Effect of finger millet diet on mental health and meta cognitive skills in young adult athletes and non-athletes

Mental health issues are prevalent among athletes as well as non-athletes due to various psycho-physiological and environmental stresses. Finger millet being rich in antioxidants, polyphenols and high fibre, can be potentially effective in maintaining and improving mental health and cognition. Hence, the present study aims to evaluate the effects of the finger millet diet on mental health and meta-cognitive skills in athletes and non-athletes. 57 participants (males; 27 athletes and 30 non-athletes; 18 to 25 years) were randomly divided into experimental (EGA: experimental group athletes; n = 15; EGNA: experimental group non-athletes; n = 15) and control (CGA: control group athletes; n = 12; CGNA: control group non-athletes; n = 15) groups. The experimental group was provided with a finger millet diet (replacing 1/3rd of daily regular cereals) and a control group with a regular (rice/wheat) diet for 60 days. Mental health and meta-cognitive skills were measured via validated questionnaires. The SMHAT scores showed a significant decrease in sleep disturbance (p = 0.008) and a declining trend in depression (p = 0.059) and anxiety (p = 0.087) in EGA and no significant difference in CGA. The MHI scores showed significantly increased anxiety (p = 0.050), depression (p = 0.010) and psychological distress (p = 0.012) in CGNA while EGNA showed no significant difference in pre and post-test. MCSS subscales viz., implementation (p = 0.040), monitoring (p = 0.013) and total meta-cognitive skills scores showed significant improvement in EGA (p = 0.050) and no significant changes in CGA, EGNA and CGNA. Finger millet helps in improving mental health, sleep quality and meta-cognitive skills in athletes and help in the maintenance of mental health in non-athletes.