title: Nutritional Factors Affecting Mental Health.
abstract: Dietary intake and nutritional status of individuals are important factors affecting mental health and the development of psychiatric disorders. Majority of scientific evidence relating to mental health focuses on depression, cognitive function, and dementia, and limited evidence is available about other psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. As life span of human being is increasing, the more the prevalence of mental disorders is, the more attention rises. Lists of suggested nutritional components that may be beneficial for mental health are omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids, cholesterol, niacin, folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. Saturated fat and simple sugar are considered detrimental to cognitive function. Evidence on the effect of cholesterol is conflicting; however, in general, blood cholesterol levels are negatively associated with the risk of depression. Collectively, the aims of this review are to introduce known nutritional factors for mental health, and to discuss recent issues of the nutritional impact on cognitive function and healthy brain aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea .
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea .
authors.forename: Eun Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea .
authors.forename: Arang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul Women's University, Seoul 01797, Korea .
authors.forename: Hee Jae
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul Women's University, Seoul 01797, Korea .
authors.forename: Hyun Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul Women's University, Seoul 01797, Korea .
authors.forename: Soo Jin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7892-7648
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Cognitive function; Dementia; Depression; Healthy brain aging; Mental health