October 5, 2025 • 39 mins
It's mental health awareness week from tomorrow, and you might ask what the hell has it to do with nutrition, but food has more to do with your mood than people realise.
The types of foods you consume can have a not only an impact on your physical health, but your mental health too.
What kind of foods make you feel better, inside and out? And what are those comfort foods you just can't let go of?
Nutritionist Claire Turnbull joined Tim Beveridge for The Health Hub.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And welcome in or welcome back to the Weekend Collective.
I'm Tim Beverage and this is the Health Hub and
this is where we want your calls and your participation.
On eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. You know the
text number, it's nine to nine to two. But just
quickly before this before for five o'clock, just looking a
little further ahead. For smart money, we're gonna have a
chat about what's known as open banking and like my
(00:32):
blunt question, I got there, what the hell is it
and what does it mean for us? So we're going
to be talking about that after five o'clock. But onto
the Health Hub. And because it's Mental Health Awareness Week
coming up from tomorrow. And you might ask, what has
mental Health Week got to do with nutrition? But food
has more to do apparently with your mood than people realize.
The types of food you consume can have not only
(00:53):
an impact on your physical health, but your mental health too.
In our our next guest, well she needs no introduction,
but she and actually she needs no further introduction, soul
just introducers.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Shall I how about we do that it's clear turnball. Hello, Hello, clear.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
How are you doing?
Speaker 5 (01:09):
Hello, I'm good, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I suddenly realized all the other rhetoric I've had planned
for you. I sort of thought, I'll just get on
an introducer.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
I know she's a wellbeing person, focusing on all sorts
of different things and has a very very big interest
in mental health, both personally and professionally.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
That's where I kind of come in.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, because I mean, you have been You've shared your
mental health battles at times, haven't you, And I mean yeah,
and it has nutrition. Was nutrition something you thought of
while you were going through those battles or was it
sort of second or third in the queue?
Speaker 5 (01:48):
No, A huge I mean it's a huge part of it.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
So I first, I was struggled with depression in my
teenage years. I was put on underdepressants when i was
nineteen years old, and I've been on and off underdepressants,
and I've been had postnatal psychosis, postnatal anxiety. A lot
of people have these struggles once they have children, so
it is it's a part. It's been something that I've
(02:10):
always had to manage. But there's a lot that I've
learned through working in nutrition and in the well being
space for twenty years. That has certainly helped me a lot.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
And yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Mean without those skills, who knows where I would be
right now. Because I'm no longer on medication. I manage
my situation and I'm one of those hypersensitive people because
obviously some people struggle with this stuff more than others.
But one in five, this is the thing, tim in
New Zealand, one in five New Zealanders will struggle with
their mental health on any given year. So it's not
(02:48):
you know, I know that it's I mean, goodness, the
stigma is going away a lot about it now, but
it's really really common for people to struggle. And I
do think absolutely that people don't appreciate the huge impact
that lifestyle can have and for many people, it can
be as effective, if not more effective, than medication.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Actually, when you said your hypersensitive, what did in what
context was that description given?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
I guess that. I mean, there are some people that
are more at risk.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Maybe that's not the right word, but there's there's there's
some people that are definitely like I'm very very sensitive
to medication in general.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
I drink if I drink, if I drink.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
A physiological thing, not don't criticize clears here doo because
she's hyper.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Yeah yeah, sorry, yeah no.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
I guess I'm always one of those people that, like,
there's some people that are very they're just naturally resilient.
I'm a resilient person in the skills that I've learned.
But you know, even since I was like started drinking
at university, I've always been a person that, you know,
two or three drinks and I really got you know,
really blue very quickly, whereas other people are fine. And
(03:57):
you know, I've always been a person that I can't
have lots of caffeine and that's been a thing that
sexs me.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
So we're all different.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
That's an interesting one, just on the booze.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I mean, I thought we'd wait a while to got
onto the alcohol because that's the obvious one.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But it is.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Interesting seeing how some people are really quite happy when
they have a drink or two. And I'm not sure
if that's a chemical reaction or because of the of
the psychological signal they've sent themselves that I'm having a drink,
therefore this is happier. I mean, they call it happier,
and yet there are you know, I mean, I wonder
if that's problematic, But then there are other people. I mean,
(04:30):
I don't we all know the person who does sort
of get very cheerful and the next thing, you know,
towards the end of the night there crying about heartache
and things. And there are people who just should never
touch a drop.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
You're so it's really different.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
And I think that the alcohol in itself is a depressant,
so it does give that lift of a high, but
you know, for most people there will be a downside.
For some people it's less than others. And this is
why people's how they tolerate alcohol, and the same for caffeine.
One of the things that we definitely know, particularly as
(05:04):
women get older, and you know, for some men find
this too. Age makes a difference to your level of tolerance,
how much exercise you do, how much sleep you have.
But one of the things that's interesting to him is
I started antidepressants at nineteen and I was on my
first round of antidepressants for seven years. And because back
then that was over twenty years ago, right, no one
(05:24):
even mentioned to me that alcohol was probably the reason
why I needed to be on medication for so long,
if I honestly stopped drinking, like I think, I could
have been on the medication for a very short period
of time and then come off. Thank goodness. Now, the
message out there around alcohol is there. But I mean
it was crazy that I didn't realize how much that was.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That's quite a blind spot.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I actually would suggest that we still have quite a
blind spot with alcohol in a different way. Like obviously
an adoptor who's talking to you about mental health, I
would have thought that, you know, the alcohol would be
a front and foremost of you know around medication and things.
But I still have the suspicion that we still think that,
you know, a couple of thanks every night sort of
(06:06):
every night of the week. It's not bad when it
infect alcohol is. I don't want to be rain on
people's parade because I quite enjoy whiskey about three two
or three white nights a week.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
But to poison, Oh no, no, no, you're actually right.
I'm English. I love MARGARITEA love drinking for me right now,
I love Anglish.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I love a pint.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
Actually, you know that you're absolutely right, like yes, rock
drinking choice right, you.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
See, I'm from the Hispanic country or something.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I love a margarita and a tequila and things.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
That makes sense.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
But well, Gin and Tonic did its round with all
the bars, and now margaritas are all the popular ones, right.
But I think, you know, for me, if I have
any more than two units in now the next couple
of days, I feel really horrendous. And that's really interesting
because that's within safe guidelines, although there's you know how
(06:58):
I so I really think with how you feel, you
really need to take your own barometer, you know. I
think that guidelines exist. You know, Oh well I can eat,
I drink up to fourteen units of our coolo week
and that's what the government says is fine. Well maybe
not if that doesn't work for you, you know, Like
and I think we've got to be realistic about general
(07:21):
advice and actually how we feel in response to things.
And I would encourage everybody that drinks alcohol who's listening,
if you are struggling with anxiety, low mood, just take
a break for a week this Mental Health Awareness month
and just see how different, because you know what, it
doesn't feel different overnight for a lot of people. It
(07:41):
will take a good couple of days or a week
or two and then you're like, man, I do feel different,
because people don't feel after three days. It might be
not enough. You need to do a couple of weeks
to think. God, actually this really makes me feel rubbish.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Yeah, do you I mean, do you completely avoid it now?
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Not to the most degree. Yes.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I'd probably have like two units a week because otherwise
I'd be straight back on antidepressants. I really would. And
I mean I'm in you know, in my forties, I'm
on hormone replacement therapy. I mean that that perimenopause and
menopause will face, which makes women more sensitive to alcohol.
But even my husband, now he's kind of in his forties,
(08:25):
in his late forties, he's really starting to notice, you know,
he can't the impacts are bigger of it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh yeah, I mean, you know, you're more bullet proof
to all sorts of things. You fall over when you're eighteen,
you get straight back.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know, if you're seventy and you hit the ground,
had it takes your while. Same thing with the anything induraively.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Isn't it.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (08:43):
And it's one of the challenging things around alcohol is
what is good for your mental well being is connection
with other people, laughing, spending time with people that you
care about, and it's just one of the things the
realities in New Zealand, as in many countries, that often
goes hands in hands with alcohol. So you've got one
great thing and one not so great thing. And I
(09:04):
think we're different to you know, in Europe for example,
where they might have a glass of wine and spend
six hours laughing with their friends and telling stories, whereas
a lot of people here go a lot harder with
the booze when they're catching it up with people.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, okay, so it's alcohol, But where does the food
side of it come and what have you learned in
terms of foods that you should avoid or is it
about and because there's also such a thing as comfort
food giving yourself a treat, you know, where the food
that you might not recommend, but you know, I'm feeling
a bit down the dumps and you have that piece
(09:38):
of cake or doughnut or whatever. So how does the
food fit them with mental health?
