Dan Harris
Ten Percent Happier
Your Brain on Food | Dr. Uma Naidoo
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Your Brain on Food | Dr. Uma Naidoo

Most of us have an intuitive sense that there’s a pretty serious link between what we eat and how we feel. Today’s guest is here to explain the science behind that relationship.

Dr. Uma Naidoo is a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry and an expert on both the gut-brain connection and the food-mood connection. She is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, a professional chef, and a nutrition specialist. She is the Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. And she is the author of a book called This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More.

In this episode we talk about:

  • What the gut-brain connection is, how it works, and why it’s so important

  • Her contention that “we are in control of how we feel emotionally through the food choices we make every single day”

  • How to leverage nutritional psychiatry to help you handle:

  • ---Anxiety

  • ---Depression

  • ---Sleep disorders

  • ---Dementia

  • ---PTSD

  • ---ADHD

  • ---OCD

  • Her thoughts on taking in all of this information without developing orthorexia (an unhealthy obsession with healthy food)

  • Her thoughts on intuitive eating

  • How to understand vitamins vs. supplements (and her advice on taking supplements)

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/uma-naidoo-614

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Dan Harris
Ten Percent Happier
Dan Harris is a fidgety, skeptical journalist who had a panic attack on live national television, which led him to try something he otherwise never would have considered: meditation. He went on to write the bestselling book 10% Happier. On this show, Dan talks with eminent meditation teachers, top scientists, and even the odd celebrity.