Poor nutrition impacts mood dysregulation in adolescents

Jakarta — A clinical trial from New Zealand has demonstrated that severe emotional disturbance in adolescents can be worsened by something seemingly innocuous, such as nutritional deficiencies in their diet.

According to reporting from the New York Post, in Jakarta on Monday, clinical psychology researcher and psychologist Julia Rucklidge, Ph.D., from the University of Canterbury, tested 132 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years from across New Zealand who exhibited moderate to severe irritability.

In the research, several adolescents were associated with a relatively new condition called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, which according to some estimates affects 5 per cent of children and adolescents in the United States.

The theory posits that micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) will improve temperament and irritability whilst leading to better overall mental health.

Overall, adolescents from both the micronutrient and placebo groups experienced improvements in mood, as observed during weekly consultation calls with a psychologist.

Many participants from both groups also experienced reductions in suicidal ideation, which according to the authors was experienced by approximately one quarter of participants at the beginning of the trial.

Rucklidge explained that this does not necessarily mean the children were deficient in specific nutrients, but rather their condition may be such that they each require more nutritional support than a healthy body system in general.

“If I am truly ill, for example with the flu, then my nutritional requirements will be higher because my immune system needs support. If I am stressed, if many things are happening, my nutritional requirements will be higher in such circumstances,” she explained.

“What happens during adolescence—their brain is undergoing reconstruction, many things are occurring, the metrics are imbalanced. Their nutritional requirements are higher. They are experiencing accelerated growth. Their brain is changing,” Rucklidge said.

When all this growth is driven solely by a diet of ultra-processed foods, a collision of forces occurs that brings about suffering.

However, Rucklidge does not expect everyone to begin consuming supplements indiscriminately. Supplements can indeed be beneficial in certain circumstances, but they are not a panacea.

Rather, she wants this project to serve as a warning that the food environment influences brain development.