Nourishing mind, body and brain
It’s Dietitians Week from Monday 8 – Sunday 14 April 2024, and we wanted to send a big thank you to our amazing Dietitians Elmarie and Bojana!
We are lucky to have you on our team, making a difference to resident’s lives everyday, to ensure they live their best lives!
Image description: Elmarie, Nulsen Senior Dietitian holding a recipe for ‘Creamy pumpkin pasta’.
Did you know that what you eat has a profound impact on the mind, body and brain?
Each person has a unique network of thousands of different strains of bacteria as well as fungi and viruses called the gut microbiome.
The gut microbiome plays a role in our digestive health, immune health and mental health. When there is an imbalance caused by illness, antibiotics, stress or consuming the wrong foods all of these systems can affected and we can start to experience low mood, fatigue and poor concentration.
How can you improve your gut health?
The best way to support your microbiome is to:
- Eat a wide range of high fibre foods such as wholegrains, fruits and vegetables (try to avoid peeling unless absolutely necessary), lentils and legumes and nuts and seeds
- Include lots of colourful vegetables on your plate and incorporate a variety of berries
- Eat foods like yoghurt, kimchi and sauerkraut
- Limit your intake of refined foods high in sugar and saturated fat.
As well as eating a healthy, varied diet it is important to exercise regularly, manage your stress and ensure you get enough, good quality sleep.
By taking care of your gut, you can take care of your brain.
Elmarie and Bojana have provided one of their go-to documents for gut healthy nutrition tips, and you can download it here!
Learn more about Dietitians Week 2024 from Dietitians Australia.
