I used to ask people during their first appointment about their eating habits, and I would encourage them to do research on the link between what they eat and how they feel. Very few would take me seriously, and in over 14 years, only one client followed up on my suggestion to consult a nutritionist.

Most think they are eating a fairly decent diet. Once, I had a client tell me that he thought he ate a fairly healthy diet. He went through a fast-food drive-thru most days for breakfast, he went in to one of several other fast-food establishments for lunch, then ate a “healthy” dinner of mostly pasta with butter.

We can all do better than that.  As a colleague of mine once said, you don’t put ice cream in the gas tank of your car and expect it to run well.  Same thing goes for human beings.

It doesn’t have to be complicated or faddish. As author Michael Pollan said, “eat food, mostly plants, not too much.”

Food really is connected to emotional and not just physical well-being. A recent blog from Harvard Health Publishing, which is part of Harvard Medical School, addresses the link between food and brain health.  You can access it here.

The author of The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs, Nicolas Pineault, offers an easy-to-understand and slightly sassy approach to understanding electromagnetic frequencies, dirty electricity, electric fields, and magnetic fields.  For once, writing about EMFs isn’t all about scaring all of us to death with half-baked ideas and conspiracy-theory notions. In his short and helpful book, Pineault provides an extensive list of scientific studies that link EMFs to health conditions, including mental health. He includes expert opinions and, thankfully, simple solutions to help all of us live more safely in the midst of the ever-increasing soup of EMFs that bombard our bodies every day. At under 240 pages, it’s also a pretty fast read for a publication that’s part educational, part reference guide.

I mention it here because he writes extensively on the subject of EMFs and their impact on brain health. In addition, he mentions physicians such as Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt who have seen mental health symptoms, especially autism symptoms, significantly reduce once the family took steps to limit exposure to EMFs.  I also share it here because I once had a conversation with a mold remediation specialist who said that what many people think of as mold-related illness may have a huge EMF component—an idea I thought might bring hope to those who suffer.

As usual, my clients or former clients are welcome to read the copy I have in my office. And, if you’ve already read this or a similar book, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

The first meta-analysis of the impact of meditation, yoga, and mindfulness-based interventions on chronic symptoms of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury showed significant reductions in depression and fatigue.  Published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, the University of Connecticut-based study showed no negative effects and almost across-the-board improvements in troubling symptoms, meaning that there is little or no downside to trying one or more mind-body approaches to wellness.  Read the summary at Science Direct and the study itself here.