What is Neuronutrition?

In this episode, we explore the field of neuronutrition and it's connection to the gut-brain axis.

Want to learn more about what our podcast program covers? Visit our website: https://pathwayscounselingcenter.org/podcast/

Contact Information:
Jerrodb@pathwayscounselingcenter.org

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or mental health advice. The content discussed should not replace professional judgment, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or psychological concerns. The views expressed by our hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated organizations.

Credits:
Executive Producer, Host: Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., M.S., M.S., M.S., M.S.

Producer, Technical Director: Megan Eichten, AAS, CPT, CES (NASM)

Audio Engineer, Sound Designer: Jen Carter, BS

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Psychogastroenterologist, the show where we explore the fascinating intersection of the brain-cut connection through a multidisciplinary lens informed by psychology, neuroscience, and gastroenterology, better known as psychogastroenterology. Our mission is to delve into the gut brain access and uncover how this powerful connection influences mental, physical, and overall well-being. Whether you work in behavioral health, health care, the criminal justice system, or health and wellness coaching, this podcast offers insights to inform and inspire your work. Join us as we break down complex concepts, share evidence-based perspectives, and discuss emerging trends in this rapidly evolving field. The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or mental health advice. The content discussion should not replace professional judgment, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or psychological concerns. The views expressed by our hosts and our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated organization.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Well, good day, everyone. Welcome back to episode seven of the Psychogastroentinologist Podcast. In this episode, I'm going to talk about the topic of neuronutrition. Really interesting field of study. I've been uh doing some work in the past probably year and a half, two years now. My name's Jared Brown. I'm your host. Here's my email address on the first slide. If you're listening to this audio only and you want to see these slides, please check out our YouTube channel. My professional biography is on this slide, but I wear a couple different hats. But I am a professor, trainer, researcher, consultant, and I have a great interest in the area of the gut brain access and psychogastroentinology and nutrition and lifestyle medicine and many other topics that we have and will be talking about at various times in our podcasts. And these are the areas that guide and inform the work I do. And if you're listening to this audio only, I do a lot of work in the area of neurocriminology, psychoneuroimmunology, metacognition, food insecurities, health disparities, attachment theory, and many other areas. And we're going to talk about all of these topics and many more at various times in future episodes. Our agenda today, very straightforward, three parts. Going to give you a good overview of what is neuronutrition and why you want to care about that when studying the gut brain access. Part two, how can you apply this to your intake, your interviewing and screening process? And part three, all about tips, strategies, solutions, and interventions. And we say this in every podcast, but this is just for educational purposes only. Please work with qualified professionals before implementing any of these things. So as we get in the topic of neuronutrition, what is this? Well, basically it's combining neuroscience with nutrition science. And it's a fascinating, broad area and it's an emerging area. Many, many articles, book chapters have been written on this topic. And I encourage you, even if you're not in the world of nutrition, whatever field you're in, if you can learn the basics of what this field is, I think it's going to be very helpful in the treatment of cognitive and mental health conditions, to name a few. Let's make it visual here, folks. So what is neuronutrition? Well, it's multidisciplinary in nature, which basically means this field of study draws from multiple other fields of study. It's a holistic approach. It takes into account mind-body approaches, neurobiopsycho-social factors. And if you break that down, this field of study cares a lot about biology, genetics, and epigenetics, physiology, environmental factors, social factors, client behavioral patterns, what the client eats, and are they consuming any other kinds of substances? And if you can really become neuronutrition informed, I think it will revolutionize the great work all of you are already doing. This is just my opinion. Going through this literature, studying this field for many years. One of my master's degrees is in applied clinical nutrition. And I believe that there are a number of other fields of study that really complement the field of neuronutrition. And some of these that you see on this slide here are definitely a no-brainer because we're talking about nutritional science. But I do believe neurocounseling, if you can learn that field, it pairs very nicely with the field of neural nutrition. If you can learn the basics of behavioral sleep medicine, positive psychology, the first thousand days of life research, adverse childhood experiences, attachment theory, blue zone research, and the list goes on. These fields of study, I think, really pair nicely and complement the field of neuronutrition. And it really then makes it even more holistic. If you were to go through the bulk of the neuronutrition literature, and there's a lot out there again, and it does take time to get through this literature base and it's ever evolving. New studies are coming out all the time. But this slide here visually shows some of the specific populations that have been discussed in the neuronutrition literature. Some of these are going to include various types of neurodegenerative