The doctora Uma Naidoo She works at Harvard Medical School, founded and directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the United States, and is Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
As if this were not enough, she is a professional chef who graduated with the most coveted award from the American culinary school.
And she is also the author of the world best seller ‘What food does to your brain’ (Grijalbo), considered by many as the ideal guide to optimize our mental health from food.
Everything we eat also affects the brain
The prestigious doctor David Perlmutter He says of it that “Naidoo is capable of offering in a single book everything you need to create a nutritional program focused on optimizing brain health and performance.”
Because the key to Dr. Naidoo’s contributions is that even knowing that the main motivation of the majority of people who do diet is weight loss, it is essential to know that what we eat also affects the brain.
And that’s why he says recent studies have shown that diet can have a profound impact on mental health.
And specifically in conditions such as:
Are there foods that can improve your mood?
This specialist (and she is not the only one) assures that there are foods that can improve mood, sharpen memory and help the brain work more efficiently.
Because mental health and diet are linked in the same way as the brain and the intestine, in a relationship that has important consequences for the body.
And he explains it in the following way:
“One of the biological foundations to understand this relationship has to do with the fact that the brain and the intestine have their origin in the same cells of the embryo and remain connected as the human being develops.” “This relationship is maintained with the sending of chemical messages that allow communication in both directions.” “In fact, between 90% and 95% of serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to the regulation of appetite and other functions, is produced in the intestine.”
And the other way around: can there be foods that are harmful to your mood?
The main consequence of an unhealthy diet is that the intestine becomes inflamed and suffers from this poor diet, causing anxiety, lack of attention and diseases such as depression.
Therefore, the more you take care of your diet and your intestinethe more you take care of your mental health.
And although nutritional psychiatry is an emerging field that is beginning to develop, there are already multiple studies whose data leave less and less room for doubt.
Beneficial foods for brain power
Dr. Uma Naidoo helps us improve lives with a selection of easy-to-use and beneficial foods to improve mood and boost brain power.
An avocado a week could reduce coronary risk by up to 21% / Freepik
Avocados
It’s not just that avocados are a fashionable product today due to their flavor and multiple combinations in the kitchen.
The reality is that it is a fruit with relatively high amounts of magnesium. And that is so important for the functioning of the brain, which makes them an undisputed source of well-being.
So much so that there are countless analyzes suggesting that depression is related to magnesium deficiency.
There are even several case studies in which patients treated with a dose of between 125 to 300 milligrams of magnesium showed faster recovery from depressive disorder.
And since Dr. Naidoo is also a culinary expert, she gives us a simple and appetizing recipe.
“I love blending avocados, chickpeas, and olive oil as a tasty spread on pumpernickel toast, or as a dip for freshly cut vegetables.”
Walnuts are essential to maintain proper brain function / Shutterstock
Walnuts
The specialist does not hesitate to affirm that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts are very promising for improving thinking and memory.
On the other hand, nuts have healthy fats and oils that our brain needs to function well, along with essential vitamins and minerals, such as the selenium in Brazil nuts.
Naidoo recommends eating 1/4 cup a day to mix with salad or vegetables.
They can also be mixed with nuts, but always in homemade combinations, which are much healthier than those sold in stores, which usually contain high levels of sugar and salt.
Bitter chocolate
In Spain we know dark chocolate as chocolate black or pure chocolate.
It is a type of chocolate made with roasted cocoa beans but without the addition of milk.
A minimum of 35% cocoa must be used, in accordance with European standards, and is characterized by containing little or no sugar.
Dark chocolate is an excellent source of iron, which helps form the shell that protects neurons and helps control the synthesis of chemicals that influence mood.
A survey of more than 13,000 adults in 2019 found that people who eat dark chocolate regularly have a 70% lower risk of depressive symptoms.
dark chocolate It also contains many antioxidants with the benefits that this entails..
The properties of kombucha are placing this drink among the most popular superfoods. / EP
fermented foods
The nutritional psychiatrist explains this second group of foods in a very simple way:
“There is a wide variety of fermented foods, which are made by combining milk, vegetables or other raw ingredients with microorganisms such as yeasts and bacteria.”
The best known is natural yogurt with active cultures, but there are also others such as:
He sauerkraut, which is a culinary preparation originating from some Central European cuisines. It is very easy to make, since it involves fermenting cabbage or cabbage in dead salt.
He kimchi: a dish of Korean origin that is consumed with all meals, similar to what we do here with bread. It has a salty and spicy flavor and is the result of the fermentation of Chinese cabbage accompanied by other vegetables and many more ingredients.
The kombucha: It is a fermented and slightly effervescent drink, made from sweetened tea in which a colony of bacteria and yeast transform sugar into organic acids packed with natural probiotics. We could say that Kombucha is to tea what cider is to apple juice or wine to grape must.
As you can already see in the explanation of each of the products, what they all have in common is that they are sources of live bacteria that can improve intestinal function and reduce anxiety.
The claim that fermented foods can provide several brain benefits is based on an analysis of 45 studies carried out in 2016 which, as the doctor explains:
“They showed that fermented foods can protect the brain, improving memory and slowing cognitive decline.”
Turmeric has healthy properties / EP
Spices like turmeric and saffron
The doctor explains that spices are medically known for their antioxidant properties.
But some in particular, such as turmeric, have beneficial effects in reducing anxiety.
The reason is that the main active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, can change brain chemistry and protect the hippocampus to the point of reducing anxiety.
The psychiatrist’s next favorite spice is saffron because, as the specialist explains:
“Numerous research has shown that it has effects on major depressive disorder, and its consumption significantly reduces the symptoms of patients affected by this disorder.”
Lettuce is very beneficial / A ROOM WITH VIEWS / Alamy Stock Photo
Green leafy vegetables
Talking about green leafy vegetables means referring to an enormous variety of them, since almost 1000 species of plants with edible leaves are known.
But when we think about food, we are primarily talking about herbaceous plants ephemera such as lettuce and spinach.
In any case, almost all of them share similar nutritional characteristics and gastronomic uses.
The most frequent in our country are:
Lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Chard
Arugula
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And although we all have the idea in our heads that green leafy vegetables are healthy, the why is not so well known.
The reason is that they contain vitamin E, carotenoids and flavonoidswhich are nutrients that protect against dementia and cognitive decline.
Another benefit of these foods is that they are a great source of folate, a natural form of vitamin B9 that is important in the formation of red blood cells.
And since the lack of folate in our body can be the basis of some neurological conditions, we can understand that this vitamin has beneficial effects on cognitive status and is important in the production of neurotransmitters.
2024-04-12 03:19:36
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