Stronger Minds

Anger is an emotion that a lot of people struggle with. We find it uncomfortable, overwhelming and unwelcome. Many people simply don’t know what to do when they feel angry. One common suggestion is to let it out in an act of safe aggression like punching a pillow. In fact an entire industry of rage rooms – spaces devoted to wilful, rage-fuelled destruction – often with a baseball bat - has emerged, encouraging people to work through their fury at a colleague by smashing things. But…does it work? In this week’s episode, I’m exploring the science behind 'blowing off steam'.Original paperUnderstanding Anger EpisodeImage credit: By mrAnmol - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132764560___Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon Original music by Juan Iglesias *Affiliate links

Here are the episodes of BBC Radio 4s The Food Programme (and Start the Week) that I have appeared on, in case you would like to listen.Food and Mood: how eating affects your mental healthBroadcast: 19th July 2020Start the Week - The food we eat13th February 2023Feeding Your Brain: A User's GuideBroadcast: 30th July 2023The Brain Gut ConnectionBroadcast: 27th September 2024

The signal to stop eating comes from your stomach when it is full, right? Well…kinda but that’s not the whole story. This week’s episode is all about the science of satiety.Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon *Affiliate links

Greater social and political awareness, mediated by social media, has allowed more of us to participate in important social movements. But it’s also given us unprecedented access to horror. From body cams of police brutality and killings to harrowing images of war. To what extent is it our responsibility to bear witness to these events versus the need to protect our own wellbeing? The whys and hows of managing horror is the subject of this week’s Stronger Minds Podcast.Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon*Affiliate links

The average full term baby weighs just over 7lbs. One pound of that is the baby’s brain. Nature, via the mother’s body, devotes enormous amounts of energy into building the baby’s brain during and just after pregnancy. And as you’ve heard me say many, many times, the brain is the hungriest organ in the body and requires specific nutrients from the diet for proper structure and function.So why, dear listeners, is brain development completely absent from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline update on pregnancy and child nutrition?In this week’s episode I am a starting a teeny tiny beef with NICE.Think Through NutritionThe Food ProgrammeNICE Maternal & Child Nutrition Stakeholder List___Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon Original music by Juan Iglesias *Affiliate links 

Called ‘the sunshine vitamin’ vitamin D is the only vitamin that the UK Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults and children over the age of four should supplement daily because insufficiency is widespread. While there is some controversy about the threshold for deficiency in the general population, what is consistently observed is that Black and Brown communities have lower serum levels compared to white individuals in the same countries, and that this difference may contribute to some of the observed health disparities.In this week’s episode I’m explaining why vitamin D levels can be so low in these groups, the potential implications, particularly in relation to brain health, and what you can do about it.  ---Diabetes Risk ToolThe company I used for ny vitamin D testing (OmegaQuant) no longer offers this specific test.___Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon *Affiliate links

Is there a link between childhood trauma and stress eating? And what’s the deal with emotional hunger? I’m answering your questions on the psychological side of hunger in this week’s episode.https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/---Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon Original music by Juan Iglesias *Affiliate links

Going for a walk. Having a mindful cup of coffee. Keeping a gratitude journal. These common self-care practices can be helpful and have their place. But some of us have to go back a step. To the basics. In this week’s episode, I’m bringing you an absolute beginners guide to self-care.___How to keep your teeth clean - NHSTooth brushing videoFlossing videoRegister with a doctor - NHSFeelings wheelHow to cope with financial worries - NHSSleep HygieneInstagram link to this post - to come___Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon *Affiliate links

I talk a lot about the importance of building a brain healthy lifestyle, but what does it look like in practice? In this episode, I share how I translate the research into simple daily habits for brain health.Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain* Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain* Patreon