Down in the dumps? Eat fewer carbs, more fat, says Dr Ann Childers

Dr Ann Childers is a rare breed: an adult, adolescent and child psychiatrist with an integrated approach to mental health. In other words, she doesn’t just dish out the drugs to anyone who is ‘down in the dumps’. Childers has a passionate interest in helping patients improve their physical and mental health through optimum nutrition, weight control, metabolic management, and sleep. She was one of a stellar gathering of international speakers at the low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) summit in Cape Town in February, hosted by sports scientist Prof Tim Noakes, where she spoke on nutrition and mental health.

Childers says a major problem affecting not just waistlines, but mental health and mood worldwide, is that we’ve strayed too far from traditional, healthy diets. We don’t eat enough fat, especially well-sourced, natural (and saturated) fats from pastured animals, virgin coconut oil, etc. We eat too many processed foods, and ‘highly fermentable carbohydrates': sticky, sugary foods, dried fruits, refined grains, crackers, potato chips, and sugary soft drinks, that are cariogenic, promote malnutrition, impair metabolism, and affect cognition (thinking) and mood. Here, Childers talks to me about good and bad food for mood. – Marika Sboros

Check the full story out here.

Eddie