Brain Food and Nutrition Clinic

10/03/2026

A really enjoyable day speaking at Nourish The Brain at Hawkwood yesterday. Delighted to be part of the expert panel alongside Patrick Holford, discussing the links between gut health, nutrition and mental health. Events like this remind me how much interest there is growing in the biology behind mental health.

07/03/2026

What the GI360 looks at.

It gives us a broad but detailed picture of gut function, including:

- Digestive capacity (fat, protein & carbohydrate breakdown)
- Inflammation and immune activity in the gut
- Balance (or imbalance) of gut bacteria
- Yeast, parasites, and opportunistic bacteria
- Markers linked with IBS-type symptoms, urgency, bloating, pain or loose stools

The game-changer though is the sensitivity testing.

This is the part many people don’t realise is included and it’s hugely helpful clinically.

If potentially problematic bacteria or yeast are found, GI 360 can test what they are most susceptible to, including:

- Herbal antimicrobials
- Nutraceutical compounds
- Selected medications (where appropriate)

That means more targeted support, fewer reactions, and less unnecessary restriction.

When is a GI 360 particularly helpful?

You might want to consider it if you have:

- Ongoing bloating, gas, urgency or loose stools
- IBS that hasn’t improved with diet alone
- Symptoms after antibiotics, food poisoning, or long-term stress
- Suspected SIBO, dysbiosis, or yeast overgrowth
- Fatigue, low mood, skin issues or histamine-type symptoms linked to digestion
- Tried probiotics or antimicrobials before, with mixed or short-lived results

When it’s not always the first step.

If symptoms are mild, recent, or clearly food-related, we may get plenty of progress without testing.

Stool testing is most useful when symptoms are persistent, complex, or relapsing. Get in touch to find out more.

GI360 Stool Test - https://brainfoodnutrition.co.uk/product/gi360-complete-stool-test/

07/03/2026

Not feeling like yourself anymore?

Is your capacity for stress less than what it used to be?

Is your focus less sharp?

Are there things that now overwhelm you that never used to be a problem?

Could this be burnout?

https://brainfoodnutrition.co.uk/i-dont-feel-like-myself-anymore-the-biology-behind-burnout-and-hormone-shifts/

06/03/2026

Should you test your hormones?
Not everyone needs to.
But if you feel:
• anxious without a reason
• wired but exhausted
• less resilient to stress
• are struggling cognitively

…and blood tests are normal, deeper hormone testing may help provide context.

I’ve written a guide explaining when DUTCH Complete testing makes sense:
https://brainfoodnutrition.co.uk/who-is-dutch-complete-testing-appropriate-for/

05/03/2026

“I think my dopamine is low…” Maybe. But also… maybe not.

Dopamine has become the internet’s favourite neurotransmitter.

Low motivation? Dopamine.

Scrolling? Dopamine.

Coffee, sugar, shopping, doom-scrolling? Dopamine chasing.

But clinically, it’s rarely that simple.

You can be making enough dopamine…
…but not converting it properly.

And that can feel like:

- Flat motivation
- Poor focus
- Anxiety sitting on top of tiredness
- Needing constant stimulation but never quite feeling satisfied

What the Organic Acids Test (OAT) shows us.

The OAT gives a snapshot of dopamine metabolism, not a personality quiz but actual biochemistry.

It can help answer:

Is dopamine genuinely low?

Or is it getting stuck on the way to norepinephrine and epinephrine?

Is stress chemistry underpowered… or over-revved?

That dopamine → norepinephrine step matters more than most people realise.

Nutrients matter here a lot.

That conversion relies on very specific nutrients.

The OAT can flag signs that things like: B6, Folate, B12, Vitamin C, Copper that
might be limiting the pathway.

And yes… the gut can interfere

Certain gut bacteria can mess with neurotransmitter metabolism.

The OAT can pick up markers suggesting that microbial activity may be interfering with dopamine conversion.

Without this information, people often over-caffeinate, over-stimulate and over-diagnose themselves with low dopamine.

With OAT data, support becomes more precise. Allowing us to support conversion,
replenish what’s actually missing and address gut factors if they’re part of the block.

05/03/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about mental health is that it begins and ends in the brain.

