In America, not enough attention is being brought to the effects nutrition has on mental health and poverty. Due to the amount of food deserts, the lack of nutritional education, and the grueling control economic status places on healthy food consumption, people in lower socioeconomic (SES) populations in the United States are ideal candidates for developing a mental illness(s). In addition they are faced with the increasing chance of developing a number of countless overall health problems and restrictions as well, due to poor diet. If you sit and ponder the idea of what necessities remain detrimental in order to sustain human survival, the answer is clear. Ultimately when it comes down to it, a person's life revolves around two essential necessities to remain alive: those being food and water. People who are living less fortunate amongst us, see food as unpredictable and inconsistent, often leaving them wondering when their next meal will present itself. Although there are many factors that contribute to the development of mental disorders in America, science argues that poor nutrition presents a bidirectional relationship to a person's overall mental health; specifically in lower income citizens. 

When thinking about the correlation between nutrition and mental health, one of the most important things to remember is that what we eat helps our brains emotionally regulate and allow us to function normally within society (Selhub). As a nursing major here at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, I see college students have the late night fast food runs and/or the drunk food creations people generate. As a result, some may be affected by physical weight gain; however, others may not. Notice how if one is not being affected by weight gain physically, what role does food consumption and diet play on one's overall mental health? For instance, if you analyze this outcome in a cause and effect scenario amongst America's lower SES populations, you will notice that the effect of developing a mental illness as a result from poor dietary consumption; ultimately triggers a cause and effect scenario between a person's diet and developing a mental illness (Entin). For example, humans are much like a clock; from the outside we are presented not all the same but hold similar characteristics which distinguish us as a whole. From the inside we run deep, performing many complex intricacies which allow us to sustain a normal daily routine. Every component has to work in sync: from gears, to the pendulum, to the weights which balance everything out. Our bodies are constantly working to sustain life, just like a clock is constantly working to sustain functionality. Visualize the key to the clock, you enter the key and twist right as a result, everything begins to function properly. Similar to poor diet, the food one consumes correlates directly to the 'key' component of human functionality (i.e. the brain). If we apply this visual concept to Dr. Eva Selhub's findings in the article, "Nutritional Psychiatry: Your Brain on Food", we can analyze this concept even further. According to Doctor Selhub, studies have proved that diets which consist of foods mostly which contain high refined sugars tend to increase impaired brain function. Specifically, individuals with mood disorders such as depression, found these type of foods did in fact cause an even worsening effect of their symptoms. On the other hand, foods which contain low amounts of refined sugars such as the foods found in traditional diets, prove a reduction in the risk of depression by a whopping 25-35 percent (Selhub). Certain foods monitor and produce the amount of serotonin levels throughout the human body. The neurotransmitter serotonin presents an interesting relationship with depression; high or low levels can alter a person's mental state and mood completely. Selhub states that serotonin is produced not just by the brain, but by the gastrointestinal tract as well. The gastrointestinal tract is accountable for producing 95 percent of serotonin levels located throughout the human body according to (Selhub). Some of you may be thinking, so why does this present an issue for lower SES citizens? Well, the gastrointestinal tract has two primary responsibilities; to digest the foods you consume and to protect your intestinal tract from the good and bad bacteria. Just like a clock, the gastrointestinal tract works in sync with the brain. The good and bad bacteria found in the gut not only share a bidirectional relationship with a person's mood, but also affects one's mental health. These foods not only cost less, but provide lower income citizens a substantial amount of food for weeks, all while maintaining within a set minimal budget. However with inflation rates on the rise, this stirs a major issue for lower income citizen's mental health and in the years that follow (Selhub). Along with the substantial price differential found in high and low energy dense foods, in America, traditionally we thrive on what is called a "western" diet. Western diets contain processed and refined foods which are high in carbohydrates, refined sugars, and starches (Selhub).Studies have compared "western" diets to "traditional" diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet. Traditional diets eliminate "western" diet staples and are usually high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and seafood, and only few amounts of meats and dairy. Diet posses an issue for lower SES populations because their primary diet consists of "western" diet foods high levels of: carbohydrates, refined sugars, and starches. If people are living in an environment which relies heavily on these food options; possible mental illness development is evident (Jacka et al.). To develop this idea the study "A Western Diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus: a longitudinal study", was conducted. Scientists discovered there is a correlation between hippocampal size and diet in humans (Jacka et al.). The study led to the discovery that "everyone standard deviation increase in healthy "traditional" dietary pattern was associated with a 45.7mm3 larger left hippocampal volume, while higher consumption of an unhealthy "Western" dietary pattern was (independently) associated with a 52.6mm3 smaller left hippocampal volume (Jacka et al.)." The hippocampus is primarily responsible for one's learning, emotions, and memory; these functions are all of which are affected by mental illness. Therefore confirming the argument that the brain's functionality is in fact directly affected by our dietary lifestyles and restrictions. In this case, the people who are being affected mostly is the lower SES population; primarily because of their inability financially to buy these types of foods.  From these findings, one can state that lower income individual who consume unhealthy "western" diet staple foods to survive, could result in a smaller left hippocampal size development. This longitudinal study led scientists to believe there is a direct relationship between hippocampal size and a person's mental state. Therefore proving that dietary patterns in America significantly impact lower income citizen's emotional regulation and their mental functionality within society (Jacka et al.).

