Nutrition and Anxiety: A Deep Dive

This chapter explores the intricate connection between nutrition and mental health, particularly its impact on anxiety. It examines the manifestations of anxiety, its spectrum, and the influence of lifestyle factors, while providing insights into the rising rates of anxiety in the post-pandemic world.

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1 in 3 people have anxiety. It’s the most common mental health disorder in the world. And many of us know what anxiety feels like: palms sweating before a job interview, losing your appetite before a looming deadline, a pit in your stomach when you get bad news. It’s not just in your head, it’s in your gut.

Today, we’ll learn how food could help us cope. Our guest explains the rising global trend toward increased anxiety: its rise through the pandemic, and explosion among young people.

Dr. Uma Naidoo is on the forefront of nutritional psychiatry. She directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the US, at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Uma will help you understand the symptoms and biology of anxiety, painting a picture of the risks it poses for long-term health. And her diet tips will help you fuel your gut for a healthy mind.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Change your diet to beat anxiety

01:23 Quickfire questions

02:52 What is anxiety?

05:58 Are humans more anxious now than in the past?

08:50 This is where anxiety occurs in the brain

11:29 The gut-brain connection

12:45 Serotonin: the happiness hormone