Think clearer, feel calmer and focus better with these 7 food strategies from neuroscientist Dr Miguel Toribio-Mateas

Dr Rupy: What we eat and how we consume food can have a profound effect on our brain health, even affecting things like depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Today, we're unpacking seven food strategies that can support your nervous system via the gut-brain axis. And I have the pleasure of chatting with Dr Miguel Toribio Mateas to unpack this topic. He's a clinical neuroscientist, nutrition researcher, and author of ADHD, Body and Mind, a compassionate guide to rewilding your nervous system. He has a delightful way of bringing together brain health and delicious food. And this conversation is going to get you inspired to cook your way to a better brain. And stick around for some of Miguel's unusual approaches to using a slow cooker to maximise the nutritional value of his food. Dr Miguel, let's talk about seven food strategies to help keep your brain sharp and your gut happy. Where should we start?

Dr Miguel: We should start with variety. And I sound like a broken record with this, but variety and pairings of food. And I know that you are very keen on doing pairings, you know, combining things. So rather than think about the macros and the micros and the milligrams, think about how does the food feel in the first place? Do you like it? Does it make you feel good? Is it going to make you feel kind of regulated? Is it going to help your mood? But how can you get the maximum benefit from the foods that you're putting together as opposed to just have one item only? So when I came here, you gave me some cocoa nibs with a bit of honey, you know, and we were talking about this kind of stuff. So what am I getting from the honey? Well, I'm getting some fructooligosaccharides, I'm getting some some some compounds that are going to nourish my gut bacteria. And there's some interesting research on on honey and how it does that. It's obviously going to have more things added to that. It's going to have some interesting polyphenols as well and, you know, and then the micro minerals that may be in there as well. Am I freaked out because of the sugar? No, because I'm I'm past that. Past freaking out because of sugar and carbs and fats and all that kind of stuff. I'm sure we're going to talk about that today. And then the cocoa is going to give me some nice flavonols from from from cocoa, basically. So it's going to have some the power to oxygenate my brain and bring more nutrients as a result. And also it might nourish my gut microbes as well. So there's some interesting research on how cocoa does that. And by means of doing that, my gut microbes are going to produce some interesting molecules that might nourish the gut itself and also travel through the bloodstream into my brain and do something interesting in my brain. So those kind of like really simple pairings in a rather than very analytical, scientific way, I'm getting 10 milligrams of this and 10 milligrams of that. Do they feel good? Do they taste good? Do I feel good when I had when I have them? And I know that they're doing a range of things for the whole of the body, including the gut and the brain. That's the kind of uh that's the the kind of uh vibe I'm going for.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I love that because I don't think we think enough about nutrient synergy or food synergy. We think about individual ingredients, like avocados are great for this because they have monounsaturated fats and they have fibre and they have all these different benefits. And whilst that's true, what I I love about your work and your book is that you're moving people in the direction of, let's think about the mixed meal. Let's think about how these individual ingredients are actually giving you something greater than the sum of their parts. I wonder if there are some nutrient pairings that have stood the test of time in different cultures from your own sort of cuisine and your own heritage in Spain and and perhaps some other sort of cuisines as well.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, so a very interesting what you're saying because I like to think about food as a as an orchestra in a way, as opposed to just as as a solo artist. So sometimes we have this idea that it's just the violin or it's just the guitar and then we really obsess with the guitar and and forget about there's a whole orchestra playing and each of the instruments is giving you something, even though you may not hear it overtly at that particular time. So, um, when we talk about combining uh nutrients, this synergy, in terms of my own heritage, which is Spanish, when I think about it as a food scientist, I think about it as the pairings of the the fibres. So you have these fibres that are accessible by your gut microbes. They are called MACs or microbiota accessible carbohydrates. And they are going to nourish your your ecosystem, your gut ecosystem. When you have just a lot of one type of fibre, it's okay, but there may be a situation where one of your microbes prefers that type of fibre, but then you're excluding a lot of other microbes that prefer other fibres. So it's always good to combine different types of fibres.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: So if you have the legumes that might give you a particular edge in terms of fibre and combine them with chard, which is a very popular combination in Spain, it's called acelgas and it's like staple food, like tall chard that you don't really get here. It's really massive. It's like, you know, almost like a metre tall. And uh, and that's quite fibrous. It's got a lot of soluble fibre, but also a lot of roughage. And it's going to give you polyphenols as well. So you're pairing that with the polyphenols in the beans or the chickpeas. And it makes for a tasty, economical meal.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: So on a budget, you're eating kind of like a a nutritious meal. And I'm thinking about the tomatoes added to that, the olive oil added to that, um spices. So Spanish spices, a little bit kind of like Italian spices, but we use a lot of parsley, we use bay leaves quite a lot, which are antimicrobial, they've got um interesting polyphenols and and uh and organic acids, really regulating for your microbial ecosystem. Um rosemary, thyme, but parsley, bay leaves, onions, garlic, very Mediterranean, very Spanish. And it's a, again, it's going to be slightly different in different countries, but there is a pattern of mixing these foods, of combining these foods. And it's the synergy of mixing the oil with the tomato that's going to allow the polyphenols in the tomato, like the lycopene to come out when you heat the the olive oil and you do the sofrito, which is the kind of like starting point of a Mediterranean cooking in Italy and in Spain. Same same word with an extra F in Italian, but it's the same kind of thing. You know, you start with your tomato and you maybe your garlic and your parsley and you don't let the the oil fume, you just kind of like heat it up slightly and you put the, you know, you create like a paste to then make whatever else you're making. And my mum has done that since I was a child, you know, she's done various different variations of that with tomato, with pepper, always with some kind of herb and and garlic or onion. And it's the starting point that when you look at the individual studies doing looking into why is that working? Why is the olive oil working in pairing with the onion? Well, it's working because you get more quercetin out of the onion or you might get more of the allicin out of the garlic. So you know that when you break it all down, you you can see specifically what it's doing, but when you mix it all together, you're creating a a complex matrix of uh again, you're going back to the to the orchestra. So in a way, you've looked at the individual instruments and you've you've figured out that the violin is making this sound, the guitar is doing that sound, the trombone is doing that sound. And then you put it all together and you get this like, wow, it's like a symphony.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr Miguel: And and that's what we're trying to to to talk about here because the symphony is not going to just affect that one particular, I don't know, inflammatory cytokine, you know, like C-reactive protein or whatever. It's not just going to affect lactobacilli, it's going to affect the whole diversity of your gut microbe ecosystem. It's going to affect a range of different molecules that maybe the the people designing the studies haven't thought of including in the studies. Just because the study hasn't been published, it doesn't mean that it's not happening in the body.

Dr Rupy: Totally.

Dr Miguel: And then you look at some trials that have been published like, you know, uh um Felice Jacka and the SMILES study, Mediterranean kind of eating and depression, which is not ADHD, but we know that a lot of the mechanisms can be comparable in terms of like the inflammation in the brain and so on. And we see that that way of pairing food, that kind of like matrix that you're creating by creating this um um nutrient synergy is calming down a lot of the neuroinflammation that might be going on and affecting the the brain and the nervous system. So so we do have the data to support it, but also instead of trying to micromanage it and create this kind of idea that you're using food as a supplement every single day, it's good to step out and actually say, okay, there is ancestral knowledge around how these things work. And also they taste good. And I feel that I go to the loo better. I might have more mental clarity when I eat that way. So kind of like try and look at those kind of uh broad areas where you might notice some improvement as well.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I love that strategy. I think, you know, leaning into your intuition, ancestral knowledge, the flavour building uh of a meal. You mentioned it earlier, uh fibre or microbiota accessible carbohydrates. Let's talk about this as a strategy because it seems that it's inherent across multiple different diets that these MACs, as they're abbreviated to, are really important for not just general well-being, but also brain health and potentially even ADHD as well. What what are MACs and and why are they so good for us and our brains?

