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There is evidence to suggest that diet can affect mental health. Some studies have found that certain dietary patterns, such as a diet high in processed foods, sugary drinks, and refined grains, may be associated with an increased risk of depression and other mental health disorders. On the other hand, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, such as the Mediterranean diet, has been linked to a lower risk of depression and improved overall mental well-being. However, it is important to note that diet is just one factor that can affect mental health, and it is not the sole cause of mental health disorders. Other factors, such as genetics, environmental exposures, and psychosocial factors, can also play a role in the development of mental health conditions. It is also important to note that the relationship between diet and mental health is complex, and more research is needed to fully understand the role of diet in mental health.
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# FIX YOUR DIET To Heal The Body & Mind TODAY | Dr. Uma Naidoo & Lewis Howes - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk
## Transcript:
- ([00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=0s)) research is showing more and more that inflammation that is sort of chronic and insidious and is happening in our gut microbiome impacts the brain when you start to improve your gut health i think you gotta have a dream the school of greatness really please welcome in your book i've been diving in it's amazing because you share these different foods that either hurt or help things like depression ptsd adhd ocd anxiety sex drive all these other things i've been reading through all this stuff it's
- ([00:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=34s)) fascinating i have been a big fan of realizing that food is medicine for a long time and you're in your book you're talking about the actual science showing and proving that food is medicine now is that correct absolutely no thanks for the kind introduction and for hosting me um that that's what it is it's it's i think that the missing conversation has been around how food and nutrition impact our mental health we go into our doctor's offices and we talk about lots of things we don't talk about our brain health
- ([01:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=65s)) and we most certainly don't talk about nutrition enough part of that is doctors don't really study that much nutrition but i think the niche that nutritional psychiatry fills is that conversation and helping understand that the food we eat impacts our mental well-being is newer science that has come forward what is the what would you say is the percentage if you could either guess or if there's percentages out there of how much food percentage-wise affects these negative side effects of mental health from anxiety depression and
- ([01:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=97s)) things like that is food 100 responsible for these thoughts and feelings is it 50 responsible what would you say off the top of my head a clinical guess would be about 50 because i do think i do think that environment genetics psychosocial factors so much so many other things play into one's emotional well-being right but i think that by cleaning up a certain amount of how we eat and that includes my diet everyone none of us is perfect by cleaning it up a little bit i have seen people show significant improvement and really the path to this
- ([02:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=134s)) is understanding it's not a quick fix it's not an overnight thing it's really a prescription for a lifestyle change and by doing it that way it's sustainable right it's not just let's lose five pounds before the show or before the event or the wedding it's sustainable and people do lose weight it turns out how do we build a sustainable nutritional lifestyle when we've been so conditioned with certain habits and foods for so long especially here you know with the sad diet absolutely the
- ([02:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=164s)) sad night it is sad and i think that it's true that's what we used to and i think it's understanding firstly it's educating ourselves yeah and not relying on the wrong sources of uh education and information and what did i mean just simple things understanding food labels for example i'm not saying you have to go deep into the nutrition science but understanding that four grams of sugars one teaspoon is a little bit of a trick for people because we cook in pounds and ounces so every recipe in
- ([03:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=194s)) the united states is standardized he learned that in culinary school and our food labels on grams so most people picking up a small half a cup yogurt with fruit in it because they've heard me say blueberries are great for you don't realize it might be six or eight teaspoons of sugar of added sugar so it's educating ourselves and that power really comes back to us because we then eat in a healthier way i'm curious about the the fruit and sugar or vegetables and sugar if you have a certain amount of vegetables or fruit
- ([03:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=226s)) that is supposed to enhance something in your your brain but you also have just as much refined sugar that you've poured on top of it are there any benefits to that or does the sugar override the benefits of the vegetables and fruits it's have you had expression you can't um exercise out of a bad diet right right it's it's not that dissimilar because you might be eating those servings of veggies and the nutrients are going to get through but the negative impact of what happens with the added and refined sugars is where
- ([04:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=258s)) the issue is yeah someone told me you can't outwork your mouth you can just like you can't out work out your mouth if you keep eating more and more you're not going to outwork it okay this is fascinating of these of these six on the cover of the book and more that you talk about in the book the depression ptsd adhd anxiety ocd and let's say low sex drive uh of those six which have you seen the fastest or the best results based on a shift in in food changes in consuming different foods have you seen and how
- ([04:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=296s)) fast can this happen you said it doesn't happen over overnight but are you starting to see this over a week or a few weeks based on certain changes or how does that work so some of this answer is also dependent on understanding that the the science of the microbiome because well each of our microbiomes is like a thumbprint so a response a person has to the food is also dependent on their quota of microbes in the gut and therefore the the response times change so i've seen people start to feel emotionally better
- ([05:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=326s)) and the condition i see probably the most robust change is either depression or anxiety really people do when they start to make those shifts start to feel better that's within like a few days overnight a week or so at least a week at least two weeks so they're doing the changes daily for a week they start to feel they start to they start to feel uplifted a little bit they start to notice with people with anxiety they start to notice by say cutting out or limiting a bad eating habit let's not call it bad that's severe but
- ([06:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=362s)) less healthy eating habit that they're starting to notice a change but usually we know from the signs of the microbiome that it takes about 28 days for there to be healing so usually within the first month is a good guideline to say if you really are following this and you're being sincere about look no one is perfect so if you're doing it 80 of the time at least i ask people to do and you really are limiting those foods that could be driving your condition that people start to feel better but over over time it really gets better and
- ([06:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=394s)) if they're sticking with it it it becomes almost part of how they live right um which is what i want and because then if they're feeling a lot better and then so they keep doing it they keep doing it and that's the hook that's what very often it happens in that first week someone notices not every single time someone notices wow i i'm sleeping better wow i'm feeling less anxious when i wake up but i will say that when anxiety specifically it's not just one thing you know learning mindfulness practicing and
- ([07:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=426s)) relaxation exercise and actually doing those things when you're not having a panic attack you know the worst thing you can say to someone who's feeling anxious is calm down stop feeling anxious calm down take it it doesn't make sense because when your system is in overdrive that way you you can't even hear what's the best thing to say someone who's feeling anxious the best thing is to actually have them tap into what you've either worked with them on in coaching or that they've learned in
- ([07:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=453s)) time breathing exercises you know mindfulness do they respond to a walk and fresh air do they walk or do they respond to getting on the treadmill for 10 minutes sometimes just burning off that angst help people so they have already almost pre-learned certain things that they can they can do and that's what you want to help get them to to come down that episode but the great thing with nutrition and and changing around how you're eating is that can help you all along because that's working no matter what else is
- ([08:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=484s)) going on right it's improving because it's working in the gut microbiome and the whole gut brain system and it's helping you right and how important is a healthy gut microbiome it's actually so important for all parts of our health right not just mental health exactly my focus is on nutritional psychiatry and therefore mental health but you know it's um the gut microbiome is related to sleep circadian rhythms hormones vitamin production immunity and mental health as well as more so it the health of your
- ([08:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=518s)) gut microbes is uniquely becoming i would say even more important in this day and age as we understand the science more you see the gut microbiome research is really only about a decade and a half to two decades old it's neuroscience and it really has unfolded the the food mood connection or the nutritional psychiatry piece but at the same time it's it's hugely important so you know things like inflammation of the gut um are being associated with conditions like depression anxiety cognitive disorders and more
- ([09:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=550s)) because it's being seen as an underlying mechanism therefore if you're taking care of your gut health you actually are taking care of quite a lot your brain health as well and everything else definitely your brain health but even your physical health right right yeah i've been hearing a lot more about the gut microbiome and how it's connected to the brain and you know the thoughts are connecting to the gut and all that stuff but inflammation is one of the main causes would you say of brain stress or the anxiety of of the brain
