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Lifestyle Matters

Can we eat to feel better?

There has been increasing research pointing to the impact of our gut microbiome on our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis ( HPA Axis)

HPA axis is important in regulating our bodies response to various stressors including physical and psychological stressors.

Today Amanda Smyth and I explore this from a mental health perspective.

For further information about Mood Food click the link

http://moodfoodnutrition.com.au/

The program is usually $149 and Amanda would like to offer it to our viewers for $99.

During checkout users will be asked if they have a coupon code and this is where they can enter Meducate99 and the discount will be applied.

Looking for evidence to support the hypothesis that our mood will improve if we improve our diet? The SMILES ( Supporting the Modification of Lifestyle in Lowered Emotional State ) trial investigates this further using the Modi Mediterranean diet. The Modi Mediterranean diet incorporates a slightly higher amount of red meat compared to the regular Mediterranean diet for a a couple of reasons as highlighted in this show

What if we can eat our way to happiness by choosing the right foods? Sounds too good to be true ? There has been a lot of research about how food affects our mental and physical well being, and to date there has been an astounding level of evidence to support this.

Meet Amanda Smyth, an Accredited Practicing Dietitian who discusses this with us.

This week Dr Ferghal and I explore ways to improve social connectivity

with others. Compassion and communication are great tools to improve

social connectivity while pride on the other hand can have a negative

impact. 

Life is a sports event, for which we need to maintain our function. We are all athletes, but our events may be different, our goals may be different. David Francis, an expert in musculoskeletal physiotherapy explains his rational for coaching people to help them be their best.

Today I chatted with David Francis, a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

He discusses how life can be viewed as an AFL football game, and when we are in our fifties and sixties, that is the equivalent of the third quarter. This is the time when we really must pay attention to our health, our nutrition, and our fitness.

David uses motivational techniques to get people moving, he believes that when therapy is active it provides more sustained change compared to passive hands-on therapy.

 People need to be taught how to sit, stand, walk and run. Then and only then can they be expected to achieve their fitness goals. 

 We are all athletes, but our events may be different. For some people the event is being able to do the gardening, for others the goal might be to win a race. It does not matter; the mechanics are the same we are all human.

 No one is too old or too unfit or too overweight to benefit from David’s coaching style.

 The key is self-belief an da little bit of coaching.

47% of Australians have had at least one chronic disease. We know very well that many of these diseases, including substance use disorders, are attributed to modifiable lifestyle factors. These factors include the 3Fs and 3Ss:

• Fingers – smoking, alcohol, substance use

• Feet - exercise

• Fork – food

• Stress

• Sleep

• Socialisation

However, promoting health behaviour change is not an easy feat. One of the commonly used techniques apart from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Today I spoke with Anita fletcher about interpersonal conflict in the medical profession. How do we deal with it, and who can support us? There are a few basic principles that we need to remember when we are navigating this potentially challenging situation.

I spoke with Anita Fletcher of Stand Out medical careers on interview preparation

We speak about the preparation phase, the night before, and understanding the unexpected question.

Social isolation is now increasingly recognised as a risk factor for premature death, like the time when obesity was recognised as a risk factor for premature death decades ago.

This week Dr Ferghal and Dr Saveena explore some of the health implications of social isolation.

1 in 3 Australians have experienced loneliness at some stage in their lives and it is rather alarming to know that prolonged loneliness has detrimental effects on our health.

We are creatures of social beings, and we thrive on social connectivity. Despite social media’s ability to connect us all virtually, the pandemic of loneliness is booming. This lies in the effect that virtual connectivity is not the same as physical connectivity.