logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
53m 49s

Impact of Diet On Our Mental Health: In ...

Kelsey Wells
About this episode

In this week’s episode Kelsey is joined by special guest Dr Uma Naidoo - a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, professional chef, trained nutrition specialist, best selling author and an internationally regarded medical pioneer in the filed of Nutritional Psychiatry.

Considered Harvard’s Mood Food Expert, Dr Naidoo talks to Kelsey about her latest book - Calm Your Mind With Food - touching on everything from healing your relationship with food, to the gut brain connection, the link between food and anxiety, blood sugar & panic attacks, and how you can optimise your diet to improve your mental health.

A fascinating conversation with so many great tips on how you can use food and nutrition as an essential tool for calming the mind.

About Dr Uma Naidoo:
 
Uma Naidoo, MD, is a board-certified Harvard Nutritional Psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutritional biologist. She is the Founder and Director of the first and only hospital-based Nutritional and Metabolic Psychiatry Service in the United States which is housed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Naidoo also serves as the Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at MGH Academy, the world-renowned educational organization, for which she designed and released the only CME-based Nutritional Psychiatry educational program for clinicians at an academic teaching hospital. Additionally, Dr. Naidoo serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Department of Nutrition, and is an instructor at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.

1:00 - Kelsey introduces Dr Uma Naidoo 
3:25 - Dr Naidoo’s upbringing & background  
7:00 - How Dr Naidoo got into Nutritional Psychiatry
9:18 - How Dr Naidoo is helping people heal their relationship with food 
10:00 - How harmful diet culture is to our psychology
10:30 - Optimising your diet for your mental wellbeing 
11:30 - Kelsey’s lifelong journey with anxiety 
11:50 - Dr Naidoo’s new book, Calm Your Mind With Food 
14:20 - Food marketing industry 
17:15 - Link between anxiety & food 
20:00 - Simple food tweaks to help anxiety 
23:09 - Gut health & metabolism
25:00 - Gut microbiome 
27:00 - How to know if you have bad gut health & how to fix it 
28:10 - Self check in & body intelligence 
29:39 - Three tips to to foster a healthy microbiome
31:20 - Eat more, add in and not feel deprived
31:50 - Movement 
33:00 - Fitness world & macros 
35:40 - Importance of not discarding micronutrients in your diet 
39:00 - Whole foods vs processed foods 
40:00 - Homemade sweets vs processed sweets 
43:40 - Link between blood sugar & panic attacks 
48:00 - Doing what works best for you  

Up next
Apr 2024
Your Guide To Gut Health, Getting To The Root Cause Of Gut Issues & How To Achieve Optimal Digestive Wellness: In Conversation with Dr Robynne Chutkan, MD
In this week's episode, Kelsey is joined by Dr Robynne Chutkan - board certified integrative gastroenterologist, microbiome expert, and best selling author of her books, Gutbliss, The Microbiome Solution, The Bloat Cure, and The Anti-Viral Gut.Dr. Chutkan received her bachel ... Show More
1h 12m
Apr 2024
The Science Behind Manifestation, Gratitude, Affirmations & The Impact of Stress: In Conversation with Dr Tara Swart
In this week's episode Kelsey is joined by Dr Tara Swart - neuroscientist, medical doctor, executive advisor, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, podcast host, and author of her best-selling book ‘The Source’.  Tune into this insightful, educational and ultra empowering episode to ... Show More
52m 16s
Apr 2024
Redefining What Women Can Do: In Conversation with Pro Wake Surfer Ashley Kidd
In this weeks episode, Kelsey is joined by Ashley Kid - the most accomplished female wake surfing athlete of all time with an incredible 7x World Champion wake surfing titles under her belt, and 10x USA National Champion titles.  Inspiring a new generation of female athletes to c ... Show More
55m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2022
How Diet Affects Your Mental & Physical Health w/Dr. Uma Naidoo EP 1214
Today’s guest is Dr. Uma Naidoo. She’s described as the world’s first “triple threat” in the food and medicine space as a Harvard trained psychiatrist, Professional Chef, and a trained Nutrition Specialist.Dr. Naidoo founded and directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychi ... Show More
1h 6m
Jan 2024
Balancing Mind and Body: Nutritional Psychiatry with Dr. Uma Naidoo
This week, join Valeria and Dr. Uma Naidoo for a discussion on the fascinating relationship between food and mental health. Dr. Uma is a prominent psychiatrist, chef, and bestselling author. Drawing from her books like "This Is Your Brain on Food" and new release "Calm Your Mind ... Show More
58 m
Jun 2023
Your Brain on Food | Dr. Uma Naidoo
New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Most of us have an intuitive sense that there’s a pretty serious link between what we eat and how we feel. Today’s guest is here to explain the science behin ... Show More
1 h
May 2024
What’s the link between diet and mental health?
Learn how what you eat affects how you feel.Related listening:  How Food Affects Mood (Part 1) (Nutrition Diva #282)How Food Affects Mood (Part 2) (Nutrition Diva #283)A provocative new study on ultra-processed foods (Nutrition Diva #735)We need a better way to define ultra-proce ... Show More
9m 13s
Aug 2021
424: Nutritional Psychiatrist Reveals Top Foods to Beat Depression and Anxiety | Dr. Drew Ramsey
Watch the full video interview on YouTube here: https://bit.ly/drdrewramsey424 Dr. Drew Ramsey (IG: @drewramseymd) is a psychiatrist, author, and farmer. His work focuses on clinical excellence, nutritional interventions and creative media. Drew is an assistant clinical professor ... Show More
1h 17m
Dec 2023
#238 Nutrients for Optimal Brain Performance | Dr Uma Naidoo | Gabby Reece
My guest today is nutritional psychologist Dr. Uma Naidoo from Harvard Psychiatric. Dr. Naidoo discusses how we can use the right foods and spices to support our mental health. She dives deep into how food impacts the brain's gut access and can directly support our mental state o ... Show More
1h 12m
Oct 2022
Is Poor Gut Health Or Sleep Issues Driving Your Depression, ADHD, And More?
This episode is brought to you by Rupa Health, InsideTracker, and Pique Life. Instead of using a pharmaceutical drug, what if your doctor knew how to look deeper to find out what is causing your depression, ADHD, or anxiety? While there is a time and a place for drugs, they can h ... Show More
57m 30s
Dec 2020
Your Food & Mental Health with Dr. Uma Naidoo
How does food affect your mental health?  Now more than ever, people have become more health-conscious about diet and exercise as it pertains to matters like cholesterol, high blood pressure, or weight loss, but not many are discussing the connection between food, the brain, and ... Show More
20m 50s
Mar 2024
Emotional Eating and Changing Your Relationship with Food with Dr. Jud Brewer
There are as many ways to have a difficult relationship with food as there are ways to eat. It’s hard to get conversations about these challenges right, but today we’re taking the plunge and exploring the habit of eating when we’re not hungry with psychiatrist Dr. Jud Brewer. Dr. ... Show More
1h 21m