- ([09:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=577s)) absolutely so research is showing more and more that inflammation that is sort of chronic and insidious and is happening in our gut microbiome impacts the brain and that therefore conditions like even alzheimer's cognitive disorders depression anxiety when you start to improve your gut health therefore in that sort of cycle improve your mental well-being right right so the thing the same thing that's good for your gut microbiome is also the same similar things that are good for your brain for your brain health absolutely
- ([10:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=609s)) brain health you talk about uh brain foods specific foods that we should be stocking our our kitchen with um can you share what some of these brain foods are you have an acronym for them i'm not sure if you have them all memorized but so i'll start i'll give you i'll give you a few to get you started so use the brain foods um i could acronym to really almost have be a checklist for people i like people to take a photograph of it or read it or list it in their phone so that when they're at the supermarket
- ([10:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=636s)) they're picking out those nutrients right so you know bee is my favorite berries um and my favorite berry is blueberry now the rich in anthocyanins they're rich in fiber um they are colorful and that brings me to the r one of the hours as for eat the color of the rainbow and this these are sort of things louis said many people overlook their doctors have said it or they've heard it or read it but what we're uncovering in the science is that the color of the rainbow the colors of vegetables the phytonutrients
- ([11:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=672s)) in those interact with the gut microbes these are powerful antioxidants powerful anti-inflammatory substances which impact things like depression anxiety and more so it's no longer just eat a colorful salad there's actual good evidence as to why we should be we should be eating it and does it matter if it's cooked or uncooked you know the science and that varies but my my feeling about it is the following when you have raw veggies they have you know their microbiome intact they uh providing those bacteria they're giving you good
- ([11:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=704s)) nutrients so i like to i like to play i like like people to do the following have some say when they're preparing their vegetables for roasted veggie dish you know keep some chopped veggies that you munch on and then roast the rest or you know whatever you would baking the rest whatever and so you're having a little bit of combination of both some raw sometimes some cooked but in things like say um spinach you know steaming the spinach can actually help lower the oxalate levels so some of it is more specific okay gotcha now here's a
- ([12:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=734s)) there's a i've heard a topic about fruits that some people say have as much as you want others say the less fruit the better or do it in seasonal times things like that yeah have you seen anything where if people are only eating fruit that it helps or hurts them psychologically or can you never have too much fruit in moderation i guess so i think when it comes to psychological health one of the biggest things is how mental health and metabolic health are not connected and what i mean by that is i talk about
- ([12:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=766s)) barriers because they have a low glycemic index so they have a powerful positive impact eaten in moderation so i'm not i don't mean four cups of blueberries a day um but i do mean about a half a cup at least is one of your servings of fruit in a day the issue with fruit is that the higher glycemic fruits say the more tropical fruits you know mangoes and pineapples those are actually less healthy for those with mental health because many individuals with mental health are might have a struggle with weight and
- ([13:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=796s)) sometimes with metabolic health interesting and so if you have a lot of these high glycemic fruits they store more fat they could increase your weight they could potentially increase your weight which could make you psychologically say i'm overweight or not confident yourself that as well as your metabolic health because it could impact your insulin resistance your insulin sensitivity your glucose load so because in my clinical practice i often see people who are struggling with their weight i don't mean low weight i mean
- ([13:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=825s)) struggling with a little bit of extra weight or they're taking medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors zoloft prozac to name a few one of the side effects is weight gain not everyone develops it but many people do um psychotropic medications others anti-psychotics also have a problem with the impact metabolic health and glycemic control and they impact weight so you as a psychiatrist you really have to be tuned into that to realize if you're going to save fruit qualify better food for that individual to eat because a
- ([14:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=857s)) person could eat two bananas a day and that could totally increase their weight are bananas on their own unhealthy no to an average you know person of normal weight who's exercising and leading a healthy lifestyle perfectly fine eat a banana but to that individual it may not be the best solution so it's that it's that caveat with mental health that's important so what's the best fruit to eat if you're trying to lose weight so the best so the best answer to that is stick with a couple of servings of
- ([14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=887s)) different berries okay um stick with um a lifestyle that is supporting your weight loss which which goes from mindfulness all the way to hydration to outdoor time to good sleep and all of that right because it's not we know it's not just run right one thing eliminating stresses in your life yeah exactly stress is a huge driver of weight gain right because of the impact on cortisol so i would say stick with stick with a couple of different types of berries um and smaller servings and have those regularly because if the fiber the
- ([15:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=917s)) phytonutrients from them are still going to help you so i would never say exclude fruit completely right unless you know your your dermatologist has said look you need to do this in order to bring down your hemoglobin a1c then it's a different conversation so when is fruit good for you then because if you're trying to lose weight i'm hearing it's not as good to have a lot of it not a lot in moderation actually to be honest everything in moderation right right because every every healthy food you want to eat it in
- ([15:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=945s)) a portion-controlled sort of way food is actually always good for you it's it's it provides nutrients macro and micronutrients which are healthy for your body healthy for your brain so whether it's the vitamin c from kiwi or you know whichever or you know if you're having leafy greens not a fruit but if you're having folate from leafy greens that's affecting you in a positive way so food always a good option but that also comes from my food philosophy which is i am diagnostic and i don't demonize a food
- ([16:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=974s)) group so if you come in to me and say i'm vegan or carnivore my role as a nutritional psychiatrist is to improve your mental well-being you know i will advise you how you can tweak your diet in a positive way you know may not agree with me but i'm going to offer you that guidance um because what i find was is that people fall into these eat this not that mentality then they exclude entire food groups then they crave that food group then there's a rebound effect and then they end up either gaining the weight or they
- ([16:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1001s)) end up being unhappy because they've started to consume a food that they previously gave up it becomes a vicious cycle they're like said they weren't going to eat something then they'd go eat it for a month yeah depression you know feeling more anxious interesting um and then almost unable to get back on that saddle of just eating a healthier diet which i want people to to eat eat healthier foods as part of their lifestyle so it's a natural if they whether they're traveling whether they're walking through an
- ([17:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1028s)) airport or whether they're at home they're just reaching for those healthier options right or carrying it with them and what about antioxidants why are these so powerful for mental health so antioxidants have an extremely important impact through the gut microbiome but also on the brain you know in the natural process of life we we encounter different things that form these unhealthy substances in our body called radical oxygen species if left have left on their own they can actually lead to cancer heart disease lots of
- ([17:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1059s)) lots of bad things as well as you know worsening our mental health so what antioxidants do is they they kind of um they interact with these radical oxygen species to almost neutralize them and that's why they're so powerful so that's why we should eat our antioxidants okay what what foods are rich in antioxidants starting with berries yeah but you know they're also spices that's that's something people don't realize there are spices that are rich in antioxidants like turmeric with a pinch of black
- ([18:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1087s)) pepper uh my my my um nutritional psychiatry no-brainers add a black add a pinch of black pepper because that makes the um turmeric more bioavailable and bioactive for your body so um spices many of them have rich antioxidants so those are your spice cabinet is probably one of the ones you're not tapping into to add antioxidants as well as veggies all these different colors of vegetables uh you know different bell peppers um different different lettuces all of these you know whether the purple carotenoids from carrots have rich antioxidants
- ([18:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1125s)) because of their um because of the nutrients in them what about the um the research that's been out about lectins and nightshades certain like is this something that you would avoid or limit or is the science from your research not really saying there's an issue with night shades and lectins so you know part of it depends on the person if they are working with a physician who's asked them to and their condition if they've been asked to stay away from night shades before because of a certain condition and it's been