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Well, essentially, the food that you eat is obviously the
fuel that ends up fueling every part of your body
but also your brain. And we know now and the
research is coming through really strongly actually, that there is
a link between what you eat and your likelihood of
your risk of developing or struggling with depression and anxiety.
(10:07):
So one of the things we absolutely know with the
rise in food that is highly processed, which.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
You know is no surprise to anybody when.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Things when you buy foods with really long ingredients lists
and lots of additives and preservatives and colors and dyes
and things that have been in plastic packets exposed to microplastics,
we can just knows how long that is not going
to be something that is going to be good for
your brain. And the research is just like is just
saying time and time again, the more food that you
eat that is highly processed and out of packets regularly,
(10:40):
that's not saying a can of tomatoes and a packet
of oats, right, this is food that is so far
from its original form, which.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
Is a lot of it now.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Really is one of the pieces of the puzzle that
we know to be true when it comes to mental
well being. And again it's like al Conol wants to
hear that we will time poor.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Don't make me feel bad for these packets.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
I'm not trying to I'm just saying the reality is
in our environment with it with you know two people working,
people being time poor. Often, you know older people having
to spend a lot of time looking after themselves because
their families are too busy. This is the world that
we now live in and it's having a massive negative
impact on a mental well being.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Are there foods that can have as dramatic effect on
your on your well being? And mental well being is
as much as alcohol as we've discussed us, Are.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
There some foods you should really have moderation avoid or
have more of both?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Well, let's start with a void. Let's get the.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Negative and more focus on the positive.
Speaker 6 (11:43):
So caffeine is one of the other things as well. Now,
there's nothing wrong, no, I know, tea and coffee are great.
They've got antioxidants in them. There's heaps of good things
about tea and coffee, right, right, truly, I drink both
tea and coffee. But if somebody is going through a
phase in their life when they are struggling with anxiety, right,
there's less the depression size and more the anxiety side.
(12:06):
It's a stimulant at the end of the day. And
so there's two things that happen. Number One, too much
caffeine in your system compromises your sleep. If you're not
getting enough sleep, you're more likely to be anxious and
struggle with your mood. So that's there's that cycle of it.
But the other thing is that caffeine does make some
people feel anxious, and there are people that will have
you know, five black double black coffee is a day.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
And they're sweet, and it's never going to be that situation.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
But if someone's gone through a breakup or a heartache,
or a lot of job loss, or a you know,
a hormonal change or a health crisis, and they've started
to notice anxiety. If they've they've been fine with like
how much tea and coffee or fizzy drinks with caffeine
and they've had before, they wouldn't think about it. They
wouldn't even think about it. Yeah, and they go like,
(12:54):
end up at the doctors. I'm feeling really anxious, I'm
doing whatever, And actually I'm like, and I'm.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Often gp'st They've got like ten minutes.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
You know, they're not they're not asking whether you're drinking
six coffee or eight cups of tea a day. But truly,
the difference it can make if you're feeling if you're
going through an anxious period to just you know, there's
some really great decaff coffee out there. It doesn't been
going completely all that way, but just I would definitely
say that it's something within your control to try and
(13:24):
if it doesn't work after a week, it wasn't that what.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Actually, just give us some the effects on caffeine content
of T versus coffee.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Where are we at with those numbers?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Where are we at with that? Well?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
So the recommendations in New Zealand are to keep your
caffeine to less than four hundred milligrams a day. If
you are pregnant, it's two hundred milligrams a day. And
I would suggest that anyone that is struggling with anxiety
that is definitely they're closer to the two hundred milligrams
a day. In terms of how much, like a cup
(13:58):
of tea might be eighty to one hundred, depending on
how strong the tea bag is. Oh my goodness, it
depends on how they's.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
You can still have a couple.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Of cups of two day it's fine, and a coffee
might be one hundred and fifty two hundred milligrams. One
of the things that's really important is to realize that
the coffee that you make in your coffee machine at
home or if you use an espresso or a pod like,
it's really different. There is no like this is what
how much caffeine's in coffee? It's really different. On my website,
(14:29):
on Claireturble dot co, dot and z, if you go
to recipes and resources, there is a guide that's got
all the caffeine on it, okay, which goes through like
Green Tea, which is like thirty five milligrams ish. But
it does depend on the type of thing.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So what's a commercial you know you go to Because
in New Zealand we're pretty good at making coffees, you know,
you know that you're safe in most cafes to get
a reasonably good coffee. What's an espresso double shot? You
know you go and you have a flat white two
shots and a latte or a latte?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Do we know what roy that would be?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I know that's a lot to pull the different numbers.
In fact, I'll have to google that myself.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
I'm looking at it now.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
I'm telling you because I've got this in front of
makes it so so a cappuccino is yeah, like a
single shot would be one hundred, so a double shot
would be two hundreds, two hundreds. Yeah, so a plunge
of coffee and a couple of god, plunge of cofee
depends so much instructions in the bag.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I'm just curious because people can look it up themselves.
They yeah, the numbers too much. I was just curious
to so.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
So two hundreds.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
So basically one double shot coffee or two cups of
tea is where is where we're kind of sitting at.
But it's really really again, this is something be the
experiment of yourself. Don't change all the things in one.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Go, because I've got a text going, oh this is
this is depressing, just the you know what you're gonna
have to cut out. It's not about going cold turkey
on things. It's just thinking, thinking about what you're consuming.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
Yeah, and if it absolutely is and again this is
you know, so the depression stuff is probably more special anxiety,
the whole stuff, and the caffeine part for the anxiety particularly,
and so many people struggle with anxiety, you know, honestly,
I mean, goodness, gracious, we're ending up being like the
UK like in the UK, I think one in four
(16:19):
adults are on antidepressant or anting anxiety medication.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
Like for adults, that absolutely blows my mind.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
And you know what, we are not going to be
far off that, I'm sure because the answer is I
feel terrible, I feel depressed.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
I take medication.
Speaker 6 (16:35):
Medication has its place, but the lifestyle stuff has to
be looked at because otherwise you can't. This medication is
not designed to be taking long term for a lot
of people. So we have to look at those other things.
And there are positive things, tim and that's what we
will talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
We're going to talk about in fact, I'm doing to
know about the foods that really are a positive thing
to eat in terms of your impact on.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Your mental health.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
If you've got any questions for clear Tamble and if
you listen to the show before, you know is a
familiar voice to us on the Weekend Collective, So we'd
love your course. If you've got any questions with Claire
on eight hundred and eighty ten eighty and text on
nine two nine two. We'll be back in just a moment.
It's twenty four past four. Yes, welcome back to the
Weekend Collecting my guess is clear, turnabile and nutrition US.
That's clear, turnbull dot code dot n Z clear with
(17:19):
an eye. By the way, although I'm sure if you
make a spelling error will probably say did you mean
such and such because I are so clever.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Now we're talking.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
About mental health and foods impact on it are both ways,
And obviously we know that alcohol not necessarily the greatest
thing for mental health. But we're talking about food and clear,
let's talk about the positives. What are the foods where
if you are tending towards, you know, maybe eating, not
feeling great about things, are there foods that, as part
(17:49):
of a sort of good diet, make you feel better,
help you feel better?
Speaker 6 (17:53):
Yes, yes, yes, okay. So there's kind of two focus
points here. One is the foods that nourish your guts,
which we'll talk to, and then the second one, which
is are a mega three, which is our long tim
type of fact that we need to have, which is
essential for the brain and essential for mood. So if
we start with the gut side of things, so your
(18:15):
gut and your brain are connected. And one of the
kind of thoughts around that is the fact that the
neurotransmitters which so you might have heard of serotonin, which
is your body's natural antidepressant.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
So that is influenced by the health of your gut.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
So inside your guts are trillions and trillions of microorganisms, right,
Like You've got a whole little forest of stuff going
on inside of you. And that how healthy those microorganisms
in like how healthy a forest environment is, impacts your mood,
impacts your body's ability to produce and manage the amount
(18:57):
of these neurotransmitters, including the natural antidepressant serotonin. So you know,
this is what these drugs do. This is what what
are what are antidepressent medication? You know one of the
most common ones SSRI serotone reuptape inhibitors. What they do
is they keep serotonin in the brain. Right, let's start
getting more serotonin in the brain. Let's start actually creating it.
