Explores the profound link between the food we eat and the way we think and feel' Radio 4 Start the Week The second villain is the UK government, who Wilson excoriates for failing to regulate the content of produced food and thereby protect public health. Wilson has very clear and critical opinions regarding the legacy of the austerity policy initiated in 2011 and the conduct of the government throughout the Covid-19 crisis. Although this political polemicising may not be to everyone’s taste, readers are left in no doubt to Wilson’s views about potential shortcomings of government over the last decade. Eat more beans. Believe me, they’re the answer to most of your, and the planet’s, most pressing problems. You can’t have good mental health without a well-functioning brain, and you can’t have a well-functioning brain without good nutrition.

What changes (if any) will you make either personally or professionally as a result of reading ‘Unprocessed’? How will you maintain these? Memories are often fallible. We often forget difficult times. Part of therapy is re-evaluating and reframing memories in light of new information. It’s less about what happened and more about how we understand it. I suspect that the things that make me love a book have less to do with the book and more to do with where and who I am at the time that I encounter it. Which book changed the way you think? There are two organisational groups targeted for special criticism in ‘Unprocessed’. The first group are large food manufacturers who have prioritised their commercial interests over the production of healthy food. This prioritisation of profit has occurred despite of the growing body of evidence about the harmful effects on health of ultra-processed foods that are promoted and sold in large quantities to the public, a topic that has recently featured in national news outlets (see The Guardian, 27th August 2023, for example).How Emotions are Made by Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett. As professionals who proclaim to help people understand their emotional worlds it is incumbent upon us to have up-to-date knowledge, even if it challenges our personal beliefs and training… Which work of fiction amazed you with its psychological insight?

This course has now passed, but you can be the first to know about the next one - and other workshops like this - by signing up to our newsletter here.Alongside the above, the author discusses how UK politicians have often failed to act on scientific evidence and take measures that might have resulted in the population’s improved mental (and physical) health. She explains the links between poverty, nutritional deficiencies (in pregnant women as well as children, adolescents and adults) and poor mental health (concentration and learning difficulties, chronic stress, aggression and emotional dysregulation). She argues that better nutrition and mental health are often less of an individual’s choice, and more of a government’s responsibility. My only concern is that her voice may come across as perhaps a bit too strong and this may alienate Conservative voters. But then again, the messages that ‘Unprocessed’ passes are important for individuals and societies alike, and as such they are highly political. 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?