Full Transcript Introduction to Nutritional Psychiatry 0:00 Hey, I'm Dr. 0:00 Uman Naidu. 0:01 Have you been feeling highly stressed with low energy and absolutely low mood? 0:08 This video can help you. 0:10 It explains the mechanisms behind what can helps you eat better to feel better. 0:21 Hi, I'm Dr. 0:22 Uma Naidu. 0:23 I am a Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist and I wanted to talk to you today about the key mechanisms in nutritional,
Inflammation and Mood 0:30 lifestyle and metabolic psychiatry explained. 0:35 The first one is inflammation. 0:38 Now what is Inflammation? 0:39 How it works is that chronic stress, poor diet or illness can activate the immune system leading to high levels of inflammatory chemicals like cytokines. 0:50 What it means is that these chemicals disrupt brain signaling, alter mood regulation and can trigger depression like symptoms. 0:58 Another mechanism is oxidative stress. 1:01 How does that work? 1:02 It's an imbalance between harmful molecules or free radicals and protective antioxidants which damages cells, proteins and DNA.
Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants 1:11 What is means, is too much oxidated stress harms brain cells lowers energy and increases depression risk. 1:20 Antioxidant-rich foods, fruits, vegetables and omega-3s help restore that balance. 1:27 An additional mechanism is mitochondrial dysfunction. 1:31 Mitochondria are the cells' batteries. 1:34 Oxidative stress and poor nutrition impair their ability to produce energy efficiently.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Energy 1:41 What it means is that low brain energy supply may lead to fatigue, poor concentration and mood disturbances. 1:49 Yet one more mechanism is tryptophan kinuramine metabolism. 1:53 And how that works is that trypophane normally used to make serotonin, which is a feel-good chemical, gets diverted under stress and inflammation into 2:04 this pathway, producing neurotoxic metabolites instead of serotonin.
Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway 2:09 What does that mean? 2:10 Less seratonin and more toxic byproducts lead to high depression risk and mood instability. 2:17 gut microbiome and gut microbiota. 2:20 How this mechanism works is that trillions of microbes in the gut produce chemicals that influence the brain via the vagus nerve, 2:28 immune system and hormones. 2:30 Diet rapidly shifts the microbiomes balance. 2:34 What also happens is a more diverse, fiber-rich diet feeds good microbes, reducing inflammation and improving mood.
Gut Microbiome and Depression 2:41 A western-style diet fuels bad microbes increasing depression risk Another mechanism is neurogenesis and BDNF. 2:51 Neurogenosis is the growth of new brain cells. 2:54 BdNf is a protein that helps brain cell survive and form new connections. 3:00 Both are sensitive to diet and stress. 3:03 And what that means is that healthy diets increase B.D.N.F and neuro genesis, supporting learning memory and emotional resilience. 3:12 Core diets reduce these processes, making depression more likely. 3:17 Epigenetics, how does this work?
Neurogenesis and BDNF 3:20 Diet and lifestyle can switch genes on or off without changing DNA itself. 3:26 Nutrients like folate, polyphenols and omega-3s affect this process. 3:32 What it means is that food literally influences gene expression that regulates brain plasticity, stress response and inflammation. 3:41 Obesity and metabolic dysfunction. 3:44 How this works is excess body fat promotes inflammation, insulin resistance and hormonal imbalance.
Epigenetics and Gene Expression 3:51 What is means that obesity creates a cycle of poor metabolic health. 3:56 More inflammation and oxidative stress leads to higher depression risk. 4:02 And last of all, emotional immunity is not a formally recognized medical term in clinical guidelines. 4:08 However, the concept is used in psychoneuroimmunology to describe the bi-directional relationship between emotional states and immune system activity.
Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction 4:19 Emotional states such as stress, anxiety and positive emotions can modulate immune function, influencing cytokine production, 4:27 lymphocyte activity and inflammatory responses. 4:31 Conversely, immune system status can affect emotional well-being and cognitive function as demonstrated by changes in mood and behavior in neuro-compromised states. 4:43 Positive emotional states and psychosocial resilience are associated with enhanced immune responses and reduced inflammation,
Emotional Immunity and Psychoneuroimmunology 4:52 while chronic negative emotions and stress are linked to suppressed immunity and increased risk of illness. 4:59 The interplay between emotion and immunity is dynamic. 5:03 with emotional states explaining a significant proportion of variants in immune markers over short time frames. 5:11 This relationship underpins the therapeutic potential of psychosocial interventions to improve the immune-related health outcomes. 5:20 So in summary, emotional immunity refers to the capacity of emotional states to influence immune system activity and vice versa, 5:29 with implications for stress, resilience, disease risk and overall health.
Comments