Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor • May 2019 • From The Editor

The area I grew up in (and currently live) is known as the Ontario tobacco belt. There’s even a Stompin’ Tom Connors song about it. Eventually many farmers switched to growing other crops. Now the area is chock-full of fresh produce. There’s no spring or summer – it’s asparagus season, strawberry and rhubarb season, beans, watermelon, zucchini season. And don’t you dare forget about corn season. According to an Agriculture Canada report, university and government researchers feel that this current “tobacco belt” will be known as the horticultural centre of Ontario by next year.

We know how important food is to our overall health: What we eat affects our hearts, our gut, and for some of us certain foods can be fatal in cases of severe allergic reactions. Now, there’s more and more mounting evidence that what we eat also affects how we feel. Have you or your patients experienced this? Stuffing outselves full of sugar, processed foods and greasy meals. Your brain feels foggy and you’re devoid of energy. Try a week of fresh produce and healthy meals, and you’re level-headed, full of energy and feeling like the best version of yourself. As chiropractors, don’t leave out the importance of basic nutrition when speaking with patients, especially as new research comes to light.

“Nutritional psychology,” or the science of how the foods we eat affect how we feel, posits that we all really can eat ourselves happier. Felice Jacka, head of the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University in Australia, has “amassed evidence from all over the world showing that ‘what we stick in our mouths matters to mental health,’” according to a recent article in The Guardian. Other studies have compared “traditional” diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a typical “Western” diet and have shown that the risk of depression is 25 to 35 per cent lower in those who eat a traditional diet, according to Harvard Health. Traditional diets are associated with less inflammation, since they contain healthy fats, whole grains and fresh produce (as opposed to sugary drinks, processed foods, and large portions associated with a Western diet).

Victoria Coleman touches on the importance of nutrition in her article: Turn to page 23 to read about how a multi-pronged approach (including dietary changes) can help patients with mild cognitive impairments or dementia.