30/12/2025
Dear friends of MANA,
As we welcome a new year, we at the Mindfulness and Nature Association want to pause with gratitude. I hope to see you at the meditations either at 10 am AEST or 8 pm AEST (see previous email for other times) this morning or this evening (AEST!) if you can attend.
Thank you for being part of a community that honours a simple but profound truth:
Human health and the health of nature are inseparable.
What heals the Earth’s heart
also quiets the restless mind
Eat to care for both
This core belief has guided MANA from the beginning — and it continues to set us apart from many charities. Our wellbeing grows from the same living systems that nourish all life. When we care for Earth, we also care for our own minds, hearts, and communities.
This month we share a short, plain-English article developed here at
MANA that highlights this vital connection:
When ecosystems are harmed, nutritious food becomes harder to access, and processed foods take their place.
This not only damages nature — it increases anxiety and depression.
By improving our diets and protecting nature, we support both human wellbeing and the planet.
The message is clear:
🌱 What heals the Earth also heals us.
🍽️ What nourishes us can restore our soils and waterways.
💚 Compassion — for self and planet — is one action.
🌿 Compassion as our New-Year direction
This year, we invite you to set intentions rather than goals.
Goals demand performance.
Intentions express care.
They are choices rooted in kindness and relationship:
• I intend to nourish myself with foods that help me feel calm and energised.
• I intend to reduce the foods that harm me and harm the Earth.
• I intend to thank the ecosystems that make each meal possible.
• I intend to stay connected — to my body, my community, and the living world around me.
These are invitations, not expectations.
Every small step is enough.
🌏 Our shared practice in 2026
This year, MANA continues to offer mindfulness gatherings — weekly groups and Days of Mindfulness immersed in nature — while also expanding our Natural Mindfulness forest-health program.
Together, we will keep exploring:
✨ Calm in the nervous system
✨ Hope in community
✨ Building Natural Mindfulness — our forest health program
✨ Courage in ecological action
✨ Compassion in everyday choices
We look forward to growing alongside you — as people, and as part of the Earth.
With care and connection,
The MANA Team
Mindfulness and Nature Association Inc.
Healing people and planet — together
Nutrition, Environment, and Mental Health: Compassion in Action
Introduction
Plain English summary
Our mental health depends on the health of the natural world that provides our food. When ecosystems are damaged, nutritious foods become harder to access, and processed foods take their place. This not only harms the environment but increases anxiety and depression. By improving our diets and protecting nature, we support both human wellbeing and the planet.
What heals the Earth’s heart
also quiets the restless mind
Eat to care for both
Human mental health is inseparable from the ecological systems that sustain life. Food originates in soil, water, and living ecosystems; therefore, when nature is degraded, food quality and availability are diminished, and human health suffers. In Australia, the connection between food systems, environmental harm, and mental wellbeing is especially clear: cattle driven land clearing, declining biodiversity, climate stress, and reliance on ultra processed foods are interconnected drivers of anxiety and depression. These dynamics demonstrate that ecological restoration and dietary transformation are essential components of a public health strategy aimed at improving mental and physical wellbeing.
Nature as the foundation of mental and nutritional health (anxiety and depression)
Biodiversity ensures the availability of nutrient rich foods through pollination, soil health, and ecosystem resilience (1). Exposure to diverse environmental microbiota influences the gut–brain axis, immune function, and stress responses (2). When biodiversity declines, nutritional diversity declines with it, increasing vulnerability to emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and depression (3).
Supporting evidence:
• Healthy ecosystems → diverse nutrients → neurochemical support for mental health
• Loss of ecological diversity → poorer diet quality → increased anxiety and depression
Industrial food expansion and ecological harm in Australia
Agriculture—particularly beef cattle production—is the leading driver of deforestation in Australia. Native vegetation is routinely cleared to create pasture, especially in Queensland (4). This land clearing:
• destroys habitat for native species
• reduces soil carbon and water retention
• releases greenhouse gases
• degrades long term agricultural potential (5)
These processes erode the ecological base necessary for producing nutrient dense foods, pushing food systems toward lower quality, industrially processed alternatives.
