Clinicians

Diet is now a recognised modifiable risk factor in the prevention and treatment of mental illness.

The recently updated Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders included addressing lifestyle factors, including supporting a healthy diet, as a foundation for the treatment of mood disorders, describing this step as “essentially non-negotiable”.

These new clinical guidelines are the first in the world to recognise the importance of diet to mental health and they represent a critical step in translating the evidence into practical tools for you to use with your patients.

Mood Food is an online evidence-based program, developed and delivered by Accredited Practising Dietitians.

There is a six and a twelve week program which has been designed in line with the recommendations from the SMILES trial. The SMILES’ trial was the first randomised control trial conducted in Australia which showed that 32% of individuals with moderate to severe depression go into complete remission after twelve weeks of following a Modi-Mediterranean diet.

Important findings from the SMILE’s trial include:

The degree of improvement in mental health correlated with the degree of dietary change made by individuals

Participants were able to make changes despite the pessimism of their health care providers and they liked having something that was in their control.

An economic evaluation showed there were massive cost savings for the individual through less time lost out of role and less money spent on healthcare

The Modi-Mediterranean diet was cheaper than the average Australian diet

There have since been another two randomised control trials held in Australia. The HELFIMED study which implemented a Mediterranean dietary intervention in a group setting and the AMMEND study which was conducted with young males aged 18-24 who are a high risk group for poor mental health. Both of these studies had very similar results to the SMILES trial with around 30% of the group going into complete remission from depression.

Based on this evidence we recommend that the Mood Food program is used as a first line treatment therapy for depression or alternatively it can be used in conjunction with existing treatments to improve mental health outcomes.

If you would like us to visit your clinic in person or online to present on this topic or if you would like to try the Mood Food program for yourself: