Eat your way to better mental health?
October 10 has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as World Mental Health Day 2018, and I must confess to being somewhat less enthusiastic about this particular ‘awareness day’ than I was about last week’s Sleep Awareness Week. It’s not that I’m unconcerned about people’s psychological well being; quite the opposite. That’s why…
Of bugs and brains – how your gut microbiome affects mental health
As I discussed in last week’s blog post, Drugs and gut bugs, research on the human gut microbiome is burgeoning at an astonishing rate. One of the most fascinating areas of research is the complex interplay between our bugs and our brains – the constant back-and-forth signalling between our gut microbiota and regions in our…
Healing food addiction – an intimate conversation with Andrew ‘Spud Fit’ Taylor
I’m delighted to share an intimate and wide-ranging conversation with Andrew ‘Spud Fit’ Taylor, to celebrate the release of his new book (to which I contributed one of my favourite recipes, Sweet Potato Brownies), The Spud Fit Cookbook. In the interview we discussed: Why Andrew undertook his 1-year potato challenge, in which for the entire…
Depressing drugs
A recent US study has revealed a worrying trend: in the midst of growing concerns about rising rates of depression, nearly 40% of adults are taking prescription drugs that can cause depression as a ‘side effect’, and the number of people taking such drugs is steadily increasing. The study, conducted by researchers at the University…
Veganism and eating disorders
Among eating disorder treatment specialists, ‘vegan’ is a dirty word. I’ve seen many clients suffering from anorexia nervosa over my 20+ years in practice. Without exception, all were told by their doctors, dietitians and psychologists that veganism was part and parcel of their eating disorder and they could not recover from it unless they went back…
Who says you’re depressed or anxious? Pfizer does
2 April 2018 I’ve been becoming increasingly worried over the years about the creeping medicalisation of human suffering. A frighteningly high percentage of my clients are either taking, or have been prescribed in the past, psychiatric medications including antidepressants, anti-anxiety agents and atypical antipsychotics (disingenuously marketed as ‘mood stabilisers’). I’ve written before about the total…
Keep your brain young with greens
Today, March 12, marks the beginning of Brain Awareness Week, a global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research into conditions such as Parkison’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, schizophrenia and epilepsy. Now, I’m a total geek for research, as you probably realise if you’ve been…
Can’t kick the sugar cravings? Blame coffee!
Clients often ask me whether they should give up coffee. It’s not always an easy question to give a straightforward answer to, because coffee consumption seems to have both upsides and downsides. But according to new research, if you’re struggling to kick sugar cravings, you may just need to break up with coffee. A lot…
Want your child to do well in school? Pass the broccoli…. and hold the cordial
Every parent wants their child to have the best chance at success in life, and like it or not, how well a child does at school is an important determinant of their future employment opportunities and earning capacity, which in turn affects health status, personal fulfillment and life satisfaction. Parents often invest considerable amounts of…
Exercise is useless for weight loss… but you should do it anyway
Every week, I see clients who have been struggling with their weight for years, sometimes decades. In fact, some have been battling to attain or maintain a healthy body weight for virtually their entire lives. All of them have been told variations of the standard weight loss advice trope: “Eat less and move more.” The…