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The gut
Our knowledge and understanding of the hugely significant role that the gut plays in pretty much all aspects of our health has exploded over the past 10 years. Particularly when thinking about mental health, and the intricate relationship between the gut and the brain. With the research literature around the function of the gut and the microbiome (all the trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and other tiny things) and how this impacts our brain function; the way we think, feel, how we process memories and how we react to stress, it feels like we're approaching a turning point in mental healthcare whereby we cannot talk about mental health without considering what is going on inside the gut.
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The biggest influence on the gut and our gut microbiome is the food we put inside ourselves. Making changes to the food we eat not only has the potential to impact how we think and feel on a day to day basis, but making choices around real, whole food can increase our resilience to different situations that might be perceived as stressful and lessen intrusive and negative thought patterns. This can make the impact of current treatments such as medications and talking therapies more effective or could even reduce the amount or length of time of standard treatments that are currently available to help people manage their mental health.
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Back to Basics
Food is the most accessible and powerful tool we have access to that can directly affect our health and wellbeing. Nutritional Therapy is an evidence based practice that uses a functional approach to health, by working with people as individuals, to understand the effect food might be having on their body and mind. The food we eat and how we eat it is very closely connected to other fundamental needs that we have such as sleep, movement, having a sense of community, connection and a sense of purpose. In Nutritional Therapy, we support this through obtaining a detailed picture of the symptoms you are experiencing and what might be influencing this to better address the root cause. We can then work together to identify areas in your life where changes could be made to support your health through food and other lifestyle changes, using a "food first" approach.
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This is different to standard healthcare in the UK, which generally uses a model based around managing the symptoms through treatments or medications, rather than working to identify and support the root cause of the problem.
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The Power of Real Food
Throughout history, obtaining, preparing and consuming food would have been the driving force regulating our fundamental needs, as described above. For 100,000's years humans have been hunting, gathering, preparing and cooking food together in communities. An activity which would have consumed much of their time, focus and energy. However, over time with the introduction of agriculture, industrialisation and particularly over the past 50 years with the ever increasing production and consumption of ultra processed foods (UPF's), we now live in a world where about â…” of the UK diet is made up of UPF's, and many of us are lacking the 1000's of of vitamins, minerals, other polyphenols, PUFA's, fibers, protein and probiotics we need that are present in real, whole food such as seafood, whole grains, plants, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs and meat.
For millions of years, our bodies evolved in this real food environment with a deep connection to nature with this being turned upside down in the past 50-100 years. Combined with ever easy access around the clock to whatever food we desire, many of the systems within our body have become scrambled. That isn't to say the blame is on the individual but rather the way the systems around us have evolved to make poorer food choices for our health the easiest, cheapest and most accessible option for people.
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Why is this important?
​Rates of chronic disease continue to increase, including; mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety; metabolic disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity; autoimmune conditions such as arthritis, psoriasis, eczema; hormonal health such as PCOS, reproductive and menopausal health; and degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
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Research increasingly shows that the health of our gut, and the gut microbiome (all the microorganisms living without our gut) is crucial to determining the health of all the other systems within our body. We have a whole nervous system within our gut which is constantly interacting with the microbiome and sending signals around our body and to our brain via the gut-blood-brain axis. When this system is not supported by helping the microbiome to thrive, it results in ill health and widespread symptoms.
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By not living in a way that is connected to the world around us, the food we eat and the people in our communities, we are not giving our body what it needs to survive, let alone thrive. The evidence now suggests that many chronic disease states including mental illness have metabolic dysfunction at the center; that is how well our cells, the building blocks and power houses within our body are able to do their job and keep our body healthy and functioning due to high volumes of glucose in the blood stream and a lack of other nutrients needed to regulate these systems.
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However, each person is individual in the way this may or may not affect them. How susceptible we are to react to various stressors and develop different diseases or illnesses is influenced by our own genetic history, cultural and social circumstances, past trauma and experiences and ongoing stress. We are the products of an intricate web of our surrounding and past environment.
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Understanding these connections and the effect they are having on you can lead to changes which directly impacts the health of your gut and therefore the way your brain and body is able to function.
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Food and Mental Health
By restoring your own food world with real food, you can directly influence your resilience to other life stressors. From studying Psychology and working in mental health services, for me root cause was about addressing past experiences and trauma, usually through talking therapy. Although this is vital and can lead to vast improvements to a persons wellbeing, food and nutrition takes root cause back another level by resetting some of the biological processes which regulate our resilience, our sense of calm, happiness, other emotions and perspective of the world. For example, did you know that the majority of our serotonin is produced in the gut, and that chemicals produced by our gut bacteria are precursors in dopamine production? Imbalances in these two neurotransmitters are incredibly common across the spectrum of mental illness, and can be supported through making different food choices.
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Good nutrition is also key to brain plasticity, which is how the brain adapts, learns and heals, such as following a stressful event or trauma. This is fundamentally how talking therapies such as CBT work; they rewire the way we think. So it makes sense that good nutrition is vital to support these types of therapies to be as effective as they can be. Entering a therapy session fuelled with sugar and UPF's probably won't have the same outcomes as going in feeling restored and balanced through good nutrition. It's not easy as our eating behaviours are often tied up in a lifetime of experience and habit. So it's really important to be kind to ourselves and recognise that we are all just doing the best we can. Sometimes we all just need some support along the way to nudge us in the right direction.
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Resources:
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There is an enormous amount of research emerging in this area, with leading institutions such as the Food and Mood centre in Australia leading the way. Please see recommendations below for some great books, podcasts and research papers that discuss the power of real food on mental health.
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Books:
Brain Changer by Dr Felice Jacka
Spoon Fed by Prof. Tim Spector
Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety by Dr Drew Ramsey
The Food and Mood Connection by Dr Uma Naidoo
Fast Like a Girl by Mr Mindy Pelz
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Research papers:
Nutrition as Metabolic Treatment for Anxiety (2021)
Nutrition and Executive Function in PTSD (2024)
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Podcast:
Feel Better, Live More, Dr Rangan Chattergee.
The Guardian Science Weekly: Secrets of the Microbiome, the gut
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