(19:22):
And that's the power that food can have. So with
the gut, what are we doing. We need to feed
these microorganisms the fuel that they need, right, and what
do they feed off? One of the things biber. Fiber
is not a glamorous word in nutrition, I absolutely understand that,
but it is what feeds these microorganisms and helps them
(19:44):
stay stronger, and the research shows that adding an extra
five grams of fiber a day from reduce your risk
of depression by five percent, which is a small but
you know, it's a very easy thing to be doing,
and the.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Context helps you create serotonin.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
Well it helps, yes, exactly, this whole proces. I mean
that's a very simplified version of but it impacts on
your body's ability to regulate the hormones that manage and
control your mood. Right, So this fiber that is making
you know, so if you're having like rices and corn
flakes for breakfast, it would be moving to muselei and oats.
(20:24):
One tablespoon of cheer seeds, which is they're very common,
very easily available, very affordable. It's five grams of fiber.
So if you put shoved tablespoon of cheer seeds on
your breakfast, you can soak them. I've got all sorts
of recipes on my website with them. That's an easy
way to get five grams and that's going to help
you know, reaching our getting enough fruits and vegetables a
(20:46):
day is also going to help get that get that
fiber in and just swapping for your grainy crackers, grainy bread,
brown rice, over white rice, some of the stuff that
helps all other aspects of.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Our well being.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
But in New Zealand, the average person gets about twenty
grams a day, and as a mountain, you need thirty
eight grams right like even, And if you think about
on average, that means that the people like me and
you know, we're right up there on our high fiber,
other people are probably only getting five ten grams a day.
So there's a massive mismatch here, and it really does
(21:23):
make a difference.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Actually, oats, because when I look at porridge, you know,
and you make a bowl of porridge, I'm not a
huge fan of porridge'll be honest. And oats just can
you judge how much fibers and something just by looking
at it, because I always look at oats and it
can't be that high on fiber.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, you know, whole meal flour.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Yeah, well, I mean you can. It depends.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
I mean, as soon as food is processed in any way,
it obviously makes it look different. But I mean, I
to be honest, I'm not a big porridge fan either.
I actually eat all of my oats soaked, so I
soak in the morning of oats.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
And cheer seeds and milk and yogurt and make.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
It into kind of like that sort of thing.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Yeah, yeah, and you know what, like I know that,
you know, I'd like a polo con flex and and
lots of sugar on it and some what. But like,
really I might have that sometimes, but actually I know
that other thing is actually going to make me feel
better and keep me you know, Otherwise the antidepressant medication
is going to be right back in there.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So, yes, I've got lots of questions for myself, but
we've been let some callers. I have a say to
eight hundred and eighty and eight Sonny.
Speaker 7 (22:29):
Hello, Hi, dear hell clear, Hello him. Just a question
about I've been an editor Press's Settle or prem for
almost twelve years and I've just wean off and come
off at the last couple of weeks. I was just thinking,
(22:50):
you know, I should have come off earlier than that,
because when I do my online research, it does say
that it has been incredibly long that I have been
on that medication.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
I mean, just to be absolutely clear, While my dad
is doctor and my brother as a doctor, I am
not a doctor. So I'm not going to claim that,
and in that I can talk to my experience on
this and what I know to be true on this stuff.
You know, the general You know, with antidepressants, I was
on them for seven years, which was way too long
for me. You know, antidepressants are kind of for most
(23:24):
people a short term a short term solution to often
help people get more active, get more sleep, eat better,
solve the problems in their lives that are actually contributing
to their low mood, see like low testosterone that can
cause depression. So having these are the kind of things
(23:45):
looked in at. I think the facts of the matter
is that, you know, it depends on the doctor that's
seen you, it depends on the advice that you've got.
There's so many different opinions. Like I've seen three or
four gps about my antidepressant use and they've all said
something completely different. Right, Like one of the last doctor
I have I was like, you can be on for
the rest of your life. I was like, I don't
want to beat Yeah, someone else someone else was like, actually,
(24:08):
you need to be on hormone replacement therapy and that's
going to be better. So I think what's been done
has been done in your situation. You know, don't feel
bad about what that is. Do understand though, that if
you've been on that for a really long time. I
mean when I was on those for seven years, it
took me a year to come off them. So I
would I would strongly say that one of the things.
There's an amazing doctor in the UK, and you can
(24:30):
email me about this and I'll send you the link
who's actually got the who's done guidelines in the UK
about how to help people come off antidepressant medication, because
that's not actually in the guidelines. The guidelines is, yeah,
this is what you should take and then oh, it's
just going to take you three or four weeks to
come off them, like really when you've been on them
for twelve years. So yeah, but now is the time
(24:52):
to think about your lifestyle stuff and what you can.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Do, Sunny.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Can I just ask you coming off that medication with
the support of a doctor or health professional or you
just doing it yourself.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
No, I've spoke to my GP about it. It's been
my GP for twenty years.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Good good, oh good.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I wanted to dig that in the conversation because I
would we don't want to encourage anyone to change the in
medication with that.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Definitely, I run it past my doctor. But I just
tried to come off. I think it was a bad
time and the year twenty twenty one were having those lockdowns.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Yeah scientific so nick pain and yeah and headgs. So
I went straight back after I think almost three weeks
coming off. So really is it is?
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it's really challenging. And I feel for you so
so much. And you know, if you feel really go
back to your DP and get that support again, you
know you've you've done the right thing by getting the
support of your GP through that.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And but it is, you know often that answer pressant use.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
It is about actually then helping people to say because
some people, when you get so low you can't exercise,
you don't you're not sleeping properly, it's really difficult to
motivate yourself to eat properly, and all those things to
care for yourself are often really hard when you're feeling
really down, and that can be where medication is amazing,
but we still need These are the pieces of the puzzle,
which is natural daylight. I mean Tim, Tim and I
(26:16):
have talked about this before, but like we are designed
to be outside again. As well as food influencing serotonin,
one of the biggest things that influencers serotonin is natural light.
Exposing your eyes to natural light helps your brain and
helps your body manage all that serotonin and helps you
sleep better.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
One of the biggest challenges I see with depression and
anxiety today in my work, you know, is the fact
that people are not spending enough time outside.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
And that's one of the things that Thanks for your call,
by the way, something really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
That's one of the things about.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Modes is that when you are feeling, you know, not
very happy with life or whether it be just whatever
the causes, sometimes people the last thing they want to
do is go outside. They feel like staying inside. But
actually the blue light. We've had this from our sleep
doctor Alex Battle about Yes, how basically what you produce
in serotonin by exposing yourself to blue light converts to
(27:10):
melotonin at nighttime and helps you sleep. I guess that's
the same with eating your fiber in the morning.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. This all play.
Speaker 6 (27:22):
It all plays into how we were naturally designed to
you know, this depression and anxiety thing. It's a new
problem in society. I know it's not since you and
I've been alive. But if we look back into you know,
into hunter gatherers societies, right where the people are living outside,
they're eating whole food, they're spending time with community and family,
(27:42):
they're singing around campfires, right, that isn't happening. So this
whole problem is is actually it's not. And do you
know the biggest thing that I feel in mental health
that I do want to say is that I think
people blame themselves for this situation. We are actually living
in a time where it's really really difficult to look
after yourself because the modern world is so crazy. So
(28:04):
don't add some blame to this halt, No, but you
can do things about it, and often that don't cost anything.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Hey, we're going to take a break. We'll be back
with Claire and I want to have a chat. We'll
dig into the idea of comfort food, which may not
actually be great for you. But and when comfort food
is actually sort of okay, because you know, comfort food
happens to be donuts, we might dig into that a
little bit after the break. Yes, welcome back to the
week and collecting my guest as Claire Turnbull. We're talking
(28:33):
about mental health and nutrition and how the two can
go together and contribute in either a good or a
bad way.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I guess, Claire, the thing with comfort foods.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
I have a suspicion that comfort food is for transitory
and moments of where you're feeling a bit down, if
you had a big day, and things like that. But
the comfort foods that you're traditionally you know, the guilty
foods where you go I have a big piece of
carrot cake or banana cake. But if that becomes your
food you're using to try and get you out of
a long term funk, I would think that's not a
good idea.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
I mean there's two fundamentally different things when we think
about comfort food, right. Comfort food, I guess, in its
traditional kind of sense was Grandma's apple pie and custard.
That's comforting that actually evokes positive memories, you know, sweet
sweet food, And it.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Might be a rich dessert.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
It might be a thing that you enjoy with other
people and it's part of a celebration and a connection.
It's consciously eating something that is decadent and delicious, but
you are doing it with other people and it evokes
positive emotions because it's like Gradma's apple pie, right, that
is fundamentally different, And I've written a whole.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Book about it, and you'll fight with food.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
My whole book is about the fact that in the
world today, a lot of people use food exactly and
you're saying donuts, cake, ice cream and alcohol to manage
their feelings. And that is because we have become really
bad at being a able to manage really strong emotions anger, fear, frustration, irritation.
