British psychologist Kimberley Wilson worked with people from all backgrounds after years of working as a therapist at London’s Holloway Prison, which was the largest women’s prison in Europe at the time. But those formative years shaped the advice Wilson gives her clients and patients to this day.
During her time at Holloway, Wilson learned about the surprising connections between diet, mental health and behavior in the population he worked with. These early findings were so promising that they inspired the work Wilson has done over the past decade, as well as her two books: “How to build a healthy brain” (yellow kite, 2020) and “Raw: How the food we eat is fueling our mental health crisis” (Ebury Publishing, 2023).
In an interview with Live Science, Wilson described her journey from those early years to her current practice, highlighting the connections between mental health and nutrition.
Sascha Pare: You became interested in post-workout nutrition as a psychologist – how did nutrition first appear on your radar?
Connected: How long does it take to digest food?
Kimberley Wilson: My first proper job when I qualified was in a prison working for a charity developing and providing therapy for prisoners. The issue of women at that time [between 2008 and 2013] – and I’m going to assume it’s still the same – is that, although they only made up around 6% of the total UK prison population, they accounted for around 50% of the self-harm happening across the UK at the time all prisons in the United Kingdom. [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.]
It was around that time that this repetition [in the Netherlands] a [2002 U.K.] STUDY left. They had taken a group of violent male prisoners and improved their nutritional status through supplements [capsules containing vitamins, minerals and fatty acids]. They found that objective incidence of violence – and I say objective, so not like “How are you feeling? Do you want to hit someone today?” but actually going through the diary at the end of the arm and counting how many violations had occurred – were 30% lower in the supplemented group compared to the placebo group.
It was just remarkable to me. I was already working in prison, I was already thinking about safety and harm—and here was this good-quality, gold-standard research showing that a safe, accessible, low-risk, low-cost intervention could improve not only the well-being of the prisoner, but also the staff.
PS: This sounds very promising. How does this new information fit with the way you were trained as a psychologist?
KW: This raised really interesting questions as a psychologist about how much of my patients’ behavior is under their control and how much is being influenced by things they are not fully aware of. I just found it a fascinating area and also an area that was really relevant to the work I was trying to do.
PS: And how was the new information received by your peers and colleagues? Did you implement any dietary changes while working in prison?
Connected: Why do we crave comfort food?
KW: I tried to talk to the governor [warden] and the head of health care to tell them about it and see if we could do a little trial, or if we could take our most at-risk women and offer them a supplement. But I got no answer: it was only the crickets. It’s really interesting how unwilling people are to deal with this question. Since then, we’ve had two more iterations of that data, so we have four now – in the USAUK, Netherlands and Singapore — showing the same thing: when it improves nutrition, it decreases violence.
PS: So you were convinced by the data that was coming out, even if some of your colleagues weren’t. A few years ago: You left your forensic work in prison and opened a private practice in central London. How did you begin to integrate food into your therapy work?
KW: I did my masters in nutrition and I was looking specifically at the role of nutrition in brain health, so I was looking specifically at brain health and neurodegeneration, and then I was thinking about how – broadly – a healthy brain improves health outcomes mental. That’s when I started thinking about nutrition with my clients and patients.
PS: Do you feel that interest in the kind of work you do—more holistic therapy that integrates lifestyle factors—has grown in recent years?
KW: There’s certainly been more conversation about it, and that’s also come with more skepticism, which I think is important, but I think there’s a much wider appreciation certainly on social media. Could the brain be connected to the body in some way, and could the quality and status of your nutrition play a role in your neurological or psychological symptoms? I think these are really important questions – that the reintegration of the brain into the body is absolutely crucial, I think, to the future of mental health treatment and research.
PS: of the gut-brain axis This immediately comes to mind, but is there any recent research that demonstrates a link between nutrition and brain health?
KW: When we look at maternal diet and brain health outcomes in the offspring, yes, there is a very clear link. For example, we know without any hesitation that Iodine deficiency is the main cause of preventable brain damage in the world and leads to permanently depressed IQ. Similarly, we know that the higher the maternal omega-3 intake, the the larger the total volume of the baby’s brain AND CONNECTION. [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 intakes, that data is coming in now. First of all, a diet rich in ultra-processed foods (UPF) is lower in nutrients. We see this all over the world, and the thing about the brain with that relationship is that the brain is the hungriest organ in the body. It has a high nutrient demand and so the concern is, if we have a population of adults and children that have a high proportional intake of UPF, are their brains getting what they need to function well? Chances are no.
People who have higher UPF [intake] HAVE increased incidence of depression and anxietyAND increased risk for depression AND common mental health conditions Later. They also have faster cognitive decline AND greater overall risk of dementia.
[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 pass that information on to your clients and patients?
KW: I’m just trying to present the evidence: “Evidence suggests that just adding some fruits and vegetables to your diet will helps you feel a little better. Is that something you’d be willing to try?” [Studies showing the impacts of fruit and vegetable intake on mood are largely observational.]
For some people, food can be a significant influence on how they feel, but for others it really isn’t, and so you can give it some time and see.
PS: You also do a lot of science communication work on your social media platforms. Do you communicate differently online, perhaps in a way that is more commanding? (I must confess that I had a stalk of yours Instagram.)
KW: The ironic thing about social media is that people look to you to tell them what to do, and I’m just like, “Here’s some information, do whatever you want with it.” I think it’s important that people have that information, but it’s not a mandate.
Kimberley Wilson will co-host a talk called “Gut feelings“in this year Cheltenham Science Festivalwhich will last from June 4 to 9.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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