5 December 2021|Health, Nutrition, Recipes, Research papers, Sustainability
Also known as Nutritional Psychiatry, (but I thought I’d use a softer definition as the title of this week’s Something New – in order to not frighten you all off from even opening it!)
Dr Naidoo joined our site this week. She’s featured here as a guest on the Broken Brain podcast, which has been informing us for some time now. Hop onto Dr Naidoo’s site to learn about the 6 Pillars of using food as medicine for mental health:
1. Be Whole, Eat Whole – Make 80% of your diet whole, real foods
2. Eat The Rainbow – Different coloured plant foods contain different nutrients
3. The Greener, The Better – Decrease depression, increase cognition
4. Tap Into Your Body Intelligence – If something doesn’t make you feel good, it’s probably not for you
5. Consistency and Balance Are The Key – Sustainable changes, no quick fixes
6. Avoid Anxiety Triggering Foods – Embrace the changes and reflect how you now feel
She put these ‘Pillars’ to the test when diagnosed with cancer – she’s in remission.
The 2021 Global Nutrition Report has just been released showing that: ‘the harmful impacts of our diets on the planet are alarming and increasing. According to our new estimates, global food demand is now creating more than a third (35%) of all greenhouse emissions and using substantial and rising amounts of environmental resources. Compared to 2010, the environmental impacts of food demand increased by as much as 14%, with animal-source foods responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions and land use. Northern American diets have the greatest environmental impact while African and Asian diets have the least. However, no region is on track to meet the set of Sustainable Development Goals aimed at limiting the health and environmental burdens related to diets and the food system. For example, all regions have diets that, if globally adopted, create impacts that are above sustainable levels if we want to limit global warming to less than 2c. Every region needs large-scale dietary changes to achieve healthy and sustainable diets that tackle malnutrition in all its forms while preserving planetary health.’
The science is there – whole food plant-based diets – we’re saying no more…
Hyperfoods. A girlfriend sent me an article this week from Nature.com (an online peer-reviewed open access scientific journal). ‘Recent data indicate that up-to 30–40% of cancers can be prevented by dietary and lifestyle measures alone.’ The 2019 article says: ‘We have shown that plant-based foods such as tea, carrot, celery, orange, grape, coriander, cabbage and dill contain the largest number of molecules with high anti-cancer likeness through exerting influence on molecular networks in a similar fashion to existing therapeutics.’ The full article is here, 1000’s more feature on our research papers section.
Good Foods for Good Moods and Good Health too.
Final day lunch treat in Girona, Northern Spain last week. Om restaurant is in the city centre and has 5 stars from a great healthy food app we’d used in Northern Europe a couple of years ago: HappyCow.
It didn’t disappoint – the Pad Thai and Vegan Curry dishes were delish!
Fitting end to a lovely few days away that was food for our souls.
Thanks to my girlfriend’s husband Tom for this podcast recommendation. Whilst she was sharing the cancer research paper with me, he shared this gem. Each week Dr Mosley focuses on just one thing that you should be doing to improve your health and wellbeing.
The TV doctor was already featured on our site, with his new book and website Fast Asleep and his Clever Guts site and accompanying book.
The first episode I listened to was encouraging us to have more houseplants, he had me there… Mine have increased in numbers since Covid entered our world. Have a listen yourself to find out why they’re so good for us.
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