Dr Miguel: So these are basically chains of um saccharides put together in a way or um sugars basically, put together in a way that microbes in your gut can really get at them.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: So some uh fibres are more difficult to digest by microbes and some fibres are easy to understand by microbes. So these are the ones that we're talking about. And we know that compared to diets that we know from uh records from years ago, we have been depleting our diets from microbiota accessible carbohydrates quite a lot. And it's down to the processing of food, it's down to the uh um uh accessibility of foods that might be just uh um um depleted in in fibre. And also in trend on it's based on trends as well and we have had a major trend on low carb for a long time now. So people may have thought, okay, this is going to be better for me because it's low carb and not realised but by doing a a blanket low carb strategy, they're also depriving their microbes of carbs that are needed for them to to thrive. So we're talking about things like pectin, we're talking about things like inulin, we're talking about fructooligosaccharides or FOS or galactooligosaccharides or GOS. They sound technical, but they are in everyday foods that you can think about. So they are hiding in plain sight. So you think about like oranges and lemons and uh uh leeks and onions and garlic, uh and chickpeas, uh, you know, um chicory, you know, practically every single vegetable and fruit that you can think about is going to have small amounts of these MACs and whole grains as well. And again, grains have had this kind of like bad rap for a long time. Uh, you know, you get this kind of uh grain-free diets or, you know, extreme low-carb diets that, you know, are gluten-free and every grain-free as well. So if you're a bit fancy, you might have a little bit of quinoa or like, you know, teff or something and and again, in terms of like accessibility for people, these foods might be a bit more expensive as well. And uh, and they can be fun as well. I'm not saying, you know, that you shouldn't have them, uh but, you know, you're going to have like wheat is not the devil, basically. You can have wheat if you tolerate it and you don't need to rush to the toilet immediately and you're not celiac, uh and you don't bloat immediately, what is the point of excluding wheat, which is going to give you a lot of benefits as well? And for me, one of the things that works really practically, works really well is whole grains are a pain in the neck, basically, I'm being polite here, to uh uh to cook a lot of the time, you know, you talk about barley and rye and uh um um um buckwheat, you know, it's not a grain, it's a pseudograin, but you know, you can get um flakes that are basically just like um like you get the uh rolled oats. It's the same process. It's basically pressed. And uh they uh they are much easier to cook. You can add them to a soup or to a stew. So I might be doing just like a like a stir fry and I fancy a bit of carbs that are going to be good for my microbiome and I know barley is really good because it's got um polyphenols, but it also got beta-glucans that are anti-inflammatory. It adds a nice texture as well to just like the veg and the maybe like sprouts or whatever. So I'm thinking I'm going to get some nice MACs into my meal by just adding a handful of barley five minutes before the meal is ready. And it's kind of like almost crunchy but kind of uh yeah, they just melt into the meal. Uh nutty. And I do that a lot. I use a lot of flakes. And I think again, also because of ADHD and capacity issues that someday you might think I'm going to smash the day and I'm going to do all the prep for the week and I've got all the energy in the world. And the next day you haven't got that capacity and you all you can muster is that very simple meal or a ready a ready meal from the supermarket. And that's a nice uh kind of like a healthier shortcut than the teaspoon or the tablespoon of fibre. For me is if you get a ready, you know, all you can muster that day is a soup from the supermarket that you fancy of being not feeling great for um a few weeks before, you know, I've only started feeling better because I had a um uh long-lasting cold and I was obsessed with a particular um soup from a supermarket that was like a Malaysian curry coconut curry.

Dr Rupy: Oh really? Oh, that sounds good.

Dr Miguel: Yeah. Malaysian coconut curry with lemongrass and uh and rice noodles. Completely obsessed. Like you're a hyperfocusing on that soup. I was having like two pots a day because it was comforting. I just felt like the spices felt really great. And I'm thinking, okay, how can I enrich that meal by putting some extra goodness in it? And just a handful of uh buckwheat flakes or a handful of uh um barley flakes or rye flakes just as I'm as I'm um heating it up.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I I love that strategy. We sometimes add like uh oat flakes uh to a meal, like a soup or a stew. Because you're right, it does add that like nuttiness and you are getting some beta-glucans and stuff. And it's not overpowering for a meal and it's actually quite easy to do. And there are loads of other like small grains now that you can add uh or even like pre-cooked grains. I like adding that just to again add some of these fibres. A lot of people struggle with getting some of these MACs um into breakfast. And I I'm a big fan of like getting fibre as well as protein in at breakfast. How do I have you come across any strategies yourself like adding some of these MACs in the morning?

Dr Miguel: Yeah, so uh I'm a big fan of tempeh.

Dr Rupy: Oh yeah, me too.

Dr Miguel: Uh so, yeah, so a couple of slices of tempeh uh at breakfast. Uh you can actually just put it in the toaster, which is quite fun. And then just put a bit of a drizzle some olive oil on top.

Dr Rupy: Like a pop tart.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, or you can yeah, or you can put it in the air fryer and it's really, you know, in like three, four minutes, you've got like a toasted tempeh, which is great. Uh, um beans, which are kind of like a very British thing, you know, uh again, not hugely exciting talking about, you know, baked beans, but if you like baked beans and uh you just fancy baked beans with an egg or without the egg on a slice of sourdough, you've got plenty of MACs in there. Uh so those are kind of like easy strategies. If you want to be a bit more adventurous and do something more savoury, you could do maybe like a mini Buddha bowl for breakfast.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I I love Buddha bowls. Look, I think it's easy to think that eating for brain health is all about the food that we eat, but it's also about the way in which we eat our meals, right? Talk to us a bit about that.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, mindful eating might sound a bit like a ceremonial performance, you know, that you need to kind of like start burning sage around the kitchen and like, you know, connecting with the universe.

Dr Rupy: That sounds quite nice.

Dr Miguel: I mean, you have the time, why not? But it's it's it's more just about connecting with the body. And the whole of the book really, the reason why it's called ADHD, Body and Mind is because I wanted to make it clear that ADHD is not just a I think that happens from the neck up. Because we talk about ADHD as executive function and then immediately you think of the prefrontal cortex, this area just behind the forehead and, you know, and you start thinking of planning and and it becomes very kind of like, oh, just hack your brain kind of situation. Whereas it's if you feel hyperactive in your body, which which, you know, we do with ADHD, your body's trying to tell you something, it wants to regulate. Your nervous system wants movement. It wants you to go out and instead of like being at the computer for like, you know, 14 hours because we're probably not designed to be doing that thing anyway. Um and uh and then you're going to also uh be on a by default with ADHD more prone to be on a fight or flight kind of uh uh mode. So you're going to be in a sympathetic drive. So there's the two branches of the autonomic nervous system and one of them is the um uh sympathetic um branch and the other one is the parasympathetic branch. Sympathetic is more the stress branch and parasympathetic is more the rest and digest. So going back to the food, why do we want to activate the parasympathetic nervous system? Um because you want to be able to get the most out of the food that you're eating. You don't want to be eating and then for your stomach to be not producing enough juices or your pancreas not producing enough enzymes. And then you get the food into your small intestine and it's kind of like resting there because your brain and the rest of your body is in a kind of like meerkat mode, alert mode thinking, I must be hypervigilant because something's going to happen. And sadly, that's a lot of the ADHD's day-to-day world. So how can you tap back into the body? Uh it's as simple as actually just taking a few seconds to connect back to the body and to connect to the body, the easiest way is to focus on the breath. Not trying to become like a uh breathwork um guru or try to do like pranayama or kind of like, you know, control the breath, but just be aware of the breath. Where is the breath landing when you kind of like observing it? Is it more like up here in your chest? Is it shallow? Is it kind of like deep and relaxed, which is good? Because at that point, you're kind of uh you're relaxed in the chair. You're ready for the meal. You're kind of like your salivary glands are starting to get juicy and your mouth is kind of uh, you know, you haven't got a dry mouth, which is what you get when you're stressed.

