Nutritional Psychiatry: Your Brain on Food

“People don’t make the connection between how they eat and how they feel emotionally through the brain. They don’t realize there is a connection to food and the brain and emotional well-being.”

Dr. Uma Naidoo is a board certified psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutrition specialist. She is the director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and also on faculty at Harvard Medical School.

In this fascinating episode, we discuss her exciting new book, This Is Your Brain On Food, which I highly recommend. Listen to the entire episode and subscribe wherever you get podcasts or listen here.

Key topics of our conversation include:

Dr. Naidoo’s journey as a psychiatrist and professional chef
How what we eat affects our brain
The origin of the gut/brain connection
The rise of mental health concerns
Food to avoid for mental well-being
Inflammatory foods
Orthorexia and food obsession
How to add more diversity in your diet
The impact of caffeine and alcohol on mental health
So much more!

Learn more about Dr. Naidoo here.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @drumanaidoo

Find her book on Amazon or your favorite bookstore. This book is so helpful and needs to be part of your mental health library!

3 Things Moms and Kids Need Every Day

With everything going on in the world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I recently sat down with my friend, fellow health coach, Melissa McGaughey, and we discussed how to simplify our daily needs into just THREE things we are focusing on for our continued health.

But we didn’t just stop with us and our needs. We expanded the conversation to include the top three things that our kids need every day. You can listen to the entire episode here.

Key topics include:

Our favorite easy ways to include more whole foods into our daily diet
Why sunshine is the best way to “charge your battery”
The types of exercise we’re loving right now
Sleep hygiene and why it’s time to find some blue light blocking glasses
The importance of meditation and intentional breathing
Mindset and gratitude and the impact it makes on our whole body health

No matter where you are in your health journey, this episode will help inspire you to keep going and incorporate tiny habits to make a big impact.

For more on Melissa, head here.

What Do We Currently Know About Covid?

All we hear from the news media is wash your hands, wear a mask, social distance. Is that really a long term solution for supporting your immune system?

Dr. Chad Edwards is a former army surgeon and currently works as an Emergency Physician. He is the founder and director of Revolution Health and Wellness Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here, he pays special attention to sports medicine and health and wellness as a preventive strategy to optimize health, minimize injury risk, and decrease disease. Viewing his patients through a holistic approach helps identify subtleties in their function that are beginning to show signs of dysregulation.

This interview is a very balanced and informative take on the current pandemic, what we currently know, and what we can do to support our immune function.

Key topics include:

His experience with Covid patients
What the current numbers of deaths and infections tell us, according to CDC data
The data on wearing masks
The issue of asymptomatic carriers
Common sense precautions to take
Practical steps to support immune health via gut health and supplementation
The magic of vitamin c and nitric oxide (and why you want to avoid mouthwash and proton pump inhibitors)
The importance of glutathione, n acetyl cysteine and nitric oxide
Should we run out to get the Covid vaccine?

For CDC data mentioned in the episode, click here.

For more information on Dr. Edwards and his work, click here.

Understanding the Mind/Body Connection on a Deeper Level

Matt Erb is a physiotherapist, senior faculty member with The Center for Mind Body Medicine, instructor at The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, and the Founder of Embody Your Mind, which specializes in high quality writing, teaching, and consulting in integrative and mind-body medicine topics.

In this episode we discuss the powerful mind/body connection and why we need to be listening to how our bodies handle our stressors.

Key Topics:
– How he uses acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
– The principles of ACT
– Survival biology and the aversion response to pain or unpleasant sensations
– The importance of improving our relationship to things
– Biobehavioral patterns of seeking care and comfort and regulating our physiological state
– Understanding emotional eating
– How ACT can help us in our day to day? Who is this useful for?
– Mechanics of emotional eating, autonomic nervous system development
– Mind-body practices we all could incorporate right now

Continue reading “Understanding the Mind/Body Connection on a Deeper Level” →

Normalizing Mental Health Care with #SameHere

What do you do when your mental health is suffering and nothing you try helps? Are there options beyond the traditional treatment plans? Where can you find support?

#SameHere is an organization founded by Eric Kussin after he experienced 2 and a half years of suffering from a mental health crisis that briefly interrupted his career as a sports executive.

In this episode, you’ll learn Eric’s story in detail, and you’ll also hear from psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Pleener, who is the leader of the Same Here Psych Alliance and advocates for multiple healing modalities when it comes to psychiatry.

Listen here or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Key Topics:

Eric’s story and how he got to the root of his issues after digging through his trauma
How mental health is a continuum and the problem with using phrases like “stop the stigma”
The non-medication healing modalities that Same Here brings awareness to
The STARR exercises that improve mental fitness, as the “gym for the brain”
The importance of creating community support and awareness for mental health
Why you can’t use the same tool over and over to improve mental health – you need more!
Mental health treatment shouldn’t be a one size fits all plan.
The work Same Here is doing with schools and businesses
How you can get involved

To learn more, go to https://samehereglobal.org

Follow on Twitter: @samehere_global

Follow on Instagram: @samehere_global

Stop Fearing Fat!

