One in four adults around the world describes themselves as lonely, and loneliness can feel even more acute during the holidays when the cultural emphasis is on family and socialising. Whether it’s the office party or adverts filled with images of tables bursting with guests, if you are lonely at this time of year, it can be easy to feel like you’re the only one. If this is you, I want to tell you 1) that you are not the only one and 2) you will be amazed at how many of us have felt like that at...
Dec 17, 2024•16 min
I often meet people for whom this time of year is incredibly difficult. Maybe family relationships aren’t where they’d like them to be, maybe they visit their family more out of a sense of duty than pleasure, maybe they find themselves pulled into early life dynamics they wish they could leave behind. It can be really challenging to navigate, which is why, in this week’s episode of the Stronger Minds podcast, I’m giving you my guide to surviving your family during the holidays. ___ Newsletter si...
Dec 10, 2024•15 min
We now know the technical definition ultra-processed foods. These ready to eat or ready to heat products whose ingredients have individually gone through several stages of processing, and require ingredients or processes that you won’t find in a domestic kitchen. But how does this affect your everyday food choices? Should it? In this week’s episode, I’m talking practical tips and answering your questions about ultra processed foods. Why are sweet chilli crisps (potato chips) UPF but salted ones ...
Dec 03, 2024•16 min
According to the news headlines, ultra processed foods (UPF) can do everything from increasing your cancer risk to giving you dementia. But most people would have a hard time even defining UPF. If that’s you, then you’re in luck because in this week’s episode, I’m giving you the lowdown on ultraprocessed foods. What they are and what’s so bad about them. In part two I'll be answering your questions on UPF. ____ Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doin...
Nov 26, 2024•15 min
Ninety percent of us experience food cravings – the intense desire to eat a specific food that is often distinct from physiological hunger. But if they’re not about being hungry, why do we get them, what do our cravings mean and what, if anything, should we do about them? In this week’s episode of the Stronger Minds Podcast, we’re digging in to the Science of Food Cravings. Urge surfing Feelings Wheel ___ Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Y...
Nov 19, 2024•15 min
Over the last few years you may have heard a lot of talk about the gut-brain axis. But do you know what it is? And more to the point, why should you care? In this week’s episode I’m giving you a beginner's guide to the gut-brain axis. ___ 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 The information shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not ...
Nov 12, 2024•12 min
A report from Goldman Sachs estimates that generative AI like ChatGPT could expose the equivalent of 300mn full-time jobs to automation. Therapy is one of the current parts of the workforce that is considered to be more resilient to these technological changes. But not immune. This week: what are the capabilities of AI in the therapy space? And what are the limitations? Ultimately, are the robots coming for my job? ___ Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet...
Nov 05, 2024•12 min
Artificial intelligence permeates the full range of our lives, from something as casual as a song recommendation to matching us with our perfect partner. But, increasingly, we are building relationships with AI itself. Last week mother filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Character.AI, a generative AI chatbot platform. She says that the technology played a key role in her teenage son’s death by suicide. In this week’s episode, what happens when the human brain meets AI? If you are based ...
Oct 29, 2024•13 min
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?...
Oct 21, 2024•11 min
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 health Broadcast: 19th July 2020 Start the Week - The food we eat 13th February 2023 Feeding Your Brain: A User's Guide Broadcast: 30th July 2023 The Brain Gut Connection Broadcast: 27th September 2024 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Oct 16, 2024•15 sec
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 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 14, 2024•10 min
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...
Oct 07, 2024•14 min
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...
Sep 30, 2024•12 min
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 contrib...
Sep 23, 2024•15 min
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 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted ...
Sep 16, 2024•10 min
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 - NHS Tooth brushing video Flossing video Register with a doctor - NHS Feelings wheel How to cope with financial worries - NHS Sleep Hygiene My Body Back Project - Sensitive and tra...
Sep 09, 2024•17 min
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 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 02, 2024•10 min
Getting your five servings of fruit and vegetables a day good for you. But why exactly? And more specifically, what are some of the nutrients in fruits and veggies doing for your brain? In this episode, I’m bringing you some fresh data on Antioxidants & Alzheimer’s disease. Refs Low Xanthophylls, Retinol, Lycopene, and Tocopherols in Grey and White Matter of Brains with Alzheimer’s Disease Biomagnification Supplements and dry AMD Lutein zeaxanthin AD diagnosis ___ Newsletter sign up How to B...
