Food, mood and mental health: the role of targeted nutrients

Discover how targeted nutrients and integrative care can support mental health—enhancing treatments and building everyday resilience.

Mental health is something Australians can’t afford to keep on the back burner. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that one in five of us experienced a mental disorder in the past year, and 43% of Australians have experienced a mental illness at some point in their lives. That’s millions of people living with anxiety, depression or other concerns – sometimes quietly, sometimes while holding together jobs, families and bills.

When you’re struggling, the usual advice – therapy, medication, meditation – can feel overwhelming, like too many tabs open on your laptop. What often slips under the radar is nutrition. Not gimmicky powders or superfood hype, but specific nutrients that can support your brain and body while you work through mental health challenges. This is an integrated approach: using nutrition and targeted supplements alongside prescribed care to help treatments work better and sometimes ease side effects, under professional guidance.

This isn’t about swapping kale for counselling. It’s about having more than one tool at hand – combining professional care with food strategies that can help you feel steadier and more resilient.

The strain on families

For parents of young children, the mental load can be relentless. Around one in five women face anxiety or depression during pregnancy or after birth, and recovery is rarely straightforward. Sleepless nights, financial stress and the sheer weight of responsibility can make it hard to access or afford regular support.

For many families, the challenge goes beyond managing symptoms. Financial strain, lack of support and the demands of caring for young children can all make it harder to get consistent help. That’s why approaches that sit alongside conventional care – like targeted nutrition – can be so valuable.

Why bring nutrition into the picture?

These days, mental health support usually involves a team – psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, occupational therapists. Increasingly, naturopaths and nutritionists are part of that circle of trust too.

They look at the whole body, not just the brain. Gut health, for example, is closely linked to mood and cognitive function. If your digestion is off or your microbiome is unbalanced, your mental wellbeing may suffer too. By considering sleep, diet, lifestyle and even medication side effects, practitioners can design a plan that works with your biology, not against it.

They can also work with your prescriptions, looking for ways nutrition might ease side effects or even improve how well treatments do their job – always with your doctor’s oversight.

The aim is to give your prescribed treatments the best chance to succeed and, importantly, to give you tools you can use outside the clinic in day-to-day life.

The rise of nutritional psychiatry

There’s now a field called nutritional psychiatry, exploring how diet influences mental health. Researchers are asking questions like: How do vitamins and minerals affect the brain’s chemical messengers? Can certain nutrients protect the blood–brain barrier and reduce inflammation linked to anxiety or depression? Could amino acids play a role in lowering the frequency of panic attacks?

Practitioners point out there’s room for some element of nutritional psychiatry in almost every care plan. Stress is a constant in modern life, and symptoms of anxiety or low mood can creep in even for those without a formal diagnosis. By supporting neurotransmitters and protecting neural pathways, the right mix of nutrients may help reduce the risk of more severe episodes developing.

This isn’t about replacing medication or therapy but about giving those treatments extra support. As awareness grows, so does curiosity about how targeted supplements – and in some cases certain herbs – can safely complement prescribed medications. For many, that curiosity comes with something else: a sense of agency. Paying attention to how food affects mood, energy and focus helps people build tools to manage daily life, especially when grappling with ongoing stress, depression or anxiety.

Building a plan that fits you

Scroll through social media and you’ll see endless claims that a trending adaptogen or green powder can “fix” mental health. But real life is far more individual. Qualified practitioners spend much of their time untangling misinformation. Instead of offering one-size-fits-all fixes, they look at the bigger picture – your diet, lifestyle, medications and sometimes even genetic factors. From there, they devise a nutrient plan that’s safe, practical and targeted.

Targeted nutrients don’t always mean supplements. Sometimes it’s as straightforward as making sure you’re eating enough protein to supply amino acids, which are the building blocks of neurotransmitters. Or loading your plate with leafy greens, a natural source of folate – a vitamin tied to brain health. The aim isn’t to pile up bottles in your cupboard, but to find the fewest interventions that make the biggest difference.

For families or individuals already stretched financially or emotionally, this kind of integrated strategy can be a lifeline – strengthening conventional treatment without demanding major extra costs or commitments.

Taking the first step

If you’re curious about how food might support your mental health, start by talking to a professional. A naturopath, nutritionist or GP who understands integrative care can help you cut through the noise and figure out what’s safe and useful for you.

And if mushroom gummies pop up on your feed promising instant calm, take it with a pinch of salt. Mental health deserves more than viral quick fixes – it deserves evidence, genuine care and a plan tailored to you.