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Questions & Answers

Mental Health And Gut Health: The Foods You Need To Eat

Some foods offer particular benefits both for psychological well-being and gut health.

1. Complex carbohydrates: One of my concerns with paleo and keto diets is that people have taken too many carbs out of their diet. Fruit, many vegetables, starchy foods, legumes, and grains are stripped out of the fiber in favor of too much animal fat. Your body needs complex carbohydrates for emotional and gut health. When people skimp on dietary carbs, they become grumpy and have a higher incidence of mood disorders. Keep in mind that I’m talking about healthy carbs. The truth is that arbs like candy, ice cream, high-fructose corn syrup, and sugar can actually increase obesity and ramp up depression. It’s foods like whole grains, nuts, seeds, starchy and green leafy vegetables, and many different fruits that contain healthy carbs, fibers, and resistant starches that will improve gut function and psychological well-being.

2. Brightly colored foods with high levels of antioxidants are also good for your brain and your gut. Antioxidants help manage the oxidative stress that occurs in the body. If you want good levels of dopamine and serotonin, antioxidants will help protect those neurotransmitters. There’s a lot to be said for including brightly colored foods in your diet such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, aubergines, tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchinis.

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3. Omega-3 fatty acids are excellent for the brain and the GI tract. You can find Omega-3s in oily fish like salmon, walnuts, and chia seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids are a critical addition to our diet because your body can’t make them on its own. I’ve read many research papers that have demonstrated that Omega-3 fatty acids improve both mood and cognitive function.

4. B vitamins such as B6, B12, and folic acid are essential for your mental health. There’s a clear link between depression and low levels of B vitamins. B5 is a vitamin that is particularly important for keeping energy levels high.

5. Probiotics offer your brain and bowel ample benefits. You can take supplements, but other sources of probiotics include fermented and cultured foods. It’s helpful to have sufficient prebiotics in your diet to make the most of the probiotics. For example, vegetables from the brassica family, such as broccoli and cauliflower, are a great source of prebiotics. So are plants from the allium family such as onions and chives.

6. Trace elements such as iodine, molybdenum, manganese, zinc, and copper are all critical for proper brain and digestive function. Look for foods that are organic and locally grown as these tend to contain higher levels of minerals. Good sources of minerals include pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, and sardines.

If you ensure your diet includes these six categories of food, your mind and body will thank you!

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Questions & Answers

What’s The Connection Between Stress And Food Cravings?

There’s a connection between stress, appetite, and sugar intake.

A study in 2001 took a look at this issue. The researchers exposed 59 premenopausal women to stress on one day and then had them experience a low-stress day. The caloric consumption on the stressful and non-stressful days were recorded. Some of the women had a very high cortisol spike on the stressful day. These participants were called super reactors. In contrast, there are some people who are “low reactors” to stress.

It makes the point that it’s often not the stressor that’s the biggest problem; it’s the reaction to it.

The women with the highest cortisol spikes in response to stress had the highest calorie consumption. The calories came primarily from sweet foods.

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In other words, life events can trigger physiological reactions in the body that lead to sugar cravings. People who are highly stressed often make the wrong call when it comes to food and drink choices. They reach for sweet foods. They reach for soda pop.

The take-home message is that it’s essential to not only reduce the stress in your life but also to manage how you react to that stress. It’s not possible to eliminate all stress, but you don’t have to deal with life by eating a box of donuts.

I recommend finding a way to compartmentalize your stressors, so they don’t invade all aspects of your life. Find ways to relax and keep your cortisol levels in the normal range.

High cortisol is associated with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. It’s clearly important to ensure that you’re living a low-stress life.

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Questions & Answers

Vitamin C And Weight Loss: What’s The Connection?

Can vitamin C help you lose weight?

A study from the mid-2000s demonstrated that vitamin C has a definite effect on burning fat (thermogenesis) in some people.

When people have adequate vitamin C stores, their ability to burn off body fat is 30% higher compared to people with low vitamin C stores.

The benefits of vitamin C aren’t new. Look at the work by Mathias Rath and Dr. Linus Pauling, who got two Nobel prizes, I believe. Dr. Pauling was ridiculed by scientists for many years, but one day his work on vitamin C will be vindicated.

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Vitamin C has a profound effect on the adrenal system. One of the highest levels of ascorbic acid in the human body is found in the adrenal cortex. An expert once told me that vitamin C used to be measured in the body by measuring the levels in the adrenal gland.

