Blaming Depression on Eating Habits Invites Mental Health Stigma
So-called mood food has a moral dilemma
They started turning up in late summer 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, and they haven’t gone away: article upon article about “mood food.” The basic claim goes like this: Your stressful feelings and moods are the result of your eating habits, and you can fix them yourself.
“Food is Mood,” say Kim A. Gorgens, PhD, ABPP, and Mia Baumgartner for the Rheumatology Network. Over at Delish, recipes are on offer for “Mood Boosting Food to Put a Spring In Your Step.” And companies like California-based NURA USA are pushing products like CLEANMOOD for serotonin uplift (it isn’t a drug, but a food based extract).
Some of the recommendations make good sense. Dieticians have long claimed that certain foods help us have more energy, boost immunity, and stay in good health. Fish with omega-3 fatty acids provide essential nutrients; walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, and lean proteins are good for you, too. And of course, experts also tell us to avoid sugar and processed foods, which tend to pump you up quickly and then lead to a crash. But while punchy eat-your-way-out-of-depression articles aren’t new, these concepts have made significant inroads into public consciousness and, more problematically, into psychiatry as well —…
