| Food and Mood Centre

Gut microbiota and diet: an introduction

Over the past decade, interest in the gut microbiome has grown as efforts to measure its composition and function have developed. We now know that we have more bugs within and on us than we do human cells, and some consider us more bacterial than Homo sapien. What is the gut microbiome and what fac...

Ways to conquer PTSD – why diet really matters!

Chances are, you or someone you know has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Most people are aware of the debilitating symptoms such as nightmares, hypervigilance, flashbacks, intense fear and distress. These symptoms arrive soon, but continue long after, a traumatic event. PSTD disrupts every fa...

Could Diet Improve Your Quality of Life?

There is a constant barrage of advice from the media that healthy diet is critical for our physical health. However, recent research has found that diet and exercise does not only affects our physical health, but may also improve our mental health. For example, a recent study (performed here at the ...

The Alzheimer’s disease puzzle Part 2: Clues from the microbiome

In the previous article, we discussed limitations of current drug treatment approaches for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the growing understanding about the importance of lifestyle and health behaviours. This is where the gut microbiome comes in. How could the microbiome be involved? The bidirect...

The Alzheimer’s disease puzzle Part 1: An unsolved disease

Watching a loved one’s gradual decline from Alzheimer’s Disease is no easy feat. My family experienced this first hand as we watched my beautiful Nan - Dorothy - live with this torturous disease for years before she peacefully passed. Along with memory loss, people with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) ...

Fermented Foods: Functional Foods

Fermented foods are increasingly recognized as beneficial for health due to a myriad of demonstrated health benefits. They are also considered to be ‘functional foods’, which means they have additional health benefits beyond supplying basic nutrition. A large array of fermented foods and b...

Spice Up Your Diet with Polyphenols

By Helene Nauwelaers and Dr Wolf Marx We have previously discussed Polyphenols; a group of micronutrients with a range of healthy properties. In this previous article, Meghan Hockey talked about the potential beneficial effects of polyphenols found in dark chocolate and turmeric including how thei...

Alcohol and mental health: Have less, to feel a lot better

Ever reached for a glass of wine to help unwind at the end of a busy day? While you’re not alone, the temporary feel-good effects of a drink may be doing you more harm than good. Prolonged, excessive, alcohol intake may even have lasting impacts on your gut and brain. Studies show that a major re...

Is there really an app for that? The use of Smartphone Apps for mental health

For most of us, using a smartphone has become a normal part of modern life. Smartphones give us access to information, entertainment and services at our fingertips through internet connection and applications. There is a smartphone application, or “app”, for most tasks you can think of with over...