The 1st National Congress on Current Approaches in Nutrition and Dietetics, organized by Üsküdar Üniversitesi with the theme ‘Current topics in nutritional treatment of psychiatric and neurological diseases,’ was held on May 24-25 at the NP Health Campus Avicenna Auditorium.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “The brain and gut communicate. There is such a mechanism. Sometimes the gut affects brain function. And sometimes, a person's inability to manage their brain also harms their intestines.”
Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör: “We need to instill the mission of ‘eating to live’ into our nutritional culture.”
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin: “Nutrition during pregnancy affects a child's future.”
Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Arslan: “Nutrition is a highly important and vital action that plays a role in human life from the prenatal period, just like psychology.”
The 1st National Congress on Current Approaches in Nutrition and Dietetics, themed ‘Current topics in nutritional treatment of psychiatric and neurological diseases,’ organized by Üsküdar Üniversitesi, is being held on May 24-25 at the NP Health Campus Avicenna Auditorium.
Prof. Dr. Güngör: “Healthy living is encompassed within the concept of healthy nutrition”
Speaking at the opening of the congress, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör stated that the sociological, psychological, and cultural aspects of nutrition are extremely important, saying, “When we talk about nutrition, many dimensions come into play. Of course, to be healthy, eating healthily, in moderation, and sufficiently is important. All of these are the work of our nutrition experts. However, the job of experts is not just to give prescriptions. Generally, the public perception is that an expert gives a prescription and regulates your daily nutritional intake. Healthy living is encompassed within the concept of healthy nutrition.”
“Not only living, but also sustaining that life with quality is crucial”
Pointing out that in today's world, some people lose their lives due to overeating, while others perish from hunger or are deprived of a quality life, Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör stated:
“Not only living, but also sustaining that life with quality is crucial. By integrating nutrition as a culture, a lifestyle, into our daily practices, we can improve the quality of our lives. Otherwise, every day we would struggle with blood pressure, fluctuating blood values, and heart rhythm disorders. Therefore, we must know what we eat, how, and how much we should eat. There's a saying, 'Do we live to eat, or eat to live?' We need to instill the mission of ‘eating to live’ into our nutritional and dietetic culture. Life takes on meaning when lived with a healthy mind and a healthy body structure. This congress is important for this reason. We are organizing the first one this year, and I hope it will continue in future years.
Yes, nutrition is important and a part of life. Looked at as a whole, many questions will be discussed here today, such as ‘Who eats how much, and how? Who is full, who is hungry?’ Our experts will discuss nutrition at a micro level on one hand, and emphasize macro problems on the other.”
Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin: “Many problems can arise in infants when regular and balanced nutrition is not achieved”
In his speech, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin highlighted that nutrition begins before birth, emphasizing that a mother's nutrition during pregnancy affects the child's development.
Stating that many problems can arise in infants when regular and balanced nutrition is not achieved, Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin said, “Without proper nutrition, issues such as premature birth, high blood pressure in the mother, and babies being born with low birth weight or, conversely, excessive weight can occur. The most important and valuable concept is breast milk. Breast milk is an equal value for all mothers. When everyone receives it, whether little or much, they receive the best possible thing, a universal value equally.”
Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin also added that receiving breast milk is extremely important for both nutrition and development, stating that children raised on breast milk by properly nourished mothers become more successful and better communicators in later years.
Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin: “One side loses their life to hunger, the other to overnutrition”
Reminding that nutrition is also extremely important during childhood and adolescence, Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin pointed out that in recent years, nutrition has been used for socializing:
“While people once ate solely to sustain their lives, now they also eat to socialize and gather. Just as enormous sums are spent on a tiny plate, conversely, there are also people struggling to find a morsel on that plate. Probably, in the future, 'hunger' will be one of the most important concepts due to climate change.”
“750 to 850 million people are struggling with hunger”
Referring to some statistics in his speech, Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin provided the following information:
“The world population is approximately 8.1 billion. Approximately 10% of this, meaning 750 to 850 million people, are struggling with hunger. While one side faces this, the other side has overweight people. 1 billion 761 million people are dealing with being overweight, and 862 million people are struggling with obesity. Every day, 25,000 people die from hunger worldwide. The cost of obesity to health is $240 million every day, and people spend $68 million to lose weight. So, one side loses their life to hunger, and the other to overnutrition. Establishing a balance here will be one of the most important roles for this department.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Arslan: “Nutrition is an important and vital action, just like psychology…”
In her speech at the opening of the congress, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Arslan, Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, stated that the 1st National Congress on Current Approaches in Nutrition and Dietetics addressed nutrition topics in psychological and neurological diseases.
Stating that the most important process in the universe is the life cycle, and the most significant factors affecting it are nutrition and psychology, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Arslan continued as follows:
“Nutrition is a highly important and vital action that plays a role in human life from the prenatal period, just like psychology. Psychology also holds a very important place from the prenatal period throughout all life processes. The main theme of our congress involves the relationship between nutrition, which is extremely important in the pre-disease, disease, and post-disease processes, and neurological and psychological processes. Neurological and psychological processes, as we all know, are situations we experience in life, parallel to their severity and frequency, which we often consciously overcome, diagnose, and deliberately manage, or sometimes we think we overcome them unknowingly, or we push them aside only for them to emerge later and directly affect our quality of life. I am looking forward to listening to our congress, where our veteran professors in their fields will share their knowledge and experiences, just like you.”
