The Worst Foods For Brain Inflammation

Introduction to Mood Food and Brain Health 0:00

These are the worst foods for brain inflammation. Hello, I'm Dr. Uma, your mood food expert and welcome to my channel. I am a nutritional psychiatrist and what I do is fuse my knowledge of brain health and food to help my patients and students and now you watching this. Also, a national and international bestseller, published two books all related to mood and The reason I want to share my knowledge with you today is that I've seen the impact of changing nutrition in my patients and how this has impacted their mental well-being and in some cases their physical well being and sometimes even their weight.

In this channel, expect to learn more about how the food you eat affects your mood. We will also be sharing tips on food, recipes and anything related to brain health to help you combat, understand or at least manage your Mood swings, anxiety, lack of focus, brain fog, poor sleep, depression, Anxiety or even ADHD. If you're experiencing any of these, I invite you to this channel and I hope that with what we share, your everyday will get just a little bit better and

How Food Affects the Gut-Brain Connection 1:14

that you'll feel that get to know the foods to eat and the better decisions to make for a better mood. We are thinking beings, so it's important for us to love and take care of our brain. And the easiest way to Love our Brain is to Eat Healthy. In one of my previous videos, I discussed how the two brains, the gut-brain connection in our body is connected. The one in your head and the one your gut. That what you eat affects the health of your brain. But eating healthy has become more difficult. Why?

It's because there are tons of available choices or lack of healthy ones, I should say. There's a ton of distracting social media posts and information. Other media platforms are always telling you about the new superfood, the best diet, how to lose weight. So we grab the easiest, fastest food we can, also known as fast foods, processed foods ultra-processed foods. all without understanding what we are actually eating. What ingredients are in them, what preservatives, colourants and dyes, all of these things actually affect our brain.

Fast and processed foods have been known to be high in sugar, salt, trans fats, calories and preservatives, and the gut is trying to digest all of these. Since the Gut views these added chemicals or artificial ingredients found in unhealthy foods as infectious, it triggers a mild inflammatory and immune response.

Processed Foods and Brain Inflammation 2:56

When you scrape your knee, what do you notice about that wound on your knees? This is the process of inflammation in action and this is important because it is helping to heal that cut or that wounded. In the gut, inflammation happens as well, but this is a more chronic and insidious inflammation, and it is there to help us fight off toxins. Imagine what is happening to your gut every time you eat an unhealthy or processed food. Well, it leads to chronic low-grade inflammation over time. This chronic inflammation of the guts leads into neuroinflammation or inflammation in the brain and nervous tissue, also known as brain inflammation.

Neuroinflammation affects your brain's health, triggering anxiety, depression, lack of focus, brain fog, and even neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive problems. If there's inflammation in the brain, it's not good. if the brains not in good, your mood won't be good either. So what do you have to do? What should you do. You have avoid eating too much of the unhealthy foods and drinks that cause brain inflammation. The number one food that you want to stay away from are processed and ultra processed junk foods and fast foods.

Most of these foods actually have a very long shelf life because they contain chemical additives, preservatives, colorants, dyes and food stabilizers, which are actually toxic to the gut. Therefore, they cause inflammation and they can over time cause you to not feel good emotionally. They may even worsen conditions like anxiety. Some examples of these foods are sausages, deli meats, and hot dogs. The number two food are the added and refined sugars.

Sugar, Seed Oils, Alcohol, and Coffee 4:47

These sugars have the potential to wreck our gut health and overwhelm our brain because of the amount of sugar. High fructose corn syrup is the most commonly used added sugar and there are more than 262 other names for sugar on food labels. Brown rice syrup, is actually simply sugar, so Familiarize yourself with how to read and label so that you know the added sugars in a food. An unhealthy type of gut flora leads to obesity, decreased libido and poor sleep. Examples of these less healthy foods are boxed cereals, granola bars, salad dressings, cakes, pastries and shelf-stable breads that actually may contain sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.

The third food to stay away from are the industrial vegetable and seed oils. Highly processed oils such as corn, grape seed and soybean oil are particularly high in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids and low in anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acid and are drivers of both gut and neuroinflammation. The consumption of these oils has been associated with increased anxiety, worsening mood and increased progression of cognitive disorders as well. For your next grocery run, instead of the usual types of oils, try getting olive oil or even an avocado oil.

Number four, too much alcohol and coffee. My guideline for both of these is set mindfully and in moderation. If either starts to affect you, then cutting back is important and also pay attention to the added sugars, sweeteners, liqueurs, juices added to either of the beverages. I call this having a clean cup of coffee and if you consume alcohol, a clear cocktail. If you'd like to start making changes in your diet, I've added in the description box the link to my previous video of the Top 7 Foods for Brain Health that you can watch right now.

Easily start by adding these 7 foods into your Diet for better brain health. Making changes to your Diets is not easy, so take it one step at a time. Observe what you eat often and see whether they belong to these 4 foods that we just talked about.

Practical Swaps and Final Takeaways 7:10

If yes, cut back on your intake, do it slowly, start to replace with a healthier food. Options like almonds or avocados or a fermented food are much better than these foods we talked about today. If the change is too much, then eat in moderation. Do not make these food your everyday meal. start eating less of them, then gradually remove them over time from your diet with healthier options. Also, always remember you can add in physical activity, like a consistent short walk, which has been shown to be better for brain health, and exercise uplifts your mood.

As your mood food expert, there are several things that I want you to take away from this video. Always remember that what you eat affects your brain. Eating healthy equals a healthy brain, as much as you can avoid processed foods, ultra-processed foods refined sugars, industrial vegetable oils, and drinking too much coffee and alcohol. Lastly, there's help for what you're going through. With that frequent lack of focus, brain fog, anxiety or even a low mood. Each week I publish a newsletter with tips to help you with your brain health.

If you'd like to receive those, please feel free to sign up through the link pinned in the comment section. if you would like know more about the science of your mood and food, check the description box below. Download my free mini ebook and don't forget, Eat good food for a good mood. See you in the next video.