disorders, a variety of mental health conditions, migraine, chronic pain issues, metabolic syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and the list goes on. If you were working with providers who have an expertise in this, the right training, the right credentials, things of that nature, and they're using neuronutrition approaches with their clients. The research says, what these would be some of the positive outcomes that may result from having that neuronutrition lens. And the research says it may play a role in prevention of future neurological conditions. It can play a role in supporting brain health or enhancing brain health. Obviously, it's going to be very good for helping clients eat a more balanced and nutritional kind of diet. Neuronutrition approaches play a role in the treatment and enhancement of mental health. It can play a huge role in strengthening the immune system. And it can also play a role in combating behavioral problems in some individuals. If we break it down a little bit further, what are the main molecular target areas of somebody that does this kind of work? Why would you want to do this? How does it work? Well, if it's a professional, again, that has the proper training and education credentials to do a neuronutrition approach with clients, they're really targeting neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, gut brain access issues, and neurotransmitter imbalances. And if you can target these areas in any client, it likely leads to improved outcomes as it pertains to mental health, behavioral health, cognitive health, and the list goes on. So that was a very broad spectrum overview. So part two now we get into what about implementation strategies? What do you want to consider during your intake, during your screening process? Well, this slide here shows us look at all the factors involved in threats to your client's emotional health. Let's just break this down a little bit. Well, what can impact your client's emotional health? Attachment issues, trauma histories, what they eat, sleep patterns, hormonal dysfunction, HPA access dysregulation, and the list goes on. So maybe you're a mental health provider listening to this. You're going to be targeting a lot of these areas in the great work you do through that mental health, behavioral health lens. But then if you were to partner with somebody who does neuronutrition work, that's only going to complement and support the work you do from that behavioral health lens, which it can play a role in combating a lot of these variables here. I think it's important when working with any clients to really be aware of how your client lives their day-to-day life. What are their lifestyle habits? And if you look at the research literature, a lot of people in the United States and around the world seem to live this kind of lifestyle. I'm not saying this is consistent across the board, but if we believe the research, a high percentage of people in the United States don't eat that healthy foods. Sedentary behaviors is very common. And it's very common because of excessive screen time exposure and many other things. A lot of people don't eat at consistent times. A lot of people may eat late into the evening. Some people skip meals. A lot of people are dealing with more stress. These are all things that can be a threat to human health and very important to target these areas through a screening process. If you were to refer your client to a nutritionist, dietitian, which I think is very important if you're working with clients with mental health conditions because nutrition plays a huge role as well. Well, when would you want to refer a client to a dietitian? Well, if you're working with a mental health client who has a serious and persistent mental health issue or other kinds of related conditions, I think any one of those clients would do while working with a nutrition dietitian. But their research literature indicates if you're working with clients with eating disorders, if you work with clients who have a lot of unusual weight changes, they seem to have a lot of medical color morbidities. And the list goes on. That would be a very good time to consult with and work with dietitians and nutritionists. Some other factors to consider if we look at this through a holistic biopsychosocial lens, it's probably important to dig into the fact that maybe a high percentage of your clients are dealing with food insecurity. Could they be dealing with lower levels of health literacy? Maybe they're dealing with undiagnosed dyslexia or executive function impairments. What's their sleep health like? All of these things would be important to dig into. And the more you can look at all of these puzzle pieces, then you can develop a more holistic intervention plan and then work with appropriate providers and refer out to other providers too, where you can work from that team approach. The question comes up a lot when I give talks on these kind of topics is what are the factors that may influence dietary patterns and choices? Well, if you're seeing this visually here, you can see there's a lot. And maybe you're working with a client and they just never eat healthy foods. And you're asking yourself, well, what could be some drivers here? Well, are they dealing with underlying nutritional deficiencies? What is their stress level like? What about cost of food? That's a huge factor. If they're dealing with food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, access issues, could there be some cultural factors to take into account? Self-esteem dynamics, body image issues? Maybe there's a lack of cooking skills. All of these things should be considered through that holistic lens. What are the factors involved in clients who don't eat high-quality diets? Well, there's a lot, but here's four to be aware of. Could the client just have a lack of knowledge about nutrition and what's healthy and what's not? Could the client be dealing with some planning deficits which are really rooted in executive function impairments? Maybe the client lacks the skills when they go to the store to select healthy foods. And could that