Uma Naidoo Quotes

Probiotics and Prebiotics If you’re suffering from gut-induced depression, how do you reset your gut microbiome to steer you back to a healthy mental state? The key is to increase probiotics and prebiotics in your diet. Probiotics are live bacteria that convey health benefits when eaten. Probiotic-rich foods contain beneficial bacteria that help your body

But celiac disease can be “silent,” causing damage with no obvious signs.

High-GI carbs include potatoes, white bread, and white rice. Honey, orange juice, and whole-meal breads are medium-GI foods. Low-GI foods include green vegetables, most fruits, raw carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas, and lentils.

Berries and beans R: Rainbow colors of fruits and vegetables A: Antioxidants I: Include lean proteins and plant-based proteins N: Nuts (almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and cashews) F: Fiber-rich foods, fish, and fermented foods O: Oils O: Omega-3-rich foods D: Dairy (yogurt and kefir, certain cheeses)

Why might sugar cause depression? The brain relies on glucose, a type of sugar, from the food we eat in order to survive and to function. Over a twenty-four-hour period, the brain needs only 62 grams of glucose to do its job, an incredible display of energy efficiency considering the brain has at least 100 billion cells. You can easily meet this need through

The researchers found that the more trans fats in a participant’s diet, the more likely they were to become depressed. On the other hand, the more MUFAs and PUFAs a participant consumed, the less depressed they were. In terms of individual culinary fats, the researchers concluded that olive oil—which consists largely of MUFA—significantly lowered depression risk.

Servings: 6 Prep Time: 12 hours (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free) This is another way to get your fix for a frozen, slightly sweet treat without going overboard on dairy and sugar. 8 extremely ripe bananas, peeled and diced 1 tablespoon honey ½ cup unsweetened almond, cashew, oat, or coconut milk, as needed to achieve desired consistency Place the banana pieces on a sheet pan and freeze overnight. Place the frozen banana pieces in a blender

As we’ve already touched on, food’s most profound effect on the brain is through its impact on your gut bacteria. Some foods promote the growth of helpful bacteria, while others inhibit this growth. Because of that effect, food is some of the most potent mental health medicine available, with dietary interventions sometimes achieving similar results to specifically engineered pharmaceuticals, at a fraction of the price and with few if any side effects.

I first discovered this unusual combination in culinary school. The benefits of black pepper and the strawberries with their antioxidants, vitamin C, and folate make these a perfect snack. Juice of ½ lemon ½ teaspoon honey 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries Pinch of black pepper In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and honey. Stir. Add the strawberries and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the black pepper. Allow the strawberries to macerate for 10 minutes before serving.

Yogurt with active cultures is one of the best sources of probiotics; just avoid fruited yogurts high in added sugars. Other probiotic-rich foods include tempeh, miso, and natto (fermented soybean products); sauerkraut; kefir (soured yogurt); kimchi (Korean pickle); kombucha (a fermented tea drink); buttermilk; and select cheeses such as cheddar, mozzarella, and Gouda. Examples of prebiotic-rich foods include beans and other legumes, oats, bananas, berries, garlic, onions, dandelion greens, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, and leeks.

While your gut and brain are housed in different parts of your body, they maintain more than just a historical connection. They remain physically connected too. The vagus nerve, also known as the “wanderer nerve,” originates in the brain stem and travels all the way to the gut, connecting the gut to the central nervous system. When it reaches the gut, it untangles itself to form little threads that wrap the entire gut in an unruly covering that looks like an intricately knitted sweater. Because the vagus nerve penetrates the gut wall, it plays an essential role in the digestion of food, but its key function is to ensure that nerve signals can travel back

food processor with the honey. Blend while slowly adding milk to thin the mixture. Watch carefully, as you may need more or less than the ½ cup of milk. You are looking for the texture of soft-serve ice cream. Once this texture is achieved, transfer to a bowl and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight. Before serving, add mix-ins, if desired, like chopped nuts, dark chocolate chips, or peanut butter. Top with fresh berries. Chef Tips: • For chocolate ice cream, add 2 tablespoons of natural (non-alkalized) cocoa powder at the end before you chill the “ice cream.” As you blend the mixture, make sure there are no lumps. You may have to first pass the cocoa powder through a sieve

Foods to Embrace: Probiotics: Yogurt with active cultures, tempeh, miso, natto, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, buttermilk, and certain cheeses. Prebiotics: Beans, oats, bananas, berries, garlic, onions, dandelion greens, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, and leeks. Low-GI carbohydrates: Brown rice, quinoa, steel-cut oatmeal, and chia seeds. Medium-GI foods, in moderation: Honey, orange juice, and whole-grain bread. Healthy fats: Monounsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, nut butters, and avocados. Omega-3 fatty acids: Fish, especially fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines. Vitamins B9, B12, B1, B6, A, and C. Minerals and micronutrients: Iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and selenium. Spices: Saffron and turmeric. Herbs: Oregano, lavender, passionflower, and chamomile. Foods to Avoid: Sugar: Baked goods, candy, soda, or anything sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. High-GI carbs: White bread, white rice, potatoes, pasta, and anything else made from refined flour. Artificial sweeteners: Aspartame is particularly harmful, but also saccharin, sucralose, and stevia in moderation and with caution. Fried foods: French fries, fried chicken, fried seafood, or anything else deep-fried in oil. Bad fats: Trans fats such as margarine, shortening, and hydrogenated oils are to be avoided totally; omega-6 fats such as vegetable, corn, sunflower, and safflower oil should only be consumed in moderation. Nitrates: An additive used in bacon, salami, sausage, and other cured meats.