- ([19:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1156s)) working for them i'm not there to say stop doing that and eat everything no if it's working for them absolutely but many people come to me a little confused about where you know what what foods include lectins and what they should avoid but there are also some culinary techniques where you can get around by food preparation for example if you like nuts you know there's a way to you know there's a way to get raw natural nuts and soak them in water overnight rinse them out and slow it's not even roasting because it's such
- ([19:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1190s)) a low temperature almost dry them out in yemen at a very low temperature and that circumvents some of the anti-nutrients in them so there are always ways to think about food and make it healthier or look at a cooking technique which could improve the nutri either the nutrient value or get around things like that so i i'd rather have that conversation than ask people to exclude things not about other people other people's research but more about my approach to how i feel i can help individuals when they
- ([20:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1220s)) mental well-being because you know this is not just for someone with depression or anxiety a lot of people in the last few years have just been feeling a little off you know and i use that loosely it's a little bit anxious not sleeping well um feeling blue just not just feeling um it was a great article calling it languishing you know just not not feeling good just not feeling quite themselves and so eating in a good way can help a lot of that without a prescription right what would you say is the best cooking technique that you've learned
- ([20:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1256s)) to get the maximum result for optimal nutrition is it from the nuts is it from soaking something is it from some other type of food where you've seen okay here's the original raw form and by applying this technique it actually enhances it to really help your mental health your brain that much more is there a technique like that i don't think there's one technique okay um you know i think that uh i mentioned the i mentioned things like spinach and steaming it or applying gentle temperature the nuts that's
- ([21:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1284s)) that's specific to a better way to enjoy the nuts some people don't have a problem with that so they eat them and they feel okay now the lectin research may refute that but again you pay attention to how you're feeling emotionally how you're feeling physically what your doctor's telling you and you either continue or you you change direction a little um with one one one thing i will say is that many people hear their doctor say eat your vegetables eat your greens and they sort of they're you know they roll their eyes
- ([21:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1314s)) and they move on they don't do it often it's that action step one of the things i can say is just gently roasting vegetables in the oven with delicious flavors putting in colorful veggies adding spices even your kids will want to eat it you know because it's interesting it's different that that i think is is one of the things where you can really expand and you know just little simple tricks like you can do your roasted colorful roasted vegetables with different spices for the flavor plus you can do your protein on whether you plant
- ([22:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1343s)) pastry tofu whether your chicken you can do it on the same sheet pan and that makes it super easy for someone to prepare prepare dinner right the next thing you say is include lean proteins and plant-based proteins from the science you say you don't you don't eliminate any diet or any food groups i try i try my best not to yeah there are so many people that try to say like eat only meat and this is the way to go and other people say be vegan this is the way to go is there science proving which foods are
- ([22:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1375s)) better like uh lean proteins that are plant-based versus animal proteins so in i will say that you know in nutrition science they're usually things i can quote they're probably in the same day or same week or same year at least three other articles which will refute that because that tends to be the spirit of nutrition science you know omega-3s i've seen clinically help my patients time in and time and time again whether usually i like them to use food sources first but some people prefer supplement or they do
- ([23:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1412s)) and i've seen the improvements yet there there is research to say they're terrible that you know you shouldn't use them that kind of stuff so i say this with an open mind understanding that um so i feel you know that the camps who and they are sort of camps right because they tend to be very polarized either only eat this and they the individuals say who are plant-based will say well there's this studies to you know name a substance uh that is negative for your health because it is from meat and then there are
- ([24:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1452s)) you know people individual individuals who eat meat who will say but you know you don't get enough from just the plants so there's always this polarization and here's what i feel about it i think that the more we continue to have these camps the more confused we are going to continue to be as a country and the worse our nutrition is going to get right because most people that's not most people a lot of people know the sad diet and are consuming that so anything we can move from that to a healthier
- ([24:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1483s)) version of that food understanding what healthy whole foods are is better for us i think it's much more about that for more people than camps i'll beat this and not that and and i have difficulty with those because i feel that science can support both sides of the eye i know you can always find evidence for each other evidence for both sides and something against the other side probably right exactly and say well gee you know you're missing this nutrient because your plant-based are you missing that nutrient because
- ([25:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1512s)) you're eating or consuming more meat and and i think that's where most people in the public get confused um and they come in and say to me should i exclude this entire food group should i give up whole grain should i never eat a slice of this or that and and i think that perpetuating that is not good for us as a country but if we can find a sensible way forward to for for the most so not the people in different camps but those who just want to eat healthier want to feel emotionally better and we most of us
- ([25:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1546s)) need to right now with all that's going on um i think it's a healthier way forward and more sustainable yeah hmm i'm curious about um nuts you mentioned nuts for a second this is actually the next thing on the brain foods the nuts i'm a big fan of nuts but can you overdo it i don't drink milk anymore but i have the milk substitutions like almond milk and things like that so if you're having the physical nuts and then you're having almond milk and then almond butter is there too much of that
- ([26:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1578s)) so there's always even a healthy food we can overdo even a healthy food so practicing i'm not so much of a calorie counter as much as i am the source of food and the quality of food and then paying attention to portions so i mentioned blueberries and i said you know that doesn't mean three cups of blueberries a day because unfortunately then the load of the amount of sugar from that is not good for you even though berries are healthy and they have lots of nutrients in them so same similarly with nuts you want smaller servings and
- ([26:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1607s)) you want different types of nuts my favorites are macadamia and hazelnuts um i uh eat them in smaller portions um i you know for someone who um is likes nuts and they're going to consume that portion of nuts in a day you may want to switch to something like hemp milk which by the way you can make it like to literally make in two easy steps and hemp milk has the advantage of having short chain omega-3s in it because it's rich in ala so there's a good solution for so if you're gonna have nuts yeah don't also have almond
- ([27:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1641s)) milk and nut butters and everything in the same day that same 25 people have hemp milk instead if you're getting used instead you know have have your nut butter but you know nut and seed butter because you're getting the you're getting other seeds and and the value of that and just don't have a ton of it you know so everything in moderation if you if you do eat more of it then maybe have that the next day you know and balance it up that way it's similar to avocados um you'll have you know delicious avocados
- ([27:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1668s)) in california the truth is you know a a good serving and a day is about a quarter of a medium avocado to get the benefit of the healthy fats really a quarter of a medium medium medium to large so not a whole avocado no it becomes what happens is it gets calorie dense at that point and so you know it's balancing that up now if you eat that for breakfast that's okay my my policy around that is you know just cross-corrected the next meal or the next day because you understand something a little bit better
- ([28:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1696s)) interesting yeah i'm so used to overeating i think i think we all lost i mean i consume a lot well we all do and and the thing about about about that is what i've learned over time is that i load up on my veggies because things like the sulfurofan rich veggies cauliflower the cabbage the brussels sprout low calorie super rich in fiber fiber is great for your gut microbes that's what feeds them um great for your body in general and your digestion and your digestion everything so by eating by filling my
- ([28:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1732s)) plate up with a lot of you know my nutritional psychiatry plate with a lot of those veggies low calorie gonna fill me up going to be nutritious add in my spices to make them tasty that's a great way to go you know and and that sort of what i find over time is that it's filling and it has my blood sugar and a more even kale so if you're gonna overeat overeat vegetables yeah i'll eat those vegetables those vegetables those vegetables what are the vegetables you don't want to overeat you don't want to
- ([29:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1759s)) overeat the um the sort of more starchy vegetables and by that i mean that they going to impact your blood sugar in a different way so we know that potatoes do that we know that um sweet potatoes do that that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat them right just don't over eat it just don't read them or i hack for potatoes i mean potatoes are delicious but my hack for them is when you when you have a cool when you bake a potato and you allow it to cool it changes the reaction within that potato to make it a
