Mental health and nutrition with Matt Janes
What better way to start the day than with a hearty breakfast? We all know it makes us feel good and work better, which is great for everyone, from colleagues to clients. But how does it work?
At our recent monthly ‘Bountiful Breakfast’, Team CF tuned in to nutrition expert Matt Janes to find out how food impacts our mood. We believe that healthy, happy teams do better work and we’re always keen to find out how we can be more productive and to share what we learn, so you can make it work for your teams too. If changing our eating habits is a key factor, we’re all ears. Matt says we are what we eat. And we believe him (slides Danish out of sight.)
Our relationship with Matt began when our own Jessica reached out to him in the middle of the pandemic. On top of the Covid crisis, her mum was seriously ill and Jessica just crashed. She knew she wasn’t well but she wanted to find a way of supporting her mental health, beyond medication. Matt showed her how nutrition could play a key role in her recovery. His scientific strategies have transformed Jessica’s life and she couldn’t wait to share Matt and his wisdom with the rest of us.
Matt is an autonomic neuroscientist, nutritionist and author. He landed his dream job at BT after university. He loved it at first but after 5 years things took a severe nosedive and he entered his first depressive episode, had no coping mechanisms for stress and quit his job. He took time out to travel and returned to a similar job, which ended the same way. With no support from HR (he did reach out, but was told the way to deal with stress is to drink and smoke), he quit again. He started a business but soon became mentally unwell again. He could not go on like this and knew something had to change. Enough was enough. He went back to university to study neuroscience and explored how nutrition can prevent mental illness.
Stress leads to anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and other ailments. We all know this but we have to understand that stress is a hormonal and biochemical reaction to other factors (stressors) and can often be attributed to nutritional imbalance.
Matt explained the scientific reasons that stress disrupts our emotional and physical equilibrium. Our brain is affected by what we eat and we really can retune ourselves back into balance through food - but which foods?
Matt’s top tip for a healthy and happy day
Matt suggests we make one small change at breakfast by sending the nervous system a signal of calm. Refined carbs send a distress signal because sugar burns super quickly and sets up a blood sugar imbalance. White toast or sugary cereals spike your sugar then cause a crash, making your body create more fuel, which can feel like hunger or even panic. You grab a biscuit and the cycle continues. Replace carbs with healthy fats and you’ll see that your body can heal when you give it what it needs.
Matt asked us what we had for breakfast. Superstar Jessica showed off with her chia yoghurt (but then she’s met Matt before) and luckily Leanne had passed on her usual croissant! He didn’t tell us off, but he did offer some great advice. Eggs and avocado are a winner which we loved hearing, and he stressed that we shouldn’t starve our brain of healthy fats. A great breakfast boosts energy and can stave off mental unwellness. Bye bye Cheerios and Special K, hello porridge, smoothies, yoghurt and fruit.
We lapped up Matt’s fascinating food facts. Nothing like a bit of science on a Wednesday morning. So now we have a new perspective, we can get excited about new beginnings. Kale smoothie anyone? Food for thought!
Can we really outsmart our brains by eating better? To find out more about Matt’s work with nutrition and the mind, contact us and we’ll be happy to connect you.