PART 2: Food and Your Mood

This is the second of a two-part series on nutrition and mental health – and it stands on its own even if you haven’t watched Part 1. In this free nutritional education webinar, Megan Ellison, MS, RDN, CDCES – a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist with Sound Dietitians, LLC – shifts from the biology of food and mood covered in Part 1 to the psychology of eating, the science of gut-brain supplementation, and specific herbs and nutrients with research-backed effects on anxiety and depression. Sponsored by Stilly Valley Health Connections, this class is part of our free class recordings on nutrition and mental health.

What’s covered in this class:

• Psychology of food and mood – why stress hormones affect what and how much we eat, how emotional eating differs from biological hunger, and how the intuitive eating framework and “Deconstructing Eating” worksheet can help break cycles of using food to mask feelings
• Physical activity and mental health – the 150 min/week cardio and strength training guidelines, why even 5 minutes of movement has measurable benefits, light therapy options for seasonal affective disorder, and practical strategies for building a routine you’ll actually stick with
• Nutrients and dietary patterns associated with lower anxiety – breakfast consumption, omega-3s, magnesium (including which form to choose for sleep vs. mood vs. digestive support), zinc, and selenium, plus what a large NHANES study of 28,000+ adults found about the link between poor-quality calorie restriction and increased depression
• Prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, and psychobiotics – what each term actually means, why probiotic strain specificity matters down to the subspecies level, how to use usprobioticguide.com to find research-backed strains for mood, and which fermented foods to add to your diet (including a caution on kombucha and added sugar)
• Herbs and spices for brain health – including emerging research on saffron for depression and anxiety at potency comparable to medication, the phytonutrient benefits of everyday spices like ginger, turmeric, and garlic, and an RCT on holy basil showing reduced cortisol, improved blood pressure, and better sleep over 8 weeks
• Supporting your body’s natural detox pathways – how to work with what the liver, sweat, breath, and gut are already doing, including the 4 Fs (fiber, fluids, fruits, fats) for constipation, abdominal massage technique, hydration, and why most commercial electrolyte products contain far more sodium than most people need