A Q&A with Kimberley Wilson — The Be Well Collective

Kimberley has a private practice in central London and is a former Governor of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Mental Health Trust, having also led the therapy service at HMP & YOI Holloway, which at the time was Europe’s largest women’s prison. Her philosophy of Whole Body Mental Health is a comprehensive approach to mental health care; integrating evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle factors with psychological therapy with an emphasis on nutrition and the brain.

Kimberley has written for BBC Science Focus and Psychologies Magazine, hosted the podcast Made of Stronger Stuff and the scientific segment of One Dish both on BBC Radio 4, appeared regularly on Lorraine ITV and been the featured mental health expert on several Channel 4 series and documentaries.

By KIMBERLEY WILSON, CHARTERED PSYCHOLOGIST

Why did you decide to work on food and nutrition, and what are your key learnings?

Kimberley: I am a Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and hold a Masters degree in nutrition. I started my career running a NHS primary mental health service in a prison and it was during this time that I came across two of the prison nutrition studies. These were randomised controlled trials that showed that improving nutrition status in prisons led to reduced incidence of violence. Since violence, both in terms of assaults on others and self-harm, were key concerns for my service this research was really relevant to me and got me thinking about the role of food and nutrients in our brain health, psychological wellbeing and behaviour. I now sit on the board of the UK’s leading research charity for food, brain and behaviour, Think Through Nutrition.

One of the key things I have learned over the years is how overlooked the brain is, even in the conversation around mental health. We talk about stress and mood and negative thoughts and mindset without ever actually mentioning the organ that underlies all of these features. It’s very strange. It would be like talking about hypertension, chest pain and dizziness (the symptoms of a heart attack) without mentioning the heart. The brain is very much neglected when it comes to public health education and policy.

You have written a whole book about unprocessed foods and the link between nutrition and mental health. Can you give us a few top line take away tips, please.

Kimberley: Essentially, your brain is the hungriest organ in your body. It never rests and needs a constant supply of key essential nutrients (ones that your body cannot produce, they must come from the diet). The best sources of these nutrients are whole foods. However, in the UK more than half of our energy comes from ultra-processed foods (UPF). The problem here is that, when you process a food you lose many of the micronutrients. Research shows that the higher the proportion of UPF in the diet the lower the status of vitamins A, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E, calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, zinc and Omega-3s.

This leaves most people in the situation where their stomachs may be full but their brains are starving.

What is the key thing that individuals wishing to switch their diet away from processed foods should keep in mind, as making a big change like this can be highly overwhelming. Any tips on how to slowly change your diet?

Kimberley: In general, it is advisable to try to increase your consumption of whole foods such as oily fish and seafood, leafy green vegetables, berries, other vegetables, whole-grains, legumes and nuts.

But this doesn’t have to be an overnight change. People can often become overwhelmed at the idea of completely overhauling their diet, and much of the way we eat is habitual so change takes a lot of effort. My tip would be to start small by adding whole-foods to your current diet. For example, you could start by having a piece of fruit alongside your breakfast, switching from white bread to a higher fiber version, drinking 1-2 cups of green tea per day or adding a salad ‘starter’ to your evening meal.

Managing mental health and overall well-being is a huge topic, more so now than ever before. What about the role of governments and policy here? What is the biggest change you would like to see?

Kimberley: I think the role of government and policy is essential. One’s mental health is the product of the interaction of the individual with the environment. In early life the ‘environment’ is the family but very soon, when a child begins to interact with classmates, media and social media, the education system, then later employment and so on, those environments are shaped by policy.

You have a podcast called “stronger minds”, which is just amazing. You talk about how to build a healthier brain and a stronger mind, including food and nutrition, psychology, lifestyle, mental habits and debating big ideas. Where should we begin? Your top 3 episode recommendations to get started?

Kimberley: I think my favourite episodes are the ones on anger, grief and the Crime and Nourishment series.

You also have a BBC Radio 4 show with Dr Xand van Tulleken, about how our bodies reflect the change in the world around us. What is that all about?

Kimberley: It’s really about how everything is connected. We tend to think that the brain just gives commands to the body but the relationship is bidirectional; our bodies shape our brains and psychological stress can have profound effects on the body in return. For example, in one episode we ask whether it is possible to die from a broken heart and, if so, how? I hope the programme gives listeners a greater appreciation for how wonderful their brain-bodies are.

You outline some tools and resources on your website. Tell us about them:

Kimberley: Making change stick – this is a practical checklist for people who have read my first book, “How to Build a Healthy Brain”, wanting to put some changes in place and track their progress. Other tools are:

Feelings Wheel – This is a resource I use in therapy, especially for people who struggle to identify their feelings. It is a wheel of emotion words that allows people to select the most appropriate emotion word(s) for what they are experiencing. Improving what is called ‘emotion granularity’ is linked with several positive mental health outcomes so I pull this card out in sessions weekly!
Values Sort Card – This is a tool I picked up during my training in “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy”. It is a practical game for helping people to identify their values. Living a values-driven life is linked to better wellbeing and improved decision-making.
Hierarchy of Disagreement – The capacity to have good faith discussions with people whose minds differ from our own is essential if we want to solve any of life’s big problems. However, too often debate descends into personal attacks and shaming that just push the interlocutors further apart. Grahams’ hierarchy is a framework to help people understand the nature, and improve the quality, of debates. Frankly, it should be on the front page of the internet!

Kimberley, huge thanks for your time, what a great conversation outlining some really useful nuggets of advise and tips for our community readers. If you would like to find out more about Kimberley, please visit her website www.kimberleywilson.co and if you would like to order a copy of her new book, “Unprocessed” please click on the link Unprocessed - here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kimberley Wilson is a Chartered Psychologist, with a master’s degree in nutrition and the author of How to Build a Healthy Brain (2020) and Unprocessed (2023). She has a private practice in central London. A former Governor of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Mental Health Trust, Kimberley led the therapy service at HMP & YOI Holloway, which at the time was Europe’s largest women’s prison.

Her philosophy of Whole Body Mental Health is a comprehensive approach to mental health care; integrating evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle factors with psychological therapy with an emphasis on nutrition and the brain.

website: https://www.kimberleywilson.co/