How does food influence mental well-being?

Nutritional psychiatrist and author of the bestseller «This Is Your Brain on Food» Uma Naidoo argues that food is not only crucial for a healthy body, but also essential for a healthy mind. And the Mediterranean diet, known for its physical health benefits, can also help combat mental disorders.

According to Naidoo – who leads the first and only Nutritional and Metabolic Psychiatry Service in a US hospital – many diseases, such as diabetes or hypertension, are aggravated by a poor diet, and the same applies to mental health.

She points out that «people don't associate food with mental and emotional well-being», but bad moods, lack of energy or anxiety can also sometimes be explained by «the level of sugar they eat».

In this episode of «It's not that simple», the author explores how a healthy, nutrient-rich diet can significantly improve cognitive abilities. She highlights the intrinsic relationship between the brain and the gut, which share a common origin in embryonic cells, explaining how what we eat directly affects mental health. She also highlights how a high-sugar diet can feed harmful microbes in the gut, promoting inflammation processes that harm the body.

Uma Naidoo stresses the importance of adopting a diet that avoids ultra-processed foods and includes a wide variety of vegetables, always adapted to each case and each reality. She also reminds us that a healthy diet is far from being synonymous with tastelessness.

More on the topic
Harvard Nutrition Expert: «These Foods FUEL Anxiety | Dr. Uma Naidoo x Rich Roll Podcast»

«Ten Percent Happier» podcast interview

Food And Mood» Imperfectly Perfect podcast interview
Uma Naidoo's official website

Uma Naidoo's instagram

X's account

American activist and author Ashton Applewhite tackles the issue of ageism in this «It's not that simple» interview. With an assertive approach, Applewhite shatters myths about ageing and combats ageism.

The activist stresses that ageing is a natural and inevitable process and that we should look at it with a more positive outlook, because «people with positive feelings about ageing live longer».

The author of «This Chair Rocks» explains that ageism manifests itself acutely in the workplace, where both younger and older generations face marked prejudices.

Applewhite points out that ageism is also a gender issue, as women are judged more harshly in the workplace. From being seen as "too sexy" at the start of their careers to being considered "no longer attractive" as they age, discrimination against women is a constant.

To combat this form of discrimination, Ashton Applewhite suggests a simple but powerful solution: «make an older or younger friend». For the activist.

By calling for a cultural change about age, Applewhite continues her fight for a world without discrimination, challenging concepts and encouraging a new vision of ageing.

More on the topic

«Yo, Is This Ageist?» blog

Ashton Applewhite, «Addressing Ageism: Building a Better World for All Ages»

«We Can Do Hard Things: Pro-Aging: Why the Best is Yet to Come», with Ashton Applewhite

«Magnificent Midlife - How to end ageism», with Ashton Applewhite

Presentation on ageism for the United Nations

Interview with Brené Brown

Ted Talk

«This Chair Rocks» official website

In a world increasingly defined by global environmental challenges and changes, the perspective of historian Peter Frankopan, author of the best-selling «The Silk Roads», is crucial to helping us understand a planet in constant change.

In this interview, Frankopan discusses the consequences of climate change over time and highlights the importance of human resilience - a constant in human history - which is essential for human adaptation to current challenges. He also emphasizes the imminence of historical disasters and the international cooperation that is fundamental to effective crisis management.

His vision offers an in-depth analysis of humanity's challenges and the strategies needed to face the new global reality. Peter Frankopan stresses the urgency of a collective response to problems, and calls for the need to prepare new generations for a world where populism and political crises are intensifying.

The interview with the historian not only gives us a perspective about the future, but also reinforces the importance of learning from the past in order to better manage the present and plan for the future.

More on this topic

Channel 4 News interview

Hedgeye interview

Peter Frankopan's oficial website

Podcast «I've Been Thinking», with Peter Frankopan

Podcast «Wild with Sarah Wilson»

«The Western world faces more complex challenges today than at any time in the past», says former CIA director David Petraeus. In this «It's not that simple» interview, the american general analyzes the geopolitical context according to his 37 years in the US army and his experience in multiple wars.

«We [the US, its allies and partners] are the circus performer who keeps many plates spinning on many sticks», he illustrates. According to Petraeus, the «relationship between the US, the West and China is the biggest and most important plate», since good relations must be guaranteed to avoid additional tension, mistrust and competition between these nations.

But at the same time, the US and its allies also have to deal with Russia, which is «the most threatening plate».

As for the future of invaded Ukraine, the author of the book Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine shields himself with a «it depends»: «it depends on the continuation of US support, which is already at 61 billion dollars, the EU's contribution - which is 50 billion -, the ukrainian capacity to increase military training and it also depends on the technological progress of Ukraine and Russia», he argues.

Maintaining the allegory of the circus, the general emphasizes that there are other «plates» in balance, which cannot be neglected and which must continue to «spin» without major oscillations. This is the case of North Korea's nuclear investment and the case of Iran «which has been expanding its nuclear, drone and missile program, and supporting malign Shiite and even Sunni militias, such as Hamas».

Asked about the biggest challenge that humanity is facing, David Petraeus highlights the «inequality of wealth between the global North and South». He claims, however, that the conflicts in various parts of the world, the growth of extremist groups, criminal organizations, cyber threats, forced migration due to climate change, and populism would be equally valid responses.

