Happy Gut, Healthy Mind

What food can improve your mood? And why do you need to know about your gut microbiome? Feeding your gut well will benefit your brain.That's what we are talking about today on Episode 8:Happy Gut, Healthy Mind.We're your hosts: Dr. Neera Dholakia and Soen Trueman, and we're joined by Ruth Taylor who is the lead nutritionist in the Boots Online Doctor lifestyle team. We discuss the connection between gut health and mental wellbeing and how what we eat can impact our mood and stress management. We consider how we can improve our gut microbiome by diversifying what we eat. We also explore specific foods such as protein-rich foods, beneficial fats like omega-3, better snacks, and look at taking a 'Mediterranean' approach to eating. Your Better Mental Wellbeing is a weekly podcast helping you to manage stress and build resilience with easy evidence-based tools. We're your hosts, Neera and Soen. Dr Neera Dholakia is a GP for Boots Online Doctor and the NHS. She is an expert in mental wellbeing and has extensive experience designing mental health services whilst working for NHS England, Healthy London Partnership and mental health trusts. As well as promoting self-care, she also works to improve mental wellbeing in the workplace.Soen Trueman is a full stack developer with Boots Online Doctor, specialising in graphics design, user experience, and user behaviour. Soen’s interests in behavioural analysis extends to psychology and further to neuroscience, which he is currently studying at Harvard University.Links to this week's discussion:[01:36] Understanding Food Craving, Stress and Mood[04:48] The Role of Gut Microbiome in Mental Wellbeing[06:54] The Gut-Brain Connection[10:28] Proteins, Pre and Pro-biotics[13:43] The Importance of Healthy Fats[18:41] Healthy Snacking [23:31] How to Identify the Impact of Changes Key takeaways:- We should aim to boost our beneficial gut bacteria- Nutritious food, will benefit our gut health and our brain health, and improve our mood-Start with simple changes and gradually build up to eating a variety of colourful foods and flavoursJoin us next week when we rediscover really tasting and enjoying our food with some mindful eating.Find our more:Ruth Taylor is a nutritionist, health and wellness coach and registered nurse. Lots of extra information about what she discusses is here:-Plant based nutrition guidance -Understanding Macronutrients-Understanding Dietary Fats-Mediterranean Eating For transcripts visit our website: https://yourbettermentalwellbeing.showFor great health, lifestyle and wellbeing information visit: https://onlinedoctor.boots.comThe information in this podcast is not intended to replace your own GP or other doctor’s professional medical advice.