Speaker 5 (30:12):
You know, the world.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
Is a lot, there's lots. It's difficult, but we go
through difficult things. Work can be difficult, Relationships can be difficult,
Listening to what's going on the world can be difficult.
And one of the ways that people manage that is
by eating and drinking. That is not a positive thing
because you want to be able to eat a piece
of cake or have a glass of wine because you
(30:33):
consciously chose that and you're actually going to feel good
after eating it. So what I talk about in my
book actually is about how you feel after eating or drinking.
If you eat a piece of cake or a donut
and you feel good about that afterwards, you made the
right decision if you.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
You know you like I consciously ate that.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
Like I went, I was away with my boys at
the weekend school holidays, went to the ice cream shop,
sat there, had like hokey pokey ice cream and something else,
and I sat down.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
I was like, do you know what?
Speaker 6 (30:59):
This is absolutely flipping delicious. I don't do it this often.
I sat there, I was on the wall. We were
having a chat. I was like, this was absolutely the
right decision. But there's a really big difference between standing
in your pantry and eating, you know, half a block
of whitakers on your own because you've had a rubbish
day like that. Those those two scenarios are worlds apart.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I've had some some ticks around bread and things. And
I was actually going to ask you this myself because
I make my own livened bread, because I had using
the word sourder because there's nothing sair about it. But
but is there something and those you know, the types
of the way wheat products are produced or that makes
them less or better more healthy in terms of naturally
(31:44):
livened breads and products as opposed to the process sort
of breed your bart at the supermarket.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know, if you're buying
ultra processed.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Bread, process bread though, so what's that like.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Something that's going to last in your pantry for like
a week and a half without going moldy?
Speaker 7 (32:04):
You know, my bread?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
That's why it's the breath that's as white as snow,
that says it's got lots of fiber?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Is that to be trusted?
Speaker 6 (32:13):
Yeah, I mean there's for you know, there's much better
ways to get fiber. Yes, basically, you know, you're absolutely
right when you're making it yourself. You're doing it which
you know, if you've got the time to do that
is going to be a better option. There are certainly
different types of foods that some people are more sensitive
to and others, and you know a lot of people
(32:36):
do find, you know, a lot of eating a lot
of processed wheat products doesn't make them feel great, And
I think you need to try again. This is that
that that that intuitive part of ourselves that we actually
know to be true. One of the things from a
positive perspective is which I kind of land on before,
is this a Mega three piece, which I do think
is really really important. So Amiga three is basically a
(32:58):
lot a type of fat that we have to get
in our diet because we our body does not make
it ourselves. One of the reasons that the Mediterranean is
known to be, you know, a healthy place to live
is because naturally in the Mediterranean they a lot of
oily fish and this is fundamentally essential for brain health,
(33:22):
but also has been shown time and time again through
research to have a big impact on mood, to the
point where you know, high doses of Amiga three for
somebody that is kind of like mild depression symptoms can
for some people be as effective and if they're taken
with antidepressants, they just enhance the effectiveness of them.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
And I, you know, I personally take a Mega three.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
I that is one thing that I absolutely take specifically
for my mood, specifically because I've been an antipressant since
I was nineteen, you know, on and off since.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
I was nineteen. And where can you get it from?
Speaker 6 (33:56):
So we know that New Zealand salmon is one of
the one of the best sources. It's much better than
Atlantic salmon. So if you notice that Atlantic salmon is
coming to our supermarkets, it is cheaper, but it is
lower a Mega three, but actually tien one of the
best sources that you can get that is really affordable
is a can of sardines. If you have a can
of sardines a couple of times a week, I get that.
You know, some people love them and they hate them.
(34:18):
But on the same token, salmon is expensive, right, and
I get that. So so if that's just you know,
mash it with a bit of mayonnaise, put a bit
of pepper in it, it is a good source of amiga.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
We're actually going to have to follow through on that
because I'm pretty sure we've talked about sardines before because
there's so much cheaper, and there was a time when
sardines were you know, that was the sort of fishcy well,
and then everyone got up to salmon because we all
got a bit posh.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
So yeah, that's a good bit of advice.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Actually, just one other thing I saw a bit of
advice talking about if you're filling pickers for a bit
of protein, that walnuts are quite a good little snack.
And including that, are they a source of omega three?
Speaker 5 (34:57):
Well, this is the thing.
Speaker 6 (34:58):
So the plant sources of amiga three, Cheers's, walnuts, et cetera.
They do have a little bit of a mega three,
but it's a different type and has to get converted
into the type that is better for your mood and.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
For your brain.
Speaker 6 (35:09):
So yes, that's helpful, but no, in the doses that
we're talking about for mood management, it's not going to
cut it by any stretch of the imagination.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
Okay, which is why I, you know, I really.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
Encourage people to look at alternative sources like sardines are
really there. They are affordable muscles again, green shell muscles.
We live in a country where you can get them.
They're cheap.
Speaker 5 (35:28):
They have got a decent amount of Mega three in
them as well.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Okay, well, we're going to take quick break back in
a moment with Clear Turnbull. It's news Talks. It'll be
with Clear tim Beverage. We got Clear Turnbule and Nutritionness
well us. By the way, if you want to go
and check out Clear's resources on her website, Clear Turnbull.
That's clearer than I Clear Turnbull dot Co dot m
Z And time to squeeze in one quick call a
beyl Hello, Hi, tell.
Speaker 8 (35:49):
Me, I'll make it quick because coming up for the news,
I'm clear. I want to know if you've got any
advice on the control of paste buds in your math.
But sometimes I may have a full tummy, but I
get this edge that I might want to a piece
of chocolate something like that, and I've been trying to
stopped it by eating chewing gum. Two questions. There, have
(36:10):
you got an your verse on the control of tastebuds?
And it's okay to eat chewing gum?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Okay, well, don't swallow it, but anyway avoiding the sweet stuff. Clear, Hang,
aren't we we've lost your We've just lost you. There on,
we've got your back.
Speaker 6 (36:26):
Where you go, and your taste buds can be reprogrammed.
It takes about two three weeks because your tastbirds are
actually like continually dying and re populating themselves actually, so yes,
you can retrain them a lot of It is a
psychological thing, to be honest. So the craving comes from
the fact that you are in a habit with it.
And chewing gum is fine, although it can cause gut issues,
(36:47):
so if you're getting bloating after that, it's likely to
be the chewing gum. I personally drink liquorice tea or
perfumin tea because neither of those things go with something sweet,
like if you ate a biscuit with either of those,
they would taste revolting. But if you had a normal
cup of tea, you'd still have a piece of chocolate
with it.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
So a warm can be had.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I saw licorice ice cream the other day and I
didn't have it, but I tested it.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
Oh, no, it was.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
It was.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Okay, Hey, just quickly, We've only got a couple of
minutes left. But I just wanted to touch on so
we the idea of avoiding ultra processed foods, but I
just wanted to make sure people didn't confuse it with
There are some canned products, you know, like can tomatoes
and things.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
So how how does.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
The uninformed sort of lay person just work out what's
an ultra processed product versus something that's simply been processed
in a simple way like can tomatoes, other sort of
canned foods.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Great, so simple ingredients. So if you've got a can
of product or a packaged product, there's one, two, three, four,
couple of ingredients and with things that you that you
recognize that appears close to the form that it came
in buying right, Absolutely fine, As you said, I've got
heaps of can foods and I have buy food and packets.
When you're buying things that are you know, I've got
(38:05):
really long ingredients lists, lots of attism preserved is really
long shelf life. But like normally it wouldn't like, for example,
with bread, if you make bridge yourself, you know, it
goes off in a couple of days, but when you
buy it in this format lasts for like six months.
You know, you're like, okay, And it doesn't mean that
you can't eat any of these foods.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
I'm not saying that at all.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
It's when these ultra processed foods become the predominant things
that you have in your diet.
Speaker 5 (38:29):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
So there's absolutely fine to beating some processed foods. It's
just when people get in this downward spiral tim of
just ultra process everything's out of packets, long ingredients lift
and doesn't represent real food anymore.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, good stuff. Hey, gosh, time flies clear, Thank you
so much. Hope life's a great No worries for South
Island there.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
Yeah, well it's we're moving now.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
The mountains have clothes, so it's yes, time to get outside.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
Yeah, exactly when the mountain closes, isn't that.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Thanks some. That's your time, Claire. Nice to see.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
We'll look forward to talking again and if you want
to catch up with Claire and her website, go to
Claireturnbull dot co dot is here.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
That's c l a i r E.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk sed B weekends from three pm, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And welcome in or welcome back to the Weekend Collective.