The body needs sufficient ascorbic acid levels to produce adrenal hormones such as the stress hormone, cortisol. You can extrapolate from that that low vitamin c levels might contribute to adrenal exhaustion. The fatigue associated with adrenal dysfunction can promote weight gain as it interferes with normal physical activity and can lead to snacking on high-calorie foods.

Vitamin C has a role in immune function, energy levels, skin integrity, and thermogenesis. That’s why I recommend people keep their vitamin C intake high. Make sure you include ample vitamin-C rich foods in your diet.

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Questions & Answers

Too Many Calories, Not Enough Nutrients

The world produces enough food to supply a lot of people. If you look at American, Europe, and other western nations, there are ample high protein and high-fat foods. I once read a study that shows there is a large enough food supply to provide everyone in developed nations with five to six thousands calories a day, if not more.

And yet, despite this abundance, there’s a concern about the micronutrient content of the standard American diet (SAD). The problem lies with a number of factors, including how food is distributed, how it’s processed, and the mechanization of harvesting.

The irony is that while we are swimming in an ocean of food, people still lack micronutrients. Nutrients like folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, and trace elements are getting harder and harder to access.

Folate is one of the most essential B vitamins for brain and heart health. Even the maturation of red blood cells requires sufficient folate. That’s one of the reasons several foods, such as bread, are fortified with folate.

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I believe that one of the reasons for the high rates of cancer in Western countries is that we are eating foods that are too rich in protein and fat and not rich enough in essential vitamins and minerals.

Everybody can do something about that. If you look at folic acid, it’s found at high levels in dark green, leafy vegetables, which are easy to grow for many people. Even if you just grow a few plants, you can now supply yourself with some of the folate that your brain desperately needs.

I think one of the reasons we see so much depression, anxiety, and suicide in modern society is that we lack the nutrition needed to keep our mental health in working order.

Many people I’ve seen in my clinic were magnesium deficient. Some also lacked calcium or vitamin C. These clients upgraded their diets to ensure they were getting enough essential nutrients and ended up feeling so much better.

If you suffer from depression or anxiety, and you have a poor quality diet, you have the potential to make a big difference to your mental health. Don’t just look at the keto or carnivore diets. Thinks about the trace elements and vitamins you need, and design your meals and snacks accordingly.

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Questions & Answers

A Day In The Diet Of A Naturopath

My diet is made up of fresh, healthy foods.

I try and grow as many vegetables and fruit as possible. I also cut and process my food on the spot, to ensure nutrients and flavor are preserved.

For breakfast, I usually have organic rolled oats. I plan on starting to buy groats, mill them myself, and end up with fresh oatmeal with all the lovely oils and flavors preserved. The result is a very creamy rolled oat. Once you cook the oats in water or a little bit of non-homogenized milk, the taste is delicious. It’s so good; you won’t want to eat it any other way. I often cook the oatmeal with raisins and serve it with a bit of honey on top. I’ll have a large banana, a couple of small kiwi fruit, or berries as well.

Other breakfast options include a couple of eggs with grilled tomato, steamed spinach, and avocado. Notice how there’s no bread in with the mix. I very rarely eat any bread.

For lunch, I often have stir-fried vegetables, including bok choy or gai lan. I have some lean protein as well – a piece of tofu. I eat organic tofu two to three times per week. I’ll serve the vegetables with soba (buckwheat noodles) or brown rice. I also include garlic in the stir-fry. I eat anywhere from two to ten cloves of garlic per day. I eat a large range of vegetables, depending on what we have in the garden at any one time.

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For supper, I might have a piece of salmon with a big salad that includes a variety of greens, including purple lettuce and radicchio. I also add spring onion, spinach, edible flowers like borage or nasturtium, tomato, Kalamata olives, and cucumber. Sometimes I’ll also add some goats’ feta. Herbs are another essential part of my salad. I might put a big handful of fresh basil or other herbs into the mix.

For my salad dressing, I’ll squeeze some lime juice over the top and add minced cloves of garlic. Next will be the juice of a large lemon, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a dash of sesame oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Sometimes I’ll also add a tiny little bit of anchovy sauce to give the salad a fantastic flavor.

Salad is always consumed fresh, and the rest is binned. We never keep what’s left at the end of the meal. I recommend starting each meal fresh rather than eating leftovers.

We like all sorts of different foods in our household. Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, French, and Japanese are all popular around here.

I don’t often eat desserts. I’ve got to watch my ever-expanding waistline. If I’m going to make anything, I might make a dish called hallway, which is semolina cooked in butter. In the summer, I might have some yogurt or fruit if I’m feeling peckish in the evening.

I drink one or two glasses of wine about two to three times per week. Apart from that, I drink a lot of purified water.

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