Episode June 19, 2023

Your Brain on Food | Dr. Uma Naidoo

From 10% Happier with Dan Harris 10% Happier

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Most of us have an intuitive sense that there's a pretty serious link between what we eat and how we feel. Today's guest is here to explain the science behind that relationship.

Dr. Uma Naidoo is a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry and an expert on both the gut-brain connection and the food-mood connection. She is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, a professional chef, and a nutrition specialist. She is the Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. And she is the author of a book called This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More.

In this episode we talk about:

What the gut-brain connection is, how it works, and why it's so important
Her contention that "we are in control of how we feel emotionally through the food choices we make every single day"
How to leverage nutritional psychiatry to help you handle:
---Anxiety
---Depression
---Sleep disorders
---Dementia
---PTSD
---ADHD
---OCD
Her thoughts on taking in all of this information without developing orthorexia (an unhealthy obsession with healthy food)
Her thoughts on intuitive eating
How to understand vitamins vs. supplements (and her advice on taking supplements)