Getting your five servings of fruit and vegetables a day good for you. But why exactly? And more specifically, what are some of the nutrients in fruits and veggies doing for your brain? In this episode, I’m bringing you some fresh data on Antioxidants & Alzheimer’s disease. 

Refs

Low Xanthophylls, Retinol, Lycopene, and Tocopherols in Grey and White Matter of Brains with Alzheimer’s Disease

Biomagnification

Supplements and dry AMD

Lutein zeaxanthin AD diagnosis

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Original music my Juan Iglesias

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Why am I hungrier before my period? Am I addicted to cheese? And is it true that we confuse hunger and thirst? I’m answering your questions on hungry in today’s episode.

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Conformity, the act of adjusting your behaviour to fit in with group norms or expectations, is one of the strongest, most consistent and yet subtle social pressures that we experience. In this episode I’m talking about the evolutionary roots of shame and its links to conformity and physical pain.

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Dementia is the disease that most adults are frightened of and global rates are set to triple by 2050. But too few of us know that there is anything we can do reduce our chances of developing the condition. Yet, research indicates that around 40% of global dementia cases could be delayed or prevented through changes in lifestyle.

In this episode I overview the 12 known modifiable risk factors for dementia and how you can start to look after your long-term brain health starting right now.

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NHS Alcohol Support

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The Five Factor Model of Personality is the most empirically supported paradigm for personality assessment, with five traits that have been identified universally – across sex, age, geography and culture.

In this episode I outline the five factors and how they link to physical and mental health. 

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Over 50 million people have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to profile their personality. What can it tell you about yourself and is it worth the money?

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The world’s largest food and drink company, Nestlé, hit the headlines recently due to unethical practices with baby foods in countries in the global south: Asia, Africa and Latin America. But this isn’t their first rodeo. In this episode I discuss the original baby food scandal from the 1970s, which caused millions of excess infant deaths, and their latest moral failings.

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References

The original ‘The Baby Killer’ report from 1974

The 2024 Public Eye Investigation

Baby Milk Action Chronology

New Internationalist Babies Edition

VoxDev Analysis

Nestlé brands

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This episode is a follow-up to the previous episode: Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics & Psychobiotics. This time I want to talk to you about leaky gut.

• What is it?
• How much of a problem is it?
• And what, if anything, can we do about it?

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This episode is all about microbes. Specifically, the ones in your gut that we are discovering play important roles in supporting your overall health, including your brain and mental health. But there is a lot of noise out there, and a lot of grand claims being made. In this episode I want to help you cut through the noise and make sense of this fascinating but complex area of research and to know, when it comes to gut health, where you should be spending your time and money.

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This episode is all about Ozempic or, more specifically, the GLP-1 receptor agonist medications that have, far beyond their original medical use, taken the dieting and weight loss world like an absolute hurricane and now clinical trials are recruiting children aged 6-18.

In the episode I give a very brief outline of their physical targets and actions, but really I want to talk about the psychology of these drugs and to speculate on what they might mean for body sovereignty and how we relate to weight loss and bodies of different sizes in the future.

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This is part two of the brain health Q&A and I’ll be covering binge eating and the links between stress and dementia.

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In this Q&A episode, I answer your questions including:

• Does sugar cause anxiety symptoms?
• What does magnesium do for the brain?
• What foods support brain health

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Your stomach’s rumbling. You can’t concentrate. And if one more person annoys you… We experience hunger every day but what is it all about and how does it affect us psychologically? The intricate, complex and exceedingly clever science of hunger – including how it affects our mood - is the topic of this week’s episode.

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The concept of Love languages, the five ways we give and receive love, is hugely popular, spawning thousands of posts and articles where people confidently proclaim what their or their spouses primary love languages are. But is it real? In this episode I look at the science - and pseudoscience - behind Love Languages and ask when will there be justice for Ann?

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Hyper independence is described as a trauma-related response that includes behaviours like a fear of relying on others and a reluctance to ask for help even when it is needed. But...says who? Where's the evidence? And what are the harms?

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In this episode I describe the phenomenon of regret: the different types of regret, how it is generated in the brain, what our biggest regrets are, and how to reduce the amount of regret you experience in the future.

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There is a growing ideological chasm between the men and women of Gen Z, which is unlike anything we have seen before. What's behind it, what are the implications for society. And what has Joe Rogan got to do with it?

Refs

King's College Survey https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/emerging-tensions.pdf

Change Research Survey https://changeresearch.com/post/young-women-are-more-liberal-than-young-men/

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In this short episode I share some thoughts on understanding and managing a particularly harmful aspect of envy.

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Audio from the November 2020 book club

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Audio from the October 2020 book club.

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Audio from the September 2020 book club.

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Audio from the September 2020 book club.

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Audio from the July 2020 book club.

