The Connection Between Nutrition and Mental Health | Karen Mayo of the Book, Mindful Eating

Incorporating greens. I know people say that all the time, but it really. Okay, so this is the science nerd in me coming out. Greens are amazing. So this is what I think helped for me to understand, like, what was going on with my nephew. We would eat just like normal. So we would have pizza with him and we would. I mean, I would just make sure that you have a salad. So the green salad, the dark, leafy green salad helps to oxidize the stress. It helps to break down the gluten and all of the. I would say the sugars. Right. That are in the gluten, that are in the pasta that are in the pizza, and helps to break all of that down. So if you just added in greens and if you went from spirulina to chlorella to liquid chlorophyll, just adding those in would actually start to change a palate.

Welcome to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. We are here to inspire creative IDE connections for entrepreneurs and advocates working to address our mental health crisis. As you listen, I hope you will experience new ideas and motivation to innovate in your business, your community, and in your life. All right, welcome. Welcome, everyone, to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. It's great to be back, and I am eager to talk to our guest today who is looking at a different angle of mental wellness. Karen Mayo is a nutritionist with the Amen Clinics as well as her own private practice and the author of Mindful Eating. She looks at mental wellness through the lens of what we put in our bodies. Welcome, Karen.

Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here today to talk about this different way of looking at mental health in America.

As I was telling you before we started here, this podcast started for me because I've been a therapist for 25 years. It's been amazing. I think therapy is amazing. And we have. This whole time, I have had a wait list, I have a group practice. Now we have wait lists. We can't meet the need. We need other things to support mental wellness in our community. It needs to be therapy. And. And so I really am excited to talk to you about that today and maybe even what some of your thoughts are about that.

Yeah, well, I have lots of thoughts. So, as you know, there is more work out there than you can handle, as you just said. And you know, with the clinics, at Amen Clinics, we are like, there's a waiting list. It's packed. I am my private practice just slammed with new patients, clients, but also just understanding how food affects our well being. Number one, and our mental well being or not our emotional well being. And as you know, there's a lot of mental health issues going on.

Oh, yeah. And Covid just ramped that up.

It totally did. And during COVID as you know, we were all stuck inside. But at that point, I was like, what can I do while being locked inside to help people in our field and our mental health arena? So I learned during COVID as everyone probably did too, something new. So new learning helps with brains, right? Brain synapses bring just in general new learning. So I learned how to edit software. Ooh. Yes. So I did my videos, I edited them, and I also uploaded them. But the content is based on the eight measurements of wellness.

Okay.

So when it comes to substance abuse or mental health, we kind of need a wheel, right? We need that wheel of life to kind of keep us focused. And it's everything from environmental, financial, intellectual, spiritual, educational, and then self. So that would be your physical. And I did videos based on that wheel of wellness. And if you go to mayolifestyle.com it's a video series. It's free. Anyone who is working with mental health, also working in the just the wellness arena will get a lot of information from it, even if it's just drinking more water, Right? So there's friendly reminders to drink more water, which a lot of us are dehydrated, and if we're dehydrated, that means our brains aren't working very well because there's lack of blood flow.

So let's rewind a little bit. I'd love to hear your story and how you got interested in nutrition.

Okay. I did a TED Talk, and it's called Mindful Eating with mayo. My inspiration, actually, for my book Mindful Eating was my nephew who came to stay with me during his sixth grade school year. My sister, as a single mom, she had a tough decision. She enlisted into the army. Obviously, Scott couldn't go with her to boot camp, so he came to stay with me. Prior to him coming to stay with me, he was diagnosed with ADHD and was taking medication. When he came to stay with me, everything was going well. He was, you know, going to school. I was making breakfast, making him packed his lunch most of the days. And then we were eating a very, very healthy meal. And I get a call from the school. They wanted to see me about my nephew. I was like, I didn't know why they were calling me, and I didn't know why they wanted to see me about my nephew. When I went to the school, the day of the meeting, there was a big table. It was long. I was going to the principal's office, and there was the principal, the vice principal, Scott's teachers. And then when you're diagnosed with adhd, there's a special set of teachers that kids have during school years. And there were people from the school district. And the teacher who called me was like, karen, don't worry. You're not in trouble. Go ahead and have a seat. And I was like, oh, my God, this is the first time I get called to the principal's office. So I was like, okay. So I sat down. The teachers were like, karen, we're in awe of your nephew. And I'm like, okay. He can multiply three numbers by three numbers arrive at the correct answer without even using scrap paper.

Nice.

Yeah. And he was getting straight A's in math. He got awarded honor roll throughout the school year. I actually still have all of his certificates because he was like, aunt Karen, these are for you. You can keep them. I'm like, no, Scott, these are yours. But that's just how sweet he is. He's like such a sweet boy. Oh, man. Now. But, yeah, they were like, what did you do? Like, we see his grades, you know, always sliding by every year. A C student at best, to straight A's honor roll throughout the school year. And he was in the top 10% of the kids nationwide with the online map problems. And they wanted to know what I was doing. And I actually. I sat there and I had maybe 10 minutes because I was like, I couldn't figure out, like, what I could have done any differently because I was just doing what my mom did with me and my sisters growing up, I didn't know exactly what to say. So, I mean, obviously the only thing that changed was his food. So I attribute all of this great stuff. I mean, from fast food to eating healthier, from, you know, bag of Doritos to fruit, from food that was not nutrition based to food that was nutritional based.

