We all know a healthy diet is vital to physical well-being, but what about mental and emotional states? Is there a link between our cognitive function and diet? To help us answer these questions is Dr. Uma Naidoo, an expert in nutritional psychiatry and Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also a Culinary Instructor at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, a best-selling author, and a professional chef. Dr. Naidoo implements her clinical work by integrating her professional achievements in medicine, psychiatry, and nutrition to help change lives and empower her patients. In this episode, Dr. Naidoo elucidates the basics of nutritional psychiatry, how nutrition plays an essential role in our mental well-being, and how food impacts our brain’s functioning. We unpack the challenges around nutritional psychiatry, the role of a holistic and integrative approach to health care, and how an inflamed gut can lead to an inflamed brain. We discover what the vagus nerve is and what it does, how common leaky gut is, the difference between prebiotic and probiotic foods, what emotional immunity is and why it is important, and how to start eating healthily. Tune in to learn about the fascinating world of nutritional psychiatry and why we think like what we eat with Dr. Uma Naidoo!
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Massachusetts General Hospital