Archivi dei tag: microbiome

How What You Eat Shapes Your Brain

Most of us have accepted the idea that diet shapes our body. Heart health, weight, energy: the conversation feels settled. What far fewer people realize is how deeply nutrition is involved in the physiology of the brain. A recent read made that case so persuasively that I have decided to share some results with you.

Your second brain lives in your gut

The starting point is the relationship between our intestines and our head. The gut hosts trillions of microbes, a whole ecosystem that manufactures compounds our nervous system responds to. Gut and brain exchange signals continuously, largely through the vagus nerve, and much of the body’s serotonin, a chemical involved in mood and sleep, is produced in the gut rather than the brain. When the balance of that internal ecosystem shifts, the quality of the conversation changes too, and mental wellbeing often follows (Harvard Health Publishing).

This is the terrain of nutritional psychiatry, a young field exploring how diet relates to conditions such as depression and anxiety. Its best-known voice is Dr Uma Naidoo, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and professional chef, whose work the French press recently described as nothing less than a “nutrition revolution” (umanaidoomd.com).

Can food help us think better as we age?

The book’s other promise concerns cognition. Diet may influence how sharp we stay over the years, and certain nutrients get particular attention, omega-3 fatty acids first among them. The honest picture here is genuinely mixed. Some reviews suggest that people with higher omega-3 levels face lower risks of cognitive decline, and that supplementation may slow shrinkage in memory-related brain areas among older adults (a 2025 meta-analysis in Scientific Reports). Other studies of supplements come back inconclusive or inconsistent, and results seem to depend on dose, baseline levels and who is studied (an overview of systematic reviews).

What this means for a normal person is not “take a capsule and stay sharp”. It means that the pattern of your diet over years is the more credible lever than any single pill. Fish is the classic source, but plant eaters are not left out: walnuts, flaxseed, chia and algae-based oils all provide omega-3s, and fibre-rich whole foods feed the gut microbes the whole story depends on.

What the revolution looks like on your plate

It is rather simple. Eat a variety of vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains. Include fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut or miso. Favor freshness over ultra-processed food. Treat your gut microbes as tenants worth keeping happy, because your brain appears to be one of the places they pay rent.

Notice that none of this requires exotic superfoods or an expensive supplement. It requires willingness to decide what you eat. That is precisely what makes it achievable, and precisely why you shouldn’t postpone.

A warning worth keeping

Here is what separates a serious book from the usual wellness noise, and why I trust this one: the author includes her own health warning. As a clinician she observes striking effects in individual patients, and she is careful to say so without claiming that every dietary tip will deliver the same result for everyone. Eat better, yes. But the science is young, individual results vary, and no plate is a substitute for professional care when a mental health condition is serious.

In an industry that sells certainty by the kilo, this modesty is refreshing. It is also, paradoxically, what makes the underlying message more believable.

A small experiment to try

Rather than overhauling everything, run a two-week trial on yourself. Add one fibre-rich and one fermented food to your day, keep dinner honest and unprocessed, and jot down your energy and focus each evening. Not a clinical trial, but a fair test of how your own gut and brain are getting along. The most interesting data about your health is the kind you collect yourself.

Have you noticed your food choices affect your mood or concentration?

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The summary of scientific articles referred to was drafted by a large language model (LLM) and closely edited by me for clarity and accuracy.

Fibremaxxing: What It Is and Why It Has Become a Wellness Trend

I’m not usually the person who chases wellness trends. Give me a new supplement, a juice cleanse, or a “biohack” (the practice of making intentional changes to our biology, lifestyle, or environment to improve health, performance, or well-being) and my default reaction is a slow blink and a quiet “no thanks.” So when fibremaxxing started appearing everywhere, I braced myself for another overhyped fad.

Then I looked at the numbers, and honestly? This one earned its spot on my feed.

First, what even is fibremaxxing?

Strip away the internet slang and it’s disarmingly simple: fibremaxxing means making a deliberate effort to eat more fibre. It’s essentially the plant-based sibling of proteinmaxxing — the trend that had everyone counting grams of chicken at every meal. With fibremaxxing you’re reaching for beans, oats, fruit, and vegetables.

The term racked up well over 150 million views on TikTok, which tells you two things: it landed hard with younger audiences, and it arrived wrapped in very 2026 packaging. But underneath the meme label sits something researchers have been nudging us toward for decades: the recommendation that adults aim for roughly 30 grams of fibre a day.

And here’s the part that made me decide to embrace it: most of us aren’t anywhere near that mark. Government data puts it at about 96% of UK adults falling short, averaging just around 16 grams a day That gap between what we need and what we actually eat is the whole story. This isn’t a trend solving an invented problem; it’s filling a very real, very old nutritional hole.

Why I got on board

Fibre doesn’t get the same celebrity treatment as protein, but the case for it is strong. Adequate intake is linked to better gut and metabolic health, a lower risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, improved satiety so you feel fuller for longer, and even a reduced risk of certain cancers, particularly colorectal cancer. A nutrition professor put it bluntly: fibre has never been a “sexy” nutrient, and nobody eats enough of it.

Here’s where the trend is actually getting smarter

This is the twist that turned me fully around. The conversation is shifting from “eat more fibre” to “eat different fibres.”

Mintel’s 2026 report flags a move away from rigid maximisation goals toward diverse, functional diets. The focus is moving from quantity to balance. There’s a good biological reason for this: your gut microbiome thrives on variety, and pulling all your fibre from a single source isn’t the smartest play.

Experts are calling this “smart fibremaxxing”, when you should prioritise a wide range of plant-based prebiotic fibres over simply maxing out the gram count.

One honest caveat worth keeping in mind: if you jump from almost no fibre to a bean bowl a day overnight, your digestion may protest. Adding fibre gradually and drinking plenty of water makes a real difference.

How I’d actually do it

You don’t need supplements, or special products. Small, consistent swaps compound fast:

  • Go whole grain. Swap white bread, rice, or pasta for whole-grain versions. It’s the single easiest lever you can pull.
  • Add a tin. Stir chickpeas, lentils, or beans into a curry, soup, or salad. You get fibre and protein in one motion.
  • Keep the skins on. Potatoes, apples, carrots — a surprising amount of fibre hides right there. But wash them with care, to remove pesticides if you don’t buy organic.
  • Upgrade the snack drawer. Trade chips for a handful of nuts, seeds, or fruit.
  • Build meals plants-first. Try vegetables you rarely reach for and discover new plant-based dishes.

Plant-based eating makes this effortless precisely because fibre only comes from plants. Whole grains, legumes, fruit, and vegetables all bring it to the table, and many pack in protein alongside it. A bowl of lentil dahl or a bean chilli is quietly doing both jobs for you. If you’ve been cooking more plant-based lately, there’s a decent chance your fibre intake already crept up without you noticing.

Is it a fad or a foundation?

Here’s my take after watching it evolve: the label might fade and “fibremaxxing” could become normalised and forgettable. But the underlying habit, eating more and more varied plant foods, is exactly the kind of thing that sticks. It’s budget-friendly, satiating, and backed by decades of science rather than a viral moment.

Want to take this further? Drop a comment and let me know if you’d like some easy, high-fibre recipes I can share. I’ve got a few favourites that make adding fibre genuinely painless.

Thank you for reading! You can read more from me on my blog crisbiecoach and, please, subscribe!