client be dealing with maybe some lower levels of skills in the area of cooking? If you know your clients are struggling with this, getting them the right supports and interventions that can target these areas could play a vital role in helping your clients improve their overall diet quality. If we look at this here visually, and this is not an all-encompassing list, but what are a few of the adverse eating styles that you can find in the literature? Well, the first one, are there any disordered eating habits? Could the client be dealing with something called fast eating syndrome? What is your client's level of intake around junk food consumption? Maybe they consume a ton of food under the umbrella of the Western diet. And number four, is there low food literacy? How does stress factor into this? Well, stress is a major player for problematic eating patterns. When we're under tons of stress, that impacts our hormones, our neurotransmitters, it throws off a lot of biochemical processes in the body, and we may crave more sugary or salty foods. We may skip meals more frequently, we may engage in binge eating behaviors, we may have a lot of underlying emotional problems, and maybe the person's consuming higher energy dense foods that are just loaded with preservative salts and sugars. Some literature supports the fact if you look at this topic through an emotional eating lens, what are some of the most common dietary patterns associated with this way of eating? Well, some research says higher intakes of fast food, salty snacks, energy dense foods, ice cream, French fries, potato chips, sugar sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages. If you have clients that eat this way day in and day out, it really is a threat to their brain and body, unfortunately. And when people eat that way, these are foods that fall under the umbrella of the Western diet. And I have no problem saying this. Please feel free to email me if you disagree. But the Western diet way of eating is a threat to human health. And this is how most people eat in the United States. This is fast food, junk food, highly processed foods, foods from a gas station, foods that you buy at the store, and they have so many preservatives and processed ingredients in there. And why do you want to care about if somebody eats this way? Well, the research supports the fact that if people eat foods that fall under the umbrella of the Western diet day in and day out, year after year, it's probably going to play a role in weight gain, inflammation, increases in allergies. It may increase the risk of diabetes, autoimmune issues, depression, metabolic syndrome, and the list goes on. Ultra processed foods, if you can see the slide here visually, is the Western diet. Ultra processed foods, junk food, fast food is the Western way of eating. And here's another article study that supports the fact that it's very important for us to really understand if our clients eat this way. Some research supports the fact that it could play a role in that client having more mental distress. It may contribute to the development of some mental health disorders. Look at number three here. Interestingly, some studies have found that eating this food day in and day out may contribute to that individual's diminished concern for future consequences. It could play a role in impulse control problems. And I do a lot of work in the area of neurocriminology. I talk about this in other talks I give. For some people, this way of eating, likely in conjunction with other factors, could play a role in engagement in problematic behavior and criminality in some cases. What about excessive sugar consumption? Well, that's a component of the Western diet way of eating. Excessive sugar consumption, as you can see here, and there's many, many studies to support this, it may contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease. It could alter brain and behavioral functioning. And the list goes on. So if a client is consuming high amounts of sugar on a daily basis, it may worsen their mental health, without a doubt. This here, if you see this visually, and I'm not advocating for any particular tool, but I just want to alert you, this is a tool found in the literature called the Beverage Intake Questionnaire. This is a really just interesting tool. And it has 15 different domains and it looks at 15 beverage categories. And you can see here a clinician who uses this in their work, it would have questions about how much water the client's drinking every day. Does the client drink a lot of 100% fruit juice, sweetened juice drinks, whole milk, reduced fat milk? And the list goes on. What your client drinks really can tell a lot about other areas of functioning. And why do we want to care about sugar-sweetened beverages? Well, these beverages, according to the research in the United States, are really the most common way that people get a ton of sugar into their system. I know these beverages are fun, they taste great, they are not good for us, without a doubt. And excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in some cases may co-occur with higher rates of other ultra-processed foods, poor lifestyle habits, smoking, and sedentary behaviors. What about energy drink consumption? Excessive consumption of energy drinks is also a threat to human health. And this is one study of many. It may be associated with higher rates of insomnia, obesity, mental health problems, sleep issues, sedentary behaviors. I'm actually giving a talk later this year in 2026 on the forensic and criminal justice aspects of energy drink consumption to a different group. And a lot of research supports the fact that it could play a role in problematic behaviors. Taking a look at this when we're looking at it through a problematic behavioral lens, and this is one study of many, but this study looked at excessive consumption of energy drinks among adolescents. And among some adolescents who consume a lot of energy drinks, it could contribute to higher rates of depression, stress, anxiety, self-destructive behaviors, maybe an increase in violent behavior in some cases, and risky behaviors. This way