- ([29:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1792s)) resistant starch which not only lowers the glycemic index it actually makes it a healthy food so baked potatoes baked potatoes and then cool them and then you know really heat them up or whatever it's a process that happens within the potato so having a baked potato oh but then cooled not hot bake it cool it and then you know heat it up or do whatever you're going to do to um to to have it with your toppings interesting what happens if you have it baked and you eat it hot so so it doesn't allow the cooling does it hasn't gone through
- ([30:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1823s)) the process of that change which makes it a resistant start the process is called um retrogradation so so it hasn't gone through that so you just you're kind of just eating the potatoes so that's a good cooking strategy that's a good cooking strategy to add yeah yeah exactly so bake the potato allow it like put it in the refrigerator or just let it sit out you can you can let it sit down or you can place it in the fridge and have it for the next meal okay something like that allowing in a process that just changes changes it
- ([30:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1851s)) into a different form and different effect on your microbiome and that is healthier does that mean you should eat six a day no no should you mean you shouldn't mean you shouldn't eat one every day no it's still in moderation but this it's it's trying to prove my point that when i say potatoes i don't mean never eat a potato you know right it's actually a vegetable we all eat and something that's at all our holiday tables et cetera so it's just kind of understanding that a little bit
- ([31:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1877s)) um and you know and thinking about it more fiber-rich foods um fish and fermented foods how much can you have too much fish in a day and what is too much fish i guess yeah so you know generally um two to three servings of fish a week are good are good you can have more if you like a seafood diet or your pescetarian certainly that's perfectly fine i think again the sauce and the quality so wild sakai salmon a fatty fish that's rich in the omega-3s good for your brain good for your body you know um muscles
- ([31:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1912s)) um oysters rich in zinc great for your brain um so so it's balancing that up with everything else that you're doing again leaning to those vegetables um you know leafy greens the salads all of that as well as you know the um the fiber rich foods because you don't get fiber from from animal or seafood protein you get it from vegetables fruit beans nuts seeds lentils legumes and those healthy whole grains so you need to add those fiber the fiber-rich foods and i always say fiber foods help your anxiety because
- ([32:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1944s)) they basically they're your friend they metabolize more slowly so add those in um so interesting yeah so with seafood as well it's you know portion control eating eating better better sources if you can um and balancing it out with everything else what about fermented foods so that's a good one because a good good and recent study published in cell which is a highly reputable journal from the summer from researchers at stanford talked about fermented foods helping with that inflammation we mentioned
- ([32:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=1977s)) and reducing it so adding in a serving of fermented foods into each of your meals is a super great way to go what are the top tasting fermented foods so i like kimchi i like kimchi um it you know depends on the person's palate kefir if you eat dairy it's a sour yogurt get the plain the plain kind add it to smoothie or something else soured yogurt what's it called kefir and they do have the fruited ones so try to skip those just get the plain kombucha look for one that's um you know doesn't have a ton of added
- ([33:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2016s)) sugar in it uh miso miso paste i have a recipe in my book for meso glazed sweet potatoes and it actually is a great way to have your fermented food as well as a you know more complex vegetable but you can also add it other veggies i happen to pair it with sweet potatoes that you can you can brush it on the marinade onto other veggies um and almost every culture has a fermented food so there there are certainly several more but there's some some some ways to get started oils is the next one you have here i've heard
- ([34:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2050s)) conflicting things on oils that there are certain oils that are that are great for the brain food right that are great but then also isn't oil like a non-natural process where you're extracting something from the food and so it's processed still isn't that like that right so so um you know with with the oils the ones that i kind of recommend we or suggest we use things like extra virgin olive oil i use a little bit of olive avocado oil but what you're referring to is a very important point because processed
- ([34:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2085s)) vegetable oils and those seed oils especially the ones that are used in like fast food restaurants because they cost effective up pro-inflammatory they upper omega-6 levels in the body and so they are really driving inflammation instead of lowering it so it's a good reason and certainly for physical but also importantly mental health for us to be a little bit careful is extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil help decrease inflammation they have healthy fats in them which are brain which are they are brain healthy fats so that's the way to
- ([35:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2120s)) think about them and and yes they don't drive they're not increasing they're not pro-inflammatory they're not driving information those two and and but if you have too much of it it's too many calories right exactly they can be very calorie dense now people who eat certain certain um certain diets will say perhaps much olive oil as you want you know uh put put in as much butt as you want now but it's delicious you can have butter just have it you know in moderation um as with as with everything
- ([35:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2150s)) else the next thing is omega-3 rich foods so omega-3 isn't fish is that right yes so omega-3 omega-3s and fish you can get um you know you get the short chain omega-3s in some plant foods the ala like hemp seeds chia seeds flax seeds clgc vegetables but the conversion to the longer chain um is is not as efficient in the seeds in in the vegetable sources and plant-based sources as it is with fish as it is with with seafood exactly um old fish so so my my i feel that you know rather than struggling about whether
- ([36:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2189s)) you're going to get that conversion in your body one of the things is if someone is plant-based consider an algal oil supplement which can which can make up for that now not every person who is vegan may agree with that but it's a suggestion to suddenly for my patients i'm really awesome to do that and an algae supplement exactly algal oil yeah okay gotcha i wish there was just like one supplement you could take for everything i know um so dairy has uh you say dairy is one of the things for brain foods as well
- ([37:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2224s)) is milk and dairy products really that good for you i've heard a lot of different conflicting things about the inflammation behind milk and cheeses and things like that but yeah you say certain cheeses yogurt and kefir or kefir right yeah so but what about milk and absolutely so you know i think that this comes down to the nature of your microbiome the nature of your health because in my practice from when i started i think that oh i know that my nutritional psychiatry plans have become much more highly personalized yes
- ([37:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2259s)) as we understand a little bit more about the science of the microbiome there he does not agree with everyone you know it besides the lactose intolerance people may find it inflammatory but again it goes back to the sauce if i'm recommending dairy or working with someone who does consume dairy it's grass milk fed dairy it's it's not just you know the home fuse infused dairy which is completely this is what i had my whole life which is which is what we had growing up absolutely um and so it's the
- ([38:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2288s)) sauce it's finding all alternate milks that like you mentioned that that could you know could substitute that flavor that you might be used to that richness with the cheeses it really is the look for the probiotic sources remember that cheeses can be um sheep's milk and goat smoke because there's less of an issue around the dairy farming problem that we run into so that's an option for people who like cheeses as well are those the top type of cheeses you recommend sheep and goat's milk if you're struggling with if you don't
- ([38:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2320s)) like dairy then you might want to consider those alternatives to cow's milk day products if you love cheese like me yeah you're saying you recommend those you know i'm saying look for a good sauce and make sure that you're getting a good source of the cheese the goods if you drink milk make sure it's a grass milk got it um where you get it from becomes important you know organic and all of that so gotcha that makes a difference last thing you talked about spices you already talked about it a little bit but
- ([39:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2346s)) the you know turmeric with pepper and certain other spices if you have no spices on your food is it still okay if you're doing most of these things absolutely there's no there's no um hard and fast rules so if you if you don't need spices well you know maybe you don't like them but but but i would encourage you to explore a little bit outside of the box because many people just don't realize the the brain benefit and the spices in their spice cabinet it's often overlooked it's
- ([39:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2376s)) let's add a little bit of this and move on but actually they're very powerful right in chapter four you talk about i believe trauma ptsd and trauma i'm curious what type of foods continue to um emphasize traumatic experiences in our in our mind or in our thoughts and our bodies i guess are there certain foods that keep us living in traumatic patterns yeah and then there are other foods that help us heal traumatic memories whether it be mentally or physically from the past yes your trauma is a very very complicated subject and it's
- ([40:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2416s)) it's something that to be you know as a psychiatrist is not only one route to healing and that's where like with other conditions as well all forms of therapies and healing and sometimes even medication become important but if we would look just at the nutritional elements going back to that sad diet going back to the diet that produces inflammation in the body the added refined sugars that worsen our microbiome impact inflammation in the brain all of that just keeps you in that negative cycle you know and keeps you
