The role that vitamins play in regards to our mental health is one that many people are either unaware of or simply overlook. We’ve all been brought up on the same messages – the importance of getting our five a day etc. – but we were never really told exactly why other than that it’s good for you so it should be a fundamental part of your life.
The truth is that the principle of getting your five a day is essentially geared around getting access to the array of vitamins that we need every day. Of course it’s possible to live without all of them every day, but it’s also possible to live your entire life only consuming crisps and water. That does not equal good physical health, and therefore that does not equal good mental health.
So let’s take a look at which vitamins are the most essential for improving or maintaining a positive mental health and how combining vitamins with exercise and good practices can shape your life into a great ball of positivity.
How Vitamins Affect Mental Health
To understand the vital role vitamins play in our mental health, we first need to understand what vitamins are. Vitamins are nutrients we find in various different types of foods, and the absence of some of these vitamins and nutrients in your diet could lead to serious mental health issues.
There are 13 types of vitamins:
Vitamin A
The B Vitamins (there are 8 types of B Vitamin)
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
The most common mental health issue is depression and this condition is associated with the lack of some vitamins in your diet. The importance of nutrients in terms of mental health can be seen by the treatment for mental health issues. If medical treatments, such as prescribing medication or psychotherapy, don’t work best for the individual taking them, then alternative solutions will be used, one of which is nutrition therapy.
That’s right, a treatment used to treat depression and other mental health conditions is more commonly used to treat diabetes. You may think this is strange, but it goes to show the importance of nutrition and vitamins in relation to maintaining positive mental health.
Now let’s look at which vitamins are best for improving mental health.
Which Vitamins Should I Take?
If you look at the list of the 13 types of vitamins above, you’ll see that there are many vitamins that help us with a wide range of things. But in regards to mental health, it is Vitamin D and two types of Vitamin B (B1 and B12) that are associated with improving mental health.
Vitamin B1
Deficiencies in Vitamin B1 (also known as thiamin) are associated with various mental health problems such as memory loss, anxiety, depression, irritability, and insomnia. A lack of B1 is also linked to early onset dementia.
You can find B1 in cereals, as well as in yeast, beef, pork, nuts, whole grains, and pulses. Fruit and vegetables that contain it include cauliflower, liver, oranges, eggs, potatoes, asparagus, and kale.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is a key component in the formation of red blood cells. Its deficiency could lead to an oxygen-transport problem in the blood known as pernicious anaemia. This disorder may cause issues like mood swings, paranoia, irritability, confusion, dementia, and hallucinations (or mania). A lack of vitamin B12 is also found in almost half of dementia patients, hypotethising that sufficient intake of the vitamin could help keep this neurological disease away.
Vitamin B12 can be found in plenty in animal products such as fish, lean meat, poultry, eggs, and low-fat and fat-free milk. Fortified breakfast cereals also are a good source of B-12 and other B vitamins.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with active mood disorder and depression. Further investigations point out that vitamin D is important and is used during brain development. Inadequacy of vitamin D has been successfully linked to mental health problems, as well as a range of physical issues which can correlate with poorer mental wellbeing.
Vitamin D is gained naturally through the sun, so make sure you’re going outside every once and a while!
How Flexispot Can Help
Mental health can be improved through vitamins, but also through various day to day things that you might be overlooking. We create office furniture that is purpose built to relieve stress and therefore improve mental health. We believe that good physical health also leads to good mental health and therefore want you to thrive in all areas of your life to create better wellness.
If you want to learn more about our products and how they can help you bolster your now impressive home office, please speak to us and we’d be more than happy to help.
