Dietary factors affecting cognitive and sleep disorders

Abstract

Globally, there has been a substantial rise in the prevalence of mental disorders, including cognitive and affective disorders, having a considerable impact on sleep and life quality. Attributable to the lack of effective treatment of some of this conditions, lifestyle, behavioral and dietary factors gained a great attention given their modifiable nature and possible implication in the pathogenesis of mental disorders. A great body of evidence indicates that in the last decades an escalation of overnutrition as a consequence of the transition from traditional dietary patterns, based on fresh and plant-based foods, in favor to Western-like dietary patterns, rich in high-calorie processed and ultra-processed foods, has been observed. Unarguably, such diets, low in plant-based foods rich in bioactive compounds, shown to be beneficial for the central nervous system through modulation of various pathways controlling brain signaling and homeostasis, may have been one of the leading contributors to the sudden rise in the prevalence of mental disorders. Consistently, a greater intake of calorie-dense foods causing an alteration in hormonal homeostasis in the context of glucose metabolism and adiponectin regulation, has been recognized as a risk factor for mental health, as least partially mediated by the direct link to the global rise in the prevalence of obesity. Brain disorders are among leading causes of non-communicable diseases and shortened lifespan and therefore public health advocates need to address and apply the recent developments in food science to propose population guidelines for mental health prevention.