Despite legumes offering high quality protein with significantly lower ecological impacts than beef production, they remain marginalised within Australian agricultural policy and nutritional planning. Industry assessments often treat legumes as secondary to livestock, overlooking their potential to drastically reduce land clearing, biodiversity loss, and emissions. This bias reinforces a meat centric food system that harms ecosystems and limits healthier, lower impact dietary options for Australians.
Ultra processed foods, addictive food design, and ecosystem consequences
Damaged ecosystems reduce the capacity to grow diverse whole foods, increasing dependence on ultra processed foods (UPFs). UPFs are high in added sugars, synthetic additives, and unhealthy fats but low in essential nutrients required for mental wellbeing.
UPFs are intentionally engineered using hyper palatable combinations of sugar, fat, and salt designed to hijack reward circuitry and motivate repeat consumption. This “bliss point” manufacturing strategy drives addictive eating behaviours, reduces dietary agency, and contributes to anxiety and depression driven eating cycles.
The production of these foods requires extensive industrial agriculture, contributing to:
• monocultures that diminish biodiversity
• chemical fertiliser and pesticide use that harms waterways
• excessive water use tied to feed crops
Additionally, marketing systems—especially those targeting vulnerable populations—normalise high sugar and high fat diets and obscure environmental harms embedded in food supply chains.
Research shows:
• UPF consumption is linked with increased anxiety and depression (6,7)
• UPFs promote inflammatory pathways and disrupt neurotransmitter systems (3)
• Marketing techniques manipulate food choice and weaken psychological wellbeing
Dietary patterns that improve mental health (anxiety and depression)
Evidence overwhelmingly supports diets that feature:
• Less red and processed meat, linked with reduced cardiovascular disease, depression risk, and all cause mortality (8–10)
• Less added sugar, which contributes to inflammation, metabolic disruption, and depression (7,3,12)
• More vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, which improve gut brain function, anti inflammatory pathways, and emotional wellbeing (8,11–12)
Such dietary patterns reduce the risk of chronic diseases and support mental wellbeing through improved metabolic and inflammatory status (8–12).
Legumes specifically have been shown to:
• improve glycaemic control
• increase fibre and micronutrient intake
• support healthy gut microbiota
• enhance diet quality overall (11)
Environmental stress as a driver of anxiety and depression
Climate change and water insecurity impose psychosocial stress. Australians are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events, drought, and fears about environmental collapse, contributing to rising anxiety and depression (13,14). These conditions also affect the availability of nutritious foods—especially fresh plant produce—reinforcing reliance on processed alternatives.
A self reinforcing feedback loop
Together, these dynamics form a dangerous cycle:
1. Deforestation for cattle undermines biodiversity and soil health
2. Food quality declines and UPFs dominate the food supply
3. Anxiety and depression increase due to poor diet
4. Stress driven consumption reinforces industrial food dependence
5. Industrial expansion causes further ecological harm
Human and planetary health degrade together.
Depression as a parallel and interconnected outcome of environmental and dietary harm
Depression frequently co occurs with anxiety and shares biological and social risk pathways connected to environmental degradation and diet quality. UPFs heighten inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance, all of which are implicated in depressive symptomatology (7). Plant forward dietary patterns are associated with reduced incidence of depression and improved emotional wellbeing due to nutrient density and anti inflammatory properties (8,9).
Ecological degradation can worsen depression independently by disrupting livelihoods, damaging cultural landscapes, and undermining individuals’ continuity with the natural world (13). Water insecurity and repeated climate related disasters increase hopelessness, social isolation, and chronic stress (14).
When environmental decline leads to food insecurity, dependence on UPFs rises, widening socioeconomic inequities. These inequities elevate depression prevalence, especially where access to nutritious foods is limited (3).
Addressing dietary quality and restoring ecological integrity therefore offers dual potential for preventing and reducing both anxiety and depression.
What you can do: practical dietary shifts and new year intentions
Improving mental wellbeing and supporting ecological renewal can begin with small, meaningful shifts in everyday food choices.
