My Molecular Health
The Why Behind 'Eat Fruit & Vegetables
The History of Nutritional Psychology: A New Field of Study to Support a New Model of Mental Healthcare
An Interesting Beginning
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During the last 15 years, there has been a quiet but steady growth of a new field of study called ‘Nutritional Psychology’. I’d like to share my experience in how Nutritional Psychology came to be, and my hopes for its future role within mental healthcare.
Like many individuals, my personal struggles have contributed to my life’s pursuits, and perhaps unlike some, I have dealt with serious and chronic health issues from a very early age. Beginning in childhood, I experienced severe allergies and asthma, and as a young adult, received additional diagnoses including mixed connective tissue disease and fibromyalgia. These conditions were debilitating, and at times disabling, and created limitations affecting virtually every area of my life. As a result, I developed an intimate understanding of what it took to live with multiple chronic health disorders, and navigate the healthcare system in pursuit of a cure for chronic pain and suffering.
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My formal academic training and professional experience lay within a specialized area of psychology referred to as aerospace psychology. As an aerospace psychologist, I was trained to understand and support the cognitive, behavioral, psychological, psychosocial, and perceptual aspects of human behavior and performance in complex, uncertain, high-intensity, and stressful environments (e.g. battlefield, cockpit, spaceship, underwater).
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Occurring in parallel with my career in aerospace psychology was the necessity of perpetual engagement within the healthcare system in order to manage my conditions. By my 30’s, I was an outpatient chronic pain patient within a major hospital, taking a multitude of medications – including one or two that were positively life-changing, and many others that were life-harming. It became clear that there were significant limitations within the traditional healthcare system when handling chronic and diffuse disorders. After retiring as an aerospace psychologist, I returned to the university setting with an intense desire to seek relief and develop my knowledge of how to create positive change and reduce my suffering.
(2005) Transitioning from Psychology to Nutrition
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For the next several years, I completed my pre-nursing prerequisites including biology, physiology, anatomy, and nutrition. It was at this time that my studies steered towards the field of holistic nutrition. I felt this was the fastest and most effective way to improve my internal environment.
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Struggling With Eating Healthy?
You are not alone. Unlike other things like cigarettes, alcohol or even drugs, we can't simply just stop eating. We can't 'JUST SAY NO' to food. We can't just 'DO IT'
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It's so complicated because of the variety of feelings, emotions, traditions and often stress associated with food and diets.
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This article in Psychology Today discusses the struggles of diet, weight and body image along with information on why diets usually don't work, what causes emotional eating, Binge Eating, and the best foods for the brain. Read More
