British psychologist Kimberly Wilson Since working as a therapist at London’s Holloway Prison, then the largest women’s prison in Europe, Wilson has worked with people from all backgrounds, but those formative years shape the advice she gives to clients and patients to this day.
During his time at Holloway, Wilson was a food and mental health She studied the behavior and actions of groups.The initial findings were very promising and influenced the research Wilson has done over the past decade, as well as her two books.How to develop a healthy brain“(Yellow Kite, 2020)” and “Unprocessed food: How the food we eat is contributing to our mental health crisis” (Ebury Publishing, 2023).
In an interview with Live Science, Wilson talked about her journey from her early days to what she does today, highlighting the connection between mental health and nutrition.
Sacha Pare: You trained as a psychologist and then became interested in nutrition, what first sparked your interest in food?
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Kimberly Wilson: The first real job I got after qualifying was working for a charity developing and delivering therapy for inmates in prisons. [between 2008 and 2013] At the time (and I believe that still holds true today), self-harmers accounted for around 50% of all incidents of self-harm in UK prisons, even though they only made up around 6% of the total UK prison population. [Recent figures show that in 2022, women prisoners accounted for 29% of self-harm incidents while making up only 4% of the U.K. prison population. And between 2022 and 2023, rates of self-harm increased by 43% in female establishments.]
at that time, This copy [in the Netherlands] of [2002 U.K.] study They took a group of violent male prisoners and improved their nutritional status through supplements. [capsules containing vitamins, minerals and fatty acids]Their study found that the objective incidence of violence (and by objective I don’t mean, “How are you feeling? Do you want to hit someone today?” but actually looking at a logbook at the end of the wing and counting how many infractions there were) was 30% lower in the group that took the supplement compared to the group that took a placebo.
That was amazing to me: I was already working in prisons and thinking about safety and harm, and here was a high-quality, gold-standard study showing that a safe, accessible, low-risk, low-cost intervention could significantly improve the health of not only prisoners but staff as well.
SP: That sounds very promising. How does this new information fit in with your training as a psychologist?
keyword: This raised some really interesting questions for me as a psychologist about how much of a patient’s behavior is actually within the patient’s own understanding, and how much is influenced by things that the patient is completely unaware of. I found it a fascinating field, and very relevant to the work that I was trying to do.
SP: How did your colleagues and peers take the new information? Have you seen any changes in terms of nutrition while working in the prison?
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keyword: I tried to talk to the governor. [warden] We told our health chiefs about this and asked them to see if we could do a small trial or offer the supplement to women who are most at risk. But we got no response. Just no response. It’s really interesting how little people are interested in asking this question. Since then, we’ve replicated this data two more times, and now we’re up to four times. In the United StatesUK, Netherlands, Singapore — shows the same thing: better nutrition leads to less violence.
SP: So you were convinced by the data presented, even if some of your colleagues were not. A few years later you left your forensic work in prisons to set up a private practice in central London. How did you start to incorporate nutrition into your practice?
keyword: I did my Masters in Nutrition and specifically studied the role of nutrition in brain health – specifically brain health and neurodegeneration and how a healthy brain improves mental health outcomes broadly – and that’s when I started thinking about nutrition with my clients and my patients.
SP: Do you think there has been an increase in interest in recent years in the kind of work you do – more holistic therapies that integrate a lifestyle element?
keyword: Certainly, there has been more discussion about this and with that, more skepticism. I think this is important, but I think there is definitely a much broader understanding on social media. Is the brain somehow connected to the body? And does the quality or state of nutrition influence neurological or psychological symptoms? I think these are really important questions. I think reintegrating the brain into the body is absolutely essential for the future of mental health treatment and research.
SP: of Gut-brain axis This immediately springs to mind: have there been any recent studies that show a link between nutrition and brain health?
keyword: When we look at the diet of mothers and the brain health of their children, there is indeed a very clear link. For example, we have no hesitation in saying, Iodine deficiency is the main cause It causes the most preventable brain damage in the world, leading to a permanent loss of IQ. Similarly, the higher the maternal omega-3 intake, The baby’s overall brain volume increases and Connectivity. [These studies are small, observational and were not designed to show that higher omega-3 intake caused higher brain volume.]
In terms of broader dietary intake, the data is now coming in. First of all, diets high in ultra-processed foods (UPF) are low in nutrients. This is a phenomenon seen all over the world, and the problem that this relationship poses for the brain is that the brain is the most starved organ in the body. The brain has an enormous nutrient requirement. So the concern is, if you have a population of adults and children who are consuming high rates of UPF, are their brains getting the nutrients they need to function properly? It seems unlikely.
People with high UPF value [intake] have Increased incidence of depression and anxietyand Increased risk of depression and Common mental disorders Later. Also, Accelerated cognitive decline and Increased overall dementia risk.
[High UPF intake is tied to other major factors that impact people’s health — for example, people with low incomes who face food insecurity and receive government food benefits often consume more processed foods, and they are thus facing additional stressors beyond the foods they eat.]
SP: How do you communicate that information to your clients and patients?
keyword: I’m just trying to present the evidence. “The evidence shows that just adding a few more fruits and vegetables to your diet can… I’ll help you feel a little betterWould you like to try this? [Studies showing the impacts of fruit and vegetable intake on mood are largely observational.]
For some people, nutrition may have a big impact on how they feel, but for others it may not, so you might just want to try it for a while and see how it goes.
SP: You also do a lot of science communication work on social media platforms. Do you communicate in a more prescriptive way online? (Actually, I’ve stalked you.) Instagram.
keyword: The irony of social media is that people are looking to you to tell them what to do, and I’m like, ‘Here’s the information, use it however you like.’ I think it’s important for people to have that information, but it’s not a command.
Kimberly Wilson said:Intuition“This year’s Cheltenham Science FestivalIt will be held from June 4th to 9th.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
