Full Transcript Introduction to the Gut-Brain Connection 0:00 Did you know that your stomach is actually your second brain? 0:04 Hello, I'm Dr. 0:06 Uma, your mood food expert, and welcome to my channel. 0:09 I am a psychiatrist, a chef, also a teacher at Harvard and I've studied nutrition. 0:15 As a nutritional psychiatrist what I do is fuse my knowledge of the brain, of health and food to help my patients, students and now you who's watching this. 0:26 I am also a national and international bestselling author and I published two books, all relating to mood and food. 0:34 In this channel, expect to learn more about the food you eat and how it affects your mood. 0:40 We will also be sharing tips on food, recipes and anything related to brain health to help you combat but also understand or at least manage your mode swings, 0:51 anxiety, lack of focus, depression and even ADHD. 0:55 Have you been feeling tired, experiencing a lack of energy or focus that have been maybe a feeling of impending doom in your gut,
How Food Affects Mood and Mental Health 1:03 more anxious than usual, sadder than usually? 1:07 If you said yes to any of these or even to all of What I will be sharing today might help you understand what you've been going through and hopefully help 1:19 make the changes you need to feel better. 1:21 I am an advocate for eating healthy, most especially for my patients. 1:26 Before giving any prescription, I always first touch up on diet and nutrition. 1:32 Most of my patients who seek help for their brain health often give me a confused look as to why I treat the brain and gut like siblings, 1:41 even if they're more than one torso apart from each other. 1:47 Because in a way, they are very much connected. 1:50 Whatever you put in your stomach or your gut also goes to your brain. 1:55 There is a truth to the saying that you are what you eat. 2:00 See the human body contains two brains, the one that you know which is in your head, and the second one is your gut, also close to your stomach. 2:10 We call that the microbiome, or the gut microbiomes. 2:14 This gut Microbiome is a complex ecosystem of bacteria that weighs about the same amount as the brain and contains trillions of microbes. 2:24 but also neurons, and these two brains interact and talk to each other.
A Patient Story About Diet and Anxiety 2:30 Research has shown that an unhealthy gut microbiome has been linked to a number of chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, 2:39 heart disease, anxiety and depression. 2:43 In short, whatever you put into your gut, also known as the foods you eat, will naturally affect your upper brain. 2:50 But what's in your Upper Brain, that's where the control center of emotions and thinking resides. 2:58 If your second brain in your gut is healthy, your upper brain health will be healthy too. 3:05 In short, good food is equal to a good mood. 3:09 One afternoon in June, I met my niece for lunch, who had just recently got promoted. 3:13 I could see that she was ecstatic but also a little bit anxious, and she told me that felt as though she didn't deserve her promotion, 3:21 despite her checking all the boxes for it. 3:24 that she felt like her other colleagues were more able to handle the stresses of the job. 3:30 She also shared a few things that's she's been experiencing, like a lack of sleep, tightness in her stomach, butterflies in his stomach and also that didn't 3:39 feel or have the urge to be physically active again. 3:43 Not that doesn't have time, it's just that he doesn' feel she had the energy to do anything. 3:49 Like I mentioned earlier, I advocate for diet and nutrition as the first thing I asked her was what she'd been eating recently. 3:58 And she told me that because of being busy, she'd been eating a lot of takeout burgers and fried foods that were easy to eat. 4:05 This is when I asked her to start eating better again.
Building a Better Diet with Brain Foods 4:09 And to help get her started, I went to the local supermarket and worked with her, to really go through a shopping list of anti-anxiety foods, 4:17 To add foods to her diet, like almonds, avocados. 4:22 After about three weeks, with midweek follow-ups, She said she had been feeling a little better. 4:28 gone on short walks, signed up for a gym class and was feeling more energy again. 4:33 I am not just saying that diet nutrition is always the answer to what you have going on, but it is very powerful in helping you feel less tired, 4:43 give you more focus, improve anxiety and mood. 4:47 But the first step for you is to feel better, could be to check what your eating. 4:52 Sometimes, those unhealthy foods are actually driving brain inflammation and continuing to make you feel worse. 4:59 In my next videos, I'll be discussing more about what foods cause brain infection, so stay tuned for that. 5:07 So what can you do to start changing the food you eat for a better diet and nutrition? 5:12 There are three things you can follow. 5:14 Look back to the past five days. 5:16 List all the foods that you've eaten, either on your phone, on a piece of paper, or on the spreadsheet. 5:21 The goal here is for you to see what you have been eating. 5:24 And fair warning, do not be angry with yourself. 5:27 You've started to change for the better by taking the first step in your hands. 5:32 Be honest with yourselves here. 5:34 The second step, now that you have written it down, is to complete a grocery list of the items that I call your top brain foods. 5:42 You can add these seven foods in at any time, one at a time and however you like. 5:48 Include almonds, avocados, leafy green salads, turmeric with a pinch of black pepper, eggs and your favorite plain yogurt that can you add berries, 5:59 nuts or even a sprinkle of cinnamon. 6:02 Bit by bit, add any of the 7 foods to your diet in moderation of course, but at the same time slowly remove the unhealthy foods in your diets.
Key Takeaways and Closing Advice 6:13 Eat in small quantities any food that has high sugar, such as ice cream or cake. 6:18 Have them once in a while, not an everyday thing. 6:21 Cut back on processed meats and salty snacks, as well as soda or energy drinks. 6:26 I also say this to my patients all the time. 6:30 Take it step by step, slowly and consistently. 6:33 It's a marathon and not a sprint. 6:35 The key takeaways I'd like to share with you from this video are the following. 6:40 There are two brains, one in your head and one your gut. 6:43 They talk to each other and communicate all time, and what you eat impacts the brain in your head. 6:50 So the gut-brain connection is powerful to help you understand that what you eat also impacts how you feel. 6:59 If you want to have more focus, be less anxious, more physically active and enjoy better sleep, then you have to start by eating well. 7:08 Take small steps as you improve your nutrition and consistency is the key. 7:13 Add almonds today and maybe avocados in two days' time. 7:18 And in summary, if you want to make your upper brain healthy that affects your mental well-being, then you have to feed your gut or your second brain with 7:27 healthy foods too. 7:28 If your two brains are healthy, your lifestyle changes become easier. 7:33 And if you want to understand more about this gut-brain connection, download my free ebook through the link in the description below. 7:40 See you in my next video and don't forget, good food equals good mood. 7:45 Don't for get to subscribe and turn on the notification bell.
Comments