I'm Tim Beverage and this is the Health Hub and
this is where we want your calls and your participation.
On eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. You know the
text number, it's nine to nine to two. But just
quickly before this before for five o'clock, just looking a
little further ahead. For smart money, we're gonna have a
chat about what's known as open banking and like my
(00:32):
blunt question, I got there, what the hell is it
and what does it mean for us? So we're going
to be talking about that after five o'clock. But onto
the Health Hub. And because it's Mental Health Awareness Week
coming up from tomorrow. And you might ask, what has
mental Health Week got to do with nutrition? But food
has more to do apparently with your mood than people realize.
The types of food you consume can have not only
(00:53):
an impact on your physical health, but your mental health too.
In our our next guest, well she needs no introduction,
but she and actually she needs no further introduction, soul
just introducers.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Shall I how about we do that it's clear turnball. Hello, Hello, clear.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
How are you doing?
Speaker 5 (01:09):
Hello, I'm good, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I suddenly realized all the other rhetoric I've had planned
for you. I sort of thought, I'll just get on
an introducer.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
I know she's a wellbeing person, focusing on all sorts
of different things and has a very very big interest
in mental health, both personally and professionally.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
That's where I kind of come in.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, because I mean, you have been You've shared your
mental health battles at times, haven't you, And I mean yeah,
and it has nutrition. Was nutrition something you thought of
while you were going through those battles or was it
sort of second or third in the queue?
Speaker 5 (01:48):
No, A huge I mean it's a huge part of it.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
So I first, I was struggled with depression in my
teenage years. I was put on underdepressants when i was
nineteen years old, and I've been on and off underdepressants,
and I've been had postnatal psychosis, postnatal anxiety. A lot
of people have these struggles once they have children, so
it is it's a part. It's been something that I've
(02:10):
always had to manage. But there's a lot that I've
learned through working in nutrition and in the well being
space for twenty years. That has certainly helped me a lot.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
And yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Mean without those skills, who knows where I would be
right now. Because I'm no longer on medication. I manage
my situation and I'm one of those hypersensitive people because
obviously some people struggle with this stuff more than others.
But one in five, this is the thing, tim in
New Zealand, one in five New Zealanders will struggle with
their mental health on any given year. So it's not
(02:48):
you know, I know that it's I mean, goodness, the
stigma is going away a lot about it now, but
it's really really common for people to struggle. And I
do think absolutely that people don't appreciate the huge impact
that lifestyle can have and for many people, it can
be as effective, if not more effective, than medication.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Actually, when you said your hypersensitive, what did in what
context was that description given?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
I guess that. I mean, there are some people that
are more at risk.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Maybe that's not the right word, but there's there's there's
some people that are definitely like I'm very very sensitive
to medication in general.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
I drink if I drink, if I drink.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
A physiological thing, not don't criticize clears here doo because
she's hyper.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Yeah yeah, sorry, yeah no.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
I guess I'm always one of those people that, like,
there's some people that are very they're just naturally resilient.
I'm a resilient person in the skills that I've learned.
But you know, even since I was like started drinking
at university, I've always been a person that, you know,
two or three drinks and I really got you know,
really blue very quickly, whereas other people are fine. And
(03:57):
you know, I've always been a person that I can't
have lots of caffeine and that's been a thing that
sexs me.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
So we're all different.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
That's an interesting one, just on the booze.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I mean, I thought we'd wait a while to got
onto the alcohol because that's the obvious one.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But it is.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Interesting seeing how some people are really quite happy when
they have a drink or two. And I'm not sure
if that's a chemical reaction or because of the of
the psychological signal they've sent themselves that I'm having a drink,
therefore this is happier. I mean, they call it happier,
and yet there are you know, I mean, I wonder
if that's problematic, But then there are other people. I mean,
(04:30):
I don't we all know the person who does sort
of get very cheerful and the next thing, you know,
towards the end of the night there crying about heartache
and things. And there are people who just should never
touch a drop.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
You're so it's really different.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
And I think that the alcohol in itself is a depressant,
so it does give that lift of a high, but
you know, for most people there will be a downside.
For some people it's less than others. And this is
why people's how they tolerate alcohol, and the same for caffeine.
One of the things that we definitely know, particularly as
(05:04):
women get older, and you know, for some men find
this too. Age makes a difference to your level of tolerance,
how much exercise you do, how much sleep you have.
But one of the things that's interesting to him is
I started antidepressants at nineteen and I was on my
first round of antidepressants for seven years. And because back
then that was over twenty years ago, right, no one
(05:24):
even mentioned to me that alcohol was probably the reason
why I needed to be on medication for so long,
if I honestly stopped drinking, like I think, I could
have been on the medication for a very short period
of time and then come off. Thank goodness. Now, the
message out there around alcohol is there. But I mean
it was crazy that I didn't realize how much that was.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That's quite a blind spot.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I actually would suggest that we still have quite a
blind spot with alcohol in a different way. Like obviously
an adoptor who's talking to you about mental health, I
would have thought that, you know, the alcohol would be
a front and foremost of you know around medication and things.
But I still have the suspicion that we still think that,
you know, a couple of thanks every night sort of
(06:06):
every night of the week. It's not bad when it
infect alcohol is. I don't want to be rain on
people's parade because I quite enjoy whiskey about three two
or three white nights a week.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
But to poison, Oh no, no, no, you're actually right.
I'm English. I love MARGARITEA love drinking for me right now,
I love Anglish.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I love a pint.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
Actually, you know that you're absolutely right, like yes, rock
drinking choice right, you.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
See, I'm from the Hispanic country or something.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I love a margarita and a tequila and things.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
That makes sense.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
But well, Gin and Tonic did its round with all
the bars, and now margaritas are all the popular ones, right.
But I think, you know, for me, if I have
any more than two units in now the next couple
of days, I feel really horrendous. And that's really interesting
because that's within safe guidelines, although there's you know how
(06:58):
I so I really think with how you feel, you
really need to take your own barometer, you know. I
think that guidelines exist. You know, Oh well I can eat,
I drink up to fourteen units of our coolo week
and that's what the government says is fine. Well maybe
not if that doesn't work for you, you know, Like
and I think we've got to be realistic about general
(07:21):
advice and actually how we feel in response to things.
And I would encourage everybody that drinks alcohol who's listening,
if you are struggling with anxiety, low mood, just take
a break for a week this Mental Health Awareness month
and just see how different, because you know what, it
doesn't feel different overnight for a lot of people. It
(07:41):
will take a good couple of days or a week
or two and then you're like, man, I do feel different,
because people don't feel after three days. It might be
not enough. You need to do a couple of weeks
to think. God, actually this really makes me feel rubbish.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Yeah, do you I mean, do you completely avoid it now?
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Not to the most degree. Yes.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I'd probably have like two units a week because otherwise
I'd be straight back on antidepressants. I really would. And
I mean I'm in you know, in my forties, I'm
on hormone replacement therapy. I mean that that perimenopause and
menopause will face, which makes women more sensitive to alcohol.
But even my husband, now he's kind of in his forties,
(08:25):
in his late forties, he's really starting to notice, you know,
he can't the impacts are bigger of it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh yeah, I mean, you know, you're more bullet proof
to all sorts of things. You fall over when you're eighteen,
you get straight back.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know, if you're seventy and you hit the ground,
had it takes your while. Same thing with the anything induraively.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Isn't it.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (08:43):
And it's one of the challenging things around alcohol is
what is good for your mental well being is connection
with other people, laughing, spending time with people that you
care about, and it's just one of the things the
realities in New Zealand, as in many countries, that often
goes hands in hands with alcohol. So you've got one
great thing and one not so great thing. And I
(09:04):
think we're different to you know, in Europe for example,
where they might have a glass of wine and spend
six hours laughing with their friends and telling stories, whereas
a lot of people here go a lot harder with
the booze when they're catching it up with people.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, okay, so it's alcohol, But where does the food
side of it come and what have you learned in
terms of foods that you should avoid or is it
about and because there's also such a thing as comfort
food giving yourself a treat, you know, where the food
that you might not recommend, but you know, I'm feeling
a bit down the dumps and you have that piece
(09:38):
of cake or doughnut or whatever. So how does the
food fit them with mental health?
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Well, essentially, the food that you eat is obviously the
fuel that ends up fueling every part of your body
but also your brain. And we know now and the
research is coming through really strongly actually, that there is
a link between what you eat and your likelihood of
your risk of developing or struggling with depression and anxiety.
