Stronger Minds

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 em...

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 sh...

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...

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 how...

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, de...

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 low...

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 *   Patr...

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 w...

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...

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 Disea...

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/strongermind...

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. S...

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/stro...

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 That...

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 podcas...

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...

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.

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 t...

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...

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 fo...

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...

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 Do...

Over 50 million people have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to profile their personality. What can it tell you about yourself and is it worth the money? Newsletter sign up   How to Build a Healthy Brain *   Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain *   Patreon   *Affiliate links MBTI website quotes accurate on 29th April 2024. Support this show http://supporter.a...

The world’s largest food and drink company, Nestlé, hit the headlines recently due to unethical practices with baby foods in countries in the global south: Asia, Africa and Latin America. But this isn’t their first rodeo. In this episode I discuss the original baby food scandal from the 1970s, which caused millions of excess infant deaths, and their latest moral failings. Links Newsletter sign up...

This episode is a follow-up to the previous episode: Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics & Psychobiotics. This time I want to talk to you about leaky gut . What is it? How much of a problem is it? And what, if anything, can we do about it? Newsletter sign up A probiotic I use and trust * How to Build a Healthy Brain * Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain * Patreon *Affiliate link...