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Nutritional psychiatry · Evidence library
What you eat talks to your brain through your gut, your immune system and your nerves. This page gathers what peer-reviewed research shows about food, the gut, inflammation, depression and anxiety, and gives you a tracker to notice your own patterns.
Notice how what you eat lines up with how you feel. Log meals, mood, energy and gut comfort, then bring the summary to your next session. There's no calorie counting here, just patterns.
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Foods with research behind them for mental health. Each card shows what the food provides, what it's been linked to, and how strong the evidence is. Tap a number to see the study.
Salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, anchovies
Omega-3 EPA & DHA · vitamin D · protein
Meta-analyses of trials found omega-3s help depressive symptoms, most clearly with EPA-rich formulas 6, and are associated with lower anxiety 7. EPA-rich omega-3 is a recommended add-on for depression in international guidelines 25.
The main fat in a Mediterranean-style diet
Polyphenols · monounsaturated fats
A core food in the diets used in the SMILES and HELFIMED trials, which improved depression 12. Mediterranean-style eating is linked with lower depression risk 4 and a less inflammatory diet 24.
Walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, chia, flaxseed
Magnesium · zinc · plant omega-3 · fibre
Part of both Mediterranean trial diets 1. In the large PREDIMED trial, a Mediterranean diet with added nuts showed a trend to lower depression risk, significant in people with type 2 diabetes 5.
Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, edamame
Prebiotic fibre · folate · magnesium · plant protein
Recommended several times a week in the SMILES diet 1, and part of a "psychobiotic" diet that lowered perceived stress in healthy adults 10.
Spinach, kale, broccoli, rocket, capsicum
Folate · magnesium · fibre · antioxidants
Across many population studies, eating more vegetables and fruit is linked with lower depression risk 8. A daily staple in the trial diets 1.
Blueberries, strawberries, citrus, kiwi fruit
Polyphenols · vitamin C · fibre
Linked with lower depression risk in pooled population studies 8. Their polyphenols are part of what makes a dietary pattern less inflammatory 24.
Plain yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, kombucha
Live microbes · microbial by-products
A 10-week high-fermented-food diet increased gut microbe diversity and lowered inflammatory markers 9. Daily fermented foods were part of the diet that reduced stress 10. Research on direct mental health effects is still early 11.
Onion, garlic, leek, asparagus, oats, wholegrains, green banana
Fibres that feed gut bacteria
A prebiotic supplement lowered the morning stress-hormone response in healthy volunteers 12. Prebiotic vegetables were central to the psychobiotic diet 10.
Pumpkin seeds, spinach, black beans, dark chocolate, wholegrains
Magnesium
In an open-label trial, magnesium supplements improved mild-to-moderate depression within weeks 14. Food sources are a sensible first step.
Oily fish, eggs, UV-exposed mushrooms, safe sunlight
Vitamin D
A meta-analysis of trials found vitamin D supplements reduced negative emotions, with more benefit in people who were depressed or low in vitamin D 15. Ask your GP to check your level.
Fresh or ground turmeric, with black pepper and fat
Curcumin
Small trials of curcumin supplements, mostly added to usual treatment, found improvements in depressive symptoms 13. Cooking amounts are far below trial doses.
Packaged snacks, sugary drinks, processed meats, fast food
Refined starch · added sugar · additives · low fibre
A large umbrella review in the BMJ graded the link between ultra-processed food and anxiety and common mental disorders among its strongest findings, with highly suggestive evidence for depression 16.
Your gut holds trillions of microbes that help digest food, train your immune system and make compounds your brain responds to.
The gut and brain talk in both directions. Signals travel through the vagus nerve, the gut's own nervous system, the immune system, and through how gut microbes handle tryptophan, the building block of serotonin 17. Stress, diet and early life all shape which microbes live there 17.
In two large population cohorts, people with depression had fewer of certain butyrate-producing bacteria, even after accounting for antidepressant use 18.
A meta-analysis of controlled trials found probiotics had a small but real effect on depression and anxiety symptoms. Prebiotic supplements on their own showed little effect 19.
In a pilot trial of adults with major depression who were already on antidepressants, adding a multi-strain probiotic improved depression and anxiety more than placebo, and was well tolerated 20. International guidelines give probiotics a provisional recommendation as an add-on for depression 25.
In a Stanford trial, adults who ate more fermented foods for 10 weeks gained gut microbe diversity and had lower levels of many inflammatory proteins. A high-fibre diet did not change diversity in that time 9. A diet rich in fermented foods, prebiotic vegetables, legumes and wholegrains reduced perceived stress in healthy adults 10.
Low-grade inflammation is a quiet, body-wide immune activation. For a meaningful group of people with depression, it's part of the picture.
Inflammatory signals can change how the brain makes and uses neurotransmitters, and affect circuits involved in motivation and threat. That makes inflammation a possible treatment target in depression 22.
A review in BMC Medicine traced where this inflammation comes from. Candidates include poor diet, excess weight, smoking, physical inactivity, poor sleep, low vitamin D, stress and changes in gut permeability 23. Most of these can change.
Diet is one of the most modifiable. In a meta-analysis, people eating the most pro-inflammatory diets had a higher risk of depression than those eating the least 24. Anti-inflammatory patterns are rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, wholegrains, olive oil, nuts and fish. Pro-inflammatory ones lean on refined starch, sugar, fried and processed foods.
This is why I work with GPs to look at blood markers like CRP alongside how you're feeling.
Nutrition doesn't replace therapy or medication. The evidence says it can meaningfully add to them.
The SMILES trial was the first randomised trial to test diet as a treatment for major depression. After 12 weeks of a modified Mediterranean diet with dietitian support, about a third of participants were in remission, compared with fewer than one in ten who had social support alone 1.
The HELFIMED trial found similar gains from a Mediterranean diet plus fish oil 2. Pooling 16 trials, improving diet reduced depressive symptoms 3, and observational data link Mediterranean-style eating with lower risk of developing depression 4.
The evidence is thinner. Pooled diet trials didn't show a clear effect on anxiety overall 3. Omega-3s were associated with lower anxiety, especially at higher doses and in people with a diagnosis 7. Probiotics showed small effects 19, and ultra-processed food is strongly linked with anxiety 16.
The 2022 WFSBP and CANMAT guidelines reviewed nutraceuticals for mental health. They support some, such as EPA-rich omega-3s for depression, and advise against others where evidence is weak or negative 25. Supplements can interact with medication, so talk to your GP, pharmacist or me before starting.
A practical plan drawn from the trials above. Start with one step and build.
Vegetables and wholegrains daily, legumes several times a week, a handful of nuts, olive oil as your main fat 1.
For EPA and DHA. If you don't eat fish, ask about an EPA-rich supplement 625.
Replace packaged snacks and sugary drinks one at a time with whole-food options 16.
Ask your GP about vitamin D, iron, B12, folate and CRP, so we're not guessing 1521.
Use the tracker above for two weeks and bring the summary to a session. Patterns are easier to act on together.
Every claim on this page links to a peer-reviewed study or clinical guideline. Links open the journal record.
This page is general education, not personal medical advice. Nutrition can support mental health care but doesn't replace it. Don't stop or change any medication without talking to your doctor. If you're in crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 000 in an emergency (in the US, call or text 988).