasy-filled beliefs and desires for self-preservation or immortality. They understand that death is not the opposite of life, but a necessary part of it. Thus, they accept the reality of their demise, instead of being defensive.

Changing Bad Habits

There is a particular technique in mindfulness training that helps individuals overcome addictions and other bad habits. It’s called urge surfing, and it’s a popular tool in some psychotherapies to help individuals quit smoking or stop obsessive eating. The main goal of the meditation is to “ride out” your desire to do certain negative habits, but not act on them. Mindfulness teaches you that many of these desires are impermanent, and if we just sit back and watch them, it is very likely that they will subside and go away (without us necessarily needing to smoke another cigarette, or eat that slice of cake).

Changing Brain Structure

In addition to many of the benefits mentioned above, it has also been shown that 8 weeks of mindfulness training can cause long-term changes to our brain structure. While this isn’t necessarily a “benefit” in-and-of-itself, it is evidence for just how powerful mindfulness training can be. For more on this you can also check out my article Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity.

Conclusion

These are just about all of the main benefits I know of that are associated with mindfulness, but I’m sure there are countless others. Mindfulness can be such a fundamental skill to living that it truthfully affects just about all areas of our life.

If you haven’t started a mindfulness practice of your own, I highly recommend it. And if you want any help getting started, feel free to e-mail me questions at contact@theemotionmachine.com. I’d be more than happy to help you out.

You can also check out the “Mindful Awareness Training System” below if you want a great training course on how to apply mindfulness to your daily life.