Dr Rupy: Stressed, yeah.

Dr Miguel: Um so you want to go to that juicy mouth, you want to go to a situation that you're thinking of the food and you're getting excited about it as opposed to, I must complete this meal ASAP because I've got so much to to do and I need to smash all this to-do list today. And then all those nutrients are not going to be absorbed in the same way.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: And there's plenty of studies telling you about how stress affects nutrient absorption. So it's not it's not new, it's not like new news, it's kind of like, you know, it's old news in a way. So if you just sit for a second and think, my my breath is kind of like up here, I'm thinking I'm a bit agitated. I'm just going to take a few moments without scrolling. I'm going to turn off my TV. I'm not going to look at the news. The news is terrible at the moment. Just like, you know, that switch off the TV, not don't look at the computer while you're eating because again, you're kind of like stimulating the brain and the rest of the nervous system. And just take a a a deep breath in, deep breath in and breath out. And if you if you want to, it's not a matter of controlling the breath, but you can extend the exhale a little bit because that immediately is going to engage the vagus nerve, which is most of the parasympathetic nervous system is the vagus nerve anyway. And that's going to put you into that rest and digest mode. And again, you're going to maximise the chances of of making the most of that meal. So it's also about enjoying the textures and the smells and the flavours of the meal and being grateful for the meal that you're able to have that maybe other people are not able to have and and you're bringing all of that kind of uh awareness of so many nourishing emotions that go beyond what the vitamin A content might be or the, you know, the polyphenol content might be or whether the macros are more on the carby side or the protein side and you relax into the meal. And the science behind this kind of behaviour around food is very interesting because uh especially in ADHD, there's a lot of uh risk of experiencing disordered eating and kind of uh either hyperfixating on foods because you want to exclude them or you want to include them all the time or binging on foods, restricting, extreme restriction. I live through that for a long time in my life. So I know how it feels. And the one thing that's helped me a lot is just taking that time to say, no sitting in front of the TV for eating. Let's just actually sit at the table with the TV off and and actually have a chat. Because that's the way that humans are supposed to be eating anyway. We're not supposed to be eating at the TV or Netflix watching like a horror thing or like, you know, the latest Ryan Murphy. It's kind of a, I mean, and I'm not demonising it. It's cool to eat and watch some stuff. But I think if you want the best out of your meal and your nervous system is kind of revved up and you want to make sure that it's just welcoming those nutrients nicely, just putting yourself in touch with your body through through breath is going to be the the easiest way. But it's also something very interesting that when you hyperfixate on things, your brain likes distraction. So there's some interesting science on Tetris, for example, and how when you have a lot of intrusive thoughts or rumination, uh if you play Tetris, your brain gets distracted by the shapes and the colours in the screen. So playing Tetris can actually quieten down brain activity and reduce rumination quite dramatically.

Dr Rupy: Wow.

Dr Miguel: So if you feel that you are all in your head and you feel like a walking head, basically, you don't feel connected to the body, you feel that you're dissociating from the body and you want to be more in your body, it might be that playing Tetris might be good for you as well.

Dr Rupy: I love that because the the sort of prevailing wisdom is to focus on the breath and do some box breathing and and and if you're ruminating and if you're you've got these intrusive thoughts, it can be very hard to focus on something as boring, quote unquote, as your breath. But if there's a game or something that is stimulating in a sort of gentle manner, like Tetris is, like I remember Tetris on the Game Boy is great. I can see why that can actually be uh a beneficial thing.

Dr Miguel: Yeah.

Dr Rupy: That's so cool.

Dr Miguel: Yeah.

Dr Rupy: Um okay, so what I'm hearing is the environment is so important. Taking a couple of deep breaths before you start eating, creating that relaxed atmosphere, removing uh distractions. Uh and the whole reason why this is going to be important for not only your sympathetic versus parasympathetic drive, but also from a nutrient uh absorption point of view, you know, bile acids and digestion, motility, etc. I must admit, one of my guilty pleasures, we generally eat at the table, me and my wife, and we have a chat about our uh day. But every now and then, we sit on the sofa, cross-legged and we watch a movie. And you know what?

Dr Miguel: It's fine. It's 2026. It's like, you know, you cannot just live like it's like 1920 or something. You know, at the end of the day, we have advanced for reasons and it's cool to make the most of the advances of humanity and if Netflix happens to be one of the advances, why not make the most of it?

Dr Rupy: Absolutely. Well, actually, one of the recipes on the Doctor's Kitchen app, movie night nachos, was developed because of that. Like, I absolutely love this meal. It's like, you know, uh you can use tempeh as the mince and then you have some nachos in there and like, it's like a diversity bowl, but with like loads of other ingredients as well. And like, we would have that in front of a in front of like a movie and we'll just like engage. It's one of those things that you've got to enjoy every now and then, but it's not our staple. And and I think for a lot of people, it can be a staple. So you want to you want to actually look forward to those times when you're, you know, being a bit naughty.

Dr Miguel: And it's part of the whole thing that I I keep going on about in the book as well, which is self-kindness. And uh, you know, you need to be kind to yourself and it's not just uh a thing to put on Instagram on a hashtag. It's it's practicing it. And uh, and I think, you know, some days are going to be different to other days. They are not better or worse. They're just every day is going to be a different opportunity to do things in a in a way that you feel is more nourishing or is less nourishing to the whole of your system and how you feel. And and I think the beauty of being an adult is that you can reflect on that. And if you want to grow and become more the person that you want to be, then you can think, okay, how does that feel today versus what how it felt yesterday? And then you just do more of the stuff that makes you feel good.

Dr Rupy: Totally. Something you mentioned earlier was why apples in their whole form are so good for you in that they are hydrating. And I want to talk about this fourth food strategy, hydration. Why is hydration so important? It sounds like very basic and it sounds very obvious, but it's obviously so important.

Dr Miguel: It is so important. And there's some interesting science that uh tells you that even a 1% dehydration, so, you know, being 1% dehydrated, which is a tiny percentage, is going to have an impact on your ability to concentrate, on your cognitive capacity. Uh and if you look at the kind of like negatives, you know, irritability, uh mood swings, also false hunger because your body is going to be telling you something that you might interpret as hunger. And one of the things that we struggle with in ADHD uh is this interception, which is basically your brain understanding what the body is telling the brain and the nervous system.

Dr Rupy: Right.

Dr Miguel: Uh so we might feel that we know, but we don't know what label to give it. So it kind of like and then by the time that happens, you've seen a squirrel and then you've kind of like gone like, oh, look, Madonna. So then you just basically just like lost that that that focus and then it's gone. So, um 1% is noticeable, 2% is super noticeable. So it's almost like the curve just speeds up really sharply if you look at the data. And there's hundreds of studies that people can read. If you're interested, just kind of basically just Google dehydration and cognitive capacity and you'll find hundreds of clinical trials done in athletes, in non-athletes, in women, pregnant women, you know, all sorts of people, children. So it's a it's a very well-studied phenomenon. Um so and I'll go back to being ADHD and uh and wanting to be hydrated. So you might start with the best intentions in the day. You might have one of those like fancy bottles and carry it with you, but it's not in front of you.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I've seen a lot of those.

