Nutrition for mental health

In this episode, we are joined by Helen Duyvesten, a mental health nurse who uses nutrition and lifestyle medicine to support people with mental wellbeing

We discuss the very important topic of how nutrition can impact on mental health, and how you can eat to boost your mood

The role nutrition and lifestyle can play in mental health is an area of research that's gaining increasingly more attention, with some exciting studies starting to come out showing just how effective a 'mood healthy diet' can be - improving depression as much as commonly used antidepressants in some people!

We chat to Helen about exactly how and why nutrition affects mental well-being, the key nutrients your brain needs to produce happy hormones, and how to eat a mood-boosting diet (plus foods that can negativity impact mood).
It's an information-packed episode we learnt a lot from, and we know you will too!

Helen is a registered nurse who has worked in acute psychiatric services in South Auckland for over 20 years. After observing the limited success of conventional treatment when it comes to mental illness, Helen went on a journey to discover what else we could do to 'do mental health' better. She started up ‘One Life’, which approaches building resilience and supporting our mental health through nutritional and lifestyle medicine alongside (or sometimes instead of!) the traditional treatment of medication and talk therapy. Helen now lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty where she speaks & educates corporates and individuals on supporting mental well-being from a holistic approach.

Helen has a Diploma in Nursing, an Advanced Diploma in Nursing (Mental Health), a Master in Health Science, Adv. Cert Nursing & is a certified life coach. She's also certified in DBT and other mental health modalities.

You can find out more about Helen and her business called Onelife: https://www.onelifenz.com/