The Intersection Of Diet And Psychotherapy With Yulia Brockdorf, RD, LD, CDCES, CST, NCC, LPC, BC-ADM (Ep 19)

In this episode, I’m talking to Yulia Brockdorf all about the intersection of diet and the brain.

We had a great conversation all about how different foods affect cognition and how there’s no one-size-fits-all diet.

The food you eat is information and heavily influences how your brain works.

Yulia’s practice focuses on using foods and different cognitive-based therapies to help patients with mental health issues.

About Yulia Brockdorf

Yulia Brockdorf, RD, LD, CDCES, CST, NCC, LPC, BC-ADM is a dietitian and licensed professional counselor. She is board certified in advanced diabetes management, diabetes education, sex therapy, and EMDR (an evidence-based trauma treatment intervention). She serves on several boards and in her practice she strives to integrate the fields of clinical mental health counseling and psychotherapy and dietetics.

Topics Discussed

Nutrition + Psychotherapy
People w. Trauma can benefit from nutrition modification
Tryptophan – 5-HTP pathway
Most serotonin is in the gut
Serotonin syndrome symptoms can require medical attention
Gut issues can sabotage serotonin and neurotransmitter metabolism
Serotonin taken exogenously cant cross blood-brain barrier so you need your body to make it
GABA should not cross Blood Brain Barrier and if it does it can be a sign of a problem
GABA-like sources: L-Theanine, skullcap, milky oat, Passionflower, hops
Psychobiome research can help work with gut bacteria’s production of neurotransmitters
Certain diets can affect gut bacteria
Fermented foods are a great source of probiotics
Prebiotics: Jicama, resistant starch
Individualized diets are better than trendy diets.
Good quality fats are needed for optimal brain health
Genetic variance makes a difference in how your body metabolizes food
Turmeric and its effects on memory and cognitive decline. Saffron helps long term memory.
Pickled turmeric is a great source of turmeric
Lion’s Mane can ameliorate mental deficiencies from a bad diet
Diabetes and mental health: Long term use of Metformin affects B12
Diabetes increases depression and increases inflammatory markers
Rule of 15: For less than 70 Blood Sugar Only need 15g (tbsp sugar, fruit juice, glucose tablet etc) of carbohydrates.. 15 minutes later BS should jump 30-40 points, then follow up of.. don’t need to consume a snack bar or sandwich bc these foods slow down the absorption of glucose and person will want to consume more bc they don’t get the benefit of glucose
Carbs and sugar in the morning is the worst time to eat carbs
Mood disorders can come from food sensitivity like gluten.
- Also from medication reaction
Cortisol drops with Bacopa Monnieri
Lion’s Mane is good for blood sugar.. BDNF is beneficial for blood sugar
Trauma: Body Keeps Score- looks at the impact of trauma on the body
- Trauma impacts methylation, and epigenetic markers
- Issues like forgetfulness can be a symptom of trauma
- Trauma affects how we present to the world and respond to issues
EMDR: eye movement desensitization
- Allows body to bring memories stored in the hippocampus back to life and find peace with them
Biofeedback
Neurofeedback