Brain and Behaviour
While the practice of yoga goes back donkey’s years, it has in more recent times enjoyed quite an upsurge in popularity. I have dabbled in yoga myself, and will often recommend it to individuals who are looking for a generally safe way of enhancing physical and mental wellbeing either as part of a class, or […]
Brain and Behaviour
The raw materials to make a newborn baby come almost exclusively from what its mother ate during pregnancy. It is perhaps no surprise therefore that there has been a fair amount of scientific interest on the relationship between the maternal diet during pregnancy and the health and wellbeing the subsequent child. Perhaps the most obvious […]
Brain and Behaviour
Those of us who are interested in living to a ripe old age might have at least some concern about preserving our mental faculties should we achieve our goal. Whilst some of us are seeking to ensure a decent quantity of lives or ourselves, quality of life is also important, and our ability to enjoy […]
Brain and Behaviour
I’m a great believer in the health-boosting capacity of regular activity both for body and mind. I was therefore interested to read today the results of a study conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Essex in the UK which looked at the effects of walking on mood. The study involved comparing […]
Brain and Behaviour
Migraines are usually severe, one-sided headaches. My experience in practice is that they can have several underlying causes, though it believed that a common theme in these headaches is spasm and then relaxation in the arteries supplying blood to the brain. The ‘rush of blood to the head’ this brings is thought to have the […]
Brain and Behaviour
One of the most significant dietary changes we have seen in the modern-day diet is an increase in our consumption of what are referred to as ‘omega-6’ fats such as something known as ‘linoleic acid’ found in many vegetable oils including corn, safflower and sunflower oil. Within the body, such fats tend to encourage inflammation, […]
Brain and Behaviour
Previously on this site I have written about the relationship between the so-called ‘omega-3’ and their association with benefits for the brain including a reduced risk of depression and dementia. Recently, a study published in the journal Psychiatry Research examined the relationship between blood levels of omega-3 fats and certain measures of mood, personality and […]
Brain and Behaviour
While medical practice generally turns a blind eye to the value of nutrition in health, it has at least embraced the importance of certain specific nutrients including iron. Iron is important for the manufacture of haemoglobin ” the protein in the red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen around the body and delivering it to […]
Brain and Behaviour
The so-called ‘omega-3’ fats found in oily fish (such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardine and herring) have been extensively studied with regard to their apparent ability to ward against ‘cardiovascular’ conditions such as heart attacks and stroke. They also seem to offer considerable promise for the brain too, and have been linked with a reduced […]
Brain and Behaviour
It was announced this week that a study is about to get underway in which some UK prison inmates are to be given nutritional supplements to see what effect this has on mood and behaviour. This research has been masterminded by Professor John Stein of Oxford University, and comes on the back of a smaller […]