How This Nutritional Psychiatrist Wants To De-Stigmatize & Improve Mental Health

As a nutritional psychiatrist, I deeply care about de-stigmatizing the topic of mental health and providing people with the resources they need for better mental well-being. In my experience, food and nutrition is often a helpful place to start the conversation and begin to address symptoms, as it can feel less daunting than other interventions.

(Note: It's important to acknowledge there can be tough memories with food, too—such as going hungry, coping with an eating disorder, or having physical discomfort around certain foods due to a medical condition—and nutrition interventions may not be the best mental health starting point for these individuals.)

It's additionally important to highlight the role of insulin, a key hormone that influences many of these metabolic processes. Every time our cells need to process sugar, they require insulin. A good insulin response by the receptors is called insulin sensitivity. The better our insulin sensitivity is, the better our overall health. Insulin sensitivity is also a good marker of metabolic health and, therefore, physical and mental health. 

One of the quickest ways to improve insulin sensitivity, metabolic health, and mental health is by focusing on what's at the end of our fork. It really starts with whole, real, unprocessed food. I advise filling your plate with these high-priority picks:

Remember, metabolic health is a cornerstone of good overall health as well as mental health. As a nutritional psychiatrist and a chef, I have learned that for many people, starting with food is a great first step toward a path to better health. My personal story about how food changed my life, my approach to food especially for mental health, and recipes are found in my book This Is Your Brain on Food.