Many people, particularly those concerned with weight loss or heart disease are fearful of fats. Low fat diets – which cut down drastically on all types of fat regularly eaten – run a risk of creating the condition for mental distress. Fats are very important with regard to emotional and mental health, with low levels in the diet being associated with symptoms that range from anxiety and depression to hyperactivity and schizophrenia. Furthermore, in an [...]

Increased cost isn’t the only reason fish consumption has gone down in the Republic of Iceland; another factor is the perception that preparing fish is time consuming. Sigridur Eysteinsdottir is a dietitian in two hospitals, where she addresses this issue by promoting fish as a fast food. “People aren’t spending as much time in the kitchen as before,” she says. Eysteinsdottir explains that in addition to the misperception that cooking fish takes too long, young people [...]

To call the Republic of Iceland a land of extremes is an understatement. Located on a simmering fault line in the North Atlantic Ocean, much of this European island country is marked by deserts, ice caps, volcanoes and lava fields. And while Icelanders enjoy 22 hours of daylight in the summer, winters are cloaked in nearly total darkness. For hundreds of years, the residents of Iceland have made up for this deficit of light and energy [...]

Quinoa Some 90g of quinoa provides your Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of mood-stabilising manganese. Manganese is a mineral found in the human body in very minimal amounts and is a component of the manganese super oxide dismutase enzyme. It is a powerful antioxidant that searches for free radicals in the human body and manages to neutralise these damaging particles and prevents any potential danger they may cause. The body may contain, at most, 20mg of [...]

There are many explanations for the cause-and-effect relationship between food and mood. The following are some examples: Fluctuations in blood sugar levels are associated with changes in mood and energy, and are affected by what we eat. Brain chemicals (neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine) influence the way we think, feel and behave. They can be affected by what we’ve eaten. There can be abnormal reactions to artificial chemicals in foods, such as artificial [...]

Eating the right foods can improve mental health, research suggests. A survey of 200 people found 88% reported that changing their diet improved their mental health significantly. Twenty six per cent said they had seen large improvements in mood swings, 26% in panic attacks and anxiety and 24% in depression. The findings are taken from a survey by the Food and Mood Project – which is backed by the mental health charity Mind. People said [...]

Some of the best minds in the world have partnered with Malaysia in its bid to solve problems in areas such as health nutrition and food security, as part of their work in the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said. The prime minister said through the GSIAC, the government would be working closely with organisations such as the Sackler Institute, which had helped the country tackle among [...]

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant catastrophe was less dangerous than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster – but the risk from radiation spreading wide was a serious concern. The crisis at the Fukushima power station in Japan led to inevitable comparisons with the Chernobyl nuclear incident that killed workers at the plant instantly, caused cancers in the surrounding population and spread radioactive contamination so far that livestock restrictions are still in place at some farms around the [...]

One of the leading eating plans for the past 20 years, the Mediterranean diet, is facing competition from the ‘Nordic diet’, which, scientists are discovering, could be significantly healthier. The research findings have generated excitement among many nutrition experts in the UK as the British climate is more suited to producing the kinds of foods found in Scandinavia than it is to growing the sun-ripened foods of the Mediterranean. Scientists at the University of Copenhagen, [...]

Europeans concerned about possible food-related risks tend to worry more about chemical contamination of food instead of bacterial contamination or health and nutrition issues, according to a Eurobarometer survey, published by the European Commission. Most Europeans have confidence in national and European food-safety agencies as information sources on possible risks associated with food, the poll also shows. ‘Understanding consumers’ perception of risk is critical to providing timely, clear and effective communications regarding food safety,’ said [...]