Food for thought: The impact of diet on mental well-being and sleep
Common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, along with their subclinical manifestations, affect millions of people worldwide. Growing evidence from both cross-sectional and clinical studies suggests that specific nutrients, foods, food groups, and dietary patterns may offer beneficial effects against these disorders by influencing key biological pathways, such as inflammation, oxidative stress, the HPA axis, and the gut microbiota. This webinar will explore how diet impacts these pathways and, in turn, shapes mental health and sleep outcomes across various populations.
What will I gain from this webinar?
- You will develop an understanding of the scale of mental and sleep health issues and the need for non-pharmacological approaches (e.g., dietary interventions) to mitigate poor health outcomes
- You will critically assess the strength of evidence from epidemiological and clinical studies on the effects of nutrients and diets on mental and sleep health
- You will be able to describe potential mechanisms through which food and specific nutrients may alter mental and sleep health outcomes.
Curriculum
- 1 Section
- 2 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Food for thought: The impact of diet on mental well-being and sleep2
Instructor
Dr. Piril Hepsomali is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Reading. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on nutritional psychiatry and neuroscience, exploring how diet and nutrients influence mental well-being, sleep, and cognition, with an emphasis on biological and neural mechanisms. She conducts clinical trials on nutritional interventions aimed at improving mental, cognitive, and sleep health outcomes, using a range of techniques across diverse populations, including children, adults, and those with mild cognitive impairment. Dr. Hepsomali’s work is supported by funding from both research councils and industry.
