Research in diet, lifestyle and mental health

The aim of this research group is to support and promote research exploring the role of diet, and lifestyle factors, in mental health and wellbeing.

Our group serves as a collaborative platform for research undertaken in the School of Psychology and School of Life and Health Sciences.  

Our research explores the complex connections between diet, nutrition, and lifestyle, and their impacts on both mental and physical health. We focus on areas such as mental health and wellbeing, cognition and brain function, mental health disorders, and the development of prevention and intervention strategies. Our goal is to support health and wellbeing across the lifespan, from pre-conception to old age. 

Key contact: 

Current projects: 

Activities

Recent grants: 

Dyall S.C (P.I.) and Jeanes Y. were awarded £66K by The Waterloo Foundation for a project to develop nutritional recommendations and information resources for milk donors. 

Publications 

Faulkner, P., Gibson, E. L. & Dyall, S. C. (2025): Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with brain connectivity and mood in young adults with subthreshold depression: a preliminary study. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids. 

Johnson, C., Garipoğlu, G., Jeanes, Y. Frontino, G, Costabile, A.  The Role of Diet, Glycaemic Index and Glucose Control in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Management and Mechanisms of Progression. Curr Nutr Rep 14, 8 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-024-00601-4 

Tomaszewski, C., Essadek, A., Onumba-Bessonnet, H., Clesse, C., & Belot, R.-A. (2025). Violences sexuelles, traumatismes et mentalisation : étude de la dynamique psychique à partir du cas Hélène [Sexual violence, trauma, and mentalization: Analyzing psychological dynamic through the case of Helene]. L’Évolution Psychiatrique, 90(1), 13-28.  

Dyall, S. C., Malaub, I. & Su, K.-P. (2025): Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in depression: insights from recent clinical trials. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 

2024 

Coxon, C., Nishihira, J., & Hepsomali, P. (2024). Dietary Inflammatory Index, Sleep Duration, and Sleep Quality: A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 16(6), 890. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16060890 

Fonseca de Freitas, D., Bhui, K., Clesse, C., Zahid, U., Mooney, R., Joury, E., Hayes, R. D., & Khondoker, M. (2024). A syndemic approach to the study of Covid-19-related death: A cohort study using UK Biobank data. Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdae310 

Flores-Barrantes, P., De Miguel-Etayo, P., Iglesia, I., ChinApaw, M. J. M., Cardon, G., De Craemer, M., . . . Gibson, E. L. (2024). Longitudinal associations between food parenting practices and dietary intake in preschool children: The ToyBox Study. Nutrition, 124, 112454. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2024.112454 

Evrard R, Beauvais B, Essadek A, Lighezzolo-Alnot J, Clesse C. (2024) Neither saintly nor psychotic: a narrative systematic review of the evolving Western perception of voice hearing. History of Psychiatry ;35(2):177-195. doi:10.1177/0957154X241231690 

Hepsomali, P., Kagami-Katsuyama, H., Coxon, C., Honma, N., Kinoshita, K., Hattori, H., & Nishihira, J. (2024). Dietary inflammation, sleep and mental health in the United Kingdom and Japan: A comparative cross-sectional study. Nutrition bulletin, 49(3), 396–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/nbu.12695 

Hepsomali, P., Costabile, A., Schoemaker, M., Imakulata, F., & Allen, P. (2024). Adherence to unhealthy diets is associated with altered frontal gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate concentrations and grey matter volume: preliminary findings. Nutritional Neuroscience, 28(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2024.2355603 

Faulkner P, Costabile A, Imakulata F, Pandey N and Hepsomali P (2024) A preliminary examination of gut microbiota and emotion regulation in 2- to 6-year-old children. Front. Dev. Psychol. 2:1445642. doi: 10.3389/fdpys.2024.1445642 

Falize, C. S. M. H., Jeanes, Y. & Dyall, S. C. (2024): Enhancing the endogenous nutrient levels of donor human milk to help support the needs of extremely and very preterm infants. Infant. 

Whiley, L., Nessel, I., Dyall, S. C. & Michael-Titus, A. (2024): A plasma lipid signature in acute human traumatic brain injury: link with neuronal injury and inflammation markers. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.