Unprocessed: How the Food We Eat Is Fuelling Our Mental Health Crisis

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There is, though, good news for coffee drinkers. Moderate coffee consumption (two to four cups per day) has been linked to better brain health and reduced risk of cognitive decline, in part because caffeine regulates a neuroprotective brain enzyme. The chapter exploring the influence of alcohol caught my attention. Apart from making me reconsider my weekend bottle of wine, the focus of this chapter was around Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Wilson walks a difficult line between outlining healthy alcohol consumption choices for women whilst not shaming them for decisions that may unwittingly have implications for the future health of their child.

Because adequate thyroid hormone is required from the moment of conception, women need to ensure sufficient iodine intake for several months before conceiving. This can typically be achieved by eating a balanced diet that includes a variety of dairy, fish and seafood. However, those who do not eat animal foods may need to consult a health professional about taking an iodine supplement. Too much can be a problem too, with an excess causing iodine poisoning or hyperthyroidism, so it is important to get the balance right. The NHS suggests that a supplemental dose of 0.5mg or less per day is unlikely to cause harm. Lunch could be a sandwich made with organic bread (unprocessed), or soup and a roll. Wholegrain varieties are better than white bread or refined products (like bagels), as they’re more nutrient-dense. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) make up 55% of the UK adult diet, the highest in Europe. UPFs are foods that are sold ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat and produced using ingredients or processes for which there is no domestic equivalent. To improve palatability and shelf-life, these foods tend to be higher in added sugar, fat and salt, and contain less fibre than their homemade equivalents. So how might having a large proportion of these foods in our diets be affecting our brains? Elsewhere, Wilson considers whether there is a relationship between poor nutrition and school exclusion and then lays out the evidence for this hypothesis. The topic of behaviour in schools has featured quite prominently in both the news and social media of late. Regrettably, the topic has become polarised within the latter online environment. However, Wilson’s arguments around the correlation between diet and behaviour are compelling and present a challenge to those with ‘behaviourist’ views of discipline to consider a more complex and nuanced perspective of behaviour in schools. Coffee: Take action.I am not sure I could choose a single favourite. The books I love tend to have served different purposes over time. In the running would be Like Water for Chocolate, Don Quixote, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Man’s Search for Meaning and On the Shortness of Life. What do you think are the key ingredients of a good book? I suspect that the things that make me love a book have less to do with the book and more to do with where and who I am at the time that I encounter it. Which book changed the way you think? In this masterclass, chartered psychologist Kimberley Wilson will reveal the unique structures and qualities of the brain and share practical tips to help nourish and protect this vitally important organ. One of the more challenging yet important aspects of Wilson’s book is her long-term perspective around health. This is challenging due to our tendency to default to short-term perspectives around behaviours that can affect our health (such as “go on, then, just one more…” when offered another biscuit) which can distract us from and obscure the long-term implications of such behaviours. She speculates that this short-term approach is particularly relevant to diet since food is so ordinary and every day for many of us. We all know that as a nation our mental health is in crisis. But what most don't know is that a critical ingredient in this debate, and a crucial part of the solution - what we eat - is being ignored.

For dinner, try to incorporate more vegetables and a portion of oily fish: Wilson recommends aiming for two to three portions per week. One of her favourites is pasta with a homemade sauce, a tin of sardines (an excellent source of protein and polyunsaturated fats) and a green salad. Your weekly intake of meat products and red meat shouldn’t exceed 500g, she says. The emerging consensus is that the higher the inflammatory potential of a person’s diet, the worse their brain function will tend to be,” she writes. “A large prospective study, which followed over 26,000 people for an average of five years, found that those with a more pro-inflammatory diet had a greater risk of developing depression.” Eat yourself happy How Emotions are Made by Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett. As professionals who proclaim to help people understand their emotional worlds it is incumbent upon us to have up-to-date knowledge, even if it challenges our personal beliefs and training… Which work of fiction amazed you with its psychological insight? There is clear evidence that a poor diet is linked to an elevated risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. In her book, Wilson cites the MIND diet (the Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay).The idea that your diet affects your brain is not ground-breaking. But Wilson argues that what we eat not only has an impact on our mood, but affects our brain function at every stage of life: from before life begins, in pregnancy, to reducing the impact of cognitive decline in old age. There are two organisational groups targeted for special criticism in ‘Unprocessed’. The first group are large food manufacturers who have prioritised their commercial interests over the production of healthy food. This prioritisation of profit has occurred despite of the growing body of evidence about the harmful effects on health of ultra-processed foods that are promoted and sold in large quantities to the public, a topic that has recently featured in national news outlets (see The Guardian, 27th August 2023, for example).

An English teacher recommended I apply to study at Oxford University. I didn’t, because I was frightened I wouldn’t fit in. I regret not trying. One way that she deconstructs this behavioural tension between short and long term decisions is by adopting a lifespan perspective. This perspective extends from the prenatal phase of life by exploring the need for (and the barriers to achieving) good pre-natal nutrition to old age, where she considers the relationship between diet and the increasing prevalence of dementia.

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I recently read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Notes on Grief and though I was not recently bereaved, when I closed the book I promptly burst into tears. She portrays the rawness, the frayed edges and bewilderment of grief so perfectly that it felt like those moments in therapy when the interpretation hits just right. What was the last book that made you laugh?

What impact does this have? UPFs contain less brain-healthy nutrients than whole foods and fewer antioxidants. A diet high in UPFs also displaces key nutrients for brain health. UPFs limit variety: 75 per cent of the processed foods that make up the majority of the average diet in the UK are based on just five animals and 12 products. At least theoretically, if you’re not getting enough fibre, then what you’ve got is the dysfunction in your blood brain barrier… one of the precursors and perhaps a driver of dementia.” The convenience of these foods means that they increasingly displace more nutritious but more labour-intensive foods from our diets,” Wilson writes. Diet and dementia riskWhat role do educational psychologists play in supporting children, young people and their families around the issue of diet? Should this be within our remit? There is also a direct link between diet and depression. A paper published in the journal PLOS One in 2019 found that a reduction in processed food intake and an increase in fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil consumption reduced depression in young adults.