Dr Miguel: And then you completely forget about it. So then you think, I'm sat at the computer, I'm working away, my mouth is like powder and I'm thinking, oh, but I'm so focused on what I'm doing and look at that. Oh my god, this study is amazing. Oh, I need to phone somebody. And I'm thinking, I haven't drunk water all day. I haven't drunk water all morning. Versus having two big bottles of water in front of you and a and a nice glass. So make it sensory something that is sensory appealing as well. So use your favourite mug or use your favourite cup and a nice bottle that is kind of like cut glass or, you know, vintage or whatever, or use a a fancy bottle, but just put it in front of you. And make sure that you see the liquid. Or just use um hacks. I hate hacks as a word. But you know, strategies. I like your strategies. So you know, strategies is better. So use strategies like, you know, I find water quite boring, but I can easily drink water with a splash of kombucha. So uh I'm super into kombucha. So, you know, um just dilute it in sparkling water. I like sparkling water a lot. People ask me, is it bad for you? It's hydration at the end of the day. You're drinking sparkling water, that's better than not drinking water. Um try different types of water as well. Like the bubbles can be different, you know, like, you know, some bubbles are actually quite delicate, whereas some bubbles are actually quite aggressive. But it's fun as well to have like some of the more aggressive bubbles because they kind of like tickle your throat. So again, it's kind of like a sensorial thing.

Dr Rupy: It's interesting is there's like a whole subculture of people who grade uh carbonated water according to the aggressiveness of the bubbles.

Dr Miguel: Oh yeah, my sister is like super picky on that. Yeah, like, no, you've bought this water and it's like super aggressive bubbles. I don't want it. And in Spain, they are there's like Vichy Catalan, which is really lovely.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I like the Vichy Catalan. It's got a gorgeous bottle as well.

Dr Miguel: Beautiful bottle. Now, sadly, they do it in plastic now.

Dr Rupy: Oh.

Dr Miguel: Uh they still do the the the glass one, but they've started doing it in plastic as well and a bigger bottle in plastic. Now it's like 1.3 litres as opposed to the 750 or the 1 litre. It's like times change. But yeah, uh um so experiment with different flavours because water will have a, you know, I'm a San Pellegrino kind of a man, you know, I do like the San Pellegrino and it's it's different to just other waters. It's just the bubble and, you know, but also a sprig of um rosemary just from a pot that you could have on your desk. So just get some rosemary in front of you. It's cheap, you know, like £1.50 in the supermarket, you know, grow it into a pot, it will grow big. Just, you know, chop a little bit, put it in the water, it gives you that instant kind of like, you know, je ne sais quoi that is going to give you something different. Plus also rosemary essential oil has been linked with memory and focus. So you're getting maybe a little bit of that. I'm kind of like being adventurous here. Who knows? But same thing, you know, a couple of bits of like basil or mint or, you know, whatever. Are you getting loads of polyphenols because of that? It's literally a cold infusion, so probably not. If you want more of the polyphenols, maybe a hot infusion. So put the rosemary in boiling water and steep it like you would do like, you know, green tea or, you know, like a herbal tea. You know, um um I like I like herbs a lot. So I grow tarragon, rosemary, thyme. And often I will do that. I'll just chop a few of those and put it in hot water. And then, you know, I like to drink hot drinks when they are cooled down as well because I take a long time to drink them. So I'll just end up drinking cold infused water with the herbs and uh so I'm getting am I getting something interesting there? Maybe a small amount, but it's more about the sensorial experience as well. Juice is another option. People demonise juice for various different reasons, but you know, orange juice is a lot of good science behind orange juice. Ideally with bits, so you have a bit of fibre as well in there, the pulp. Um apple juice, you can dilute it if you want it diluted.

Dr Rupy: A lot of people are experimenting with uh electrolytes. Do you subscribe to electrolyte drinks? Do you think they're useful or?

Dr Miguel: Uh I think if you sweat a lot because you've been exercising a lot, if you're training as an athlete and you've just had a massive session, um if it's very hot and you feel particularly dehydrated, you know, in those kind of situations maybe, but I'm not I don't subscribe to feeling that I need to upgrade my hydration. Like humans drink water. We haven't evolved drinking electrolytes.

Dr Rupy: Sure. Let's talk about another food strategy. Yeah. Fats. Um Yeah. A particular fat that's got a lot of attention in the brain health space more generally is omega-3. Yeah. As well. It sounds like from your selection of foods, omega-3 is definitely one that features. But let's talk a bit about the importance of fats and how maybe you get fats in your diet as well.

Dr Miguel: So omega-3s particularly um attracted to because if we go back to the multi-instrument situation, they do a lot for your buck.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: And uh, and typically we've talked about omega-3s in the context of they are anti-inflammatory, which they can be. Uh but that's kind of like the the old knowledge that we have about them and it's quite respected and uh and they have benefits in in in lots of different areas. When you talk about omega-3s in a maybe more novel way, what we started to find out in recent years is that they nourish the microbiome as well and they can act as prebiotics. So they can be food for the microbes in the gut. And in fact, you've met my friend Amrita Vijay from Nottingham University. She's published in this field. Very interesting um um studies looking at how supplementing with omega-3s can nourish your bifidobacterium and other microbes in the gut that are beneficial because they produce butyrate, which is a kind of like a fatty, waxy molecule, a short-chain fatty acid that has the ability to nourish the gut lining and feed the cells that are coating that that one line of cells that is kind of uh separating the gut from the the rest of the body. Uh and and in fact, most of that butyrate is going to be eaten by those cells, but some of the butyrate that is left will travel through the gut lining into the bloodstream, through the nervous system as well and the vagus nerve and and travel into the brain, which not all molecules can do. And and butyrate will do some interesting things in the brain, dampening down inflammation and kind of like lubricating communication between different cells in the brain. But that's just the that that kind of like process.

Dr Rupy: That's amazing though, isn't it? Because like that for me, I don't think I even anticipated omega-3 having this prebiotic effect and how it could lead to the production of short-chain fatty acids. I thought that was mainly in the realm of, you know, these MACs that we've talked about earlier, like the legumes and that kind of stuff. So that was a real eye-opener for me when we speak when we spoke to uh Dr Amrita about it.

Dr Miguel: This classification of omega-3s as prebiotics is now accepted in the um uh wide scientific community. So there's been consistent consensus papers basically confirming the ability of omega-3s to to act as prebiotics. So so yeah, it goes beyond the the traditional look of um fats as being the prebiotics. So that's really interesting. In terms of ADHD, again, a lot of people just want to match the ideal molecule with the with the symptom and say, is this particular thing that I can take as a supplement or that a particular food is going to give me going to reduce my impulsivity or reduce my hyperactivity or increase my focus?

Dr Rupy: Sure.

