What’s blue, round, sweet, grows on a bush and can boost your brainpower? If you answered blueberries, you would be right. Or that should be: ‘mostly right’. The ‘brain-boosting’ part needs a bit more science to catch up to the headlines, but it is looking promising that blueberries may be one food worthy of the ‘superfood’ title. In this podcast, I’ll look at the science behind how blueberries can help keep your brain healthy and functioning well throughout life.  

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Clinical trial of blueberries and brain function  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28249119 
• Berries and cardiovascular disease risk factors: meta-analysis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4804301 
• Frozen versus fresh blueberries https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082901 
• Fish oil and rheumatoid arthritis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28606571

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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints. Characterised by abdominal pain and bloating and alternating periods of diarrhoea and constipation, this chronic condition can go on to cause anxiety, depression and severely affect the quality of life of a person suffering from it. With no one single identified trigger or treatment, IBS can be a minefield for a person to try and get on top of. Diet changes are one area that can have a positive impact on IBS and in this podcast, I look at the evidence for different approaches from supplements such as peppermint oil right through to the very promising research on low-FODMAP diets. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Review on diet and supplements for IBS https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nmo.13951 
•  Meta-analysis of low-FODMAP diet and IBS http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/134755 
•  Low-FODMAP diet versus traditional advice for IBS www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016508515010860 
•  Mindfulness and IBS www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502251

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Want to keep up with the latest developments in nutrition research? Nothing beats curating your own information-gathering network from a variety of credible sources. But where to start? If you want to keep up with breaking nutrition research like a boss, then this podcast is for you. I’ll let you in on the key journals to subscribe to, the best search databases to use, and profile some of the best secondary sources that do a lot of the curating for you.

Links referred to in the podcast 

• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition https://ajcn.nutrition.org
• Annual Review of Nutrition www.annualreviews.org/journal/nutr 
• European Journal of Clinical Nutrition www.nature.com/ejcn 
• Journal of Nutrition https://jn.nutrition.org
• Nutrition Reviews www.academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews 
• Obesity Reviews www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1467789x 
• PubCrawler http://pubcrawler.gen.tcd.ie 
• Science Daily www.sciencedaily.com/news/health_medicine/nutrition 
• Medscape www.medscape.com 
• Examine www.examine.com 
• Effect of diet and exercise on the risk of caesarean-section www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3119

Episode transcript
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Nutrition is based on science. And while the science may not always agree and even change over time, just like all scientific fields of research, without credible research to inform your views you are really just flying blind in the wind at the mercy of feelpinions and what your social media news feed shows you. The base of all scientific research is the communication of it through research papers published in peer-reviewed journals. In this podcast, I’ll show you how to delve beyond the title of a research paper and instead apply a critical filter to all parts of the research study. Developing this skill will allow you to form your own view of how much influence to give to a research study, rather than be led astray from those seeking to influence you. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Research study design online tutorial http://himmelfarb.gwu.edu/tutorials/studydesign101 
• Examine.com guide on how to read a scientific study https://examine.com/guides/how-to-read-a-study

Episode transcript
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Zinc is an essential mineral which is needed for the proper growth and maintenance of our body. It is a key factor in helping hundreds of enzymes work and is needed for immune function, wound healing, blood clotting, thyroid function and much more. While rare, zinc deficiency in a country like Australia can occur and there are certain groups particularly at risk. In this podcast, I’ll outline the key roles of zinc, what the consequences of deficiency are and give you suggestions on the best food sources and supplemental forms of zinc. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Zinc and the common cold https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28515951 
• Breastfeeding and the infant microbiome https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28492938

Episode transcript
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Diets are like clothing fashion trends: they come into and out of style. And if you wait long enough: back into style again. One of my favourite pop culture research tools is Google Trends. Google Trends keeps a global finger on the pulse of what’s hot and what’s not in the world of nutrition and diets. And tracks this over time based on the popularity of search terms. Now a research team has mined this wealth of data to produce a snapshot of the ever-changing diet trends with some surprising results. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Popularity of diets using Google Trends data https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900720300423 
• Popular diets compared https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182351 
• Diet and association with cancer mortality and cancer recurrence https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/74/12/737/2656957

Episode transcript
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Can a slow metabolism be blamed for most people's weight gain? Is celery a negative calorie food? Does microwaving food destroy nutrients? The answer to all of the questions I just posed is 'no'. Welcome to the world of nutrition myths. Nutrition is a field where someone can be seen by the public as an ‘expert’ simply because of the way they eat and the benefits it has had for them. So, is it any wonder that nutrition is also an area that is ripe for the propagation of all manner of myths and falsehoods? Some of these myths are born from a base of science, but as science advances, these myths should be called out for what they are. In this podcast, I’ll go over some of the more popular myths I’ve come across and explain where the truth really lies. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Review on exercise and food intake https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17310855 
• Perceived healthiness of a food and amount eaten https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28389137

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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You are what you eat, but when it comes to your mental health, what you eat can have a profound impact on your mood and how you feel. Welcome to the rapidly moving world of nutritional psychiatry which is uncovering the key links between diet and mental health. And it could just be that it is our gut microbes, by acting as psychobiotics, that are the stars of the show here; so long as they are kept fed well. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Fruits and vegetables consumption and life satisfaction https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303260 
• Nutrition intervention in depression: the SMILES study https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y 
• Nutrition intervention in young people with depression https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222768 
• Meta-analysis of diet in depression and anxiety https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30720698/ 
• Meta-analysis of fish oil in depression https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0515-5 
• Meta-analysis of fish oil in anxiety https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2702216 
• Meta-analysis of vitamin D in depression https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6515787

Episode transcript
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Antioxidants. They’re a food marketer’s dream. With promises of helping to keep your waistline slim, your heart healthy, and your brain sharp, is there anything these wonder molecules can’t do? Blueberries, dark chocolate, green tea and whatever happens to be trendy in the juice bar scene makes for a great reason to eat something delicious that can also be good for your health. But the time of antioxidants has come and gone. Nutrition science has moved on and now promotes the benefits that thousands of other natural chemicals found in foods can have – most with nothing to do with their antioxidant activity. In this podcast, I’ll outline the role antioxidants play in the body and explain why food is much more than antioxidants when it comes to health. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Antioxidants in the prevention of cancer: meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19622597 
• Shift work and the risk of obesity https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12621

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Magnesium. It is a key mineral in our body and needed for more than 300 different chemical reactions. It is also essential for muscle contractions and nerve transmission while keeping your heart beating steadily and your immune system strong. In this podcast, I’ll outline the key functions of magnesium as well as cover the different health conditions where magnesium is thought to play a role such as heart disease and high blood pressure, diabetes, muscle cramping and poor sleep quality. And then I’ll look at the main food sources and critique the merits of the many different supplemental forms of magnesium. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Cochrane review of magnesium and muscle cramps https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7025716 
• Magnesium L-threonate in people with Alzheimer’s disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6242385 
• Cooking skills in young adults and later life diet behaviours https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6086120

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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