UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology SPRING 2024 - Flipbook - Page 48
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
DR. UMA NAIDOO
UCLA Radiation Oncology's Registered Dietitian, Lydia Chau,
MS, RDN, CNSC, recently caught up with Dr. Uma Naidoo, a
Harvard trained nutritional psychiatrist, professional chef,
nutritional biologist, and author of Calm your Mind with Food,
as well as national and international bestseller,
This Is Your Brain on Food.
Michelin-starred chef David Bouley described Dr. Uma Naidoo as the world’s first “triple threat”
in the food and medicine space: a Harvard trained psychiatrist, professional chef graduating
with her culinary school's most coveted award, and a trained Nutrition Specialist. Her nexus of
interests have found their niche in Nutritional Psychiatry.
Dr. Naidoo founded and directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the
United States. She is the Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts
General Hospital (MGH) & Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at MGH Academy while serving on
the faculty at Harvard Medical School. She was considered Harvard’s “Mood Food” expert and
has been featured in the The Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Naidoo is also the national bestselling author of This Is Your Brain On Food. In her book,
she shows the cutting-edge science explaining the ways in which food contributes to our mental
health and how a diet can help treat and prevent a wide range of psychological and cognitive
health issues, from ADHD to anxiety, depression, OCD, and others.
The United States is facing an unprecedented anxiety crisis. At the same time, scientific and
medical knowledge about these conditions is rapidly increasing, with massive strides being
made in our understanding of the complex relationship between the mind and the gut.
Through her work, Dr. Uma Naidoo presents cutting-edge research about the ways anxiety is
rooted in the brain, gut, immune system, and metabolism. Drawing on the latest science on
the connection between diet and anxiety, Dr. Naidoo shows us how to effectively use food and
nutrition as essential tools for calming the mind.
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