70: Dr. Uma Naidoo: How Nutrition and Gut Healing Can Help Mental Health

Within our mental health crisis, there are some tools most of us have access to; one of the most influential is food. In this compelling episode, Dr. Uma Naidoo discusses the profound impact of nutrition on our mental health and explains why a bad diet is the leading cause of poor health worldwide. Dr. Uma Naidoo is a Harvard trained, board-certified psychiatrist, professional chef and nutrition biologist. Founder and Director of the first and only hospital based nutritional and metabolic psychiatry service in the US, and author of This is your brain on food and the up-coming Calm your brain with food, Dr. Naidoo is a leading expert of nutritional psychiatry. Grounded in nutrition science and evidence-based research, in this episode, Dr. Naidoo explains why a bad diet is the most common root cause of poor mental health; anxiety, depression, poor concentration, and other mental health concerns. She discusses the power of the gut-brain connection and reveals how a healthy diet—one which includes prebiotics, fermented foods, fibre, clean proteins, healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids—can help with mental health symptoms. In this fascinating interview discover which foods target anxiety, which relieve depression, which enable key neurotransmitter production essential to mental wellness, and learn why our diets are fundamental to our mental health.   In this episode, you'll learn about:   ·         How nutrition can help mental health conditions and why whole foods and nutrients improve mental wellbeing. ·         Which foods target anxiety, and why anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder of the post-pandemic era. ·         Why what we eat works in synergy with medications and other therapies to improve mental health. ·         How the biological mechanism of nutritional psychiatry shows the centrality of the gut-brain connection in anxiety, depression, poor concentration, insomnia, and other mental health issues. ·         Ways a diet rich in vegetables, nuts and seeds, and healthy fats, enable the production of neurotransmitters – dopamine, serotonin, glutamate and GABA – within the gut microbiota, any why this is essential to good mental health. ·         How neurotransmitters are synthesised in our brains to cross the blood-brain barrier, and the vital role of amino acids (derived solely through diet) in this process. ·         The lasting impact of the Covid pandemic on our diet and our mental health; what we can do to combat poor health through conscious eating, and why fast foods as an occasional treat offer a sustainable and realistic approach to lasting dietary changes. ·         Ways ultra-processed foods damage our health and the hidden threat of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) – a food thickener widely used in processed food–to our gut microbiome. ·         Which foods feed good mental health, reduce inflammation, improve gut microbiome, and combat poor brain health – including prebiotic foods, fermented foods, fibre, clean proteins, healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids – and ways they can be obtained simply through food. ·         Why fibre from whole grains–quinoa, spelt, barley, buckwheat and teff – can be vital to the relief of poor mental health, and anxiety and depression in particular. ·         How dark natural chocolate can really help us feel better! And why it can help ease symptoms of depression. ·         Which spices and herbs calm your mind and soothe mental health symptoms.