Dr Miguel: The science is patchy and if you look at some of the well-respected uh producers of um systematic reviews like Cochrane, for example, which do a a marvellous job at reviewing the evidence and and conducting these very thorough systematic reviews, um they don't tell you overwhelmingly that omega-3s are a a management strategy for ADHD particularly. But what they do say is that they protect a lot of um areas in the body that might be affected anyway in ADHD. So in a way, rather than actually say omega-3s will cure your hyperactivity or will make you less impulsive, which again, pocketed studies will tell you that this happens, but when you look at amalgamating the data as a whole, then the evidence is quite kind of a patchy and and heterogeneous. It's not like uniform. So when you look at that and then compare it with what we know traditionally that omega-3s do, they protect the heart. They might protect the brain in terms of like cognitive power anyway. So do we think of cognitive power, cognitive function in ADHD? Maybe not traditionally because we're tackling the symptoms. And again, the symptoms are hyperactivity, impulsivity, focus. So is focus cognitive? Yes, but it's not the traditional kind of thing, you know. So, uh but when you think at executive function and working memory, for example, which is one of the key areas in executive function, planning, uh starting a task and being able to stick with the task and finish it and all this kind of stuff. All of that is cognition. So if you can work on the brain from that point of view, then the consensus is that yes, omega-3s are actually very interesting for the brain.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: And they're also, there's also the the very uh key fact that a lot of the brain is is very much omega-3. So the fat in the brain is very similar to the fat that you might actually take in a fish supplement or in an algae supplement if you're plant-based. And it's very easy for the brain to assimilate that fat and to use it to replenish itself.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: So yeah, so omega-3s are really, really interesting. But then again, they are not the only fat. So we were we started the conversation with Mediterranean, you know, eating and so on. Walnuts. So again, so you have interesting fats in seeds and uh and nuts and seeds, which for me are very one of the key strategies because again, I'm all about sprinkling something as opposed to complete overhauling a diet because I don't want people to think, oh, Miguel is going to give me the the ideal diet for ADHD. I'm going to leave my current diet and I'm going to do the Miguel's diet, you know, which is is not what you're going to find in the book. What I'm giving you is lots of options for you to kind of uh build on top of your anchors that you might have. And if you have some base foods that feel safe to you or if you have some certain meals that make you feel comfortable in your own body, I don't want you to leave them because food is a lot more than just individual nutrients. But what can you do to make that jump to a better state that is easy and practical? And it may well be that it's just a a sprinkle of different seeds and and nuts on top of your current meal. So if you have a cereal that might not be by, you know, purist standards, the best cereal to have because it's a supermarket cereal, but you happen to like it. You're having your kind of like, you know, flakes with a bit of like dry fruit or whatever. It's got a bit of sugar in it, whatever, you like it, it makes you feel safe in the morning. But then you top that with a a handful of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and some walnut halves and some hazelnuts, whatever. Instantly that meal has changed.

Dr Rupy: Totally.

Dr Miguel: Because you've put different types of protein, um types of amino acids coming from each of the individual nuts, different ratios of different omega-6 and omega-3s in the nuts and some other omegas that are less talked about like omega-7s and omega-9s and so on. And uh and the polyphenols in each of the nuts as well, very interesting polyphenols in walnuts, for example. So so you create a unique meal just with like the simple strategy of adding those nuts. And again, because of what I was saying about the hydration, you might have the best intentions with these things, but if you don't see them, you might forget about them. Or you do them for a week and then you put them in a pantry or in a cupboard and then you forget uh and then they go rancid because you haven't used them in like, you know, six months. So I tend to make my nuts and seeds visible. So I've got this like shelf on top of my cooker uh that I use, you know, I put like funny things just to like make it pretty. And I'm all into glass jars and, you know. So I have like really tall glass jars, like chunky ones, you know, different sizes. So I'll I'll basically just replenish by adding a few almonds, a few hazelnuts, a few walnuts, you know. And again, you don't need to always go for like the top quality organic whatever, you know. You can start with the basic stuff that you can get in the budget supermarkets because you'll get little packs.

Dr Rupy: Exactly. You'll get little packs of mixed nuts and seeds that will have hemp and uh poppy seeds and, you know, more unusual things that you can typically get in like, you know, in your regular

Dr Miguel: Absolutely.

Dr Rupy: And it's giving you exposure to different nutrients as well.

Dr Miguel: Exactly. So it's that it's creating that wide um um um matrix of uh nutrients that you're exposing yourself to with a high concentration of fats that are beneficial. Uh and again, it's just a matter of adding a few in there. And I've taken to using sunflower seeds as well in soups. And I'll tell you why. So I'm also obsessed with my instant pot.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: Like the best thing I've ever bought because I make my own natto in there. So I ferment my natto in there. I make my tempeh in there.

Dr Rupy: You make tempeh in there?

Dr Miguel: Yeah.

Dr Rupy: Wow.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, it's it's it's just the is the best thing. I make amazing soups that I put like, so I did one yesterday, I put like broccoli, green beans with all the stuff. I didn't chop them and take out the, you know, the ends.

Dr Rupy: The stringy bits, yeah, yeah, yeah, the ends.

Dr Miguel: The whole thing in there, onion with like the whole skin, garlic with the skin. I put a banana with the whole skin, which is rich in serotonin precursors, tryptophan.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: By the way. So you have all of that in there, a concoction of different flavours. And then basically just blitz it in my blender. And uh, it's basically like a cream. It's like a complete smooth cream puree. You wouldn't know that there was onion skin in there, which is really is where a lot of the quercetin is in the onion. It's actually in the skin.

Dr Rupy: It's in the skin, right? Yeah, yeah.

Dr Miguel: The skin is about five times more uh five times richer in quercetin than the rest of the onion.

Dr Rupy: Got you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr Miguel: Particularly red onions are really rich in quercetin. So delicious soup last night, basically.

Dr Rupy: So you literally like put it in the instant pot, you cook it for 10 minutes with the liquid. Any particular liquid like a veg stock or just water?

Dr Miguel: I put a a stock cube.

Dr Rupy: Stock cube. Okay.

Dr Miguel: And then water, basically. I just boil the kettle so it's already kind of like ready to go. Put it in there all together. Uh I put some miso as well, like two a whole tablespoon or two of miso because I'm addicted to miso. Yeah, and uh and you just blitz it in like a Vitamix or something or like a

Dr Miguel: Yeah, I've got like a NutriBullet, a big NutriBullet, like a family-sized NutriBullet that is like a 1,800 watts or something. It's quite powerful.

Dr Rupy: And this works? This generally works?

Dr Miguel: This doesn't only work, it's it's amazing. It's like I'm completely

Dr Rupy: I'm going to try this because this doesn't sound like it's going to work.

Dr Miguel: I'm obsessed. So basically, I I scoop it out with a with with a big spoon or with a uh ladle and um so it's easy to put in the in the blender. I put a bit of the liquid and I do it in two lots because I do a lot. I I fill it up pretty much. So I've got soup for two days.

Dr Rupy: Oh my gosh.

Dr Miguel: So, uh so basically I have another pot ready to put like half of the mix once it's done and then I do the other lot and then I mix it. It's so smooth and creamy, you wouldn't believe it.

Dr Rupy: I I can't believe it.

Dr Miguel: It's completely smooth and creamy. It's completely

Dr Rupy: As a recipe creator, it doesn't sound like it's going to work. But I I mean like, you know, you've got garlic and onions there that are giving you that base flavour. The banana, I can imagine, it's giving you some sweetness to balance out some of the other flavours. The miso is going to give you savoury notes.

Dr Miguel: But equally sweet potato, like I can put a whole sweet potato, I can chop it, but I keep the whole skin.

Dr Rupy: And just 10 minutes in the slow cooker.

Dr Miguel: Yuca as well, which I love.

Dr Rupy: Oh, yuca. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a explain what yuca is to folks.

Dr Miguel: So yuca is is a tuber. It's like a big potato, basically, but like it's used a lot in Africa and also in uh Central America and South America. Uh it can be like a really big sweet potato. It's a plant as well and you probably have it in your garden or in your house, you know, because you bought it in the supermarket or in the nursery. So you might have a yuca at home and you don't know that it's actually edible. So the the roots are edible. They can be quite big. And some varieties of yuca are actually really, really hard. So it's very hard to even chop them. So if you want to put yuca in there, you probably need to do the yuca by itself for, you know, a good 15, 20 minutes to soften it and then put it in the in the actual soup mix as opposed to just expect that it's going to dissolve because it's it's very, very hard.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: And it's a really nice source of MACs.

Dr Rupy: Oh yeah, I can imagine it's like up there with like cassava and taro.

Dr Miguel: That's it. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So yuca, cassava is very similar. You were telling us about how you put sunflower seeds in that.