- ([40:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2449s)) when when you've experienced a traumatic event or more than one your your brain is cons you know your brain is dealing with that so there's less of your brain available to making healthier choices so what you want to do is almost think about it as eating in a way that calms down that brain and helps with the healing so that the person can actually heal from within and make those better choices so that's part of the psychological experience of it but then you know foods that can help you blueberries actually
- ([41:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2482s)) have a good amount of evidence believe it or not behind them but then leaning into those antioxidant and anti-inflammatory rich foods um and you know adding sort of almost revitalizing your diet and where i always start close with people is think about just one kind of unhealthy habit you've picked up during the pandemic you know and start there it's it's going to help you yeah yeah and and then all that sugar that can of course you know step away from the cookie is a step yeah it's fine to find a better alternative um to the
- ([41:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2512s)) ice cream or whatever it is you know absolutely thank you i'm curious i did an interview with uh dr daniel amen which i know you know as well yeah and i'm curious he talks a lot about brain health as well and i did the whole brain scan i don't know if you've done that as well i haven't done it with him but i've i've heard good things fascinating what you learned about the traumas of the brain that you've had and all this stuff um i'm curious your thoughts on the effects of alcohol
- ([42:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2539s)) smoking vaping and marijuana on the brain health and how those things hurt or help um your brain health yeah so let me start with um with you know smoking because you know lung cancer still a massive killer in the united states putting cobra decide putting heart disease aside it's still a massive killer so smoking i i can't really find a way whereas with food or even alcohol or caffeine other substances that people sometimes don't consume let's say or don't eat um i can always find a way to provide
- ([42:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2579s)) guidance around moderation um with smoking it's it's hard for me to do that yeah and there's no benefit the the i can't find a benefit i still haven't um my patients who who i'm encouraging to give up smoking will tell me it helps them with their weight but that's that's unfortunately just i think only benefit but it's an unhealthy but it's an unhealthy benefit because you know you you're kind of killing your lungs at the same time or you're creating copd which is
- ([43:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2605s)) very painful as you grow older to to suffer from and when you have that in your lungs what does that do to your brain health well you if one thing you know your oxygen so so our bodies run on oxygen and and all the as well as other as well as nutrients and if your lung capacity is getting lower and lower it's not feeding your brain enough oxygen you're not you know you see the sincere pd patients and and people struggling with those conditions so i can't justify that one lewis with with cannabis um the research is
- ([43:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2636s)) emerging there's also separate to marijuana there's the psychedelic research that that's emerging in psychiatry i think we'll be learning more and more about that i think what gets confusing for the public is that because marijuana has been legalized in some states recreational use is not the same as medical use that is regulated and prescribed so there's a little bit of confusion with that what i notice is in individuals who are using it recreationally or what i see in the house in my hospital practices
- ([44:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2669s)) people don't often know what that that cannabis is mixed with and they can have from psychotic episodes to worsening anxiety they can lose touch with reality um so it can be very mixed so i think it's it's about the source it's about whether it's prescribed it's about whether you're using it responsibly or you're just kind of using it recreationally there's a whole gamut of things there is there any research on brain health and vaping not not that i'm familiar with off the top
- ([44:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2697s)) of my head um i will i will need to look into that because i think we i don't personally know no yet um and then with alcohol but with alcohol there's a good there's a good amount of research but my feeling about it is offering people guidance around moderate use responsible use because more people than not drink alcohol so having them understand that becomes important because it's it i know that you know for example dry january is a big thing and i encourage people if that's something they want to try
- ([45:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2733s)) just make sure that if they've been drinking really heavily on the holidays they don't just stop overnight because they can go into physiological withdrawal and be quite sick and very anxious and have their heart racing and all sorts of things but if that's a healthy habit that they want to make you know go for it by all means just just do it with some guidance with alcohol there are a couple of things pay attention to your body intelligence one of the principles and pillars of nutritional psychiatry so if
- ([46:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2761s)) you drinking alcohol you're not feeling good pay attention to that or if you're feeling like you need two more glasses of wine to feel okay during covert that has become a problem for a lot of people we know that alcohol and drug use increased during covert that's important to pay attention if you're leaning on a glass of wine to help you sleep it's going to disrupt your sleep architecture so all of that being said if you're drinking moderation enjoy a cocktail have a clean cocktail avoid those simple
- ([46:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2792s)) simple syrup which is simply sugar the added liquors which is just messing it up right you just have a clean cocktail and you know wine red wines whatever it is you're drinking um stay within some guidelines moderation and if it's something you want to give up you know if you speak with a doctor because you don't want to give go from six glasses of wine a day you shouldn't be drinking to um to zero you you want to do it gradually so that your body can handle it have you seen anything on the uh the science around
- ([47:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2822s)) sparkling water carbonated water on how that affects either the gut or the brain i've seen a little bit and i want to actually learn a bit more about it because people have said um different things about the carpet exactly and i drink sparkling water um a plane you know because i i like water as you know my go-to beverage um that i sip on and actually it has a good amount of evidence in mental health because dehydration can worsen anxiety right and precipitate panic and low levels of water and actually dehydration
- ([47:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2853s)) has been there's an association with depression as well so you know it's it's a it's important to keep our bodies running but the combination i i've heard things about you know the impact of the microbiome i'm just not sure so that's something i want to look into i'd love to learn that if you get the research let me know i will because i want to make sure that i'm not drinking too much of it because i don't drink any alcohol so i've never been i've never been drunk i have like a
- ([47:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2877s)) bailey's on ice maybe like once or twice a year yeah that's about it that's about it yeah and water gets boring after a while and i don't want to have soda i pretty much eliminated soda from my life yeah except forever occasionally yeah so it's like and i know that you know fruit juice is like lemonade or something has a lot of sugar in it so it's like do you flavor your water with like citrus berries just a natural i don't like berries which is bad whatever yeah you know um pieces of citrus pieces of kiwi
- ([48:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2909s)) maybe something like a little thing of lemon just put it in exactly a fresh piece of lemon a fresh squeeze of actual orange very different from a juice you know the actual squeeze of um that really just helps to give you a little bit of a different flavor yeah i like that um and lots of ice you know change it up a little bit yeah i can start doing that more um you also have some great research in here which i think some people like this chapter on it's libido the food so you should be eating that can enhance your libido or
- ([48:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2938s)) the foods that will hurt your libido can you share a few of the positive and the negative ones sure so you know the ones that you want to be leaning into this long list but you know dark chocolate people will be happy to know extra dark natural uh chocolate that's you know 75 or higher is actually good and is an oxytocin-rich food pistachio nuts avocado apples there are a few that you can tap into and you know cleaning up that it goes back to cleaning up that diet you know there's a certain amount there's a
- ([49:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=2972s)) certain amount of research on that and let's see soy protein was one was in men from men to a boy for whether it's okay it was it was what the researcher that wasn't as problematic for women so it's sort of interesting there but again um you know a lot of asian countries a lot of actually in the us you know sorry uh that's the sources of soy right so non-gmo well-sourced organic tofu actual edamame soy beans you know versus some sort of processed version those become important sugar is a big thing as
- ([50:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3006s)) well to avoid yes right come it comes back to that sad diet yeah yeah if you could eliminate one food from everyone's diet forever if you just say we had to eliminate one thing from the earth no one could ever eat this specific thing what would that be to help us improve our mental health our brains our overall physical health or microbiome it would be refined sugars refined sugar right because we have sugar in you know many different foods get broken down to sugar but it's the refined those added and refined
- ([50:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3040s)) sugars so you know how high fructose corn syrup got developed in the food industry all of those things really did change the nature of our food and so adam refined sugars i think would make a difference if getting rid of those getting rid of those what would people what are three great substitutes instead of refined sugar if they're used to putting sugar in coffee or i don't know on top of foods what would be three in moderation substitutes that would maybe even benefit if you took these things so base we'll go back to that i