In reality, many of the biological processes that influence brain chemistry start elsewhere, particularly in the gut.

Digestion determines whether we can actually access the building blocks the brain needs to function:

• amino acids for neurotransmitters
• micronutrients such as B6, B12, iron and zinc
• essential fats like omega-3
• gut microbes and metabolites that influence inflammation and signalling

When digestion or the microbiome are disrupted, the brain can be affected through multiple pathways at once, including metabolic, immune, microbial and neural.

I’ll be exploring these mechanisms in more detail this weekend when I present on the gut–brain connection at the Nutrition for Mental Health event hosted by the School of Health.

Looking forward to keynote speaker Patrick Holford, whose work has helped bring nutritional psychiatry into mainstream discussion.

05/03/2026

Waking up anxious? Before the day has even got going?

The reason for this usually involves cortisol and progesterone.

Your stress hormone naturally rises when you wake up, but when it's dysregulated, it can feel like anxiety instead of energy.

I’ve explained the physiology in this blog, link below.

04/03/2026

Oh this matters so much 🙏🏼💜💙

In my experience, the young people who struggle the most in school…
are very often the ones living in constant, invisible sensory overwhelm.

And when we don’t assess sensory needs, we might misinterpret distress or guess what young people need.

❓What is a sensory needs assessment?❓

A sensory needs assessment is usually carried out by an Occupational Therapist (OT), experienced in sensory integration.

It looks at how a child processes:
🔊 Sound
💡 👀Light & visual input
👕 Clothing and touch
🪑 Movement and body awareness
👃 Smells
🏫 The overall school environment

It helps answer questions like:

✅Is this young person overwhelmed by noise?
✅Are they under-responsive and constantly seeking movement?
✅Does the classroom physically hurt their nervous system?
✅Is their ‘avoidance’ actually sensory protection?

‼️Why it’s so important ‼️

Because without it, we guess, and guessing leads to:

😥Detentions for “not concentrating”
🤷🏻Being told to “just try harder”
🙁Exit passes that don’t work
😰Anxiety that builds and builds
✋School avoidance
🫥🤯Shutdowns and meltdowns

Sensory overwhelm is cumulative.( Remember the stress bucket analogy from an earlier post? )🪣

💡🚨It’s the hum/flickering/ brightness of fluorescent lights.
🪑😣Chairs scraping.
💥🎧Unexpected noises.
💬💬 Classroom chatter.
🧍‍♂️🧍‍♀️ Busy areas and proximity to others.
😳 It’s having to sit for long periods of time.
👃🥴 Perfume and other smells.
😣The scratchy jumper.

The unpredictability.

Day after day after day.

And autistic nervous systems don’t just ‘get used to it.’ They store it 😓

When we assess sensory needs properly, we move from:

“What’s wrong with them?” ❌
to
“What is happening to them in this environment?”✅

That shift changes everything.

The honest bit 💬

These assessments are not routinely offered.

Even though sensory differences commonly feature alongside autism and ADHD, many families only access them if:

They push hard.
They request OT involvement through the EHCP processes.
They pay privately.
Or a professional strongly advocates.

And that shouldn’t be the case 🤷🏻

Here’s what I want parents to know 💜💙

If your young person:

• Comes home exhausted
• Refuses certain clothes
• Covers their ears
• Avoids busy spaces
• Melts down or shuts down and withdraws after school
• Can ‘cope’ but only at enormous cost

It is not overreacting to explore sensory needs ❌

You are trying to understand your young person’s nervous system✅

When we understand their nervous system, we can help prevent trauma instead of reacting to it 🙏🏼

Sensory assessments shouldn’t be a luxury 👈

They should be standard.

Because no young person should have to fight an environment all day just to access an education, or be ground down to the point of burn-out, trying to.

Patsy 💜💙

03/03/2026

01/03/2026

A fascinating MRI study found that brain fluid flow predicts dementia years before diagnosis, research that further connects heart and brain health and adds new reasons why sleep and blood pressure management offer cognitive protection. Yet more support for the ReCODE Protocol: https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/brain-fluid-circulation-can-predict-dementia-long-before-memory-problems-arise/