Dr Miguel: So yeah, so I put that because sunflower seeds are a natural source of lecithin, which is an emulsifier.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: So if you put a tablespoon or two of sunflower seeds, you get the cream, you get a really nice creaminess. So you've basically emulsified the the water and oil in there. And I tend not to use because it goes to really high temperature in there. I tend not to use olive oil in the actual instant pot. I tend to add it while I'm blending.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: So I add the extra virgin olive oil when I'm blending. But yeah, I should have brought you some. I had some for breakfast this morning. So I was talking about like breakfast. And I put some chickpeas as well, like a whole tin of chickpeas directly from the tin with the whole aquafaba.

Dr Rupy: You must have a massive cooker because you're putting so many different things.

Dr Miguel: Well, it's a it's a family-sized instant pot. I think it's like the 5-litre one.

Dr Rupy: Oh okay, so it's quite a big one.

Dr Miguel: It's quite a big one. Yeah. So when I make something like this, I'll make enough for like two or three days.

Dr Rupy: Just to round off the omega-3 conversation, in terms of supplements, if people were to supplement because they don't have fish in their diet or they don't have like readily available omega-3 that's of that EPA and DHA, those long chains. Yeah. Uh is there a particular dose that people should be aiming for?

Dr Miguel: So ideally, I would have the whole fish if you can have fish.

Dr Rupy: Sure, yeah.

Dr Miguel: Because you're getting a lot more than just the

Dr Rupy: Than just the omega-3.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, and if you look at large-scale epidemiological studies uh looking at food matrices as opposed to just the the the the individual nutrients, then the consensus is that the whole fish is going to be a lot more beneficial than just the supplement. But ideally, you want nothing less than maybe a gram a day, like 1,500 between the two with a bit more DHA than maybe EPA. But then again, I'm not a purist with these things because everybody's going to react slightly differently to the different ratios and some people do really well on higher EPA than DHA. So DHA is supposed to be a little bit more calming maybe for the the brain that is a bit more revved up. So, um that can be the the kind of a um um the supplement to have if you want to have a supplement. And it doesn't need to be your uh oil from salmon or, you know, um sardine or krill or whatever. It could be if you're plant-based, it can be algae-based as well, which is really good. Yeah. So, but yeah, if if you do eat fish, I would have a variety of small fish. So maybe not so much the salmon and maybe keep salmon as more of a treat as opposed to like, you know, three times a week kind of fish, just because the way that salmon is raised in 2026, unless you know exactly where it's coming from and that it's really, really clean, it's likely to have a bit more toxicity than maybe other fish like sardines or mackerel that tend to be wild fish, cold waters, less exposure to toxins. But then again, it's kind of all

Dr Rupy: It's a balance. It's so complicated, isn't it these days?

Dr Miguel: Yeah. And tinned fish as well because I think people tend to demonise again, anything that is cheap.

Dr Rupy: Yeah. We love tinned fish.

Dr Miguel: I love tinned fish. I love tinned sardines. Uh you know, I eat them out of the tin. My dog will sit in front of me and get a sardine out of the tin. We share them. We have a bit of oxytocin going on, bonding through the sardine situation.

Dr Rupy: Let's talk a little bit about ferments. I mean, it does lean into a lot of what we've already talked about, but what is it about ferments that are so healthy for our our brains?

Dr Miguel: In a way, ferments are a replica of a gut environment because if you look at the situation when you're making kombucha or when you're making kefir or when you're making um uh um uh tempeh or natto, you basically have um some microbe in there. It could be a colony of microbes and it could be not just bacteria, but it could be yeast as well in some cases, like in in kefir and kombucha. Uh it could be just one specific microbe like in natto is just Bacillus subtilis natto. Uh in in in whichever way you look at it, it basically you're feeding those microbes some food, which is what you're doing in your gut. You're feeding yourself some food, it's landing in a in an environment that is kind of like it's got the the the the right settings for that food to be fermented, to be digested by the microbes. It could be that it's warm, it's dark, it's got less oxygen, more oxygen, whatever, whatever they like because each of them are slightly different. And they're going to extract some nutrients out of the food that you've given them, which is what your microbes are doing in your gut. Basically, you if we had a gut empty of microbes, which has been done in in laboratory experiments where people just get like antibiotic treatments, they get wiped out and then they compare or animals. So, um you're doing a similar thing. You're feeding those microbes some food and letting them extract the nutrients. So we get fixated with the with the actual probiotics that we're getting or the live bacteria or whatever in kefir. But it's just so much more. So if you're looking at kefir, for example, you've got obviously the the lactobacilli, a range of lactobacilli, which when I've done studies in uh and actually measured what the kefir had, we've looked at over 30 different types of uh microbes in there, sometimes like up to 40 weird ones because in every environment, you're going to get some unique ones.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: So, uh so you're getting a lot of diversity of microbes in there. Some of them might be resonant with uh microbes that you think they're going to colonise your gut, like the lactobacilli or the bifidobacterium or whatever. Some of them are just going to be passing through you. You're going to poo them out, but in the time that they are inside your gut, they're going to be doing nice things. They're going to be kind of uh people who they were not the soul of the party, but they made the party go smoothly.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: They stayed for a couple of hours, they were smiling, they were chatting to other people who may have been a bit bigger characters and you you remember them. You don't remember these maybe kind of like a bit more inconspicuous people, but they were cute. They were kind of like there in a corner having a drink and being cute. And then they left. So you get a lot of those that might be beneficial for that reason. They're kind of like contribute to the goodness of the party that's going on in your gut. And uh, but that is just one side of the picture. And again, if you look at what is going on in kefir as well as the microbes. So you have these things called exopolysaccharides. It's a long word. It's basically complex carbohydrates that are produced by the microbes. And if you've ever made kefir at home, you'll know that the grains are quite slimy. Kind of like you try and pick them up and they're kind of like

Dr Rupy: Yeah, they slip off your fingers.

Dr Miguel: Yeah. Uh and that is the exopolysaccharide. And the exopolysaccharide has got lots of different properties. It's appetite regulating, it's anti-inflammatory. It's actually um it's uh full of mucilage, which is basically like that sliminess that is really good for repairing uh mucus tissue.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: So if you have a situation of maybe your mucosa in your mouth or your um um um the intestinal tract basically is a little bit damaged or porous or whatever, it's going to have that smoothing effect. And that's just one example. Uh and and then if you make any ferment with any food that is also a source of polyphenols, like milk sadly doesn't have polyphenols, so there's no polyphenols to be extracted. But if you do have polyphenols in any particular uh food that you're fermenting like kombucha, kombucha is interesting because uh it's it's made by a scoby. What is a scoby? It's a it's a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria. So it's basically bacteria and yeast working together to get the most out of the tea that you put in the in the infusion that you're basically feeding the scoby. So the scoby, if you've looked if you've seen a scoby, can look like a piece of rubber.

Dr Rupy: Yes, yeah, yeah. It's sort of floating around.

Dr Miguel: Exactly. Sometimes when, you know, I'm um my scobies are very healthy at the moment. So every batch that I make, I get a couple of thin scobies and they look like scum initially. It's kind of like bubbles of like, you know, it's like, is it dirty? Should I have cleaned my jar to make am I going to get poisoned or something? And then all of a sudden you have this kind of like little film of um yeast and bacteria that are basically taking out the catechins, the polyphenols out of the tea that you made an infusion of and let it cool down and put sugar in and so on. They've they've eaten the sugar. So by the time that you drink the kombucha, you've only got a tiny amount of sugar left. Uh and uh and they make the taste delicious.

Dr Rupy: Yeah.