Each individual gut can contain up to a thousand different species of bacteria, though most of them belong to two groups—Firmicutes and Bacteroides—which make up about 75 percent of the entire microbiome.

Probiotics break down prebiotics to form short-chain fatty acids that help reduce gut inflammation, block the growth of cancerous cells, and help the growth of healthy cells.

Prebiotics are essentially food for helpful bacteria, certain types of fiber that we cannot digest but the good bacteria in our guts can. For probiotics to be effective, it is helpful for them to have prebiotic foods available in the gut to digest. Probiotics break down prebiotics to form short-chain fatty acids that help reduce gut inflammation, block the growth of cancerous cells, and help the growth of healthy cells.

She switched her breakfast chocolate croissant out for a plain Greek yogurt topped with berries, cinnamon, and a drop of honey. She followed my recipe for making a creamy salad dressing using kefir and added this to a healthy green salad with beans, dandelion greens, and radish for lunch.

parse. A Japanese study found that low protein intake (less than 16 percent of energy from protein) was associated with poorer sleep quality and difficulty going to sleep, whereas higher protein intake (more than 19 percent) was associated with difficulty maintaining sleep.

The primary reason gut bacteria have such a profound effect on mental health is that they are responsible for making many of the brain chemicals we discussed in the last section. If normal gut bacteria are not present, production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)—all critically important for the regulation of mood, memory, and attention—is impacted. As we’ll see, many psychiatric disorders are rooted in deficits and imbalances of these chemicals, and many psychiatric drugs are tasked with manipulating their levels. Therefore, if your gut bacteria are intimately involved with producing these vital chemicals, it stands to reason that when your gut bacteria are altered, you risk doing damage to this complex web of body and brain function. That’s a lot of responsibility for a group of microscopic organisms!

But over the years, the science has been building that gut bacteria can affect mental function.

But what sometimes gets lost in discussions about mental health is a simple truth: the food you eat can have just as profound an effect on your brain as the drugs you take. How can something as basic and natural as eating be as potent as a drug that cost millions of dollars to develop and test? The first part of the answer lies in bacteria.

When chemical over- or underproduction disrupts this connection, the gut-brain balance is thrown into disarray. Levels of important chemicals go out of whack. Moods are upset. Concentration is disrupted. Immunity drops. The gut’s protective barrier is compromised, and metabolites and chemicals that should be kept out of the brain reach the brain and wreak havoc.

Over and over again throughout this book, we are going to see how this chemical chaos gives rise to psychiatric symptoms, from depression and anxiety to loss of libido to devastating conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

And to a degree, you’d be right! Most drugs used to treat mental conditions do seek to alter these chemicals to return the brain to a healthy state—for example, you may have heard of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (most commonly referred to as SSRIs), which boost serotonin in order to fight depression. Modern mental health medications can be a godsend to patients

Not all sweeteners are guaranteed to be harmful. However, there is mounting evidence that other sweeteners beyond aspartame, such as sucralose, could also be causing or worsening depression. A 2018 study showed that sucralose significantly alters gut bacteria in mice, increasing a type of bacteria that other studies show is increased in people who are depressed.18 Sucralose also increases myeloperoxidase activity. Myeloperoxidase is a marker of inflammation, and one study found that twins with a history of depression had levels of myeloperoxidase 32 percent higher than those without depression.19 If you suffer from depression, I recommend avoiding all artificial sweeteners. Since you’re also avoiding sugar, it may take time to wean yourself off of a sweet tooth, but the benefits will be well worth the effort.

Bad Fats Fried foods are likely such mood killers because they’re usually fried in unhealthy fats. In recent years, the conversation around fat in the diet has changed from all fats being unhealthy to a clearer distinction between “bad fats” (for instance, margarine, shortening, and hydrogenated oils) known to cause cardiovascular disease and other woes, and “good fats” (for instance, avocados, almonds, and olive oil) that can help prevent disease and benefit well-being.

While PUFAs are better than trans fats, not all sources of PUFAs are the best choices for depression. For example, corn, sunflower, and safflower oil in moderation in your diet may be okay, but in excess they can cause an imbalance in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which may impact emotional regulation and lead to depression (more on this shortly).22

of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in

After about six years, 657 new cases of depression were identified. The researchers found that the more trans fats in a participant’s diet, the more likely they were to become depressed. On the other hand, the more MUFAs and PUFAs a participant consumed, the less depressed they were. In terms of individual culinary fats, the researchers concluded that olive oil—which consists largely of MUFA—significantly lowered depression risk.