Nutrition, while playing an important role on mental health, is only part of the picture because individuals in lower SES populations are more likely to suffer from untreated mental health conditions. The underlying question remains the same, are lower SES populations predisposed to develop a mental illness? Yes, in fact based off the Meta-analysis Socioeconomic Inequalities in Depression study, scientists analyzed a wide range of psychiatric disorders found amongst lower income populations in America (Lorant). Their research lead to discover that "on average the lowest social class is in fact, 2.6 times more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder compared to the higher SES populations (Lorant)." With this being said, there are two dividing categories which influence the chances of developing a psychiatric disorder amongst lower SES populations: environmental (nurture) or genetic (nature). It is important to keep in mind this presents a bidirectional relationship between the lower SES populations poor diet and mental health state.

Genetics is often seen as the primary foundation that relates to the chances of developing a mental disorder. However according to the article, Mental Illness May Be In Your Genes, most of the time developing diseases correlate only to a single gene abnormality, but this is not the case for mental disorders (Lliades). According to Iliades "The De Novo genetic change affect supports that even those who did not inherit a particular gene for mental illness, genes can undergo transformations throughout a person's entire lifespan. "What this is saying is that instead of genes taking on certain abnormalities which not only influence the function of that particular gene individually. These single gene abnormalities could be compared to how a person's genetic sequence for hair type can mutate from straight to curly overtime, but are presented far more complex. These types of genes can influence other genes; resulting in a "trigger effect". Keep in mind this ability for genes to mutate applies to every person in the population, not just those living in lower SES populations. Ultimately we can see how that this "trigger effect" of genes could affect the entire human population as a whole. This is what makes genetics such a threat to developing a mental illness, is that there is still so much left to discover about these types of genes and what causes them to be activated(Lliades).Dr. Nimgaonkar expands how, "schizophrenia is thought to be primarily 75 percent genetic"(Lliades). These gene mutations overtime provide possible ties as to why certain mental disorders such as schizophrenia occur not until significantly later in life. On the other hand, identical twins seem to prove otherwise. Identical twins together share the exact same genetic makeup as their sibling, yet challenge the idea that nature (genetics) serves as the primary influence in regards to developing a mental disorder. This is because according to Dr. Meresh,"if one twin has schizophrenia, then the other twin only has the disease about 50 percent of the time" (Lliades). Ultimately, identical twins dismiss the argument that developing a mental disorder is completely genetically predisposed. 

It is true genetics influence an individual's overall mental state, but also keep in mind that environmental influences play an active role as well. Mental health conditions often stem from environmental experiences a person goes through in life such as: a rough upbringing, living in an urban vs. rural environment, or even severe measures such as physical or sexual abuse. These are factors which challenge the notion that a lower SES person's chances of developing a mental illness is purely based off genetics. For instance, according to the article Environmental Connections: A Deeper Look Into Mental Illness,Victor Carrion discusses how psychiatric disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) originates mainly from experiencing a traumatic event roughly 30-50 percent of the time this is the case"(Schmidt). However, based on how severe the tragedy was acts as a main determinant in whether or not a person's odds for developing a mental disorder increases or not. Fetal Origins research as discussed in the Ted Talk "What we learn before we are born", studies the impact environmental factors have on expecting mothers and their babies in embryo. Annie Murphy Paul discusses the occurrence of September 11, 2001 and how it left many expecting mothers to experience post-traumatic stress disorder as a results. Keep in mind such an awful event like 9/11 catalyzed a remarkable discovery to many fetal origins researchers. After a year, "In the babies of those women who developed post-traumatic stress syndrome, following their ordeal, researchers discovered a biological marker of susceptibility to PTSD". This probes relevancy to the fact that lower SES people are more susceptible to experience traumatic events, along with other accumulated stressors. This places lower SES populations at an even higher chance of developing mental disorder, such as PTD from a traumatic experience than those who resign in a high socioeconomic standing. In addition, "The prevalence rate can rise to nearly a hundred percent", indicating that environmental factors can double the prevalence, depending on severity of the trauma (Schmidt). Also to keep in mind that environmental stressors along with how individuals emotionally cope and regulate uniquely; are key aspects to developing a mental illness amongst the lower SES population. Another contributing factor is whether or not a person lives in an urban or rural setting amongst lower SES populations. According to the article Urbanization and Mental Health, "higher prevalence of mental disorders are typically found in urban areas i.e., 80.6%, whereas it was 48.9% in rural area"(Srivastava). Both rural and urbanized areas of lower economic status populations share similar issues in regards to receiving mental health access, those being: the lack of affordability of health care services, population fluctuation, poor educational awareness about mental   disabilities, underdeveloped mental health care policies, are presented as some of the major issues just to name a few (Jacka). This is because lower income citizens living in urban populations present a higher chance of developing a mental illness than those in rural populations. Resulting from an overpopulated community squeezed into a compacted area; this results in poor affordability, availability, and accommodations provided to lower SES populations individual mental health.