of eating, the ultra-processed food way of eating, junk food, the Western diet, will increase inflammation in the human body. High rates of inflammation over a long period of time because of the foods we eat and maybe high stress and sedentary behaviors and not getting good sleep is not good for human health. And this slide here, if you see this visually, these are some of the common dietary patterns that could promote higher levels of inflammation. So diets really rich in refined starch, excessive sugar consumption, overconsumption of saturated trans fatty acids, low intake of polyphenols. Polyphenols for you, low intake of fiber, low intake of omega-3 fatty acids, you're going to have typically higher rates of blood sugar imbalances. And this way of eating is also more commonly associated with the consumption of processed meats. What are some modifiable risk factors associated with inflammation? Well, if you know a client is eating this way, work with a nutritionist dietitian. If you know the client doesn't sleep well, focus on sleep hygiene. Help the client quit smoking if they are smoking, if they're open to it. Help the client reduce sedentary behaviors. Learn about maintaining appropriate body weight and even going to the dentist, taking care of dental health is a really good modifiable way to combat inflammation. So I mentioned food insecurity a few times today. If you're working in clinical or forensic settings, you are likely working with clients who are dealing with food insecurity on a semi-regular basis. Why do you want to care about food insecurity? Well, it is a threat to human health. And if you have a client that is food insecure, typically they're not going to be eating that healthy foods. They're going to be skipping meals more frequently, they're going to have unbalanced diets, and they're typically going to have a lack of food choice. This is something I've put together over the years. You can see this here. These are just some red flag indicators you'd want to be on the lookout for if you have a client that you suspect may be dealing with food insecurity. This is not a diagnostic tool or anything, but the more red flag indicators of these that you see in your client, that should at least alert you to the fact that maybe I need to dig a little bit deeper. Could my client be dealing with food insecurity? How does self-control factor into this? Well, if your client is dealing with self-control issues, that's an executive function appearment. And there's plenty of research that does show that low self-control is a definite variable that you want to take into account when considering what other factors could be at play when your client is eating unhealthy foods. So I mentioned this briefly before about like health literacy, nutrition literacy, but there's also something in this literature that talks about poor mental health literacy. The more we can increase our clients' health, mental health, nutrition literacy, typically they're in a better position to read food labels more effectively, understand the kind of medications they're taking, they can advocate for themselves more effectively, and they can communicate more openly with their healthcare providers. What about food addiction? Well, I just want to point this out. Take a look at this, and this is one article of many. Food addiction shares many commonalities with tobacco addiction and other kinds of addiction. So if you study this on a neurobiopsychosocial level and you're working with somebody with food addiction, well, there might be something going on. On with their dopamine levels. They might be more likely to be dealing with attachment issues, gut microbiota issues. So again, the gut brain access need to understand that. Could there be a loss of control, which would probably indicate some self-control deficits? Could there be some earlier childhood trauma factors at play? So you really want to understand the adverse childhood experiences and many other variables. And I just wanted to show this here because I've done a lot of work in the area of smoking prevention over the years and had a lot of training in that topic. And this is one article and many too. But what are some dietary habits of people who smoke, according to literature? And this can vary, of course, from person to person. But some research supports the fact that people who smoke cigarettes may also consume higher intakes of energy-dense foods. They may contain, they may be consuming more foods with higher levels of fat, saturated fat, higher levels of cholesterol. They may be at greater risk of consuming higher levels of alcohol, having lower intakes of antioxidants, and a lower intake of fiber. What about alcohol use disorders? How does that factor into this? Well, it's a huge factor in an ideal world. If you're working with folks with drug and alcohol problems, you're in a drug and alcohol treatment setting, work with nutritionist dietitians. The research is very clear on this. You work with folks with chronic alcohol problems. More times than not, they're probably dealing with some nutritional deficiencies. And if you can see here, there's a long list of nutritional deficiencies you want to take into account. This is a good reminder why that client should probably go to their healthcare provider and get some lab work done as well, because thiamine levels could be low. Vitamin A, C, D, E, K, B5, folic acid, magnesium, the list goes on, may be deficient among people with substance use issues. Medical nutrition therapy would be a term you want to be aware of, and it is supported in the literature, and it is supported for use when you're working with clients with co-occurring eating and substance use problems. Very, very important to not just take into account the mental health side of things, but also the nutrition and the medical health side of things. And this here, just a reminder while we're on this topic, is visually here. If you see this slide, if you work with folks with drug problems, substance use disorders, what does the research say as well? Well, a lot of clients with drug problems may have higher rates of disordered eating