Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pervasiveness of mental health disorders was on the rise globally. Likewise, diet-related conditions -- including obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease -- are becoming more prevalent worldwide. In addition, there is now clear consensus that the quality, quantity, and even timing of our human feeding patterns directly impact how brains function. But despite the epidemiological and mechanistic links between mental health and diet-related diseases, these two are often perceived as separate medical issues. At present, public health messaging and clinical treatments for mental health conditions place relatively little emphasis on formulating nutrition to ameliorate the underlaying drivers of mental health conditions. Fortunately, there is increased recognition that mental health disorders are, at least in part, a form of diet-related disease. While this community goes by many names (“Food as Medicine,” “Nutritional Psychiatry,” “Metabolic Medicine” to name a few) and employs an even more diverse array of practices, they share the common perspective that human diet, metabolism, and mental health are intertwined and that to treat the mental health crisis most comprehensively and effectively we need to place diet and metabolism at the forefront of clinical discussion and scientific research.

The goal of this Research Topic is to investigate the mechanistic interplay between dietary patterns and mental health conditions. This primary aim is intentionally broad in scope so as to be inclusive of all submissions that demonstrate the importance of diet in treating mental health diseases. We are open to submissions in the realms of clinical medicine or basic science research, treatment or prevention, the biological overlap between typical diet-related disease and mental health, the bidirectional interaction between cognition/mental health and eating patterns, etc. Similarly, we will entertain a diverse set of manuscript types, including interventional trials, clinical case series or reports, reviews, hypotheses, or perspectives pieces. All submissions must include a rigorous scientific discussion of the metabolic effects of diet and how this relates to mental health and provide a perspective that could be useful for physicians, patients, or policymakers in advancing the message that mental health conditions are diet-related diseases.

We specifically encourage submissions addressing the following topics:

• Interaction between metabolic health and mental health

• Specific dietary patterns, including Carbohydrate-restriction, Carnivory, Ketogenic diets, Mediterranean diet, Veganism, Whole food plant-based diets (these are alphabetized, not in order or priority)

• Sugar or processed food addiction

• Inpatient dietary provisions, including patients receiving intensive care

• Circadian rhythms, meal timing, and intermittent fasting

• Microbiome

• Structural factors and social determinants of metabolic and mental health

• Effects of diet on neuropharmacology

• Effects of diet on brain energy metabolism

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Frontiers in Psychiatry

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