Nutrition and Mental Health – Randomized Control Trials (RCT)
Main content
Overall description of this research area:
The Nutrition and Mental Health project is an interdisciplinary collaboration among University of Bergen (Department of Psychosocial Science at the Faculty of Psychology, and Department of Chemistry at Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science), National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES)/Institute of Marine Research, Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, and Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center (SRSTC), Wisconsin.
The project has been going on for years and it has advanced in various stages (so far 4 stages). Based on the assessment studies of risk and mental health done in a prison setting the Nutrition and Mental Health project started with a food-record survey (master theses written by Lene Bakke) and then a pilot intervention study in Bergen prison in 2005. The pilot study was a long-term fatty fish intervention study (i.e., 6 months). A larger Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted at SRSTC, Wisconsin (2008-2009). Also, this was a long-term fatty fish intervention study. The implications of this study was a new wave of intervention studies looking into key nutrients in fatty fish such as vitamin D and mechanisms of actions. One RCT was conducted in Norway in 2014, and one in the USA (SRSTC) in 2017-2018.
Objectives:
The main objectives of the Nutrition and Mental Health projects have been to gain new and in-depth knowledge about possible beneficial effects of nutrition and specific nutrients on health, however, as the studies have demonstrated, the absence of certain nutrition and nutrients can cause adverse effects.
Outcomes:
Stage 1: Fatty fish and mental health – Pilot intervention study Bergen prison
- Hansen, A. L., Dahl, L., Bakke, L., Frøyland, L., & Thayer, J. F. (2010). Fish Consumption and Heart Rate Variability. Preliminary results. Journal of Psychophysiology, 24, 41-47
- Hansen, A. L., Dahl, L., Bakke, L., & Thayer, J. F. (2011). Vitamin D and executive function: a preliminary report. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 113, 2, 677-685.
Stage 2: Fatty fish and mental health – Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center – A RCT
- Hansen, A. L., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D., Dahl, L. & Grung, B. (2020). The effects of diet on levels of physical activity during winter in forensic inpatients - A randomized controlled trial. Food & Nutrition Research. 21;64. doi: 10.29219/fnr.v64.3610. eCollection 2020.
- Hansen, A. L., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D., Dahl, L., Molde, H., and Grung, B. (2018). Fatty fish intervention and psychophysiological responses to mental workload in forensic inpatients– A Randomized Control Trial. Journal of Psychophysiology, https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000231
- Hansen, A. L., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D., Dahl, L., and Grung, B. (2018). Age and IQ explained working memory performance in a RCT with fatty fish in a group of forensic inpatients. Nutrition, Health and Aging, 22, 513-518. doi: 10.1007/s12603-018-0998-4
- Hansen, A. L., Dahl, L., Olson, G. Thornton, D., Grung, B., & Thayer, J. F. (2015). A long-term fatty fish intervention improved executive function in inpatients with antisocial traits and a history of alcohol and drug abuse. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56, 467-474. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12229
- Grung, B., Hansen, A. L., Berg, M., Møen-Knudseth, M. P., Olson, G., Thornton, D., Dahl, L.& Thayer, J. F. (2015). Exploratory multivariate analysis of the effect of fatty fish consumption and medicinal use on heart rate and heart rate variability data. Frontiers in Psychology. 6:135. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00135
- Lehmann, U., Gjessing, H. R., Hirche, F., Müller-Belecke, A., Gudbrandsen, O.A., Ueland, P.M., Mellgren, G., Lauritzen, L., Lindqvist, H., Hansen, A.L., Erkkilä, A., Pot, G.K., Stangl, G.I.; Dierkes, J.. 2015. Efficacy of fish intake on Vitamin D status: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 102: 837-847. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.114.105395
- Hansen, A. L., Olson, G., Dahl, L., Thornton, D., Grung, B., Graff, I. E., Frøyland, L., & Thayer, J. F. (2014). Reduced anxiety in forensic inpatients after a long-term intervention with Atlantic salmon. Nutrients, 6, 5392-5404. doi: 10.3390/nu6125405
- Hansen, A. L., Dahl L., Olson, G., Thornton, D., Graff, I. E., Frøyland, L., Thayer, J. F., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Fish consumption, sleep, daily functioning and heart rate variability. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 10, 567-575. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3714
Stage 3: Nutrition and cognitive development in children and adolescents – A RCT
- Grung, B., Sandvik, A. M., Hjelle, K., Dahl, L., Frøyland, L., Nygård, I. Hansen, A. L. (2017). Linking vitamin D status, executive functioning and self-perceived mental health in adolescents through multivariate analysis: A randomized double-blind placebo control trial. Scandinavian journal of Psychology, 58, 123-130. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12353
Stage 4: Key nutrients and mental health – Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center – A RCT
- Hansen, A. L., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D. M., Mundt, J. C., Kahn, r. E., Dahl, L., Waage, L., Kattenbraker, D., & Grung, B. (2023). Can vitamin D status influence the effect of stress on planning and problem-solving? A randomized control trial Food & Nutrition Research, 67: 8970 DOI: 10.29219/fnr.v67.8970
- Hansen, A.L.., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D., Mundt, J., Kahn, R., Dahl, L., Waage, L., Kattenbraker, D., Grung, B. (2021). Vitamin D status and physical activity during wintertime in forensic inpatients—a randomized clinical trial. Nutrients, 5;13(10):3510. doi: 10.3390/nu13103510.
- Hansen, A. L., Ambroziak, G., Thornton, D., Mundt, J. C., Kahn, R. E., Dahl, L., Waage, L., Kattenbraker, D., Araujo, P., Murison, R., Rypdal, K., & Grung, B. (2020). Vitamin D Supplementation during Winter: Effects on Stress Resilience in a Randomized Control Trial. Nutrients, Nutrients 2020, 12, 3258; doi:10.3390/nu12113258