- ([51:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3076s)) know you don't like them but a piece of fruit so i you know i like a little clementine you know that they tie they small eat a little bit of it cinnamon cinnamon is a spice that actually offers sweetness along with that i think pumpkin pie spice so those all have a little bit of sweetness without without the actual um sugar so although unless you have a spice that has is a blend which has sugar added that's different i'm drawing by the pure spice so all the pasta buy cinnamon cinnamon all have a little bit of the
- ([51:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3108s)) sweetness because the spices have sweetness and i guess the third one would be sweetened like honey agave those right so so i use a touch of honey and things and the reason is that honey know individuals who are plant-based won't consume honey but honey has a lot of other health benefits it helps immunity it helps a lot of other stuff so good source of like manuka honey or really well-sourced honey could actually have help help other health benefits so for me if i'm sweetening a whole batch of chia pudding that i'm using i'm not
- ([52:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3141s)) using a ton of it i'm using a touch of honey you know just a touch because i love honey right exactly so it's like if i'm making a whole bowl of say two or three cups i would probably use not more than a teaspoon that's a you know for a large batch it's not much so for me over time i've kind of honed my sweet senses to having less sugar so i can do that and it's it's a process even my patients will time it's a process from a candy bar going teaching them um to eat and get used to have their palate get used to a
- ([52:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3176s)) dark natural chocolate that actually is load and serotonin and magnesium and lots of good things for you they go from a whole candy bar to eating a square too because the pellet changes and that part of it is that you know the candy bars often the sugar that's um that tastes good and that is wanting us to eat more as well it gets into that vicious cycle you've been studying this for a long time you teach this to a lot of people with your clients but you're also now teaching this to nutritionists and other
- ([53:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3206s)) experts in the world what's the thing that you struggle with the most in your own with all the information that you know with with your own food intake or guess what's the thing that's challenging for you so this is a great question because um with the emergence of my book during a pandemic sharing my book with the world became almost an entire job on its own it's a lot of work and one exactly you know the thing that i really had to relearn was my time management around food preparation and i say that as a chef
- ([54:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3241s)) i say then someone who talks about meal preparation as being so important because what would happen was i would be going from one podcast to the next and i would not realize i didn't have lunch i would be sitting um with the virtual world and promoting the book be sitting on one interview after the next and have forgotten my water bottle and so really i had to take a step back and reevaluate how i was going to handle it because like i said became like a whole other job and so trust me and i say you know my nutrition
- ([54:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3271s)) is not perfect i've had to relearn a lot of that again and say wednesday is going to be my meal prep day and i'm going to go back to making my cheer pudding and stuff because it was so thrown off by the pandemic and needing to promote and share my book without any um you know any media absolutely yeah is available yeah is that a healthy dessert so you can actually have it in many different ways um i have it as a breakfast i have it as a dessert so the great thing about chia pudding is it's all about the the ratio of the chia
- ([55:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3302s)) seeds to the coconut milk okay and then it the seeds expand and gel and they form like their own little um little pudding so you don't need much of it to be very satiated because they're rich in fiber and protein and then you get some healthy fat from the coconut milk and i top it so if i'm having in the morning i'll put i know berries but but if i want it is more for an evening dessert i'll either add some um make it a cocoa flavor with some tomatoes or something some cacao nibs for crunch or add in some
- ([55:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3336s)) natural cacao powder when i'm making it you know you can play with it and really get something good out of it um or i had having my turmeric in it and then just switch it out with maybe some crunchy nuts for the evening or whatever it is so you can actually have it as a snack whenever you want how do you make this it's very simple um i don't have the ratio with me but it's because i usually make it in large batches it's a small amount of chia seeds it's with coconut milk and it's basically two ingredients um you
- ([56:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3366s)) basically you make sure that it's blended you just use a spoon and what i do is i set it out in little mini ramekins so i have a little chip jars or you can use jars and seal it um the little tiny mason jars you can use little ramekins and cover it with um uh you know uh kind of a plastic wrap a plastic wrap yeah so that it's sealed and then you can use it at least for seven days at a time you can make a batch and it sets overnight so it's actually so you just put you just mix in coconut milk with chia seeds in a
- ([56:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3396s)) jar do you put it in a refrigerator how does it work yes in the fridge you just said it that's all you do you mix it in and then you put it in there yes the so the chia seeds swell with um with the liquid and it coagulates a little bit exactly and they kind of make this pudding type texture that's all it is there's no other process to it put in the refrigerator let it cool start stir it up and just chill it overnight 24 12 hours 24 hours actually the small ones set pretty fast so you can sometimes do in a few hours
- ([57:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3424s)) so you could do the morning and eat it later in the day what i tend to do is make it when i do my food prep day and make it for the week that sounds good i'm gonna have to try that i could do that and not mess it up i feel like uh do you have the ratios in here yes you do you have the chocolate and if not it's also on my instagram that's amazing uh this is your brain on food an indispensable guide to the surprising foods that fight depression ptsd adhd anxiety ocd help with your sex drive and so much
- ([57:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3454s)) more this has been very inspiring i have a couple final questions for you but i want to make sure people get the book they can get it anywhere online amazon your website what is your website by the way where people can get more sure my website is umanaidumd.com and my instagram is at d-r-u-m-a-n-a-i-d-o-o also put out tons of information there and i'm actually hosting my first virtual course in nutritional psychiatry early in 2022 for anyone who wants to learn more and dive deeper than the book wow what would that cover um that will
- ([58:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3488s)) cover beyond what's in the book so we go through the basic tenets of the book um because people have individual questions they have a want a deeper learning of the subject and as you know in any book you you can never cover all the topics so we go into more topics um question and answer sessions and hopefully it will you know it will deepen people's knowledge of the subject and the interest dr uma i really acknowledge you for the way you show up i think it's i think researchers and people working in in
- ([58:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3520s)) universities can stay stuck in the university are working with one-on-one clients and there's nothing wrong with that but by you taking this simplifying it into a book and not wanting to go beyond that i think is really inspiring for so many people that are confused around what to eat how to eat how it affects their gut how it affects their brain so i really acknowledge you for showing up for doing the work for packaging this in a way that we can consume it and understand it so it doesn't seem so overwhelming
- ([59:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3547s)) and for for doing all the podcasts you do to get it out there even if your diet's a little off here and there but it's amazing so i really acknowledge you for for your decades of research and training so that we can become better human beings it's really really inspiring yeah i have a question that i ask everyone at the end called three truths question so i'd like you to imagine a hypothetical scenario it's your last day on earth many years away from now you get to live as long as you want to live okay but
- ([59:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3575s)) eventually it's you got to call it your last day and you've accomplished all of your dreams in life you've accomplished everything you've created the life of your dreams you've spent time with the people you love but for whatever reason you've got to take all of your work with you your message your content your books videos like everything you've ever created for whatever reason it's got to go somewhere else so we don't have access to your information anymore but you get to leave behind on this last
- ([1:00:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3603s)) day okay three lessons three things you know to be true about all the things you've learned in life that you would like to share with the world what would you say would be those three truths off the cuff obviously okay number one be kind to yourself because without that honestly you're not going to be able to help anyone else the second is you are what you eat even though it's cliched and overly used and it's often misunderstood and never actually taken seriously so you mentioned the sad diet and you
- ([1:00:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3642s)) know what i'm talking about and the third is spices are the magic in your kitchen cabinet that are going to help your mental health really i like it spices are the magic um very cool i'm excited for this i want people to get the book thank you um is there anything else we can do to support you currently well thank you um i i think you know helping me to bring this message forward and whatever way you can say thank you for sharing this podcast and inviting me but people listening to it you know supporting the
