How Food Impacts Your Mental Health With Dr. Uma Naidoo

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Dr. Uma Naidoo joins us inside The Courageously.u Podcast to discuss how we can use food as medicine. Dr. Naidoo is a Harvard trained, board-certified psychiatrist, nutritionist, and professional chef who married both psychiatry and nutrition to create a beautiful treatment modality designed to help you improve your overall mental health. 

She founded the first hospital-based nutritional psychiatry service in the United States, where she serves as the director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. In her new book, “This Is Your Brain On Food,” Dr. Naidoo explores the fascinating science behind the food-mood link and offers actionable nutrition recommendations and recipes to optimize your mental health.

Having this conversation excited me because it gives me hope for the future of mental health treatment. If you’ve hung out with me long enough, you know mental health meds are not my first line of defense. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of them altogether. That is not to shame anyone for accessing meds and doing what they feel they need to do. I just hate that people are not informed of the side effects of meds, the risk of dependency, and the withdrawal process that comes with coming off mental health medications. Not to mention most docs fail to educate their patients on the importance of diet and lifestyle. 

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: 

• The influence food has on our brain (7:46)
• How physical problems can manifest as mental illness (10:32)
• How psychiatric treatments are integrated with nutritional interventions (13:03)
• When Dr. Uma Naidoo recommends pharmaceutical treatment and when she recommends nutritional treatment (16:20)
• If Dr. Naidoo has seen any improvements in symptoms with individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when utilizing nutrition as a form of treatment (21:41)
• What foods to avoid if you're anxious (25:59)
• Foods to add to your diet to help improve anxiety (29:09)
• Why you should speak to your medical provider prior to taking passionflower or chamomile if you are on a blood thinner (31:47)
• Whether or not organic foods play a role in using foods as medicine (33:15)
• How long, on average, it takes to see an improvement in symptoms when dietary changes are made (34:12)
• How to navigate healthy eating if you're an emotional eater (37:15)
• If dieting impacts your mental health (41:48)
• What role alcohol plays in mental health (43:23)
• The role omega 3s play in anxiety (45:52)
• Dr. Uma Naidoo's thoughts on the role food plays in ADHD and autism (46:58)
• Whether or not blood sugar plays a role in panic attacks (50:00)
• Simple tips to improve mental health symptoms (51:19)

CONNECT WITH DR. UMA NAIDOO :

Website

Instagram

Twitter

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

This Is Your Brain on Food

ALL THE GOODIES FROM THIS EPISODE:

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