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How do you choose what you are going to eat? Do you think about it for a long time? Do you plan it in advance? Or do you wait for inspiration in the moment? The science and psychology of what we choose to eat is as fascinating as it is complex. The unconscious, internal and external drivers of food choice are the topic of this week’s episode.

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Audio from the May 2020 book club.

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Audio from the April 2020 book club.

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Audio from the March 2020 Book Club.

P.s. The transition you hear 10 minutes in is my microphone, not your device!

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Good relationships are one of the most important resources for psychological resilience. But toxic relationships can do real harm and seriously undermine mental wellbeing. In this first of two episodes I want to talk about a particularly unhealthy and unhelpful type of friendship: The Frenemy - someone with whom you are friendly or consider a friend but who does not have your best interests at heart. In this episode, my guest, Emmie Harrison-West describes the shocking end of her relationship with her best friend at university and the effects it has had on her.

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The evidence of improved behaviour and academic outcomes for children with access to breakfast clubs, of reduced violence with improved nutrition in prison populations, as well as other research from around the world on nutrition, brain and behaviour, is well-established.

But we’re still no closer to answering on key question. Why aren’t we doing anything with this information? In this final episode I speak to legal experts to try understand why the UK government and judicial system has failed to integrate biological research into sentencing guidelines.

Contributors

Prof. Nicola Padfield QC - Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice, University of Cambridge. Life Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Fabio Tartarini – Chartered Psychologist and Ph.D. Candidate - Prisons Research Centre, University of Cambridge.

Luis Navarro – Restaurateur, consultant to prison kitchens in association with Learning Together prison education programme.

John Samuels QC FRSA – Retired judge, former Chairman of the Criminal Sub-committee of the UK Council of Circuit Judges, former Chair of the Prisoners’ Education Trust.

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In this episode we move away, temporarily, from the prison studies to consider other research being conducted around the world showing the profound effects of nutrition on behaviour and mental health including decision-making and protection from stress and PTSD.

Contributors

Prof. Dr. Soyoung Park - Head of department of Decision Neuroscience & Nutrition and Joint professor of Charité – University Hospital Berlin and the German Institute of Human Nutrition

Prof. Julia Rucklidge - the Director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing.

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In 2002, a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showed that nutritional supplementation could reduce violence in prison by 37%. This study has since been replicated in prison populations in the UK, The Netherlands and Singapore. So why, when violence in UK prisons, including assaults on staff, is at an all time high are we not using this cheap, low-risk, accessible intervention? In this episode I speak to scientists behind this inexplicably ignored research.

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This episode examines the evidence that shows a beneficial effect of nutrition on childhood behavioural disorders, and the surprising and worrying link between hunger and school exclusions.

Contributors

Dr. Alex Richardson - Founder Director of Food and Behaviour Research, Research Associate, Dept of  Physiology, Anatomy Genetics, University of Oxford

Carmel McConnell MBE - Activist and Founder of Magic Breakfast

Sarah Dove - Strategic Director Phoenix Education Consultancy. President of PRUsAP

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In 2019 acts of self-harm and violence in prisons across England and Wales hit an all time high. There were nearly 60,000 acts of self harm, over 34,000 assaults, and more than 10,000 assaults on staff. There is something going very, very wrong in the prison system.

But what if I told that there is already a scientifically proven way of reducing violence in prison by 30%? At current rates that could mean 20,000 fewer acts of self harm, 11,000 fewer assaults, 3000 fewer assaults on staff and perhaps 100 fewer deaths. And what if I told you that the evidence for this cheap, low-risk intervention has been available for nearly 20 years. Wouldn’t you want to know why this treatment wasn’t being used?

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How to Build a Healthy Brain - I realised that while those of you who follow on Instagram will know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to I hadn’t officially announced it on the podcast. So, in case you didn’t know I have spent the last year writing a book all about taking care of your brain and I thought I would give you a quick audio overview of it.

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Manifesting, the idea that you can bring the things you want into being through controlling your thoughts, is hugely popular around the world, with people claiming that the practice has changed their lives. But can attaining success and riches really be that simple and are there truly no downsides? 

In this episode I outline the psychology of manifesting and discuss its links to Margaret Thatcher.

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This is the audio recording of the February 2020 book club.

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In this session of the Thinking Space Book Club the featured book is Lost Connections by Johann Hari and in the discussion I give an overview of the biopsychosocial model of depression, The Serotonin Hypothesis, the difference between the colloquial ego and the analytical ego, how trauma can become lodged in the body and outline my manifesto for improving GP assessments.

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This week’s clinic question comes in the form of a podcast because I had a lot to say. In my reply I discuss the difference between acceptance and tolerance, the necessary additional features of true acceptance and round off with some thinking exercises for you to try. I hope this is helpful for some of you.

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This episode is the long-awaited Q&A with specialist performance and eating disorder dietitian Renee McGregor. Renee is the UK’s leading expert in Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport and is on the European Taskforce for Orthorexia. She has managed the nutrition for athletes at the the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and she is currently working with the Scottish Ballet.