patterns, altered body compensation, poor nutritional status, and the list goes on. What about depression? Well, depression, poor eating, oftentimes goes hand in hand. And depression is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder and issue. If you work with clients with chronic depression, what do we need to be aware of? HPA access dysfunction, neurotransmitter imbalances, gut brain access issues, be aware of what your client eats, be aware of their sleep patterns, be aware it could contribute to declines in neuroplasticity, to name a few. What are some of the nutritional factors associated with depression? Well, interestingly, you have plenty of research to lean on that if you work with folks that consume a ton of sugar sweetened beverages, a lot of processed pastries, donuts, muffins, croissants, commercial baked goods, lots of refined grains, lots of fried food, processed meat, high-fat kind of processed dairy products. Those are nutritional factors that could increase risk of depression among some people or exacerbate depression in people that already are dealing with depression. And this here is a good reminder, too, that when you study these topics, it's probably important to at least understand the basics of neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Most clients with mental health problems, drug and alcohol histories, lots of trauma in their histories, people with lots of medical issues, more times than not, they're probably going to have some imbalances in their hormones and neurotransmitters. And then this can trickle down into impacting your client's mood. It can contribute to fatigue, insomnia, headaches, and it may increase that client's cravings for unhealthy foods. Take a look at this here as well. And this is interesting. You have a lot of articles that talk about what are some of the most common brain unhealthy foods. And you're going to find some articles that differ on this, but this was a really good article published in 2020 that indicates that people eat these foods day in and day out, year after year. It may adversely impact their brain health. And you might be surprised by some of these things: butter, margarine, cheese, red meat, fast fried foods, pastries, sweets, animal fats, hamburgers, sausages, French fries, pizza biscuits, ice cream, cake, candy. Now, people that eat this way here and there, it's probably not going to do much. But again, if you're working with a client, this is all they eat every day, all day, year after year. Over time, that could really impact brain health. How does nutrition impact insomnia? Well, there's a ton of research out there that indicates that poor sleep patterns can play a role in problematic eating patterns and vice versa. Problematic eating patterns can increase insomnia and other sleep-related issues. So if you ever are trying to help clients get a better night's sleep, have you ever dug into their dietary patterns? That could be a factor that definitely could be driving the bus with insomnia. And when you study these topics, very, very important to understand the field of chrononutrition and chronobiology and understand what are chronodisruptors? Basically, these are things that can throw off our sleep wake cycle. Eating late at night, jet lag, shift work, artificial light exposure at night. So if somebody's working late into the evening and they're on their screen a lot, that throws off our circadian rhythms. Other things to be aware of, frequent snacking at night, particularly unhealthy foods, the bright light exposure, these are all chronodisruptors. And that is not a good thing for human health. And this slide here, just to remind us that excessive screen time exposure is a threat to human health. And if people are looking at their screen late into the evening, right up until bedtime, it's probably throwing off their circadian rhythms, which impacts their sleep health, which then impacts their gut health, which drives their inflammation and makes them more vulnerable to all kinds of things, including illnesses, colds, flus, depression, anxiety, and the list goes on. Other things you'd want to be aware of when we're talking about circadian rhythm misalignment is there are all kinds of disorders that you'll find in the research literature that are intimately connected to disruptions in circadian rhythm. This is a list here of some things to be aware of. Why? Whatever field you're in, learn as much as possible about circadian rhythms because it could play a role in alcohol addiction, pain-related problems, metabolic issues, skin problems, asthma. The list goes on. This here, again, our podcast is all about the gut brain access and related topics, but there are plenty of factors to consider about diet and gut brain access dysfunction. What are some things that can adversely impact our gut microbiota? Well, how we live our life, the food we eat, how crowded is our housing situation, our social network status. So a lot I just threw at you in part two. So part three, tips, strategies, solutions, interventions. So the more we can all move in the direction of living a healthy lifestyle that's balanced, eating good food, getting good sleep, taking breaks, all of these things are good for all of us. What can we do to support healthy and positive brain health? Well, the research says, be aware of the five key determinants: physical health factors, the environment in which we live in, physical safety, financial security, opportunities to be around other people, reduce social isolation, and having good access to health care and other social services. How do we support positive brain health? Well, anything we can do to support cognitive health, physical health, mental health, our interpersonal relationships, diet, and the engagement in other healthy lifestyle practices. In the neuronutrition literature, the topic of integrated neuronutrition does come up a little bit. And I do like this because if you look at it through an integrative neuronutrition lens, what are we taking into account? Well, it's the interconnection between nutrition, brain chemistry, brain function, and behavior. It gives us a better snapshot of