Show #238 – Elyse Comerford on Mood Food: The Connection Between Food and Health

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And on this week’s show!

Got gut troubles? Needing to be on a “different” diet to family or friends stressing you out? Experience anxiety and want to look at how food plays a role? This is a powerful show! The gut, stress and mental health – I invite Integrative nutritionist Elyse Comerford onto the show to discuss food and mental health but it’s not just an ‘eat this for anxiety’ show – we actually also discuss at length the impact that having to eat differently either due to allergy, health condition or healing protocol can have on our stress and hinder deep healing. Elyse is an Integrative Nutritionist & Certified GAPS(Gut & Psychology/Physiology Syndrome) Practitioner, Holistic Health Coach, Exercise Scientist & Founder of Well Belly Health. 

Passionate about the implementation of nourishing & healing dietary principles, reducing client stress & the GAPS protocol, Elyse & her team at Well Belly Health have helped hundreds of families around the world overcome a host of health issues by focusing on listening to the body & tuning into what it needs. I hope you enjoy the show and it gives you good things to think about on your own journey. 

Questions I asked Elyse:

1. Elyse’s background and how you came to specialise in the area that you do…
2. Given we’re talking food and mental health/brain-related conditions today, I’d love your perspective as a clinician in this area for a long time now – how often is food the major player – maker or breaker – in someone’s mental health?
3. What are some of the biggest reasons for this (from bio individual perspective to modern diet to modern weakening of our systems due to enviro/gut bug population hampered by antibiotics etc) 
4. How big a role does our nervous system play in gut health (vagus nerve) and do you find it essential to treat both, not just the ‘gut issue’ for most people? 
5. How can some foods be so beneficial to some people and to others act like kryptonite?  
6. How do we ensure, when we’re on a healing journey, that food/diet obsessiveness and the negative impact this can have on us, don’t become an issue – the stress of having to ‘stick stringently to a particular way of eating’ can impact as badly as the offending foods/things we’re trying to avoid, right?
7. Let’s look at a bit of a blueprint/roadmap for someone to gently start enquiring into food as something they need to change/work on
8. Are there universal things that seem to work for a huge percentage of people when it comes to healing with the support of food changes? 
9. GAPS – a diet you’re particularly passionate about and knowledgeable in – what do you feel makes this protocol so powerful? 
10. Given GAPS reduces so many foods, are enzymes and gut bug populations not compromised over the long term? How do we build back up a diverse range of enzymes/variety of gut bugs to help us digest food? 
11. Are there circumstances where you take a different road with people? Other protocols that have also been powerful? 
12. If someone is experiencing fight or flight overload – finding it hard to calm down, feeling wired, what are some of your go to foods/meals for them? 
13. What are the most important foods to avoid in terms of having them in your everyday life, if you might be prone to anxious feelings or a tendency to operate 
14. in fight or flight right now? 

Other helpful links:

To know more about Elyse Comerford and her work: https://www.wellbellyhealth.com.au/

Find her on Instagram elysenutritionist and on Facebook.

This week’s show sponsor:

We’re thrilled to have the wonderful Nordic Naturals fish oils as our show partner this month. They are thoroughly grounded in science. Evidence informs their product formulations. The latest research fuels their innovation. And cutting-edge technologies bring it all to life.

 

As a long time taker of their liquid fish oil and feel almost immediate effects when I take it, I personally vouch for this wonderful brand. A recent documentary painted all fish oils as severely harmful to the oceans, but as with all things, there are leading producers doing the right thing by the planet, producing a truly sustainable product, and Nordic Naturals is an example.

Check out this mini-documentary that covers all of Nordic Naturals sustainable fishing practices to illustrate their excellent work: https://therahealth.com.au/brands/nordicnaturals/  I love the founder story!

And of course, we’re running a little giveaway. You can win a duo pack of oils:

•         Arctic Cod Liver Oil liquid 237ml Lemon Flavour (what me and my son take) 
•         Arctic Cod Liver Oil 60 soft gels (great for travel and on-the-go factor)

All you have to do is leave a comment in the comments section, and you’ll be in the running. Good luck!

 

Enjoy the show,