1. Practical dietary shifts
• Fill half your plate with plants at most meals
• Swap red or processed meat for legumes or other plant proteins
• Choose water or tea instead of sugary drinks
• Reduce reliance on ultra processed foods
• Cook more at home using whole ingredients
• Support regenerative and local growers where possible
These shifts benefit the brain (less inflammation), the body (lower disease risk), and the planet (less land clearing and pollution).
2. Intentions (not goals) for the new year
Intentions reflect a compassionate direction of travel. They focus on values and lived experience, not perfection.
Examples:
• “I intend to nourish myself with foods that help me feel calm and energised.”
• “I intend to choose meals that care for the Earth’s wellbeing as well as my own.”
• “I intend to notice how food makes me feel before, during, and after eating.”
• “I intend to cultivate gratitude for the ecosystems that support my food.”
These actions, combined with collective efforts to restore ecosystems and reshape food systems, strengthen resilience.
Compassion in action: feeding the soothing system
In Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), emotional wellbeing depends on balancing three interacting systems: the threat system (fear, anxiety), the drive system (reward seeking), and the soothing system (safeness, connection, calm). Modern food environments overstimulate threat and drive through scarcity messaging, addictive sugar fat salt combinations, and constant marketing pressure. These influences shape not only what we eat but how we feel—undermining our ability to regulate mood and stress.
Compassionate food choices help activate the soothing system. When we choose meals that nourish our bodies with whole foods, we send the nervous system signals of safety and care. When those foods also protect ecosystems—like legumes, vegetables, whole grains, and sustainably produced staples—we extend that compassion outward to the living world that sustains us.
Eating becomes a relational act: care for self, care for Earth, care for future generations. Each nourishing choice strengthens physiological regulation, reduces anxiety and depression drivers, and contributes to ecological healing. Compassion connects our inner climate with the Earth’s climate—reminding us that wellbeing grows in both places together.
Conclusion
Because mental health is rooted in ecological stability, food systems that destroy nature ultimately destroy the conditions necessary for nutritional and psychological resilience. Reducing cattle driven deforestation and shifting diets toward whole plant foods are urgent priorities for safeguarding human and planetary health.
By healing landscapes and improving diets simultaneously, Australia can restore conditions for people and nature to thrive.
________________________________________
References
1. Myers SS, Gaffikin L, Golden CD, Ostfeld RS, Redford KH, Ricketts TH, et al. Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2013;110(47):18753 18760. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314012110
2. Mayer EA, Knight R, Mazmanian SK, Cryan JF, Tillisch K. Gut microbes and the brain: Paradigm shift in neuroscience. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2015;35(46):13841 13848. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3299 15.2015
3. Cook A, Champion J. Nutritional psychology: Understanding the relationship between food and mental health. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2025.
4. Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Beef scorecard report: Deforestation crisis on their watch. 2024.https://www.greenpeace.org.au/static/planet4-australiapacific-stateless/2024/05/335408b9-deforestation-beef-scorecard-report.pdf
5. Meat & Livestock Australia. Review of the impacts of red meat production and its competitors on biodiversity. 2009. https://www.mla.com
6. Lane MM, Gamage E, Tynan RJ, Dissanayake T, Ashtree DN, Gauci S, et al. Ultra processed food consumption and mental health: A systematic review and meta analysis of observational studies. Nutrients. 2023;15(11):2568. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15112568
7. Lane MM, Gamage E, Du S, Ashtree DN, McGuinness AJ, Gauci S, et al. Ultra processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: Umbrella review of epidemiological meta analyses. BMJ. 2024;384:e077310. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077310
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10. Tan SY, Wong Z, Tan J, Zhou H, Tan C. Red and processed meat consumption and depression: A systematic review and dose response meta analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2024;355:43 55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.012
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12. Jacka FN, O’Neil A, Opie R, Itsiopoulos C, Cotton S, Mohebbi M, et al. A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the SMILES trial). BMC Medicine. 2017;15:23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y
13. Berry HL, Bowen K, Kjellstrom T. Climate change and mental health: Impacts, implications and guidance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010;7(3):1036 1065. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7031036
14. Jepson W, Wutich A, Collins SM. Water insecurity and emotional distress: Coping with supply variability in a changing climate. Water Security. 2017;2:1 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2017.02.001