Yeah. Interesting.

Yeah. There's no fault to my sister at all. She was doing the best that, you know, she can do. And there's mothers and fathers like that all over the US all over the world.

Sure.

That their kids won't eat healthy. So you have these nutritional deficiencies which are leading to all of these brain issues. So I thought, if I can do this with the 6th grader, I need to get out and talk to people. So my career changed from working in finance to working in nutrition and making a bigger. I wanted to make a Bigger difference. Right. You want to make a bigger impact and leave. Leave something better for the community, for. For the people around you. And. Yeah. So I went to school for nutrition. I've certified A to Z. I've just graduated with honors in positive psychology. Oh, yeah. So It's. It's been 13 years of schooling of nutrition.

Okay. If you can kind of tell us in a nutshell, how does nutrition impact the brain and mental wellness specifically?

So when you're eating foods that just say, like red beets, or you're eating something that would have provides nitric oxide. Right. So those are widening your blood vessels where. On the contrast. If you're drinking or you're eating something that is loaded with caffeine, like those energy drinks, those are constricting blood vessels, right? Those are lack of blood flow. When you're constricting, it's lack of blood flow. You're dehydrating.

Interesting. So literally, you're saying that foods impact the level of blood flow in our bodies and in our brains.

Absolutely. And can also be poison. Right. So also constricting.

Right. Increase or decrease that blood flow. Okay. And if we keep going with that, how does blood flow increase blood flow support mental wellness?

Right. Well, there's more oxygen. Right. So it's also providing more, you know, ways of blood flow. I mean, you need blood flow. Right. So brain, heart. Brain heart, libido, like, everything works together. It's like that triangle. So, yeah, there's. There's so many. Like, I'm a science nerd. I love science, science and food. Like, I. I think that's where I feel like the angels are singing when I start talking about that.

Why do you think more people are not talking about this?

Because I think it's not easy to take accountability for what you put in your mouth or what you put in your body.

I feel like it's. It's a challenge too, because when I go to the grocery store, right. Anything that is organic or if I'm. I'm looking at healthier choices, it feels like it always has a higher price tag as well.

Right. But it doesn't necessarily have to, because a lot of the packaged foods now over the past six, I don't know, six or eight years, have increased prices. So you're actually paying more for foods in the box.

Interesting.

Than you would with going on the outside of the grocery stores.

And so when you talk about increasing your nutrition, you mentioned little things like you can just increase your water.

Yes.

You can eat food that increases your blood flow versus decreases Your blood flow. What are some of those foods? Before we keep going, I'm curious.

Okay, so it depends on what. Where you want to go. So there's either. Okay, so we're going to go into the neurotransmitters, right? So dopamine and serotonin. So if you're having gut issues at all, that means your serotonin is low or is disturbed and your hormones are out of balance. So you have those neurotransmitters. Right. So you have dopamine, serotonin, which 95% of your serotonin is made in your gut. Which then if your serotonin is low, that means depression is high.

Well, right. A lot of depression medication increases serotonin in the body, correct?

Exactly, yes. So your serotonin foods would be, you know, something like that supports your mood, supports your sleep. Chickpeas or something that has tryptophan in it, like turkey. Right. So those are really good for boosting your serotonin. Hummus is really good for boosting your serotonin.

Okay, that's good to know. And so increased blood flow, increase water. Are there any other sort of a little more like, starting steps that somebody could maybe more easily jump into this nutrition thing with?

Yeah. You know what I think incorporating greens. I know people say that all the time, but it really. Okay, so this is the science nerd in me coming out.

Please come on out.

Greens are amazing. So this is what I think helped for me to understand, like, what was going on with my nephew. We would eat just like normal. So we would have pizza with him, and we would. I mean, I would just make sure that you have a salad. So the green salad, the dark, leafy green salad, helps to oxidize the stress and helps to break down the gluten and all of the. I would say the sugars, right, that are in the gluten, that are in the pasta, that are in the pizza, and helps to break all of that down. So if you just added in greens and if you went from spirulina to chlorella to liquid chlorophyll, just adding those in would actually start to change a palate.

Okay, tell me what you mean by changing a palate.

All right, so in the back of your tongue, there's those little villi. So if you're not brushing your tongue properly or you're not brushing your teeth properly or you're not scraping your tongue, you're constantly tasting either sweetness or you're constantly tasting whatever you just ate or drank. So your brain Is going, okay, well, I got this dopamine hit constantly because I've got the sugar, I got the M&Ms. Or I got whatever else, you know, the junk chocolate. So you're constantly tasting that, so you want more of it. So if you just did the cleansing of your tongue, you would actually change. Start changing the way that you eat because you're putting more oxidizing foods, like dark leafy greens, spinach, garlic, all of that into your body.

