Food is the fuel which keeps us ticking over. Our body and brain draw all the nutrients they need from the food and drink we consume.

We invited award-winning dietitian, Lucy Jones, to shed some light on the role food and drink plays in our wellbeing.

Some questions we ask:

Why is it important to be mindful of what we eat and drink?
How does what we eat and drink affect the quality of our sleep?
Can medication affect our appetite and metabolism?
How can someone on a low income maintain a healthy and varied diet?
Want to learn more about Lucy? Here you go:

Lucy Jones is an experienced dietitian, having worked in numerous London hospitals; including Chelsea and Westminster NHS foundation trust, Homerton hospital NHS trust and Whittington Hospital NHS trust. She covers a range of specialties including bariatrics, weight loss, healthy eating and behaviour change, gastroenterology, IBS, mental health, cardiovascular health and metabolic syndrome, diabetes and nutrition support.

She is well known for her television presenting roles including Channel 4’s The Food Hospital, ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show and most recently BBC1’s Eat Well for Less. As a dietetic media spokesperson, she regularly appears on television, radio and written press providing expert comment on nutrition news stories. She has regularly appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC News 24 and Sky News, in addition to appearing in ITV’s Loose Women, BBC Watchdog, BBC Rip off Britain, Channel 5’s ‘When Gastric Bands go wrong’ and many others. She also works in production roles such as acting as series dietitian for Channel 4’s ‘Weighing up the Enemy’. In 2013, she was named BDA’s media spokesperson of the Year and Nutrition and Health’s Nutrition writer and Broadcaster of the year.

We do hope you enjoyed the first episode of the Everybody Blurts podcast. Don’t forget to subscribe and join in the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

Episode 1: Lucy Jones - The Role Food Plays in our Mental Health

The stigma of mental health often prevents those who are unwell, from reaching out for the help and support they so desperately need and deserve. 

We invited Plymouth's newly-elected MP, Johnny Mercer, to tell us about his crusade to stamp out the stigma of mental health and to improve services for veterans.

Some questions we ask:

What it's like to be an MP?
Where Johnny's passion for mental health awareness comes from?
How we'll smash the stigma of mental health?
Whether mental health is a priority for the current government?

Want to learn more about Johnny? Here you go:

Johnny Mercer is the Conservative MP for Plymouth, Moor View. Born in Kent and raised with his seven siblings by two working parents, Johnny learned early on in his life the vital qualities of teamwork, dedication and perseverance. He achieved ‘average’ results at school, where he spent more time on the sports field than in the classroom. Being part of a large working family and contributing to the family home meant that employment and not university beckoned, and Johnny worked as an intern in the financial sector of the City of London.

From a military family, and with three brothers in the Royal Navy, Johnny could only resist the allure of the military for so long. He elected for the Army over the Royal Navy and subsequently graduated from Sandhurst in 2002. A former British Army Officer, he served from the tactical to the strategic level throughout a career across the globe, including multiple combat operations.

Twitter: @JohnnyMercerMP

Facebook: /JohnnyforPlymouth

Website: http://johnnyforplymouth.com/

Episode 2: MP Johnny Mercer - Mental Health Stigma and Help for Veterans

One of the first signs of depression is a change in sleep habits. People who have depression often say that they either have difficulty falling and staying asleep despite feeling tired (insomnia) or it’s all they want to do and they still feel tired (hypersomnia).

We invited leading sleep neurologist, Dr Kirstie Anderson, to explain why sleep is important and the role it plays in our mental wellbeing. 

Some questions we ask:

What can we do to improve the quality of sleep?
What’s the best way of re-setting your body clock?
What can we do to help our brain unwind before bed?
How important is a bed-time routine?
Want to learn more about Dr Anderson? Here you go:

Dr Kirstie Anderson BMedSci, MBBS, MRCP, DPhil (Oxon)

Dr Anderson delivers the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for insomnia programme at sleepstation and runs a large research programme within Newcastle University. She is one of the UK's foremost sleep specialists. As one of the few consultant neurologists to specialise in sleep, she works within one of the country's largest sleep clinics where people with every type of sleep disturbance are seen and successfully treated including those with severe insomnia. She has published papers on a range of sleep disorders and delivers lectures on every aspect of sleep.