- ([1:01:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3674s)) book supporting the work letting us know the burning questions that they have um you know it's social media i can't answer my i can't be a doctor i can't answer medical questions but you know we we can if we hear from people we'll put a post out on something we'll add it as a segment to the course that i teach um that type of stuff so perfect that that really helps me okay cool um okay final question dr uma what's your definition of greatness truly being yourself if you are able to reach that place
- ([1:01:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3708s)) within yourself to be confident to be yourself i truly think that makes you the greatest that you can be on the south if you got value from that then go ahead and stick around for more coming up right now what i'm hearing you say obesity is a big factor to mental health uh stresses and brain stresses and alzheimer's disease and alzheimer's yeah i mean it all sort of goes together from depression to problems in school to memory problems later in life what's your thought i mean i'm all for people loving themselves where they're
- ([1:02:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3745s)) at where they're at in their life and loving their bodies for where they're at and not shaming themselves and the self-love movement of accepting yourself for where you are but that's only going to hurt our brains if we're not actually saying okay i accept and love myself where i'm at and decisions i've made to be here but i've got to start working on these things otherwise there's going to be some challenges emotionally mentally anxiety depression if i don't work on it right
- ([1:02:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3771s)) my health don't worry be happy people die the earliest from accidents and preventable illnesses and i want people to love themselves but doing the right thing is an act of love like if you're really unhealthy walking is an act of love and so um so it sort of catches me in this funny place uh i remember i was on a plane once and um and i'd figure out this connection between as your weight goes up the size and function of your brain goes down and i was sitting next to someone who is very overweight we were on a tiny plane going
- ([1:03:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3818s)) to des moines iowa for public television and in my head i'm like oh you want to talk to her about that and then i i talked to myself all the time it's like no you don't want to say anything don't need to upset our day and um but then i went to pittsburgh and i went to gnc you know the supplement company and um one of my core values is being authentic as i live the message of my life and the message of gnc is health yes and their number three guy their marketing director took me to dinner was morbidly
- ([1:04:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3859s)) obese really and and that thought in my head is you should talk to him about this and and he made the comment he opened the conversation he's like you know i don't know why i'm overweight but my numbers are okay and i'm like what numbers and i'm like tom you don't want to be a dinosaur because i had figured out big body little brain you're going to become extinct and we had this great conversation because my favorite verse in the new testament is john 8 32 know the truth and the truth will set you free
- ([1:05:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3901s)) i'm like do you not want to be like the number two guy or the number one guy you're not going to do that if your brain's not healthy and that conversation the next year he lost 80 pounds wow most people don't know that this is a serious health mental health brain health risk and i just want to tell people the truth and i want them to get healthy and people go but i don't like any one of my nfl players but i don't like any of the foods that are healthy for me and i'm like none not one
- ([1:05:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3939s)) and we did this great exercise and it turned out he liked like 70 of the foods that were else you only want to love food that loves you back it's a relationship yeah right i don't know if you've ever been in a bad relationship but i've been in a bad relationship 20-year marriage with someone who didn't like me very much i'm never going to do that again i'm just not it's a boundary for me and i'm damn sure i'm not going to be in a relationship with bad relationship with
- ([1:06:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=3972s)) food i want to be in a good relationship i mean i love food i just wanted to love me back what are the five foods that we should have to help our brain the most salmon wild salmon blueberries walnuts olive or avocado oil yeah healthy protein chocolate uh i make this great brain healthy hot chocolate every night for my family i just look at the six of them that live at home i'm like okay who's up for it tonight so costco of all places organic vanilla unsweetened almond milk rock cow it's a superfood uh so organic
- ([1:06:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4018s)) raw cacao and a little bit of sweet leaf is a company that makes flavored stevia they make chocolate flavored stevia and put it in the blender heat it up it's phenomenal good for me i love it and it loves me back it loves you back so salmon salmon blueberries walnuts avocado or avocado oil raw chocolate are some of the top favorite foods for the brain for the brain why are these foods is it high in antioxidants is its proteins that they have so blueberry it's the phytonutrients they've actually done studies showing cognitive enhancement
- ([1:07:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4060s)) with blueberry juice salmon it's the omega-3 fatty acids and the complete protein avocados it's the healthy fat especially omega-3 fatty acids same with walnuts your brain is fat low-fat diets are bad really for your brain people who go on low-fat diets actually have an increased incidence of depression really yeah so now you don't want bad fats fried fats particularly you want healthy fats avocados nuts and seeds green leafy vegetables um olive oils olive oil avocado oil damien nut oil yeah so how much
- ([1:08:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4108s)) how much food should the brain have is it you know it's your buddy our buddy uh dave asprey talks about fasting a lot a lot of people are in this fasting craze if we're not giving the brain food or nutrients for a day three days five days does that help the brain does it reset the brain does it hurt the brain so intermittent fasting where you go 12 to 16 hours from dinner to breakfast or lunch is good um they've actually found your there's a term called autophagy where your brain begins to clean up some
- ([1:09:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4142s)) of the trash so it works in the brain too not just in the as well now i grew up roman catholic and long suffering was one of the gifts and i never got that one i'm not a fan of long suffering yes i'm not doing a marathon it's like way too much stress for my brain and i'm not fasting for three days but i can go 12 hours and i'm like that's not a big deal and it helps people lose weight it helps them be healthy and i come from a family of fat people my dad you say when i would say that but i have a brother
- ([1:09:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4179s)) 150 pounds overweight despite me loving him nudging him and you just have to be thoughtful know your vulnerability in bright minds that g is genetics so know what you're genetically vulnerable to and you know i have to work on it right right how you mention you don't do marathons uh if you're not traumatizing the brain through contact sports but you're an endurance junkie you love to run marathons you run them every year you do triathlons you do ultra marathons you're doing mountain climbing are these
- ([1:10:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4218s)) activities good for the brain to put some extreme stress on it even if it's not physical contact to the brain or does it long term hurt the brain the scans i have of extreme athletes are not good really yeah i think it's too much stress for the brain i love hip training high intensity training that's been shown to increase mitochondria and cells uh i'm not a fan of putting your body under a lot of stress it's it's just not good for it some stress is is good we call it use stress a little bit so your fibers grow that's
- ([1:10:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4259s)) why weight training is important the stronger you are as you age less likelihood to have alzheimer's disease really but you want to love your brain you want to make sure you're sleeping for your brain that's the ass in bright mind so someone's like you know what okay i hear what you're saying but i really love to do a marathon or two a year and a few times in my life i want to do you know want to climb everest or something like that i want to do something to challenge myself and i go awesome is that going to hurt the brain
- ([1:11:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4290s)) it's not going to if you're doing everything else right so one of my nfl players just signed an 80 million dollar deal wow so he's going to play yeah he's going to play and but if you're going to do something that is potentially damaging to the brain make sure you're doing everything else right so for example being a firefighter is a brain damaging profession we need to own that just like we need to own playing football is a brain damaging profession it's like own it everybody knows it now when i started
- ([1:12:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4327s)) my work in 2007 very few people know it now everybody knows it um but they don't know that being a firefighter because they're our heroes those are the people we need when we need them and we need them healthy but because of the toxins they breathe because of the emotional trauma they see day in and day out because of the head traumas they experience they have a higher incidence of depression a higher incidence of suicide and a higher incidence of early death we should not be okay with this but it doesn't mean
- ([1:12:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4362s)) we're not going to have firefighters what it means is we should put their brain in a rehabilitative environment all the time we should be teaching them about brain health like with nfl players currently we should be teaching them look if you're going to do this own it it's a brain damaging sport so let's just do everything else right what are the other things right that you talk about are there are a few main keys is it nutrition is it sleep well if we think about bright minds it's such a
- ([1:13:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4393s)) good model so blood flow b is blood flow so exercise and foods like beets that increase blood flow or supplements like gingko that increase blood flow the r is retirement and aging new learning is absolutely critical um you know your work and studying greatness you're always learning something new which is great so what for the brain retirement plus aging is obviously retirement and aging so continuing to learn in those states and always putting yourself in an anti-aging environment so the food you eat the