(10:07):
So one of the things we absolutely know with the
rise in food that is highly processed, which.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
You know is no surprise to anybody when.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Things when you buy foods with really long ingredients lists
and lots of additives and preservatives and colors and dyes
and things that have been in plastic packets exposed to microplastics,
we can just knows how long that is not going
to be something that is going to be good for
your brain. And the research is just like is just
saying time and time again, the more food that you
eat that is highly processed and out of packets regularly,
(10:40):
that's not saying a can of tomatoes and a packet
of oats, right, this is food that is so far
from its original form, which.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
Is a lot of it now.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Really is one of the pieces of the puzzle that
we know to be true when it comes to mental
well being. And again it's like al Conol wants to
hear that we will time poor.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Don't make me feel bad for these packets.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
I'm not trying to I'm just saying the reality is
in our environment with it with you know two people working,
people being time poor. Often, you know older people having
to spend a lot of time looking after themselves because
their families are too busy. This is the world that
we now live in and it's having a massive negative
impact on a mental well being.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Are there foods that can have as dramatic effect on
your on your well being? And mental well being is
as much as alcohol as we've discussed us, Are.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
There some foods you should really have moderation avoid or
have more of both?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Well, let's start with a void. Let's get the.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Negative and more focus on the positive.
Speaker 6 (11:43):
So caffeine is one of the other things as well. Now,
there's nothing wrong, no, I know, tea and coffee are great.
They've got antioxidants in them. There's heaps of good things
about tea and coffee, right, right, truly, I drink both
tea and coffee. But if somebody is going through a
phase in their life when they are struggling with anxiety, right,
there's less the depression size and more the anxiety side.
(12:06):
It's a stimulant at the end of the day. And
so there's two things that happen. Number One, too much
caffeine in your system compromises your sleep. If you're not
getting enough sleep, you're more likely to be anxious and
struggle with your mood. So that's there's that cycle of it.
But the other thing is that caffeine does make some
people feel anxious, and there are people that will have
you know, five black double black coffee is a day.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
And they're sweet, and it's never going to be that situation.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
But if someone's gone through a breakup or a heartache,
or a lot of job loss, or a you know,
a hormonal change or a health crisis, and they've started
to notice anxiety. If they've they've been fine with like
how much tea and coffee or fizzy drinks with caffeine
and they've had before, they wouldn't think about it. They
wouldn't even think about it. Yeah, and they go like,
(12:54):
end up at the doctors. I'm feeling really anxious, I'm
doing whatever, And actually I'm like, and I'm.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Often gp'st They've got like ten minutes.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
You know, they're not they're not asking whether you're drinking
six coffee or eight cups of tea a day. But truly,
the difference it can make if you're feeling if you're
going through an anxious period to just you know, there's
some really great decaff coffee out there. It doesn't been
going completely all that way, but just I would definitely
say that it's something within your control to try and
(13:24):
if it doesn't work after a week, it wasn't that what.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Actually, just give us some the effects on caffeine content
of T versus coffee.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Where are we at with those numbers?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Where are we at with that? Well?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
So the recommendations in New Zealand are to keep your
caffeine to less than four hundred milligrams a day. If
you are pregnant, it's two hundred milligrams a day. And
I would suggest that anyone that is struggling with anxiety
that is definitely they're closer to the two hundred milligrams
a day. In terms of how much, like a cup
(13:58):
of tea might be eighty to one hundred, depending on
how strong the tea bag is. Oh my goodness, it
depends on how they's.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
You can still have a couple.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Of cups of two day it's fine, and a coffee
might be one hundred and fifty two hundred milligrams. One
of the things that's really important is to realize that
the coffee that you make in your coffee machine at
home or if you use an espresso or a pod like,
it's really different. There is no like this is what
how much caffeine's in coffee? It's really different. On my website,
(14:29):
on Claireturble dot co, dot and z, if you go
to recipes and resources, there is a guide that's got
all the caffeine on it, okay, which goes through like
Green Tea, which is like thirty five milligrams ish. But
it does depend on the type of thing.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So what's a commercial you know you go to Because
in New Zealand we're pretty good at making coffees, you know,
you know that you're safe in most cafes to get
a reasonably good coffee. What's an espresso double shot? You
know you go and you have a flat white two
shots and a latte or a latte?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Do we know what roy that would be?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I know that's a lot to pull the different numbers.
In fact, I'll have to google that myself.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
I'm looking at it now.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
I'm telling you because I've got this in front of
makes it so so a cappuccino is yeah, like a
single shot would be one hundred, so a double shot
would be two hundreds, two hundreds. Yeah, so a plunge
of coffee and a couple of god, plunge of cofee
depends so much instructions in the bag.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I'm just curious because people can look it up themselves.
They yeah, the numbers too much. I was just curious
to so.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
So two hundreds.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
So basically one double shot coffee or two cups of
tea is where is where we're kind of sitting at.
But it's really really again, this is something be the
experiment of yourself. Don't change all the things in one.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Go, because I've got a text going, oh this is
this is depressing, just the you know what you're gonna
have to cut out. It's not about going cold turkey
on things. It's just thinking, thinking about what you're consuming.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
Yeah, and if it absolutely is and again this is
you know, so the depression stuff is probably more special anxiety,
the whole stuff, and the caffeine part for the anxiety particularly,
and so many people struggle with anxiety, you know, honestly,
I mean, goodness, gracious, we're ending up being like the
UK like in the UK, I think one in four
(16:19):
adults are on antidepressant or anting anxiety medication.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
Like for adults, that absolutely blows my mind.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
And you know what, we are not going to be
far off that, I'm sure because the answer is I
feel terrible, I feel depressed.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
I take medication.
Speaker 6 (16:35):
Medication has its place, but the lifestyle stuff has to
be looked at because otherwise you can't. This medication is
not designed to be taking long term for a lot
of people. So we have to look at those other things.
And there are positive things, tim and that's what we
will talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
We're going to talk about in fact, I'm doing to
know about the foods that really are a positive thing
to eat in terms of your impact on.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Your mental health.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
If you've got any questions for clear Tamble and if
you listen to the show before, you know is a
familiar voice to us on the Weekend Collective, So we'd
love your course. If you've got any questions with Claire
on eight hundred and eighty ten eighty and text on
nine two nine two. We'll be back in just a moment.
It's twenty four past four. Yes, welcome back to the
Weekend Collecting my guess is clear, turnabile and nutrition US.
That's clear, turnbull dot code dot n Z clear with
(17:19):
an eye. By the way, although I'm sure if you
make a spelling error will probably say did you mean
such and such because I are so clever.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Now we're talking.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
About mental health and foods impact on it are both ways,
And obviously we know that alcohol not necessarily the greatest
thing for mental health. But we're talking about food and clear,
let's talk about the positives. What are the foods where
if you are tending towards, you know, maybe eating, not
feeling great about things, are there foods that, as part
(17:49):
of a sort of good diet, make you feel better,
help you feel better?
Speaker 6 (17:53):
Yes, yes, yes, okay. So there's kind of two focus
points here. One is the foods that nourish your guts,
which we'll talk to, and then the second one, which
is are a mega three, which is our long tim
type of fact that we need to have, which is
essential for the brain and essential for mood. So if
we start with the gut side of things, so your
(18:15):
gut and your brain are connected. And one of the
kind of thoughts around that is the fact that the
neurotransmitters which so you might have heard of serotonin, which
is your body's natural antidepressant.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
So that is influenced by the health of your gut.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
So inside your guts are trillions and trillions of microorganisms, right,
Like You've got a whole little forest of stuff going
on inside of you. And that how healthy those microorganisms
in like how healthy a forest environment is, impacts your mood,
impacts your body's ability to produce and manage the amount
(18:57):
of these neurotransmitters, including the natural antidepressant serotonin. So you know,
this is what these drugs do. This is what what
are what are antidepressent medication? You know one of the
most common ones SSRI serotone reuptape inhibitors. What they do
is they keep serotonin in the brain. Right, let's start
getting more serotonin in the brain. Let's start actually creating it.
(19:22):
And that's the power that food can have. So with
the gut, what are we doing. We need to feed
these microorganisms the fuel that they need, right, and what
do they feed off? One of the things biber. Fiber
is not a glamorous word in nutrition, I absolutely understand that,
but it is what feeds these microorganisms and helps them
(19:44):
stay stronger, and the research shows that adding an extra
five grams of fiber a day from reduce your risk
of depression by five percent, which is a small but
you know, it's a very easy thing to be doing,
and the.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Context helps you create serotonin.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
Well it helps, yes, exactly, this whole proces. I mean
that's a very simplified version of but it impacts on
your body's ability to regulate the hormones that manage and
control your mood. Right, So this fiber that is making
you know, so if you're having like rices and corn
flakes for breakfast, it would be moving to muselei and oats.