kind of what's going on in the brain with clients' brain chemistry. What does our clients eat and how does that impact brain functioning and then how that manifests as behavioral patterns? Couple articles do directly talk about neuronutrition and the gut brain access. This is a really good article that was published in 2025. I pulled a quote from this article. Go to our YouTube channel again, check it out. You'll see what I'm talking about here. But very, very important, when you are really wanting to become gut brain access informed, I think it would be imperative to also learn at least some basics about neural nutrition. When you study nutrition science in general, that's kind of the broad umbrella. Neuronutrition is one aspect of it. Another area of nutrition is something called precision nutrition. And I really hope the field truly moves in this direction because precision nutrition really individualizes nutrition approaches with clients. So there's, I don't think there's a lot of providers in the United States that are truly doing precision nutrition. There are some, but this is would be a professional who has advanced training in a lot of areas, including getting mark genetic markers from the clients, really tailoring nutrition plans, nutritional supplementation to that client's unique biochemical kind of factors going on in their brain and body. And then if you do this, you're working with providers, you are targeting what are the factors that could impact brain health. So neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, gut brain access disturbances, and nutrient deficiencies. Precision nutrition, if you were working with a professional who did this, they would likely really dig into these topics and many more and really find out. Well, maybe the client would do well, obviously having an individualized dietary plan, but maybe for that client too, they need some supplementation in certain areas. So really looking at omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, vitamin D, CoQ10, and the list goes on. So a healthy diet, if you're asking yourself, well, what constitutes a healthy diet? It's a diet that's adequate, moderate, nutrient dense, balanced, and varied. And it's not going to include like fast food and junk food. So take that into account as well. The research is pretty clear on this. You'll have a few outliers in articles, but most of the literature typically leans in the direction that the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest dietary pattern on the planet. And the Mediterranean diet is a fascinating area. Tons of research has been done on this. And depending on the regions of the world you look at, the Mediterranean diet can vary a little bit. But the Mediterranean diet, why is it so good for you? Why is it so healthy? Well, it plays a role in supporting tryptophan metabolism. It can help regulate our vagus nerve and vagal activity. It plays a role in brain-derived neurotropic factor, huge topic to be aware of. It plays a role in regulating cortisol levels and the HPA access and neuroinflammation and all kinds of other things. Breaking it down further, the Mediterranean diet can play a role in addressing insulin resistance. It can improve lipid profiles, reduce inflammation, and reduce oxidative stress markers. So basically, if you're asking yourself, well, what is the Mediterranean diet? Well, it's it's typically you're going to be eating more fruits and vegetables. You're going to be probably having less red meat and relying on more fish and chicken, and things are going to be more natural. They're not going to be processed, lots of nuts and things like that. But again, working with a dietitian, nutritionist, there's many variables to take into account with this way of eating. Providers would do well too. I think learning about the basics of therapeutic lifestyle changes. You can find this topic talked about quite a bit in the neurocounseling literature. But therapeutic lifestyle changes would be professionals that really have an appreciation about nutrition, weight management, sleep health, exercise, and reductions in screen time exposure. Lifestyle medicine, huge area of study. I have a certification lifestyle medicine. One of our good friends is going to be coming on the podcast in the coming months to be doing a multi-part series for us on lifestyle medicine. There are six core features of lifestyle medicine: getting regular exercise, eating healthy food, focusing on good sleep, managing stress, avoiding harmful chemicals, and really capitalizing on positive social connections. So we talked about self-control. The more we can help clients improve self-control, the research really leans in the direction that it can play a role in helping clients improve emotional regulation. It can help them eat better. It can play a role in improving physical health, interpersonal health, and the list goes on. So what are the main goals of neuronutrition? Well, developing client awareness, knowledge, and skills. So you're going to be using a lot of psychoeducation. You're going to try to identify and address maladapted dietary patterns. You're going to teach and reinforce healthy dietary habits. You're going to ensure a healthy food environment. You're going to do a menu assessment and planning with clients. And again, you'd want to work with a qualified dietitian, nutritionist, functional provider. And that's all I got for you folks today. I know I threw a lot out at you. We'll be going deeper into a lot of these topics in upcoming episodes. Here's my email address. Again, check out our YouTube channel if you want to see this visually and definitely look forward to having you back to our next episode.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

We hope today's episode provided you with valuable insights into the gut brain connection and its impact across diverse settings. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share. For more information on this topic, resources, and services, visit PathwaysCounseling Center.org. Thank you for joining us on the Psychogastroenterologist, where mental health and digestive science converge.