Food and Mental Illness

A couple of reports just came out in England linking increased rates of mental illness to diets in modern societies. Um, whatever. Here's a press report. What drives me wild about such assertions isn't that eating well and eating regularly is a good adjunctive treatment for depression and bipolar disorder, for example. That's a big duh. But what makes me deeply suspicious of these kinds of assertions is that they are generally made by special-interest groups (as both of these are), that they are wildly sweeping in their conclusions and that the media swallows their claims. One of the reports claims, in essence, that much mental illness is caused by people eating junk food as opposed to nuts and plants. It is another public health "linking" study. It'd be nice if they could actually back that up with an actual research study that actually proves the case instead of relying on social analysis that proves little but is used to raise alarm for the food freaks' attack on "the obesity epidemic." I'm convinced that at the heart of such thinking is a desire to take society down the road to vegetarianism. Last time I checked, schizophrenia still occurred in India.

The proposition is an interesting one. There is decent research out there that establishes some kind of connection between Omega-3 depletion and depression. But the evidence the advocates possess simply does not support sweeping declarations like:

"Mental health has been completely neglected by those working on food policy. If we don't address it and change the way we farm and fish, we may lose the means to prevent much diet-related ill health."

I know what's behind this thinking: another angle for food activists to take on the evil of food served children. I only wish I were making that up:

"We need mentally healthy school meals, and mentally healthy hospital foods."

I have no doubt that the food freaks over here will soon adopt a similar line. I also bet that the American media will bite.

NOTE: I am not at all opposed to vegetarian and vegan diets. I have tried both. What I am opposed to is having their basal ideologies used as a basis to attack traditional diets in this and other countries, since I remain unconvinced of the alleged health benefits of veganism, for example. I am also deeply opposed to efforts by food freaks in this country to regulate diet with the force of law.