- ([1:13:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4431s)) exercise new learning being passionate never retiring right i mean maybe you go and do something else you like better because you have enough money but never retirement because when you start when you when you start not doing things your brain actually starts to disconnect itself so when we say someone retires at 60 70 75 and they say you know i'm just gonna sit on the beach for the next however long enjoy my family time enjoy the money i've had and relax what happens to those people if they don't have a
- ([1:14:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4466s)) purposeful mission in their life beyond relaxation what happens or what their brain disconnects itself really they have a higher incidence of dementia um and my dad worked until he died when he was almost 91 and he's like when my friends retire they die really and now if you retire because you really didn't love what you were doing anyways and you go off and do something you love maybe not golf because you're around all those toxins on the grain um maybe not golf but when if you're doing things you
- ([1:15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4500s)) love and you're always learning well that's awesome that's a really good thing if you retire from your job don't retire from your life don't retire from your life stay connected in some meaningful pursuit absolutely critical to st keeping young and then the eye is inflammation this is the big bad actor uh because inflammation in your body which comes from eating processed foods one of the surprising things comes from gum disease if you're not a flosser really you need to floss i'm a flossing
- ([1:15:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4533s)) fool i did twice a day i wasn't that way until i started reading the studies that people who have gum disease have a higher incidence of heart disease but also a higher incidence of brain disease they actually found gum bacteria in higher in the brains of people with alzheimer's disease um wow and so omega-3 fatty acids decrease inflammation fruits and vegetables decrease inflammation flossing and probiotics getting your gut healthy there's this huge connection between the brain and the gut because inflammation often comes from
- ([1:16:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4576s)) having an unhealthy gut either from infections or the lousy food that you're eating and the g is genetics you need to know your vulnerability but genes aren't a death sentence what they should be is a wake-up call uh to know what you're vulnerable to my i have heart disease and obesity in my family i don't have heart disease and i'm not obese why because i'm always on a prevention program you just want to be serious as soon as you know what your risks right okay h is head trauma which we talked
- ([1:16:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4611s)) about brain and soft skull is hard they're three million new head injuries every year in the united states this is a big deal right three million new head injuries every year is that from car accidents or sports falls everything everything wow you know being hit domestic violence whatever it might be anything gunshot whatever whatever 3 million which means most people live over the last 30 years that's 90 million people in the united states who struggle with the effects of traumatic brain injury very high in prison populations very
- ([1:17:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4650s)) high in people who struggle with psychiatric diseases and then t is toxins and so you go what can i do to support my brain well one avoid them alcohol is not a health food um my biggest blog last year was titled i told you so and when i dated my wife tana yeah i think you met my wife she's awesome and when we were dating she said wife mike not the 20 years not the 20 she said i'll never tell you i told you so she lied she's a flat-out lied to me it's like her favorite thing to say um but i've been telling people ever
- ([1:18:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4693s)) since i started imaging alcohol is not a health food and our first clinic was right next to the napa valley so it was not a popular thing to say and but it's just what i saw and then there's a study from johns hopkins that say people who drink every day have smaller brains wow last year the american cancer society came out and said any alcohol is associated with an increased risk in cancer seven different cancers oh any alcohol any alcohol yeah that and so my every wine drinker is saying no you're wrong
- ([1:18:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4728s)) no i'm not listening to this right now what about a glass once or twice a week what about the nutrients from the world again if you're gonna do something that's bad for your brain you should be doing other things that are good for your brain right it doesn't mean you can never have a drink but just know it's not a healthy healthy full thing to do so you want to do the other things yeah like when i eat a bowl of ice cream and pizza i know it's not helping my brain right and if you do it once a
- ([1:19:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4760s)) month it's like not the biggest deal in the world but then because here we're talking about tea for toxins you want to support the four organs of detoxification so your kidneys drink more water your gut eat more fiber in my shake every morning i put fiber in it in your for your liver kill the alcohol and eat detoxifying vegetables they're called brassicas brussels sprouts cauliflower broccoli kale and take infrared saunas people who take the most saunas have the lowest incidence cup of alzheimer's disease
- ([1:20:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4802s)) really because it detoxifies you and it's also there's actually a study in the journal of the american medical association people with major depression took one infrared sauna their mood was better well how cool is that i mean that's like simple there's no side effects mostly to taking a 25 minute sauna so is it infrared or any type of sauna well it's probably any type of sauna but the study was uninformed right gotcha but anything that's releasing the toxins any heat exposure and not squashed
- ([1:20:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4840s)) sweating with exercise or saunas is detoxifying for you yeah and this isn't hard right like not one thing i've said right so far is hard the m in bright minds is mental health this is where you learn to kill the ants and tame the dragons so ant stands for automatic negative thoughts the thoughts that come into your mind automatically and ruin your day and the exercise is super simple whenever you feel sad or mad or nervous or out of control write down what you're thinking and then just ask yourself if it's true you don't have
- ([1:21:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4874s)) to believe every stupid thing you think i didn't learn that until i was 28 years old i'm like i'm in class i'm a psychiatric resident at walter reed in washington dc and i'm like no shh i don't have to believe the noise in my head it's like thoughts come from your genes right they're actually written into your genes you're a failure maybe because your grandfather had to file for bankruptcy they come from your parents talking to you they come from your siblings i'm one of
- ([1:21:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4907s)) seven they come from the noise they come from your coaches and they lie just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether or not it's true absolutely and i was working with a therapist recently that said just because someone tells you uh something about yourself doesn't mean and they're trying to give you this thing doesn't mean you need to receive that gift it's not a gift you need to receive they're offering you a gift that's a bad gift doesn't mean you need to take it you just say okay i don't
- ([1:22:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4939s)) need that gift right now i don't need to let that thought sink in and believe this and i think i'll speak for myself growing up any time i heard someone say you suck you're dumb you're an idiot you're not enough you'll never amount to whatever i learn to believe those things and i think a lot of us probably learn to believe whatever we hear from anyone whether it was a a side comment or a direct comment and how have you learned over the years to really defend against those ants like besides
- ([1:22:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=4970s)) someone might say okay i tried writing it down that this is not true and analyzing this but what's a what how can we really show up for ourselves so our thoughts don't consume us in a negative way so you know that if you're overweight on monday and you have a salad you are not going to be trim on friday right you need to develop practices yes right that getting well physically is a discipline that occurs over and over over time right to be mentally well you need to develop practices that you do like eating well over and over and over
- ([1:23:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=5016s)) so for example i start every day with today is going to be a great day as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning and today was easier because i spent last night in santa monica and walked on the beach this morning and i get to hang out with you today is going to be a great day that way my unconscious mind finds why it's going to be a great day and then your brain is always listening i talk about taming the hopeless and helpless dragon the dragon from the past that feeds depression and it's something i do called
- ([1:24:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=5050s)) positivity bias training i want to get my brain looking for what's right because it automatically goes for what's wrong yeah and so i start every day with today is going to be a great day and then if i have a hard time if i feel sad or mad or nervous or out of control i write down what i i'm thinking and then i just go is it true and there's a whole bigger method in the book [Music] and often i'll go to what's the opposite of that thought no one loves me or no one respects me or you're a failure and so quickly my brain
- ([1:24:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=5085s)) if i go my wife never listens to me i've had that thought um i'll go well i never listened to my wife and i'd be like oh that can be true or she does listen to me and then i find the times it's just i don't believe what goes on in my head and then when i go to bed at night and this is so powerful i say a prayer and then i go what went well today and i put myself to sleep by reviewing the positive things that happen that day and i find the little micro moments whether it's that sip of hot chocolate
- ([1:25:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrRglezlZk&t=5119s)) that i made that i'm proud of myself for or some cool text or interaction and it sets my dreams up to be more positive this gut bacteria actually controls our metabolism communicates with our brain actually can help us heal from the inside out and very importantly that's where your immune system seventy percent of our immune system lives inside our gut
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