Diet changes linked to mental illness

Dietary changes over the past 50 years may be linked to an increase in mental illness in Britain during the same period, new research has suggested.

Reports by campaign group Sustain and the Mental Health Foundation have linked a number of illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder and Alzheimer's disease to diets that lack essential fats, vitamins and minerals.

Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids - commonly found in fish - have been linked to depression, while a lack of essential fats are also believed to be linked to schizophrenia.

Researchers said that people were now eating less fresh fruit, vegetables and fish than 30 years ago and were instead consuming more saturated fat and sugar.

The reports also found that the way food is produced and manufactured today was also changing the amount of essential fats, vitamins and minerals in food. The research blamed the increase in industrial farming and the use of pesticides for a change in the body fat composition in animals, which led to people consuming more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "We are only just beginning to understand how the brain, as an organ, is influenced by the nutrients it derives from the foods we eat and how our diets have an impact on our mental health."

Courtney Van de Weyer, a report researcher from Sustain, said: "Unless there us a radical overhaul of food and farming policies there won't be healthy and nutritious foods available in the future for people to eat."

(KMcA)