Have you been told to stay away from egg yolks? Are you trying a low fat diet to improve your cholesterol? Is cholesterol a good indicator of health or a risk factor for disease?

We go there in this episode!

“Cholesterol is so important that your body will manufacture it if you don’t eat enough of it.” – Steve Welch

Steve is a NESTA certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and former publisher of the world renowned medical journal CHEST. His background in medical publishing provides him with insights into assessing medical and nutrition research, which he uses to educate others to improve their own health and fitness.

He is coauthor of the new book “The Ketogenic Key,” which is available in stores now.

In this episode we cover:

– Why we fear fat

– The history of low fat diets and why the data is skewed

– Why our bodies need fat to function

– The cholesterol conversation

– Carbohydrates, cholesterol, and inflammation

– How cutting extreme calories can backfire

– Individualizing the approach for YOU

This is such a fascinating interview that I hope you enjoy and learn from as much as I did!

Learn more about Steve at http://www.ketosteve.net or on Twitter at @ketosteve.

Habits of Healthy Moms – Interview with Dr. Orlena Kerek

orlena_square_sm Dr. Orlena Kerek is a pediatrician turned weight loss coach and mom of 4. In this packed episode, she shares how she wants to make nutrition easy and fun for both moms and kids.

She gives practical tips to create healthy, sustainable habits. She shares her 4 keys for health and how she incorporates those things for her clients.

Learn more about Dr. Orlena and access her free gifts at www.drorlena.com and listen to her podcast Fit and Fabulous over 40! Continue reading “Habits of Healthy Moms – Interview with Dr. Orlena Kerek” →

How to Break Through Trauma and Find Healing

I may sound like a broken record, but learning to handle and process trauma is such a crucial part of whole body healing. In the latest episode of the Sparking Wholeness podcast, I speak with Suzanne Simpson, owner of Renewed Life Counseling, all about the effects of trauma in our life and how to break free.

Suzanne is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Life Coach, author, and speaker who works with people to help set them free from emotional traumas so they can live a more victorious life.

Her newest book, Lost & Restored: Healing Your Heart with the Father, is a faith-based approach to digging into your life’s events that have significantly impacted you.

In this episode, we discuss the impact of trauma, how it is stored in the cells of the body, and how to find healing through a variety of new and different modalities beyond traditional talk therapy. Continue reading “How to Break Through Trauma and Find Healing” →

Ketosis for Mental Health with Dr. Lori Shemek

Dr. Lori Shemek is an award-winning, bestselling author of How to Fight FATflammation, The Ketogenic Key, Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting, and Fire-Up Your Fat Burn. She is a leading health and weight loss expert who has been featured in countless publications and TV shows. She is also known as “The Inflammation Terminator.”

In this episode, Dr. Shemek shares about her new book, The Ketogenic Key. She shares what the keto diet is, how ketosis benefits our mental health, benefits of intermittent fasting, how inflammation is a threat to our health and well-being, and practical ways to implement changes to your lifestyle.

Podcast is available on the show page or wherever you get your podcasts!

Key topics addressed:

The importance of the ketogenic diet and how it isn’t a fad
The deal with carbs and sugar
Creating metabolic flexibility
The difference between low carb and keto
Intermittent fasting, autophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis
The raw broccoli test for hunger
Who should not practice intermittent fasting
Why women NEED protein as we age
The benefits of healthy fat
Types of inflammation and the effects
How to do keto in real life
What kind of alcohol is okay for keto

Her book, The Ketogenic Key, is a perfect guidebook for all things related to ketosis, and is a great way to learn how to enhance your brain and body health in an easy to understand way. It is available wherever you purchase books!

An Integrative Approach to Mental Health – Interview with Dr. Noshene Ranjbar

The field of psychiatry is changing as new discoveries about the brain are made. There are many pioneers using evidence-based medicine to seek out different treatments beyond traditional methods and prescription medication. While meds are definitely helpful for some and are one helpful tool in the toolbox, according to Dr. Ranjbar, “we are asking them to do what they were not made to do.”

Dr. Noshene Ranjbar is Harvard trained and board certified in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Integrative Medicine. She serves as medical director of the Integrative Psychiatry Clinic at Banner – University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson.

In this episode we discuss the changes in mental health approaches in the last 20 years, how integrative psychiatry is different, nervous system dysfunction, common underlying issues that impact mental wellness, as well as Dr Ranjbar’s work with refugee and American Indian communities.

Click here to listen on the show page or here on iTunes. Continue reading “An Integrative Approach to Mental Health – Interview with Dr. Noshene Ranjbar” →