The first session of the congress addressed the relationship between psychiatric diseases and nutrition
In the first session of the congress, Prof. Dr. Feyza Arıcıoğlu from Marmara University spoke on “The Place and Importance of Neuroinflammation in Psychiatric Diseases,” Prof. Dr. Aslı Akyol Mutlu from Hacettepe University on “Chrononutrition and Psychiatric Diseases,” Founding Rector of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan on “Current Perspectives on Common Psychiatric Diseases,” and Prof. Dr. Betül Çiçek from Erciyes University on “The Power of Colors in Psychiatric Diseases: Antioxidant Fruits.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan: “I want to talk about a brain-friendly lifestyle”
In his presentation titled “Current Perspectives on Common Psychiatric Diseases,” Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated his desire to discuss a brain-friendly lifestyle, saying, “I want to explain how our nutrition and lifestyle can positively impact our physical health, brain health, and mental health.”
Referring to a study that examined the effects of depression on brain functions, Prof. Dr. Tarhan explained, “There is a patient group, the depression group, and healthy volunteers. Both patient and healthy volunteers are asked to imagine playing tennis. While imagining playing tennis, researchers observe which parts of their brains are active and how. Then, both groups are given the task of imagining walking around in a healthy, peaceful home environment.”
Depression patients cannot imagine walking in a peaceful environment
Prof. Dr. Tarhan noted that when imagining playing tennis, similar activity areas were observed in the brains of both groups. He explained that when the healthy group imagined walking peacefully at home, areas indicating low stress and high peace were active in their brains. In contrast, when depression patients performed the same task, their brain activities continued to show high stress levels, similar to when imagining playing tennis, and the brain continued to function as if in a stressful situation, unable to imagine walking in a peaceful environment.
“Many therapy techniques try to correct the brain's impaired connections”
Stating that many therapy techniques applied by clinicians try to correct the brain's impaired connections and networks, Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “The brain is closely related to energy consumption, and the balance of nutrition and microbiota is effective via the brain-gut axis.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan noted, “The brain and gut communicate. There is such a mechanism. Sometimes the gut affects brain function. And sometimes, a person's inability to manage their brain also harms their intestines.”
“Our body talks to our brain”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that applying the same standard dietary recommendations to everyone can negatively affect individuals' eating habits and continued:
“Our body talks to our brain; it is important to know this. Energy consumption in the brain is also very significant. The brain constitutes 2% of the body's weight. The brain uses 15% of the cardiac output. It uses 25% of the total oxygen and glucose capacity of the cardiac output and the entire body. The brain is 2% of our body. It uses 25% of the oxygen and glucose that enter the body. This is a very serious matter; it's an organ that consumes resources and energy sources in the body.”
“Our brain doesn't sleep during sleep”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan noted that the brain is not a silent organ but one that works quietly, stating, “Our brain doesn't sleep during sleep. Especially during REM sleep, brain waves are the same as when awake during the day. The brain continues to rapidly consume all energies. In fact, during sleep, the brain shrinks slightly. The perivascular space widens. All fatigue substances, oxidation, oxidative accumulations in the body form a pathway like lymph around the vessels. From there, they enter the vessel. Without sleep, toxic substances accumulate in the brain. Lack of sleep disrupts mental connections.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan emphasized the importance of brain-friendly nutrition, daily main meals, and snacks, adding that eating habits are learned from childhood. He stated that if a parent follows a child around with a plate, that child is very likely to experience eating disorders later in life.
Prof. Dr. Feyza Arıcıoğlu: “Psychiatric illnesses and eating disorders are conditions that are closely intertwined”
In her speech titled “The Place and Importance of Neuroinflammation in Psychiatric Diseases,” Prof. Dr. Feyza Arıcıoğlu from Marmara University stated that, in addition to all other components, lifestyle and nutrition must inevitably be considered at the root of both neurological and psychiatric diseases, and she continued:
“When we look at diseases such as daily stress, chronic stress, stress-induced depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia, in most of them, we see either an eating disorder in the sense of emotional suppression or the exact opposite. Therefore, psychiatric illnesses and eating disorders are conditions that are closely intertwined.”
Current topics in the nutritional treatment of psychiatric and neurological diseases were discussed
On the first day of the congress, current topics in the nutritional treatment of psychiatric and neurological diseases were discussed. Prof. Dr. Betül Çiçek from Erciyes University presented on “The Power of Colors in Psychiatric Diseases: Antioxidant Fruits,” Prof. Dr. Aslı Akyol Mutlu from Hacettepe University on “Chrononutrition and Psychiatric Diseases,” Internal Medicine Specialist Prof. Dr. Aytaç Atamer from Üsküdar Üniversitesi NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi on “Neurological Diseases and the Gut-Brain Axis Relationship,” Prof. Dr. Çetin Kaymak from Health Sciences University Gülhane Faculty of Medicine on “Acquired Muscle Weakness and Malnutrition Relationship in Neurological Diseases,” Prof. Dr. Gamze Akbulut from İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi on “The Effect of the MIND Diet in the Treatment of Neurological Diseases,” Prof. Dr. Yasemin Akdevelioğlu from Gazi University on “Ketogenic Diet: Can It Be a Hope in the Treatment of Neurological Diseases?”, and Prof. Dr. Fatma Nişancı Kılınç from Kırıkkale University on “The Role of Fermented Products in the Treatment of Neurological Diseases.”
Second day of the congress…
The second day of the congress concluded with presentations by Asst. Prof. Dr. Vahibe Uluçay Kestane from Galata University on “Parental Influence on Child and Adolescent Nutrition,” Prof. Dr. Nurcan Yabancı Ayhan from Ankara University on “Current Perspectives on Nutritional Changes in Adolescence,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Yılmaz Akyüz from Health Sciences University on “The Effect of Dopamine Triggers on Eating Disorders,” and Specialist Dietitian Hülya Yiğit from NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi on “Can Healthy Eating Be Achieved in Eating Disorders: A Case Study.”