(20:24):
One tablespoon of cheer seeds, which is they're very common,
very easily available, very affordable. It's five grams of fiber.
So if you put shoved tablespoon of cheer seeds on
your breakfast, you can soak them. I've got all sorts
of recipes on my website with them. That's an easy
way to get five grams and that's going to help
you know, reaching our getting enough fruits and vegetables a
(20:46):
day is also going to help get that get that
fiber in and just swapping for your grainy crackers, grainy bread,
brown rice, over white rice, some of the stuff that
helps all other aspects of.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Our well being.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
But in New Zealand, the average person gets about twenty
grams a day, and as a mountain, you need thirty
eight grams right like even, And if you think about
on average, that means that the people like me and
you know, we're right up there on our high fiber,
other people are probably only getting five ten grams a day.
So there's a massive mismatch here, and it really does
(21:23):
make a difference.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Actually, oats, because when I look at porridge, you know,
and you make a bowl of porridge, I'm not a
huge fan of porridge'll be honest. And oats just can
you judge how much fibers and something just by looking
at it, because I always look at oats and it
can't be that high on fiber.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, you know, whole meal flour.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Yeah, well, I mean you can. It depends.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
I mean, as soon as food is processed in any way,
it obviously makes it look different. But I mean, I
to be honest, I'm not a big porridge fan either.
I actually eat all of my oats soaked, so I
soak in the morning of oats.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
And cheer seeds and milk and yogurt and make.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
It into kind of like that sort of thing.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Yeah, yeah, and you know what, like I know that,
you know, I'd like a polo con flex and and
lots of sugar on it and some what. But like,
really I might have that sometimes, but actually I know
that other thing is actually going to make me feel
better and keep me you know, Otherwise the antidepressant medication
is going to be right back in there.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So, yes, I've got lots of questions for myself, but
we've been let some callers. I have a say to
eight hundred and eighty and eight Sonny.
Speaker 7 (22:29):
Hello, Hi, dear hell clear, Hello him. Just a question
about I've been an editor Press's Settle or prem for
almost twelve years and I've just wean off and come
off at the last couple of weeks. I was just thinking,
(22:50):
you know, I should have come off earlier than that,
because when I do my online research, it does say
that it has been incredibly long that I have been
on that medication.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
I mean, just to be absolutely clear, While my dad
is doctor and my brother as a doctor, I am
not a doctor. So I'm not going to claim that,
and in that I can talk to my experience on
this and what I know to be true on this stuff.
You know, the general You know, with antidepressants, I was
on them for seven years, which was way too long
for me. You know, antidepressants are kind of for most
(23:24):
people a short term a short term solution to often
help people get more active, get more sleep, eat better,
solve the problems in their lives that are actually contributing
to their low mood, see like low testosterone that can
cause depression. So having these are the kind of things
(23:45):
looked in at. I think the facts of the matter
is that, you know, it depends on the doctor that's
seen you, it depends on the advice that you've got.
There's so many different opinions. Like I've seen three or
four gps about my antidepressant use and they've all said
something completely different. Right, Like one of the last doctor
I have I was like, you can be on for
the rest of your life. I was like, I don't
want to beat Yeah, someone else someone else was like, actually,
(24:08):
you need to be on hormone replacement therapy and that's
going to be better. So I think what's been done
has been done in your situation. You know, don't feel
bad about what that is. Do understand though, that if
you've been on that for a really long time. I
mean when I was on those for seven years, it
took me a year to come off them. So I
would I would strongly say that one of the things.
There's an amazing doctor in the UK, and you can
(24:30):
email me about this and I'll send you the link
who's actually got the who's done guidelines in the UK
about how to help people come off antidepressant medication, because
that's not actually in the guidelines. The guidelines is, yeah,
this is what you should take and then oh, it's
just going to take you three or four weeks to
come off them, like really when you've been on them
for twelve years. So yeah, but now is the time
(24:52):
to think about your lifestyle stuff and what you can.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Do, Sunny.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Can I just ask you coming off that medication with
the support of a doctor or health professional or you
just doing it yourself.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
No, I've spoke to my GP about it. It's been
my GP for twenty years.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Good good, oh good.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I wanted to dig that in the conversation because I
would we don't want to encourage anyone to change the in
medication with that.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Definitely, I run it past my doctor. But I just
tried to come off. I think it was a bad
time and the year twenty twenty one were having those lockdowns.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Yeah scientific so nick pain and yeah and headgs. So
I went straight back after I think almost three weeks
coming off. So really is it is?
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it's really challenging. And I feel for you so
so much. And you know, if you feel really go
back to your DP and get that support again, you
know you've you've done the right thing by getting the
support of your GP through that.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And but it is, you know often that answer pressant use.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
It is about actually then helping people to say because
some people, when you get so low you can't exercise,
you don't you're not sleeping properly, it's really difficult to
motivate yourself to eat properly, and all those things to
care for yourself are often really hard when you're feeling
really down, and that can be where medication is amazing,
but we still need These are the pieces of the puzzle,
which is natural daylight. I mean Tim, Tim and I
(26:16):
have talked about this before, but like we are designed
to be outside again. As well as food influencing serotonin,
one of the biggest things that influencers serotonin is natural light.
Exposing your eyes to natural light helps your brain and
helps your body manage all that serotonin and helps you
sleep better.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
One of the biggest challenges I see with depression and
anxiety today in my work, you know, is the fact
that people are not spending enough time outside.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
And that's one of the things that Thanks for your call,
by the way, something really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
That's one of the things about.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Modes is that when you are feeling, you know, not
very happy with life or whether it be just whatever
the causes, sometimes people the last thing they want to
do is go outside. They feel like staying inside. But
actually the blue light. We've had this from our sleep
doctor Alex Battle about Yes, how basically what you produce
in serotonin by exposing yourself to blue light converts to
(27:10):
melotonin at nighttime and helps you sleep. I guess that's
the same with eating your fiber in the morning.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. This all play.
Speaker 6 (27:22):
It all plays into how we were naturally designed to
you know, this depression and anxiety thing. It's a new
problem in society. I know it's not since you and
I've been alive. But if we look back into you know,
into hunter gatherers societies, right where the people are living outside,
they're eating whole food, they're spending time with community and family,
(27:42):
they're singing around campfires, right, that isn't happening. So this
whole problem is is actually it's not. And do you
know the biggest thing that I feel in mental health
that I do want to say is that I think
people blame themselves for this situation. We are actually living
in a time where it's really really difficult to look
after yourself because the modern world is so crazy. So
(28:04):
don't add some blame to this halt, No, but you
can do things about it, and often that don't cost anything.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Hey, we're going to take a break. We'll be back
with Claire and I want to have a chat. We'll
dig into the idea of comfort food, which may not
actually be great for you. But and when comfort food
is actually sort of okay, because you know, comfort food
happens to be donuts, we might dig into that a
little bit after the break. Yes, welcome back to the
week and collecting my guest as Claire Turnbull. We're talking
(28:33):
about mental health and nutrition and how the two can
go together and contribute in either a good or a
bad way.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I guess, Claire, the thing with comfort foods.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
I have a suspicion that comfort food is for transitory
and moments of where you're feeling a bit down, if
you had a big day, and things like that. But
the comfort foods that you're traditionally you know, the guilty
foods where you go I have a big piece of
carrot cake or banana cake. But if that becomes your
food you're using to try and get you out of
a long term funk, I would think that's not a
good idea.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
I mean there's two fundamentally different things when we think
about comfort food, right. Comfort food, I guess, in its
traditional kind of sense was Grandma's apple pie and custard.
That's comforting that actually evokes positive memories, you know, sweet
sweet food, And it.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Might be a rich dessert.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
It might be a thing that you enjoy with other
people and it's part of a celebration and a connection.
It's consciously eating something that is decadent and delicious, but
you are doing it with other people and it evokes
positive emotions because it's like Gradma's apple pie, right, that
is fundamentally different, And I've written a whole.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Book about it, and you'll fight with food.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
My whole book is about the fact that in the
world today, a lot of people use food exactly and
you're saying donuts, cake, ice cream and alcohol to manage
their feelings. And that is because we have become really
bad at being a able to manage really strong emotions anger, fear, frustration, irritation.
