Beneficial Nutrients for Schizophrenia Patients
There are lots of symptoms and signs of Schizophrenia. Some people may experience a stage where they lose touch with reality. The patients go through long-term treatments to live healthy lives. But some nutritional foods can help too. The intake of specific nutrients has benefited people with schizophrenia. There are suitable foods for schizophrenia with high levels of nutrients that will assist the patients and positively impact their health.
Here is the nutrition plan beneficial for schizophrenia patients.
1. Balancing Blood Sugar Levels
The antipsychotic medications taken by schizophrenia patients can affect blood sugar levels. So, the blood sugar issues are common with schizophrenia patients. If the patients eat foods high in sugar, it can worsen their health. Therefore, they have to eat foods that stabilize their blood sugar. Some best foods for schizophrenia are fresh fruits, nuts, and oatcakes with celery.
2. Increasing the antioxidants
The best nutrition for Schizophrenia patients is antioxidants. Some of the nutrients high in antioxidants are vitamins A, C, and E. These vitamins are beneficial for people with schizophrenia. Particularly, people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia need vitamin C. So eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables can help as they have high amounts of antioxidants.
3. Taking more essential fats
The human brain requires the energy of essential fats. The process of breaking down essential fats is overactive in schizophrenia patients. That is why they need more essential fats as it is quickly lost in their body. Further, schizophrenia patients have less quantity of fat in their brain’s frontal cortex. So the foods for schizophrenia that have essential fats are fish and seeds. They are high in omega-3s and are known to lower the effects of schizophrenia symptoms.
4. Choosing Foods That Supply Niacin
The nutrient that is highly beneficial for schizophrenia patients is niacin. Some of the symptoms of low niacin in the body are sleep disturbance, anxiety, headaches, depression and more. So niacin is important for schizophrenia patients. It offers oxygen supply to the body.
5. Supplying Methylation and Folic acid
Methylation is a process that happens in the brain which helps to balance the right chemicals. For many schizophrenia patients, there is no proper balance. So they need the nutrients such as folic acid. It is known to be effective for patients. Further, folic acid and vitamins like B12 and B6 are good for improving mental health.
6. Having More Foods With Vitamin D
According to research, people who have low vitamin D are at high risk of getting schizophrenia. Therefore, this vitamin also plays an important role in mental health. Patients who have mental illness can consult with their doctor to get vitamin D supplements.