Compounding on the difficulty of obtaining access to mental health care, lower SES populations also do not have access to quality food and nutritional education. Affordability of healthy food consumption and the minimal access to these foods is scarce amongst these populations. In the article "America's Worst 9 Food Deserts", it discusses how food deserts are usually low-income areas which lack availability of grocery stores to supply essential foods like fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Usually food deserts are known for areas which supply canned and processed fast food restaurants in a closer proximity than grocery stores; this ultimately you could see how this diminishes the minimal choice left for lower income people to consume a healthy diet. Take for instance a city known as one of the poorest cities in the United States along with extensively high crime rates, Camden, New Jersey. This community is only supplied one supermarket (America's Worst 9 Food Desert). However some may argue that food access and availability contributes minimally to the development of mental illnesses amongst lower SES populations. In the article, "Giving the Poor Access to Healthy Food Doesn't Mean They'll Buy It," Sanger-Katz supports this argument based off multiple studies that were performed when supermarkets were built in food desert prone areas. Sanger-Katz discusses how "When we put supermarkets in poor neighborhoods, people are buying the same food, they just get cheaper," this illustrates how people are frugal and that making food cheaper for them is not going to change their habits. She argues ust by making healthier treats more available,is not going to change the little voice in your head that says 'just one won't hurt', then results in another endless cycle of no improvements. Not to mention, there's also those who do not know exactly how bad the food they are eating is for them; due to lack of education amongst lower SES populations which still remains substantially prominent (Stanger-Katz). A solution that seems like a clear fix may not help the overall problem. 

Overall both the lack of local health care access and poor nutrition lead lower SES populations to be caught in a difficult-to-escape-situation regarding mental health. Simply by raising funds to establish grocery stores in poorer areas, clearly does not fix the issue of poor nutrition amongst lower SES population. The link between food deserts availability to healthy food access nutrition education amongst the population, are two factors which still remain. Inflation rates also support lower SES populations mental health in America is being compromised by the restraints that income holds on the less fortunate. In the article "A High Price for Healthy Food", Scientists found that, "low-calorie foods were more likely to increase in price, by a surging 19.5 percent over a two-year period. While high-calorie foods remained at a relative bargain, dropping in price by 1.8 percent" (Pope).This goes to validate that with low-calorie foods rising at such an astonishing rate, inflation subjectively forces lower income citizens to consume high-calorie less nutritious foods even when supermarkets become available. Clearly with low-calorie nutritious food prices on the rise, this hinders the minimal choice which still remains for lower income citizens to consume nutritious foods. That goes to say, inflation makes the odds of improving lower income citizen's nutritional health decline even more substantially over an extensive period of time. Along with a magnitude of exogenous factors which take part in as person's life, challenge the claim that developing a mental health disorder is based purely on an individual's genetic roots. Environmental stressors along with how individuals emotionally cope and regulate, are key aspects to developing a mental illness amongst the lower SES population. Lower income citizens living in urban populations present a higher chance of developing a mental illness than those in rural populations. Primarily because of the overpopulated community squeezed into a compacted area; this results in poor affordability, availability, and accommodations provided to lower SES populations individual mental health.

 Based off my research one can conclude while it is important to realize nutrition does contribute greatly, it is also important to take into consideration that the possibility of developing a mental disorder has numerous underlying factors. Receiving proper nutrition is essential for proper hippocampal brain development as well as serotonin levels produced by the brain and gastrointestinal tract. While some may argue biology serves as the key factor to a person's mental outcome, environmental factors occur in a person's life as well. Ultimately these environmental factors challenge this argument that developing a mental health disorder is based purely on an individual's genetic roots. Factors like a traumatic event, income, rural vs. urban populations, nutritional limitations, and limited food source availability, along with others all contribute to the development of mental disorders in America. If we recognize that there are many layers which contribute to the overall problem of mental illnesses amongst lower SES populations, we can try to help peel away the issue. Based off my research, poor nutrition does present a bidirectional relationship to a person's overall mental health; specifically in lower income citizens. However it is clear that there are numerous underlying factors on top of poor nutrition which ultimately enhance these chances amongst the lower SES populations in America even greater.

