Episode 26: Understanding the Relationship Between Mental Health, Hormones and Nutrition

On this week’s episode of the Health Ignited Podcast, Drs. Nick and Sonya discuss the intricate relationships between our hormones, mental health, nutrition and self care practices. This conversation provides an overview on the effect of trauma, chronic stress, and an imbalanced diet on our physiological responses, as well as an invitation to more closely observe your experience in order to deepen your understanding of the relationship between your own body and mind.

Our thoughts, feelings, and expectations of ourselves and others can become cumbersome and dictate far too much of our experience when we begin to heavily identify with them. Emotional reactivity and activation of the fight or flight response will ultimately signal the release of different hormones (cortisol, for one), and can also begin to deplete those more grounding, nurturing hormones (like progesterone for women), creating an imbalance in the body. The doctors also discuss the long-term impacts of using different SSRIs and antidepressants, which interfere with testosterone and progesterone, as well as our deep sleep brain waves that help us to move through life with more ease and joy. Additionally, it is not uncommon for menopausal women to be misdiagnosed with depression or anxiety while going through menopause, as the natural shifts in hormone production can affect mood, energy levels and motivation.

Many of us will gravitate toward comfort food when facing life’s challenges. Emotional eating might feel like a comfort blanket in the moment, but when we too frequently reach for foods that are over processed, high sugar, or contain high fructose corn syrup, the gut microbiome becomes affected by an overgrowth of certain microbes, altering brain physiology and epigenetic signalling in the gut and brain. The resulting inflammatory response will affect our choices and behaviour (by influencing neuropeptides in the brain); the body will then be tasked with managing this inflammation and won’t be able to focus as much energy on repair and growth.

This emotional and physiological interplay can be quite complex, and it’s for these reasons that Drs. Nick and Sonya want to encourage us to be mindful observers of our complete experience, rather than making assumptions about what these responses say about us at a deeper level. Fortunately, there are tools and practices available to all of us (getting out in nature, connecting with loved ones, meditation and breath work) that can influence our state of consciousness and help us to feel less impacted by the ups and downs of our emotional experience. Tune into this valuable talk on parts of the human experience that impact all of us in our own unique ways, viewing the relationship of hormones, nutrition and mental health through a holistic, naturopathic lens.