Like training our taste buds. Right? Is that kind of what you're talking about?

Rewiring? So retraining the taste buds? Right. Because the sugar is what is really killing all of us.

How so? I mean, we all know it's bad, but it's in, like, everything.

So, yes, that's what I need. It's in everything. So it is really killing off. So the sugar is actually really putting a bad taste. No pun intended. Right, that taste in our mouth.

Yeah.

And it's artificial sugars, too. Artificial sweeteners, artificial flavorings. All of this stuff that's banned in other countries that we still have going on here is criminal. Like, we shouldn't have all of these artificial, you know, everything that's banned in other countries.

And so why is it banned other places then?

It is harmful to human beings.

Interesting. Like carcinogenic or harmful in what way?

Yes, carcinogenic also, you know, harmful to just liver in general. You know, our filtration system.

How did you decide to write a book if we can kind of like, I want to talk a little bit about your entrepreneur journey. You went and you got trained, and then you opened a practice, and then you also worked for the Amen Clinic and you wrote a book. How did all of those pieces kind of come to be?

Right, so working in finance, I didn't. I put my. My wellness workshops in my book. So the ones that workshops that I made myself, that I felt like this is the information that people need to start with. Almost like school. Right? So basics 101. Eating seasonally is. I grew up on a farm, so I grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. Oh, yeah. So we raised animals for our. Our family and friends. So we had pigs and cows, and then we had a big, huge garden. So when you go to that basics. Right, so when you go to start planting your own food, knowing where your food comes from. And also, here comes the nerd in me again. The soil, like, soil is so, so important because obviously if our nutrients aren't in the soil, it's not going to be in the food. Reading and again, that's where the nutritional deficiencies come in. Right. When I put my book together, I was like, okay, what are the 101 that people can, if they get my book, they read my book, they can go, oh, okay, great. These are some action steps I need to take right now to feel better. And it does say 30 days to a whole new you. But my thought in that is after these 30 days are over, there's another 30 days. Right. So after those are over, there's another 30days. So don't beat yourself up. Just know that you can get better each day, but the 30 days is almost like an accountability to help yourself start a new month or to start a new season.

Okay. Yeah, I like that because it seems like there are layers to this. Like as I think about nutrition and even some of the things that you're nerding out on, which I do love. There's a lot here. There's more than just we can cover in this podcast. And even if you could tell me everything in this podcast, I wouldn't even retain it. Like, it feels like you need a piece of information and then you need to implement that and then maybe another piece of information. At least that's kind of how it seems to me.

Absolutely. Right, Rachel. Yes. So that's why the video series was so important for me to get out is because that wheel of wellness, and I call it Measurements of Wellness, because if you don't know where you're going, you have to start by measuring. Right. So.

Okay.

And it doesn't matter where you are in life because we are all at different places and it's just getting to know not only know yourself, but just to be self aware of what's going on around you.

Yeah, it's true. It's hard to do sometimes. There's a lot on people's plates these days.

Absolutely. And just, you know, taking action steps just to chunk it down or go, you know what? I'm. I'm going to book hour for my self care. And it doesn't even have to be anything. It could be just sitting quietly or it can just be whatever you want. I mean, our life is so crazy and everything going on in this world, I mean, life is hard.

Right. But if some of these simple steps can help people feel better, maybe focus better, maybe have more energy, those little things, I think, make everything easier in life.

Absolutely. And if you can optimize brain function, increase energy, increase your mood to just by doing something small as just sitting quietly and listening to the sounds of Life around you and deep breathing. Right. So do some deep breathing and just taking care of your brain health.

I like that model of taking care of brain health. So what kind of things are next for you? What kind of dreams do you have? Where do you see this work going for you? And what would you like to be able to give to the community?

Wow. I personally would love to do retreats, even being part of a community. Who does retreats collaboratively?

Sure.

Yeah. I think that is my next step. Moving out into the community like that and just also reminding people about brain health. Right. And those eight measurements of wellness, again, you know, I think those eight measurements are so important and they don't have to be worked at the same time. No, they're small steps.

I think that's awesome. So what would happen in these retreats? What kind of would be your vision of them?

I think bringing people together and just ultimately doing the action steps that are included. So action steps for financial would be just looking at your files of financial wellness. I think that opens up their eyes. But also noticing how much recycling you've got going on and where if it's being recycled and how much you're buying. Like, waste is another important one. And then also spiritual, also intellectual.

What are you learning to be a long retreat? Like, there's a. Each category that you're naming. I'm like, okay, there's a lot there.

Right? Exactly.

Maybe it's a series of retreats, but it's doable, Right.

So it could be. It could be time blocked. You know, it could be in shorter segments as well. It's just knowing the. The steps in the awareness and what to look for.

That's awesome. If there is one thing that you could just impart upon people that are listening, to know or to do, what would that be?

Slow down, drink more water and pick one thing that you want to do and get accomplished today, even if your mountain is so high. No worries. Because tomorrow the mountain will still be there.

Yeah. Awesome. Well, I really appreciate you coming here today and talking about nutrition and inspiring people. Thank you for the work that you do.

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Rachel,