Greater social and political awareness, mediated by social media, has allowed more of us to participate in important social movements. But it’s also given us unprecedented access to horror. From body cams of police brutality and killings to harrowing images of war. To what extent is it our responsibility to bear witness to these events versus the need to protect our own wellbeing? The whys and hows of managing horror is the subject of this week’s Stronger Minds Podcast.

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Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain*

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The average full term baby weighs just over 7lbs. One pound of that is the baby’s brain. Nature, via the mother’s body, devotes enormous amounts of energy into building the baby’s brain during and just after pregnancy. And as you’ve heard me say many, many times, the brain is the hungriest organ in the body and requires specific nutrients from the diet for proper structure and function.

So why, dear listeners, is brain development completely absent from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline update on pregnancy and child nutrition?

In this week’s episode I am a starting a teeny tiny beef with NICE.

Think Through Nutrition

The Food Programme

NICE Maternal & Child Nutrition Stakeholder List

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Called ‘the sunshine vitamin’ vitamin D is the only vitamin that the UK Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults and children over the age of four should supplement daily because insufficiency is widespread. While there is some controversy about the threshold for deficiency in the general population, what is consistently observed is that Black and Brown communities have lower serum levels compared to white individuals in the same countries, and that this difference may contribute to some of the observed health disparities.

In this week’s episode I’m explaining why vitamin D levels can be so low in these groups, the potential implications, particularly in relation to brain health, and what you can do about it.  

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Diabetes Risk Tool

The company I used for ny vitamin D testing (OmegaQuant) no longer offers this specific test.

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Is there a link between childhood trauma and stress eating? And what’s the deal with emotional hunger? I’m answering your questions on the psychological side of hunger in this week’s episode.

https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/

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How to Build a Healthy Brain*

Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain*

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Going for a walk. Having a mindful cup of coffee. Keeping a gratitude journal. These common self-care practices can be helpful and have their place. But some of us have to go back a step. To the basics. In this week’s episode, I’m bringing you an absolute beginners guide to self-care.

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How to keep your teeth clean - NHS

Tooth brushing video

Flossing video

Register with a doctor - NHS

Feelings wheel

How to cope with financial worries - NHS

Sleep Hygiene

My Body Back Project - Sensitive and trauma informed cervical screening, contraceptive care, STI testing and maternity care for people who’ve experienced sexual violence.

Instagram link to this post

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I talk a lot about the importance of building a brain healthy lifestyle, but what does it look like in practice? In this episode, I share how I translate the research into simple daily habits for brain health.

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Getting your five servings of fruit and vegetables a day good for you. But why exactly? And more specifically, what are some of the nutrients in fruits and veggies doing for your brain? In this episode, I’m bringing you some fresh data on Antioxidants & Alzheimer’s disease. 

Refs

Low Xanthophylls, Retinol, Lycopene, and Tocopherols in Grey and White Matter of Brains with Alzheimer’s Disease

Biomagnification

Supplements and dry AMD

Lutein zeaxanthin AD diagnosis

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Why am I hungrier before my period? Am I addicted to cheese? And is it true that we confuse hunger and thirst? I’m answering your questions on hungry in today’s episode.

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Your stomach’s rumbling. You can’t concentrate. And if one more person annoys you… We experience hunger every day but what is it all about and how does it affect us psychologically? The intricate, complex and exceedingly clever science of hunger – including how it affects our mood - is the topic of this week’s episode.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds.

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How do you choose what you are going to eat? Do you think about it for a long time? Do you plan it in advance? Or do you wait for inspiration in the moment? The science and psychology of what we choose to eat is as fascinating as it is complex. The unconscious, internal and external drivers of food choice are the topic of this week’s episode.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds.

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