Cold-Pressed Juice and Mental Health: The Role of Nutrients in Mood

Mental health is a serious thing. We’d never say that you can solve your problems by eating or drinking it away. We’d always recommend talking to a friend, family member, or even a therapist. That being said, there are ways you might be able to support it or help your journey along. This stems from the saying: You are what you eat. If you keep drinking soda, that’s not good for you in more ways than one. You could gain weight, have a sugar crash, and just affect your mental health. Sugar does increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. See what we mean?

So juicing for mental health may not be the end-all-be-all solution, but it could help. We’ll run down a few reasons why down below! Soon you’ll be drinking juice for stress relief. It couldn’t hurt!

Juicing Therapy?

Antioxidants

What are antioxidants? These are compounds that protect your body and cells from oxidative stress. Vitamins A, C, and E are considered antioxidants and so are beta-carotene, selenium, flavonoids, and polyphenols. How does oxidative stress connect to mental health? Well, antioxidants help reduce inflammation and protect brain cells. No cell damage = healthy brain function.

A little more about oxidative stress - Some studies support that it contributes to mood disorders, including depression. Antioxidants may help balance your mood (aka mood regulation) by reducing oxidative damage to the brain. 

Fun fact: Berries, leafy greens, and nuts are some of the foods classified as rich in antioxidants. Also, celery juice for anxiety can help because it’s rich in antioxidants. 

Magnesium

Sometimes when people feel down, some people will say to sleep it off. And we did some digging - turns out, there's some validity to it. You’ll see magnesium supplements often saying that they help with better sleep and stress relief. How is that? Magnesium helps promote sleep and relaxation by regulating the release of melatonin (if the latter sounds familiar it’s because that’s a hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles). 

Now let’s connect the dots. Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health. Lack of sleep obviously makes you more irritable and moody. If you don’t sleep, you’ll also notice that you can’t pay attention, can’t think, and can’t even absorb information. If you need sleep, consider adding more magnesium to your diet. Maybe you’ll find that your mental health improves along with it. 

Fun fact: Avocados, bananas, spinach, swiss chard, and kale are all foods rich in magnesium, making them some of the best ingredients when making juices for anxiety and depression

Vitamin C

We did say vitamin C is an antioxidant and maybe you think that this section is a little repetitive. But hear us out. Vitamin C has been shown to help reduce cortisol levels. What is that? Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released in response to, well, stress. High levels of cortisol over time can negatively affect mood and contribute to anxiety, depression, and sleep irregularities. By reducing cortisol, vitamin C can help mitigate the effects of stress.

What else? Vitamin C may also help reduce anxiety. Mental health doesn’t mean full-on depression. Sometimes, it’s affected by the most common things. There are layers to mental health, too wide for us to even imagine sometimes. Think anxiety. We all get anxious. If you let it fester and don’t take care of it, it may snowball into something bigger and ruin your mood.

Fun Fact: Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, and lemons help with anxiety as they’re full of vitamin C.

Vitamin D

Did you know vitamin D deficiencies are common? That must have been why our parents would always tell us to go outside and play when we were younger (either that or we were just getting on their nerves). Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin, meaning your body produces it when your skin is exposed to the sun. 

We won’t bore you with repetitive details, just the important ones. Vitamin D may help you reduce stress and regulate your mood. If you’ve read the earlier bits, you know how these can help improve your overall mental health. 

Fun Fact: Apart from sunlight, you can get vitamin D from foods like fatty fish and egg yolks. You may notice a lack of fruits and veggies on this list. While some do have small amounts of vitamin D, you should get them from fortified and supplementary sources - especially if you’re on a plant-based diet. Sad to say, fruits and vegetables aren't naturally rich in vitamin D.

Check Out - Cold Pressed Juice Vs Regular Juice

It’s a Little West Subathon!

It’s all in the nutrients. Unsurprisingly, the nutrients are what give juicing for mental health the edge. Here are some noteworthy ones. Get yours here at Little West.