Kimberley Wilson: There’s a way in which I feel like none of us really owns, entirely, our trajectories. You know, there’s no such thing as a self-made person. And if I had grown up in a family of musicians, I’m sure that I would be a concert pianist. Or if I’d grown up in a family of artists, I’m sure that it would’ve had an impact on my relationship to art, and I’d visit galleries more often, or something like that. But I grew up with this intimate awareness of brains that don’t work, I guess, or brains that aren’t working well, so that when I got into school and we were doing biology lessons, I understood things like myelination and neurodegeneration and motor neurons and this sort of stuff. And in a strange way, it gave me a bit of a leg up, in terms of understanding aspects of biology and aspects of psychology. So these were subjects that kind of made sense to me quite early on. That was the path that I was on. Eggs are another good breakfast choice: as well as being protein-rich, egg yolks are a good source of choline, the nutrient the body uses to produce neurotransmitters that help regulate memory and mood. What changes (if any) will you make either personally or professionally as a result of reading ‘Unprocessed’? How will you maintain these? If you’ve ever witnessed a child after a sugar overload, you’ll know that food can have a major impact on mood. And yet, the older we get, the more we overlook the connection between nutrition and emotional wellbeing.

In this fascinating episode, we explore the link between nutrient deficiencies and mental health outcomes, how refined sugars impact children’s behaviour, and discuss what we can do to encourage better nutrition among young people. In this feature, author and environmental journalist Anna Turns delves into the complex and bi-directional link between mood and nutrition. I am not sure I could choose a single favourite. The books I love tend to have served different purposes over time. In the running would be Like Water for Chocolate, Don Quixote, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Man’s Search for Meaning and On the Shortness of Life. What do you think are the key ingredients of a good book? You will discover, through evidence-based research, the foods and nutrients the brain needs and what happens when there are imbalances in your diet. You will learn the crucial importance of good sleep, and why regular physical activity is one of the best investments you can make for your long-term brain health.The idea that your diet affects your brain is not ground-breaking. But Wilson argues that what we eat not only has an impact on our mood, but affects our brain function at every stage of life: from before life begins, in pregnancy, to reducing the impact of cognitive decline in old age. Kimberley Wilson runs a psychotherapy and nutrition practice in Central London. She’s published a book, How to Build a Healthy Brain, and she co-hosts an innovative podcast on BBC Radio 4, called Made of Stronger Stuff. That’s where I discovered her. She came to the attention of many as a finalist in an early season of The Great British Bake Off. She grew up, as she tells it, eating both the West Indian food of her family and over-processed, modern British fare. At least theoretically, if you’re not getting enough fibre, then what you’ve got is the dysfunction in your blood brain barrier… one of the precursors and perhaps a driver of dementia.”

Elsewhere, Wilson considers whether there is a relationship between poor nutrition and school exclusion and then lays out the evidence for this hypothesis. The topic of behaviour in schools has featured quite prominently in both the news and social media of late. Regrettably, the topic has become polarised within the latter online environment. However, Wilson’s arguments around the correlation between diet and behaviour are compelling and present a challenge to those with ‘behaviourist’ views of discipline to consider a more complex and nuanced perspective of behaviour in schools. Coffee: Take action. There is, though, good news for coffee drinkers. Moderate coffee consumption (two to four cups per day) has been linked to better brain health and reduced risk of cognitive decline, in part because caffeine regulates a neuroprotective brain enzyme.Sugar is another factor. Too much glucose – for example, from sugars in fizzy drinks and sweet treats – can predispose someone to high blood sugar and insulin insensitivity. Fish and cooked seafood – seek out smaller, sustainable species, such as MSC certified sardines, salmon and mussels