Doctor, psychiatry specialist, postgraduate in Nutrology, and with extensive experience in treating obesity, explains how this discovery has been transforming people's lives.
Did you know that the way your thoughts are directed can have an impact on your body?
Physical and mental health are directly connected. Often, people fall into the endless yo-yo effect because they neglect something essential: the mind. The way you think, act, and feel influences both weight gain and loss.
“The old weight loss method, focused solely on highly restrictive diets and strenuous physical exercise, does not promote healthy and lasting weight loss,” explains Dr. Mayara Cezario, psychiatrist at the Center for Assistance and Research in Eating Disorders at UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro).
Sleep quality, gut health, and how someone relates to others can all affect the weight loss process. Nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry has become a powerful tool to help those seeking both a healthy mind and body.
Nutritional psychiatry is not yet recognized as a medical specialty, but it has become a standout approach by integrating physical and mental health. Through this field, individualized plans are created to restore both the patient's physical and mental well-being.
“It’s about seeing the human being as a whole, without limiting them to just the physical or mental aspects,” says Dr. Mayara Cezario, a psychiatrist with an extensive career and recipient of the Female Personality Award, The Health Awards, and the European Quality Award — all received in 2024.
Just as mental health resonates in physical changes, the body's health directly impacts mental well-being. A diet with fewer packaged foods and more natural, whole ingredients can significantly help manage anxiety, for example. In other words, the less processed foods you consume and the more fruits, vegetables, and greens you include, the result will be a healthier diet and a calmer mind.
“Combining a personalized lifestyle plan with the correct prescriptions for supplements and medications, when necessary, leads to effective treatment of both obesity and mental disorders,” concludes Dr. Mayara Cezario.
Comments