Dr Miguel: So the kombucha is kind of like, you know, sensory appealing. Uh and uh and also they give you access to these polyphenol versions that you wouldn't have had access to had you not fermented the tea because when you have green tea in a cup, you're getting these, you know, various different polyphenols, some of the more famous ones are called catechins in green tea. They are anti-inflammatory, they're good for the brain, they're good for the gut, lots of different things that, you know, if you look at the literature, they're really well studied. But the reality with polyphenols is that they have very little bioavailability. That means that your human body can do very little with them because they are kind of locked. They're like a treasure trove that has been locked with a, you know, with a padlock. And then you put them in this urn with uh with the scobies and the microbes in there, the yeast and the bacteria are able to unlock the treasure trove and release these um super available catechins that when you drink them, they know exactly where to go.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: Uh not only that, when they hit your gut, they get further processed by the microbes in your gut because they get these like catechins that are already kind of like, you know, juicy and ready to be eaten. And then there's like a feast of catechins that your Fecalibacterium, your Roseburia, your whatever, you know, bifidobacterium is going to eat and then produce butyrate, acetate, propionate, you know, all these nice fatty acids that keep the pH low in the gut so you keep the nasty microbes away. They kind of uh help the ecosystem be more stable and more diverse. So, uh yeah, I love um uh ferments for many reasons. And herbs for the same the same uh reason as we've talked about nuts and seeds and so on because they can be a sprinkle of goodness that doesn't mean you need to completely overhaul your diet.

Dr Rupy: Yeah.

Dr Miguel: So you could have your, you know, if you if you just take that out of the book and say, okay, well, the one thing I took from Miguel's book is that I'm going to use more spices. And I'm going to have I'm going to have my porridge, but I'm going to do a savoury porridge in the morning and I'm going to put a bit of tikka masala and some olive oil. So you're pairing the, you know, tikka masala, what how many ingredients will you have in there? Probably like eight, 10 ingredients in there in curry powder. Um so you have your um curcumin from turmeric, you have some paprika in there with some interesting polyphenols in there, you have black pepper, you know, aniseed, garam masala, you know, whatever. You have like so many different polyphenols from each of the ingredients. So that's nutrient synergy in itself already is ancestral knowledge in there. People in that particular area of the world, they knew that it wasn't just a matter of making it tasty, they knew that they were getting a lot of goodness out of that and they knew how to use it to, you know, in terms of like Ayurvedic knowledge as well to up their pitta or lower their pitta or whatever it was that they were trying to do, you know. So there's a lot of that in there. And then you pair it with the olive oil that's going to give you the oleocanthal and the hydroxytyrosol and all these kind of like Mediterranean compounds that are again, really well studied in isolation to be doing interesting things in the brain and the body and the heart and, you know, everywhere you look, there's going to be a benefit in there. So you're pairing all of that and uh and it's just so simple because it's just like a sprinkle of something on top of your food.

Dr Rupy: Totally. I love how in your book you were talking about how you have like phases where you go through different herb blends.

Dr Miguel: Oh, completely.

Dr Rupy: And I at the moment, I'm in a we have a gyros blend at home and it's like uh oregano, I think there's some paprika or smoked paprika in there. It's quite a basic.

Dr Miguel: I'm obsessed with smoked paprika.

Dr Rupy: It's so good. You go through different times where sometimes it is like a tikka blend or a masala blend or a, you know, there's a uh blend uh like a Lebanese seven spice, I think it's called. And so, you know, sometimes I'll just buy one of these really good quality herb blends and I'll start using that on everything, whether it's fish or chicken or tempeh or just like as a sprinkle or like adding some lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil to it and making a dressing. Like there are just so many lovely sensual ways in which you can enjoy nutrient synergy and some of these benefits that we've been talking about today, which are fantastic for your brain.

Dr Miguel: Completely. And one of the things that I say in my book as well is about um a herb grinder, fantastic. Otherwise, a coffee grinder would do as well. And uh uh in Spain, we have um some uh desiccated vegetables that we add to soup. It's called Juliana, which is basically like a it's a woman's name, but also

Dr Rupy: Yeah, Juliana is like like Julianne.

Dr Miguel: Basically, but you can do like um Julianne soup mix, basically, which is leek, onion, garlic, carrot, uh and I'm missing and and celery and something else. So basically it's and they've been dehydrated and then you add it to a soup and it adds the vegetables as if they were fresh. They're kind of like little little pieces.

Dr Rupy: Yeah. You can probably get it online. But in Spain, you can just get it get it in the supermarket. It's a popular thing that dehydrated vegetables.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr Rupy: And uh and whenever I go to Spain, I just stock up and I bring it back because again, I I grind it sometimes. Sometimes I use it as it is because it's chunky. So you get a bit of carrot all of a sudden that, you know, you didn't know you have in the soup just because of the um um it bulks up when it's like rehydrated. But sometimes I pulverise it and I just add it on top of things just to get that kind of like extra bit of goodness because I'm thinking along the same lines as we've been talking about is like seven or 10 different ingredients. Even if it's just like a tablespoon, but I'm getting a little insinuation of each of the things that each of those ingredients individually would give me. Uh and and I use rose petals as well uh for things like ice cream. So a really easy ice cream to do is mango, like frozen mango in a food processor. If you want it extra creamy, you can put some kefir in there. You can put an egg white as well if you want it like more emulsified. If you're plant-based, you could probably blend some, you could put some sunflower oil, which is not going to be overpowering, uh or you could put some olive oil if you want a bit more pepperness in there. And uh and pulverise red rose petals, which you can buy, so they are food grade. But if you have roses in your garden, you could use them. You can just basically dry the petals and, you know, use those. Um uh I wouldn't do it if you use a lot of like roundup and stuff in your garden. But yeah, there's so many things that it's just a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that because what the body likes, what your gut microbiome likes is a consistency and repetition of things coming in, you know, all the time as opposed to I'm going to go and do the blah, blah, blah microbiome diet reset for two weeks and then you forget about it and you go back to doing whatever you were doing before or you do some something completely different for another two weeks. And then that's altering the stability of the of the gut microbiome. So in terms of that rewiring that I talk about in the book, you know, the the the nervous system and through the gut microbiome, it's about putting in, again, think about a meadow and you're putting in a bit of everything because you want the wild meadow to be really colourful. So you don't just buy like, you know, a big sack of seeds of the same flower. You buy, you know, small sacks of different flowers and you just sprinkle them.

Dr Rupy: Totally.

Dr Miguel: But you need to keep doing it every, you know, all the time. Imagine that you are in the perfect climate and flowers just keep growing. You just keep reseeding all the time with like different different pots of different seeds. So you're always bringing something new to that meadow.

Dr Rupy: I love that. I love that. Um I want to move on to the final food strategy now, which is obviously very important. Uh protein. Uh what can we say about protein as it pertains to our brain health, um and what are some of the benefits of ensuring that you're anchoring your meals around protein?

Dr Miguel: It's the most important um um bit for me because it's the the brain we've talked about as being very rich in fat, but without the fat, it wouldn't have the scaffold that you need. So what you're doing in a way by starting the day with protein, it's putting that scaffold that's going to sustain you throughout the day. And uh uh and and we were talking off camera as well how I start my day, which is basically I um I experimented with different things, you know, like longer fasting, no fasting, eating when I wanted, blah, blah, whatever. And now what I seem to be on a phase of doing that is working for me is I start the day with uh um a shake. I don't even like blend it. It's literally just I just put it in a bottle and I shake it.

Dr Rupy: You shake it, yeah.

Dr Miguel: I put a scoop of um whey powder and I don't use isolate, I use the concentrate because it's got more, it's got less protein, but it's still really rich in protein. So it's got like 80% protein as opposed to like 95, 99. But the the isolate is very clean tasting, it's really good to get in that maximum absorption. So if you're a bodybuilder or something, you might want that. The concentrate is got more lactose, which lactose if you tolerate lactose is actually a prebiotic. It actually feeds your gut microbes. So I don't mind. I'm I'm fine with lactose. But also it has more things like um some of the fatty acids in in milk that are being discarded in the whey.

Dr Rupy: Got you.

