A recent study from the University of Reading has uncovered some surprising links between what you eat and how your brain works, especially when it comes to feeling anxious or depressed. Here’s a breakdown of what they found and why it matters.

What the Study Discovered

This study is the first of its kind to directly look at how the quality of our diet affects our brain’s chemistry. They tested 30 adults who were split into two groups: one group followed a high-quality diet (like the Mediterranean diet), while the other group ate a poorer diet. 

The researchers used brain scans to check out the participants’ brain structure and found something pretty eye-opening. People who ate a poor-quality diet had lower levels of a brain chemical called GABA, higher levels of another chemical called glutamate, and less gray matter in the brain. Gray matter is the part of your brain that’s important for memory and emotions. These changes are commonly linked to feeling anxious and ...