The use of flavonoid-rich foods to counteract the negative effects of maladaptive coping behaviours during stress

心理健康问题非常普遍，大约四分之一的英国人在一生中的某个时候会受到影响。众所周知，精神压力是导致精神健康状况变差的一个因素，据报道，精神压力与抑郁之间存在关联。不幸的是，在压力时期，人们经常采取不适应的应对行为，这可能会加剧压力的后果。例如，在压力时期，经常报告不健康的行为，如增加高脂肪食物的选择和降低体力活动水平。因此，本项目旨在研究不健康饮食和减少体力活动对精神压力心理反应的影响，并探索在压力期间抵消适应不良应对行为的负面影响的策略的影响。富含类黄酮的食物已被证明在改善心理健康方面有效，这可以增强对精神压力的认知弹性，从而改善心理健康。因此，本项目将在不适应压力应对行为的背景下，研究类黄酮类化合物对压力任务的心理和生理反应的影响。这一博士课程将包括一系列以实验室为基础的实验研究。首先，将考察常见的适应不良应对行为，如高脂肪饮食和低体力活动，对基于实验室的有效心理压力任务的心理和生理反应的影响。其次，我们将探讨富含类黄酮的食物摄入对这些反应的影响。因此，这一博士项目将提供关于在精神压力期间抵消不适应应对行为的负面影响的潜在方法的新信息。

Mental health problems are highly prevalent, with approximately 1 in 4 of the UK population affected at some point in their life. Mental stress is a known contributor to poorer mental health, with reported associations between mental stress and depression. Unfortunately, during periods of stress, people often resort to maladaptive coping behaviours, which can exacerbate the consequences of stress. For example, during periods of stress, unhealthy behaviours such as increased high-fat food choices and lower levels of physical activity, are commonly reported. Therefore, this project aims to examine the impact of an unhealthy diet and reduced physical activity on psychological responses to mental stress, and explore the impact of strategies to counteract the negative effects of maladaptive coping behaviours during periods of stress. Flavonoid-rich foods have been shown to be effective in improving psychological wellbeing, which could enhance cognitive resilience to mental stress, and thus improve mental health. Therefore, this project will examine the effects of flavonoids on psychological and physiological responses to a stress task in the context of maladaptive stress coping behaviours. This PhD programme will consist of a series of experimental laboratory-based studies. First, the impact of commonly used maladaptive coping behaviours, such as high-fat diet and low physical activity, on the psychological and physiological responses to a validated laboratory-based mental stress task will be examined. Second, the influence of flavonoid-rich food intake on these responses will be explored. Thus, this PhD project will provide novel information on potential ways to counteract the negative impact of maladaptive coping behaviours during periods of mental stress.