Psychiatry Times articles through late January have reminded all clinicians to factor in nutrition to all patient interactions, as food is the body’s fuel and the wrong sort, the wrong amount, and bad habits with eating can create major health crises that will flow towards depression and anxiety, without any other cause being present.

We forget the “gut-brain axis” at our peril, as gut microbiota produce neural-transmitters and so upset gut is going to be directly related to upset brain function!

Basic nutrition for brain function emphasizes the things that we would expect (hopefully), namely wholefoods, lower super-processed foods, plant-forward diet, low GI, eat the rainbow… What we eat directly affects how we feel and how much energy we have.

Expanding this focus on positive health the Psychiatric community is being encouraged to think about what they now call “Lifestyle Psychiatry”. It involves –

1. Remove ultra-processed food from diet
2. Physical exercise daily 20-40 minutes of light exercise
3. Social connections with community groups
4. Nature connection – at least 3x a week walk, sit, cycle, swim in nature
5. Sleep hygiene
6. Lower all stimulant/depressive substance use
7. Mind-body CBT technique used for all triggers to anxiety-depression
   Only with these things in place, ask what medication may assist?

Serious analysis by Leigh Frame and Alison Warren, reported in Psychiatry Times on 7 February, was of multiple studies on gut microbiome and Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s development. Their analysis has again underlined the importance of caring for the gut to slow or actually stop cognitive impairment as we age. Evidence from multiple study sources indicate the value of what we have all suspected – that the Mediterranean diet, the modified ketogenic diet, high in plant fibres, unsaturated fats and polyphenols is not just preventive of cognitive impairment, but may actually stop some disease processes.

This explains why the internet is so full of fad plant-based foods to use to stop Alzheimers! Studies indicate that there is no magic single product – and we shouldn’t be searching for it. Let’s just be eating more vegetables, fruit and protein, and ensure we utilize those easy sources of polyphenols – coffee, tea, fruit, veg, dark chocolate…, but not all at once…

Let us enjoy our food but ensure the mix is both pleasant and power-packed for the brain – Oh – by the way Dr Stress has certified that “Carrot-Cake” is obviously a vegetable…