Speaker 5 (30:12):
You know, the world.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
Is a lot, there's lots. It's difficult, but we go
through difficult things. Work can be difficult, Relationships can be difficult,
Listening to what's going on the world can be difficult.
And one of the ways that people manage that is
by eating and drinking. That is not a positive thing
because you want to be able to eat a piece
of cake or have a glass of wine because you
(30:33):
consciously chose that and you're actually going to feel good
after eating it. So what I talk about in my
book actually is about how you feel after eating or drinking.
If you eat a piece of cake or a donut
and you feel good about that afterwards, you made the
right decision if you.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
You know you like I consciously ate that.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
Like I went, I was away with my boys at
the weekend school holidays, went to the ice cream shop,
sat there, had like hokey pokey ice cream and something else,
and I sat down.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
I was like, do you know what?
Speaker 6 (30:59):
This is absolutely flipping delicious. I don't do it this often.
I sat there, I was on the wall. We were
having a chat. I was like, this was absolutely the
right decision. But there's a really big difference between standing
in your pantry and eating, you know, half a block
of whitakers on your own because you've had a rubbish
day like that. Those those two scenarios are worlds apart.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I've had some some ticks around bread and things. And
I was actually going to ask you this myself because
I make my own livened bread, because I had using
the word sourder because there's nothing sair about it. But
but is there something and those you know, the types
of the way wheat products are produced or that makes
them less or better more healthy in terms of naturally
(31:44):
livened breads and products as opposed to the process sort
of breed your bart at the supermarket.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know, if you're buying
ultra processed.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Bread, process bread though, so what's that like.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Something that's going to last in your pantry for like
a week and a half without going moldy?
Speaker 7 (32:04):
You know, my bread?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
That's why it's the breath that's as white as snow,
that says it's got lots of fiber?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Is that to be trusted?
Speaker 6 (32:13):
Yeah, I mean there's for you know, there's much better
ways to get fiber. Yes, basically, you know, you're absolutely
right when you're making it yourself. You're doing it which
you know, if you've got the time to do that
is going to be a better option. There are certainly
different types of foods that some people are more sensitive
to and others, and you know a lot of people
(32:36):
do find, you know, a lot of eating a lot
of processed wheat products doesn't make them feel great, And
I think you need to try again. This is that
that that that intuitive part of ourselves that we actually
know to be true. One of the things from a
positive perspective is which I kind of land on before,
is this a Mega three piece, which I do think
is really really important. So Amiga three is basically a
(32:58):
lot a type of fat that we have to get
in our diet because we our body does not make
it ourselves. One of the reasons that the Mediterranean is
known to be, you know, a healthy place to live
is because naturally in the Mediterranean they a lot of
oily fish and this is fundamentally essential for brain health,
(33:22):
but also has been shown time and time again through
research to have a big impact on mood, to the
point where you know, high doses of Amiga three for
somebody that is kind of like mild depression symptoms can
for some people be as effective and if they're taken
with antidepressants, they just enhance the effectiveness of them.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
And I, you know, I personally take a Mega three.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
I that is one thing that I absolutely take specifically
for my mood, specifically because I've been an antipressant since
I was nineteen, you know, on and off since.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
I was nineteen. And where can you get it from?
Speaker 6 (33:56):
So we know that New Zealand salmon is one of
the one of the best sources. It's much better than
Atlantic salmon. So if you notice that Atlantic salmon is
coming to our supermarkets, it is cheaper, but it is
lower a Mega three, but actually tien one of the
best sources that you can get that is really affordable
is a can of sardines. If you have a can
of sardines a couple of times a week, I get that.
You know, some people love them and they hate them.
(34:18):
But on the same token, salmon is expensive, right, and
I get that. So so if that's just you know,
mash it with a bit of mayonnaise, put a bit
of pepper in it, it is a good source of amiga.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
We're actually going to have to follow through on that
because I'm pretty sure we've talked about sardines before because
there's so much cheaper, and there was a time when
sardines were you know, that was the sort of fishcy well,
and then everyone got up to salmon because we all
got a bit posh.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
So yeah, that's a good bit of advice.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Actually, just one other thing I saw a bit of
advice talking about if you're filling pickers for a bit
of protein, that walnuts are quite a good little snack.
And including that, are they a source of omega three?
Speaker 5 (34:57):
Well, this is the thing.
Speaker 6 (34:58):
So the plant sources of amiga three, Cheers's, walnuts, et cetera.
They do have a little bit of a mega three,
but it's a different type and has to get converted
into the type that is better for your mood and.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
For your brain.
Speaker 6 (35:09):
So yes, that's helpful, but no, in the doses that
we're talking about for mood management, it's not going to
cut it by any stretch of the imagination.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
Okay, which is why I, you know, I really.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
Encourage people to look at alternative sources like sardines are
really there. They are affordable muscles again, green shell muscles.
We live in a country where you can get them.
They're cheap.
Speaker 5 (35:28):
They have got a decent amount of Mega three in
them as well.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Okay, well, we're going to take quick break back in
a moment with Clear Turnbull. It's news Talks. It'll be
with Clear tim Beverage. We got Clear Turnbule and Nutritionness
well us. By the way, if you want to go
and check out Clear's resources on her website, Clear Turnbull.
That's clearer than I Clear Turnbull dot Co dot m
Z And time to squeeze in one quick call a
beyl Hello, Hi, tell.
Speaker 8 (35:49):
Me, I'll make it quick because coming up for the news,
I'm clear. I want to know if you've got any
advice on the control of paste buds in your math.
But sometimes I may have a full tummy, but I
get this edge that I might want to a piece
of chocolate something like that, and I've been trying to
stopped it by eating chewing gum. Two questions. There, have
(36:10):
you got an your verse on the control of tastebuds?
And it's okay to eat chewing gum?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Okay, well, don't swallow it, but anyway avoiding the sweet stuff. Clear, Hang,
aren't we we've lost your We've just lost you. There on,
we've got your back.
Speaker 6 (36:26):
Where you go, and your taste buds can be reprogrammed.
It takes about two three weeks because your tastbirds are
actually like continually dying and re populating themselves actually, so yes,
you can retrain them a lot of It is a
psychological thing, to be honest. So the craving comes from
the fact that you are in a habit with it.
And chewing gum is fine, although it can cause gut issues,
(36:47):
so if you're getting bloating after that, it's likely to
be the chewing gum. I personally drink liquorice tea or
perfumin tea because neither of those things go with something sweet,
like if you ate a biscuit with either of those,
they would taste revolting. But if you had a normal
cup of tea, you'd still have a piece of chocolate
with it.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
So a warm can be had.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I saw licorice ice cream the other day and I
didn't have it, but I tested it.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
Oh, no, it was.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
It was.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Okay, Hey, just quickly, We've only got a couple of
minutes left. But I just wanted to touch on so
we the idea of avoiding ultra processed foods, but I
just wanted to make sure people didn't confuse it with
There are some canned products, you know, like can tomatoes
and things.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
So how how does.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
The uninformed sort of lay person just work out what's
an ultra processed product versus something that's simply been processed
in a simple way like can tomatoes, other sort of
canned foods.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Great, so simple ingredients. So if you've got a can
of product or a packaged product, there's one, two, three, four,
couple of ingredients and with things that you that you
recognize that appears close to the form that it came
in buying right, Absolutely fine, As you said, I've got
heaps of can foods and I have buy food and packets.
When you're buying things that are you know, I've got
(38:05):
really long ingredients lists, lots of attism preserved is really
long shelf life. But like normally it wouldn't like, for example,
with bread, if you make bridge yourself, you know, it
goes off in a couple of days, but when you
buy it in this format lasts for like six months.
You know, you're like, okay, And it doesn't mean that
you can't eat any of these foods.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
I'm not saying that at all.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
It's when these ultra processed foods become the predominant things
that you have in your diet.
Speaker 5 (38:29):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
So there's absolutely fine to beating some processed foods. It's
just when people get in this downward spiral tim of
just ultra process everything's out of packets, long ingredients lift
and doesn't represent real food anymore.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, good stuff. Hey, gosh, time flies clear, Thank you
so much. Hope life's a great No worries for South
Island there.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
Yeah, well it's we're moving now.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
The mountains have clothes, so it's yes, time to get outside.
Speaker 5 (38:59):
Yeah, exactly when the mountain closes, isn't that.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Thanks some. That's your time, Claire. Nice to see.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
We'll look forward to talking again and if you want
to catch up with Claire and her website, go to
Claireturnbull dot co dot is here.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
That's c l a i r E.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk sed B weekends from three pm, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio
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