Knowing what to eat for mental health and well-being can be confusing. The more I read about diets, the more confused I used to become. My simple uptake on everything I have read, heard and studied about dietary advice - along with the most recent world wide agreed dietary advice from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAD) is below:

KIS JERF (Keep it Simple, Just Eat Real Food).

Say Hi to Helen Duyvestyn of One Life - Mental Health & Wellbeing Coach in New Zealand

Why do we need mental health coaching?

Our minds can be very complex little things, can't they?! We are all so hard on ourselves while putting every single person above our own needs - until we realise we have lost our own identity in pursuit of making everyone else happy.

We eat when we can, our sleep suffers, we run ourselves into the ground taking on anything and everything people ask of us, and we end up exhausted and feeling like something is wrong with us? Somewhere we lost the ability to say "no".

Sound familiar? Yes, we hear you. I hear you!

While our first approach to our mental health should come from lifestyle adjustments - focusing on our food, sleep and movement - we may also need extra support.

We may not want to take medication because we don’t feel our symptoms are bad enough, we’ve tried medication in the past and didn’t find it helpful or we simply want short-term support to help us get on top of things.

Below is a list of the most important blood tests for mental health. This list is by no means exhaustive - but it is a good start to rule out some basic deficiencies or other causes for poor mood, energy or anxiety.

Please note: blood tests are a moment in time. Some of these levels (such as TSH) may fluctuate daily and even at different times of the day. Discuss the results with your doctor and have them re-tested if necessary.

Remember - everyone is an individual! There is not one solution to depression, anxiety or other mental health issues.

Find it a struggle to exercise? I have good news!

I recently listened to a book called “No Sweat” by Michelle Segar.

Another coach had recommended it.

I had a belief for a very long time about exercise -.we’re often made to believe that exercise has to be:

• Hard

• Uncomfortable

• Sweat inducing

• Something you ‘do’

But actually, unless you are training or want to achieve a specific goal, exercise didn’t need to be uncomfortable, difficult or even ‘exercise’. In fact, it’s everyday movement that is important when it comes to physical and mental health.

Did you know there is no physical test to diagnose mental health issues?

There are some biological markers that have been associated with poorer mental well-being (depression and anxiety for example).

Because the way we feel mentally - is highly governed by our physical body - sometimes we feel 'low' due to a physical cause (hormones anyone??).

Physical illness causes us to want to withdraw, not be social and have low energy.

What is the relationship between gut health and mental health?

How do we understand IBS?

How does the microbiome impact mental health?

IBS can be triggered by many different things, including poor digestion, dietary triggers or food sensitivities, lack of digestive enzymes, hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid), gut dysbiosis (an abnormal balance of bacteria, viruses or fungi in the gut), thyroid issues, stress, parasites…

Therefore the diagnosis of ‘IBS’ or undiagnosed gut issue require further investigation. 

I have been eating and making a version of this muesli since I was about 16 years of age. It’s morphed over the years - and got better, more nutritious and I would like to think more delicious as time has gone on. I make a batch about every two weeks or so. We have it most days.

It's so good! And good for you too!

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Megan from @vetthrivecollective in this podcast interview.

Megan is a veterinarian who has taken it upon herself to support, promote and care for colleagues in her industry. Unfortunately, vets have a high incidence of poor mental health - including depression and anxiety.

Megan had participated in the Nutrition and Mental Health course and since then we've had a few conversations about how we can improve the mental health of the professionals in her workforce.

Listen to the full podcast for more information and hear what she has done to support the health of the people she works with in her clinic.