In this episode she answers a wide range of questions submitted by you. Everything from how important body fat percentage is for athletic performance, tips on challenging eating disorder beliefs and how to maintain hormonal health during training for sport. 

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Food and Mood - The October book was Brain Changer by Prof. Felice. Jacka. Felice was kind enough to give some of her time at the end of a very successful ISNPR conference and joins me for a live Q&A where she answered some audience questions. 

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Timeless advice on the art of living well (Penguin)

On the Shortness of Life is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that people waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives people enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. In general, time is best used by living in the present moment in pursuit of the intentional, purposeful life. (Wikipedia)

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This episode is in response to some recent news headlines describing some of the nutrients important for brain health that people could potentially be missing on a diet low in animal foods. I had quite a few questions come in about this and thought it would be good to do a Q&A episode to try to address some of your concerns.

I was very grateful to be joined for this episode by Sophie Medlin. Sophie is a consultant dietitian with expertise in colorectal health, and former lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Kings College London. She is a passionate advocate for evidence-based nutrition and works with the media to promote safe and accurate nutritional information.

You can find Sophie online at citydietitians.co.uk and she is @sophiedietitian on Instagram and Facebook.

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90 Seconds to a Life you Love by Joan I. Rosenberg

“Sadness, shame, helplessness, anger, embarrassment, disappointment, frustration, and vulnerability. In 30 years as a practicing psychologist, Dr. Joan Rosenberg has found that what most often blocks people from success and feeling capable in life is the inability to experience, move through, and handle these 8 unpleasant feelings. Knowing how to deal with intense, overwhelming, or uncomfortable feelings is essential to building confidence, emotional strength, and resilience. Yet when we distract or disconnect from these feelings, we move away from confidence, health, and our desired pursuits, ultimately undermining our ability to fully realize our ambitions.”

Audio from the August 2019 book club session

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This episode is a little different as it is the audio recording of the latest book club session. For those who don’t know I have an online book club called Thinking Space where we look at the psychological themes of a range of books.

This month’s book was Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller. The synopsis says: Attached guides readers in determining what attachment style they and their mate (or potential mate) follow, offering a road map for building stronger, more fulfilling connections with the people they love.” 

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Anger is one of the most misunderstood and disparaged emotions. It is seen as a sign of immaturity or a lack of control, with people often confusing the emotional experience of anger with the physical act of violence. However, they are not the same thing. More than that, anger can be a driving force for tremendous good.

In this episode I explain the psychological function of anger, how to recognise it, how to tolerate it and how to make the most of it.

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Do you knock on wood for good luck? Throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder? Maybe you’re someone who avoids opening an umbrella indoors just in case?

Superstitions sit on a spectrum from common habits and rituals to symptoms of mental illness. In the world of psychology we call these beliefs magical thinking.

The nature, pros and cons of magical thinking is the topic of this week’s podcast.

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Pareidolia (coming soon!)

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This is the second follow-up to the Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder episode. In this episode I talk to mental health blogger Bryan. Bryan started tweeting and vlogging about BPD after he noticed that it was rare to see men talking about the diagnosis. In this conversation he sheds light on some aspects of the invalidating environment characteristic of the later development of BPD and describes how his symptoms can impact his relationships. 

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This is a follow-up to the Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder episode. In this episode I talk to Rosie from Talking About BPD

Rosie is a blogger, writer and artist. Her blog, Talking About BPD, shares the details of her life with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Rosie hopes that through sharing her thoughts, feelings & ideas, she can help change perceptions of this much stigmatised and often misunderstood mental health condition. She has an MSc in Medical Humanities, is a qualified primary school teacher and currently works in psychosocial support services in a charity. Rosie’s next big project is to write a book based on her blog and she won’t stop talking about her BPD until all people with this condition are treated with respect, compassion and understanding.

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In this episode I want to talk about a mental health disorder that I think is poorly understood and can leave sufferers mischaracterised as deliberately manipulative or attention seeking. This misrepresentation of the illness drives hostility and stigma and can make people experiencing these symptoms reluctant to come forward and ask for help they are entitled to. I will be talking about Borderline Personality disorder, which in the UK is also known as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, and in the two accompanying episodes I speak to two people who are living with this diagnosis so that you can benefit from hearing them tell their own stories.

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My guest is Professor Felice Jacka. Felice is a Psychiatric Epidemiologist working in the new field of Nutritional Psychiatry, which she helped to establish. Her PhD was the first to examine the impact of overall dietary intake (as opposed to individual foods or supplements) on mental health risk and she lead the SMILES trial, a ground-breaking randomised controlled trial using dietary improvement as a treatment for depression. In the episode Felice gives a behind the scenes look at what it was like conducting that research and the reaction from the international science community, and helps shed some light on some nutrition myths.

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