In the modern Western culture that society lives in today, there is no doubt that everything goes fast and most Americans don’t have time to cook. This results in a growing fast food industry that sells nothing but fatty, unsustainable, low-nutrients, chemical-packed food. This is one of the main causes of obesity. The human race has become lazy with food and lack interest what goes into their bodies. Food is rarely grown or cooked by one’s self. This causes mental health issues. Not only are our bodies becoming bloated with unnecessary amounts of food, they aren’t getting the correct amount of nutrients that the brain needs to process. This causes low stamina which results in even more health issues.
Shifts away from traditional lifestyles are linked to increased rates of depression and other mental health disorders. Current research proves Traditional Eastern diets not only help with losing weight and keeping the body healthy, but also helps maintaining a healthy mind set. Traditional Eastern diets, mostly from Asian cultures, are rich in proteins and vitamins and it is all natural. The is a 25%-30% lower risk of depression in people in Asia and anyone who adopts their diets. The most beneficial component is the process of fermentation This packs in the health benefits from foods. Fermentation will not only save people’s bodies, but also their minds.
When learning about health foods, such as fermented foods, it’s important to know the chemistry behind it. It is good to know how it affects your body down to the smallest details for a perfect understanding. S. Parvez and H.Y. Kim work through Helix Pharms Co. and Kyung-Hee University. They work in Kyung-Hee University in the Institute of Oriental Medicine and the Graduate School of Interdepartmental Studies. Ah Kang works for Konkuk University in the Department of Molecular Biotechnology.
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They are located in Seoul, South Korea. K.A. Malik is part of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in Islamabad, Pakistan. They all collaborated to release an article titled “Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health”. It reviews the science of fermented food and the benefits of their probiotics. The probiotics of fermented food “may be an avenue to provide a safe, cost effective, and ‘natural’ approach that adds a barrier against microbial infection”. Fermented foods provide palatability, nutritional value, preservatives, and other medicinal properties. They contain microbes that help in the fermentation process and concentrate the nutrients. Microbes’ association with fermented food might (not yet completely proven) effect brain health directly and indirectly.
Microbes act upon dietary items pre-consumption, in turn, the ways in which these fermented items influence the microbiota. Microbiota, microorganisms in our stomach, work hard and absorb the food to make the gut healthy. Most fermented food comes from plants that contain phytochemicals. These are biological active compounds that help fight cancer. These and other chemicals help fight against oxidative stress, which is an imbalance in the systematic manifestation of reactive oxygen species (antioxidants) and biological system’s ability to detoxify or repair damage. As well as cancer, it contributes to diabetes, atherosclerosis, inflammatory conditions, high blood pressure, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging.
When the body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs, it releases lipopolysaccharide endotoxin, or LPS. LPS is released and multiplied causing inflammatory and resorption of mineralized tissue. Systemic LPS can cause chronic neuro-inflammation and progressive neurodegeneration. This can cause mental illnesses from depression all the way to dementia. During this overall bodily stress, an excessive amount of apoptosis occurs. This is the death of cells that occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development. This can cause more body, and less mental, diseases such as cancer.
Oxidative stress and inflammation can directly influence mood, and a combination of both can cause depression. When body-wide elevation of cytokines is active, it causes inflammation of the central nervous system. Cytokines are a category of small proteins that signal the cells around them and effect on the behavior of cells around them through microglia activation. Activated microglia is the resident immune cells of the CNS. Activated microglia facilitates the inflammatory response. This responds to neuronal damage and remove the damaged cells by phagocytosis, or the ingesting of bacteria.
This relates the pathology of diets. Again, everyone knows that eating excessive amounts of processed food and not getting fiber is bad for overall health. But, yet, no one connects it to mental illness. People relate eating bad foods as comforting. “Comfort food” is an issue, especially with Americans. No other country is really able to run to a Publix and buy a bag of Cheetos or mac and cheese. If people are feeling down in other countries, they actually make the food. Why do people crave bad food when they are sad?
Food cravings are caused by a combination of many factors stimulated by environmental cues. When we are sad, stressed, or anxious, our body releases endorphins which help us deal pain. Endorphins causes us to crave foods that will make us happier. Alterations in our endorphin levels increase our food intake. When emotional our bodies release endorphins and crave certain foods. Sugar has an “opiate-like” effect on our brain, which satisfies our emotional needs, and calm down stress or anxiety. Serotonin to help chemically balance the brain after stress and anxiety. Refined carbohydrates gives a temporary flow in serotonin. But, as previously stated, too much refined food causes imbalance and causes health issues. Fermented food fights against this.