Website: https://sleepstation.org.uk 

Epsiode 3: Dr Kirstie Anderson - Why Sleep is Important

Being an entrepreneur comes with its own set of trials and tribulations. The buck stops with you which can be liberating, extremely frightening and lonely.

We invited trailblazing entrepreneur, Jo Gifford, to talk to us about managing the work/life balance.

Some questions we ask:

Did you make a conscious decision to be honest about your mental health online?
What does self-care look like for you?
How do you assert your boundaries?

Want to learn more about Jo Gifford? Here you go:

Jo Gifford mentors solopreneurs to work in smarter, creative ways and to get their message out to the world. Creator of the Brilliance Ignition she is also mum to twin girls and is partial to a bullet journal and loose leaf tea. Jo's business blog, The Dexterous Diva, and her accompanying podcast are famed globally for her down to earth style and tips and tricks for the small business owner.

Website: http://dexterousdiva.co.uk/ 

Twitter: @dexdiva

Facebook: /dexdiva

Instagram: /dexdiva

Pinterest: /jog

Other Links:

http://www.bangsandabun.com/

https://www.fancyhands.com/

http://www.alexandrafranzen.com/2013/02/03/how-to-say-no-to-everything-ever/

Episode 4: Jo Gifford - Depression, Business and Self-Care

We're often our own worst critics. The negative self-talk can be cruel, it gives depression power and eventually, we start to believe the things we tell ourselves.

We invited one of the world’s leading experts on self-compassion, Dr Kristin Neff, to teach us a thing, or two, about being kind to ourselves.

Some questions we ask:

Why is self-compassion important and what role does in play in our mental health?
Why do some people find it so hard to practice self-compassion?
How do we work through, and breakdown, the resistance we feel?

Want to learn more about Dr Kristin Neff? Here you go:

Kristin studied communications as an undergraduate at the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1988). She did her graduate work at University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1997), studying moral development with Dr. Elliot Turiel. Her dissertation research was conducted in Mysore, India, where she examined children’s moral reasoning. She then spent two years of post-doctoral study with Dr. Susan Harter at Denver University, studying issues of authenticity and self-concept development. Her current position at the University of Texas at Austin started in 1999, and she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school in 1997 she became interested in Buddhism, and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically.

In addition to her pioneering research into self-compassion, she has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. The program, co-created with her colleague Chris Germer, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, is called Mindful Self-Compassion. Her book, Self-Compassion, was published by William Morrow in April, 2011.

Website: http://self-compassion.org/
Twitter: @self_compassion
Facebook: /selfcompassion

Episode 5: Dr Kristin Neff - Getting to Grips with Self-Compassion

Our emotional needs and wounds affect all that we do. So, why don't we tend to them as we do physical needs and wounds?

We invited TED Talk'er and licensed psychologist, Dr Guy Winch, to talk to us about emotional first aid - what it is and how we can practice it.

Some questions we ask:

Why are people more willing to talk about physical injuries than emotional ones?
How can we perform emotional first aid on ourselves?
Can you give us some examples of what emotional wounds might be?
Can our emotional wellbeing affect our physical state?

Want to learn more about Dr Guy Winch? Here you go:

Dr. Winch received his doctorate in clinical psychology from New York University in 1991 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in family and couples therapy at NYU Medical Center. He has been working with individuals, couples and families in his private practice in Manhattan, since 1992. He is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Episode 6: Dr Guy Winch - Practising Emotional First Aid

Each week we chat to a different expert, giving you the professional lowdown on depression, wellbeing and the support available.

Think of this podcast as a helping hand through the often-scary world of mental health – from eating well and getting a good night’s sleep to being there for someone who’s struggling, we’ll cover the practical stuff as well as the emotional.

Everybody Blurts

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