“Eating specific foods doesn’t replace the other proven treatments for the condition, but it can be an addition to treatment that can have some benefit,” says April Hackert, RDN, a psychiatric culinary medicine dietitian who specializes in nutrition therapy for people with mental health conditions.
“The food choices a person makes each day impact their mental health, [as] the human brain requires certain nutrients,” says Hackert. “The ability to effectively use behavioral coping skills is rooted in the biological health of the brain.”
“Some nutrients help our brain to function optimally,” explains Shebani Sethi, MD, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, and the founding director of Stanford Metabolic Psychiatry. Those nutrients, she notes, include:
“This diet has shown promise in stabilizing neural networks and reducing psychiatric symptoms, highlighting the impact of nutrition on mental health,” says Sethi.
“I think we kind of do a disservice to patients and miss an opportunity when we don’t talk about food,” says nutritional psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, MD, founder of the Brain Food Clinic, an integrative mental health clinic offering patients dietary assessment, psychotherapy, and medication management via telehealth, and author of the upcoming book Healing the Modern Brain: Nine Tenets to Build Mental Fitness and Revitalize Your Mind.
Although no specific evidence-based diet for schizophrenia exists, experts believe these five foods could benefit people with the condition:
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