Dr Miguel: So it's got more of the richness, it's more of a food matrix as opposed to an isolate.

Dr Rupy: Yeah.

Dr Miguel: And because I'm more about the whole orchestra than about the isolation, I prefer that. And it's cheaper as well. So, anyway, so you can get good quality whey powder. If you don't use um uh whey because you're plant-based, you can do it with a soy, with you know, a pea or whatever your protein of choice it could be. But I'm getting 25 grams of protein in that first thing that I put in my body. And I put a bit of a creatine as well because it has value in terms of like brain power and so on. Lots of nice research coming out on creatine at the moment. I put some lion's mane in there. Is it rewiring my brain? Maybe not, but I'm taking a leap of faith. It kind of like tastes nice and nutty and chocolatey. And there's some polysaccharides in this. It's probably helping you gut in some way.

Dr Miguel: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, which is probably the best thing that it's doing. And uh, and then I put some uh cocoa powder, so some raw uh cacao powder. Uh and uh what else? And some baobab because I like the zinginess and it's good for my bifidobacterium. There's some nice research on that. So basically I just give it a good shake and I take my my ADHD meds with that. Because there is again, emerging evidence that if you start the day with good amount of protein with your meds, the meds are going to be more stable through the day as opposed to make you crash when they stop working.

Dr Rupy: Okay.

Dr Miguel: And for me, that's been the case, very much the case. They work much better. So I go with that. Um if you don't start the day with protein powder, absolutely fine, but make sure that you've got some protein in there. It could be plant-based protein. So this soup that we were talking about, I put some protein in there. Sometimes I put a whole block of tofu in there in the soup as well. So there's nice amount of um uh protein in there. I put chickpeas in it yesterday, so that was the kind of like, you know, protein protein source. So, um it could be eggs, they're so quick and easy. It could be that um Japanese style um sourdough toast with sardines on top and the nori flakes and, you know, your wasabi or your tamari or whatever, whatever it is. It could be tofu. You know, I like a tofu scramble can be very tasty.

Dr Rupy: I'm a big fan of a tofu scramble. I like tofu scrambles.

Dr Miguel: Yeah, uh tempeh is a fantastic source of protein as well. It's comparable protein with beef. So it's amazing. I'm a big fan of tempeh. Um so whatever you do, if you put that protein in that initial part of the day and then you give your body if you're hungry enough, a bit of a um follow up of protein again around midday or, you know, 1 o'clock, you're setting the basis for more stable blood sugar throughout the day because that's the signals that you're sending to your pancreas and your gut and and we talk a lot about like GLP-1s and, you know, appetite regulation. Well, they they they happen as part of the whole of the appetite regulation in the body with other hormones as well, which are affected by protein intake. So when you have a nice amount of uh protein in the morning, you're more likely to regulate your appetite through the day than if you start the day with like a croissant.

Dr Rupy: Totally. Yeah, yeah. I love that. So, you know, it's got blood sugar balancing properties, it can improve your intuitive satiation, so you're less likely to overeat, you're less likely to crave. And the amino acids that are broken down when you consume quality protein, whether that's from animal-based sources or plant-based sources, are providing the rich scaffolding for you for your brain to

Dr Miguel: Absolutely. Yeah, and you can get into the individual amino acids and what they do. And of course, like, you know, in the ADHD community, a lot of people want to be like very focused on, am I getting enough tyrosine? Do I need a tyrosine supplement because tyrosine is the precursor for for uh dopamine and, you know, I actually tried I I was drug-free for a while because I was I had such a stigma uh, you know, a couple of years into my meds, I thought, I don't want to be on meds. I want to do it all natural. I had a bit of a purist kind of like situation or so that I'm just like, you know, I'm going to wean myself off. So I left them. And I took supplements and so on. It wasn't comparable, but between what I was doing, a bit of coffee, which then backfired because it made me too, you know, it worked for about the first month and then it gave me panic attacks, so I had to leave it and go decaf. But, uh, yeah, anyway, long story. I tried tyrosine supplements. Some people take like a whole gram, like 1,000 milligrams of tyrosine and they rave about it on Reddit and they say, oh, this has replaced my meds. I nearly had a panic attack on like 100 milligrams. So this shows how different we are. And uh, and it wasn't like it didn't give me focus or energy. I was just wired. I was just completely wired. And I know some other people have experienced that as well. So it goes back to the whole matrix of nutrients. When you're having eggs that are full protein or tofu that is full protein, you know, whatever else, tempeh, um meat, you know, chicken slices, a salmon in the morning, whatever it is you're having, uh Greek yoghurt, um um kefir, you're not getting just tyrosine, you're getting tyrosine, but you're getting, you know, the whole range of amino acids in a full protein.

Dr Rupy: Yeah.

Dr Miguel: And that I think for me, each of them are doing something unique that your body is expecting as opposed to, I don't know that the human body is expecting a kind of like a big chunk of tyrosine to land.

Dr Rupy: Totally, yeah, yeah.

Dr Miguel: And think, what the hell do I do with this now? And I'm not saying that it's not warranted in a very specific uh situation. So I'm not knocking it if that is warranted. But equally, I don't think the human body is is prepared for these high-dose isolates and to do that on a repeated basis, it can be a bit tricky. For me, I feel safer actually um doing food. And there's just so many things that you can do, easy protein fixes for the morning that could be just like simply yoghurt, kefir with a bit of fruit, blended, you know, you want to be more fancy and put in some of the things that, you know, like the baobab or the cacao, you know, because you like the flavours. And then on top of that, they they happen to have benefits for your gut microbes, then wonderful. You can be adventurous and put a bit of cacao and a bit of olive oil. So you have a bit of the pepperness of the of the olive oil. There's just so many different things that you can do.

Dr Rupy: There's so many different varieties. I agree. And like, you know, I think the theme of this conversation is really about getting the basics right and not trying to overcomplicate it with isolates or specific ingredients and actually being a lot more intuitive about what works for you as well. So it's like, let's do the basics, let's figure out what works for you, and then perhaps there is room for experimentation with certain supplements.

Dr Miguel: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that if you want to go down that route, if you work with somebody who's probably going to guide you, if you're a bit lost or, you know, there are some supplements that could be quite safe, you know, like B vitamins, for example, safe enough. You know, we have, you know, the mainstream scientists telling you from the Food Standards Agency, they do nice things for cognitive function and so on. So you can experiment with that and and you can just go to the supermarket and get a pot for like, you know, a few quid and see how you feel. I think there's there's so much that we just try and and try and almost like try and build the house starting from the roof as opposed to get the foundations right and try to overhaul the whole kind of a diet that we may have had uh in a way that doesn't listen, doesn't acknowledge that ADHD is a whole mind-body experience. So I'm very much for that kind of argument that you need to cultivate that relationship with your body and listen to what your body is telling you and trust that and then build upon that as opposed to try to rationalise everything because we are our brains already are taking so much in and trying to process it and make sense and and and come back with answers. And if on top of that, we're putting all of these rigid rules about what we need to eat, what we need to exclude, how many grams, how many milligrams, how it just becomes completely overwhelming.

Dr Rupy: Yeah, I agree. Um on that note, I'd love to land this plane by asking you to read uh this poem uh at the end of part three, just before The Art of Living, because I think it really does speak to everything that we've discussed today about being intuitive and about focusing on self-care. And I just I remember reading that the other week and just think, oh, this is exactly the kind of conversation I want to have with Miguel and it's a lovely way to end it, I think.

Dr Miguel: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. A note for the art of living. I am allowed to feed myself with care, not just with food, but with words, with pauses, with presence. The way I speak to myself is nourishment. My gut listens, my breath listens, my whole being listens. This isn't about perfection, it's about flavour, connection, truth. It's about love. One kind sentence, one grounding meal, one honest moment at a time.