Jul 29, 2024•14 min
Why am I hungrier before my period? Am I addicted to cheese? And is it true that we confuse hunger and thirst? I’m answering your questions on hungry in today’s episode. Instagram Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain * Patreon *Affiliate links Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 22, 2024•12 min
Your stomach’s rumbling. You can’t concentrate. And if one more person annoys you… We experience hunger every day but what is it all about and how does it affect us psychologically? The intricate, complex and exceedingly clever science of hunger – including how it affects our mood - is the topic of this week’s episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 16, 2024•11 min
How do you choose what you are going to eat? Do you think about it for a long time? Do you plan it in advance? Or do you wait for inspiration in the moment? The science and psychology of what we choose to eat is as fascinating as it is complex. The unconscious, internal and external drivers of food choice are the topic of this week’s episode. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 08, 2024•12 min
Manifesting, the idea that you can bring the things you want into being through controlling your thoughts, is hugely popular around the world, with people claiming that the practice has changed their lives. But can attaining success and riches really be that simple and are there truly no downsides? In this episode I outline the psychology of manifesting and discuss its links to Margaret Thatcher. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
Jul 01, 2024•14 min
Do you knock on wood for good luck? Throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder? Maybe you’re someone who avoids opening an umbrella indoors just in case? Superstitions sit on a spectrum from common habits and rituals to symptoms of mental illness. In the world of psychology we call these beliefs magical thinking. The nature, pros and cons of magical thinking is the topic of this week’s podcast. ___ Pareidolia (coming soon!) Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your D...
Jun 24, 2024•12 min
Most of us can think of someone in our lives that we own an apology, but put it off because of shame, embarrassment, or not knowing where to start. But apologies can be hugely important not just in helping the person who has been hurt to heal and move forwards, but in supporting our own emotional maturity. So, this week’s episode is a science-backed guide to the perfect apology. Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain * Patreon *Affili...
Jun 17, 2024•14 min
Even when we know we should, even when we want to, apologising can feel impossible. In this week’s episode , I present six psychological barriers to apologising, looking under the surface to see why sorry really is the hardest word. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 10, 2024•11 min
A new idea in psychology suggests that mental health awareness campaigns and activities are driving up the recorded incidence of mental illness in both good and bad ways. In this week’s podcast, I overview the hypothesis, share my thoughts, and highlight the additional factors that, if it is true, might make young people particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon. Social Media Contagion – TikTok tics Read the paper ____ Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Die...
Jun 03, 2024•12 min
This episode is in response to a request from someone whose family has been bereaved by the death of a child. So I reached out to Dr. Martha Deiros Collado , a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in working with children and families, and who spent over a decade working with and developing services for children with life limiting and life shortening conditions. I am enormously grateful to Martha for her support with this episode in which she covers issues like: Why the language you use around ...
May 27, 2024•54 min
Conformity, the act of adjusting your behaviour to fit in with group norms or expectations, is one of the strongest, most consistent and yet subtle social pressures that we experience. In this episode I’m talking about the evolutionary roots of shame and its links to conformity and physical pain. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/strongerminds . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 20, 2024•13 min
Dementia is the disease that most adults are frightened of and global rates are set to triple by 2050. But too few of us know that there is anything we can do reduce our chances of developing the condition. Yet, research indicates that around 40% of global dementia cases could be delayed or prevented through changes in lifestyle. In this episode I overview the 12 known modifiable risk factors for dementia and how you can start to look after your long-term brain health starting right now. Newslet...
May 13, 2024•13 min
The Five Factor Model of Personality is the most empirically supported paradigm for personality assessment, with five traits that have been identified universally – across sex, age, geography and culture. In this episode I outline the five factors and how they link to physical and mental health. Newsletter sign up How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain * Patreon Big Five Questionnaire *Affiliate links Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stronge...
May 06, 2024•14 min