More on this topic
David Petraeus on Israel, Ukraine, and the evolution of warfare

Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

In Conversation with Gen. David H. Petraeus

Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine with Gen. David H. Petraeus

David Petraeus' Linkedin

«The European Union is one of the largest and richest consumer markets. And few global companies can afford not to do business in the EU», says Anu Bradford, a specialist in global economics and digital regulation, who coined the term ‘Brussels Effect’ to describe Europe's influence on global markets.

In this «It's not that simple» interview, the author of The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World - considered one of the best books of 2020 by Foreign Affairs magazine - explains that despite the dispute between the US and China over influence on how various industries (including technology) operate, it's still Europe that sets the rules of this chess.

Paradigmatic are the strict regulations imposed by the EU, which end up becoming the global standard, influencing companies in other countries to adopt them in order to succeed in the coveted European market. Anu Bradford argues that «global companies like uniformity» and it's in Europe that they find the standard. The expert uses the car industry as an example, pointing out that [manufacturers] don't want to have several different production lines to produce cars for each market.

The «Brussels Effect» extends to multiple concerns that are the order of the day, such as issues of environmental protection or data privacy with the development of technology, including Artificial Intelligence.

For the Columbia Law School professor, stricter European environmental standards and legislation protecting personal data show how Europe has responded positively to current challenges.

But could this undermine Europe's competitiveness? And could it stifle the development of the technological sector? Bradford thinks not, but she also believes that the European Union still has much to learn from how other powers handle, for example, failure.

With the elections to the European Parliament just around the corner, Anu Bradford talks about the problems of today and those that lie ahead. «We will see in the long term that the path europeans have set themselves consists mainly of making the right choices», she says. However, she warns that future decisions must guarantee «not only the well-being, but also the fundamental safety and security of Europeans».

More on this topic
Institute of International and European Affairs interview about the book The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World

Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology, with Anu Bradford
Podcast episode: International Law Behind the Headlines
Tech Policy.Press interview

Anu Bradford's X (Twitter)

Anu Bradford's LinkedIn

«There is nothing more permanent than a temporary migrant. Don't create any illusions that a fair share of migrants in not going to stay», says sociologist Hein de Haas, in this episode of «It's Not That Simples», a podcast by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

One of the most enlightened but also thought provocative voices of migrations, Hein de Haas explains that this hot topic of today is neither a phenomenon nor a novelty.
«Migration is part and parcel of who we are as human beings, as a society», he explains, emphasizing that migratory movements have been taking place «for as long as humanity has existed».

The difference lies in Europe's position in this chessboard, having shifted from being a point of departure (in colonialism or world wars) to being a continent where citizens from all over the world arrive.

Highlighting that it is impossible to stop this movement, the sociologist warns against the hypocrisy of policies that punish migrants instead of those who accept them illegally. «In the United States, the number of employers who are prosecuted each year for employing undocumented migrants is between 10 and 15 a year, with no zeros», he claims.

«If you would really be serious as a politician when you say 'I want to combat smuggling, I want to combat illegal migration'... If you really want to do that, you better punish employers», Hein de Haas explains, adding that the lack of consequences for those who employ them fuels exploitation and abuse.

Breaking down the false narratives on this issue - from the left, which sees immigrants as «victims and refugees», and from the right, which speaks of the threat of those who «arrive to steal jobs» - the expert believes that these discourses hide the real problem: the fact that «in Western Europe and the US, there is the biggest labor shortage ever, especially of low-skilled migrants».

For further info:

• Hein de Haas's blog
• Interview with «Observador»
• How To Academy Podcast
• Hein de Haas' X (formerly Twitter)
• Selection of videos from the official website
• Interview with the International Migration
• Institute on migration in Morocco
• Interview with Melissa Siegel

Two dollars (about 1.85 euros) per day to cover all needs. This is the benchmark set by the World Bank to define extreme poverty, already accounting for differences in purchasing power among different countries around the globe.

Esther Duflo, awarded with the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019 for her work on alleviating extreme poverty, provides insights on how to address inequalities. The author advocates for «practical solutions», arguing that "it is much easier to think about the effect of something than its cause" and reveals how small measures can have a significant impact.

The economist advocates a methodology based on a "plumber mentality." With this strategy, she demonstrates how important it is to experiment various solutions until arriving at one that solves the problem.

In this interview, the Nobel laureate in Economics explains how small changes in access to healthcare and education have long-term implications for the lives of the poorest. Using the example of deworming children in Kenya, she demonstrates how this measure has led to health improvements but also contributed to a reduction in school absenteeism, providing students with better learning outcomes.

Throughout the conversation, Esther Duflo also emphasizes the contribution of immigration to the economies of countries, explaining that the workforce and youth of immigrants contribute to the development of nations rather than impoverishing them.

In the fight against poverty, climate change is fueling new inequalities: the wealthiest countries are the major polluters, but it is the poorest who are suffering the most intense consequences of the climate crisis. Duflo thus calls for a global approach to this problem.

For further info:

• Nobel Prize;
• Prize Lecture: Esther Duflo, Prize in Economic Sciences 2019;
• HEC TALKS with Esther Duflo: Good Economics for Warmer Times;
• Ted Talk “Experimentos sociais para combater a pobreza”;
• MIT Esther Duflo, Randomized Controlled Trials and Policy Making in Developing Countries;
• A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard - Nobel Prize winner Esther Duflo on economics as a lever of action for the world;
• Ted Talk "Taken for Granted: Esther Duflo wants you to think like a plumber";
• The Guardian article;
• El Pais Brasil interview