Nutritionist Claire Turnbull has struggled with depression and anxiety since she was 19. Photo: Supplied
Learning about the relationship between food and mood has been a very personal journey for nutritionist Claire Turnbull. She's struggled with depression and anxiety since her late teens, and says that 20 years ago, the impact of lifestyle on mental health wasn't really talked about.
"I was diagnosed with depression, originally, for the first time when I was 19 years old, after some very, very dark times, and yeah, trying to make the wrong choices with a bottle of vodka and some pills. I just knew that I wasn't coping. My friend marched me to the doctor ... and I was started on medication.
"Back then, there was not much said. It was basically 'You're clearly depressed, here's medication, off you go'."
Throughout her 30s and now 40s, Turnbull says she's had good and not-so-good phases. It's really important that we acknowledge and accept that depression and anxiety aren't conditions that "go away", she says.
"It's something that you can manage but you'll often go through times where things aren't so great. That's kind of normal and I think that normalising those ups and downs is really important."
Turnbull, who has suffered from depression and post-natal anxiety, says it’s important to acknowledge that mental health issues are normal.
“If you struggle with depression or anxiety, or you're struggling in general, it's not something that will just go away. It's something that you can manage, but you'll often go through times where things aren't so great. That's kind of normal. And I think that normalising those ups and downs is really important.”
Turnbull says listening to our bodies - and recognising the signs and symptoms of creeping stress - is key to managing how we feel.
“In this busy modern world, we rely on apps, we rely on someone to write the diet plan or tell us what to think or do, but our body is incredibly clever.
“If we tune into the signals that it gives us, there's a lot of warnings in there.”
There's no cheating sleep, Turnbull says. Photo: Jamie Street / Unsplash
Sleep is the foundation of good health
All adults need seven to nine hours sleep a night and the more consistent that sleep is, the better, Turnbull says.
“There is, statistically speaking, zero percent of people that can get away with less than that without having some impact on their health.
“Your body works on a rhythm, ok? And it doesn't understand weekends. It doesn't understand shift work, unfortunately. It doesn't understand inconsistency. The more consistent you can be with the time that you go to bed and the time you wake up the easier is for your body to get in a pattern.”
A busy mind is sleep’s greatest enemy. Engaging in the physical act of writing down the stuff in your head onto a piece of paper – ideally in a room that’s not your bedroom – is a huge help to quieten your thoughts at bedtime, Turnbull says.
“There’s really good evidence about the value of putting pen to paper. It's not as good on a phone or just tracking it down.”
Sleep is when the body “cleans up”, Turnbull says.
“It basically goes through this whole other process, and it reduces your risk of all sorts of different health conditions - heart disease, cancer, all of the things are pretty much reduced when you are getting adequate sleep. So we need to stop thinking that we're lazy or that sleep is something that you can tack on. It is fundamental to your mental and physical well being.”
Sleeping in on the weekends isn’t enough to make up for bad sleep during the week, she says.
“It’s quite nice sometimes to lie in bed for a little bit longer. But really, you can't cheat. You can't cheat your body. If you binge and make up two or three hours that weekend, it doesn't make up for the loss of benefit that you over the week you haven't.
Getting outside in natural light as soon as we wake helps regulate our body clocks, Turnbull says. Photo: Pablo Heimplatz / Unsplash
Get outside as soon as you wake up
Humans are diurnal – meant to be awake during the day and asleep at night – but spending too much time inside exposed to artificial lighting messes has “screwed” with our systems, Turnbull says.
“Early morning light is really important to tell your brain it's daytime, and then dark, dim lights at night.”
Experts recommend getting outside within the first hour of waking (depending on light levels) to tell your brain that it’s daytime, Turnbull says.
Nap at the wrong time and it'll be curtains for a good night's rest. Photo: Alexander Grey / Unsplash
Get naps right
“The sleep cycle for an adult is around about 90 minutes, so if you sit on the couch or lie in bed for 60 minutes, and wake up, you'll feel dreadful because you've kind of woken yourself up right in the middle.
“You’re almost better to have a little 20-25 minutes to top you up and then you haven't gone into that deep, deep sleep or a full 90 minutes and get that whole cycle.”
Napping has a place for some people, such as shift workers, Turnbull says, but take care not to nap too close to when you’re planning to have your “big sleep”.
“If you fall asleep on the couch while you're watching the TV at 7.30pm, even for half an hour, and you wonder why you're still awake at one o'clock in the morning, that’s why.”
Poor sleep often equals poor food choices
“If you are tired, your appetite hormones are dysregulated, you are much more likely to crave salty and sugary foods. You’re literally powerless because your body is going ‘no no, I do need that doughnut’.
“We really do have to deal with the sleep first because if you don't deal with that someone has not got the motivation to exercise. No one's got the motivation to plan their meals. Sleep is really fundamental to everything when we're trying to manage our wellbeing.”
Five or six handfuls of vegetables a day will boost mental and physical health, Turnbull says. Photo: Anna Pelzer / Unsplash
What you eat DOES make a difference
“When we're not getting five or six handfuls of vegetables a day and getting some fruit in there, people are more likely to struggle with depression and low mood because of the vitamins, minerals, nutrients that exist in that space.”
If price is a barrier, frozen vegetables are just as good as fresh ones, Turnbull says.
“Anything you can do to increase your vegetable consumption will really support your mental wellbeing.”
Omega 3 fatty acids are also crucial for brain health and can have an impact on mood, too.
“You don't make those yourself within your body, you actually have to have them. And that's why in countries where people live a long time, there are low rates of depression and anxiety, they tend to eat a lot of oily fish.”
Canned fish – salmon, sardines, mackerel – is a rich source of these nutrients, Turnbull says. Supplements aren’t a replacement for a balanced diet, but used strategically they can help if you’re struggling to get the necessary nutrition from food sources.
Feeling anxious? Too much caffeine could be the culprit. Photo: 123RF
Be mindful about caffeine
“People have got incredibly different levels of tolerance to caffeine. You might have a cup of tea and feel a little bit jittery and it affects your mood, and for me, I could have six and I'd be fine. For anybody that is struggling and feeling a little bit anxious, definitely reviewing your caffeine is a really, really good step.”
Smoothies are more calorific than people realise, Turnbull says. Photo: 123RF
Smoothies aren’t as good for you as you might think
Turnbull says she’s not anti-smoothies, but says people should be aware that it’s easy to accidentally to consume far more calories in a smoothie than you would if you were eating the non-blended ingredients.
“Part of what signals to your brain that you are full is the process of chewing.
“If you ate half a mango, an apple, half a banana and a cup of milk and yoghurt, you feel pretty full because you did the chewing. But when you blend those up, you don't feel as full for as long.”
Cut yourself some slack
Turnbull says she regularly sees people giving themselves a hard time for eating poorly or not looking after themselves.
“That’s actually almost worse, because it's the negative self-talk, but it really is the world that we live in is so unreasonable, really, and so unhelpful when it comes to supporting our wellbeing in general and that cannot be underestimated.
“It's about doing the best you can most of the time, starting with your sleep. And then making it as easy as possible for you to make healthier choices.
“It's not about never eating sugar, never having a glass of wine. You know, never doing anything like that. A lot of people get very anxious when they are hyper focusing on what they're eating all the time and that's not healthy either. So, have a bit of balance in there.”
