Mindhealth, the gut is our second brain

How we eat 1975-2025

‘The School Dinners we miss the most’ was a fantastically entertaining read and trip down memory lane for me in last weekend's The Daily Telegraph. The weekend before millions of UK children went to school after half term week. Also happens to be the week of Eating Disorders Awareness week.

Just what would these children and students be eating for breakfast? What would they be eating during the day? A diet of ultra-processed snacks, eaten on the move with minimal nutritional value.

And this article took me back in time. And I ask these questions because this was a Time, it seems a lifetime before gut health, eating disorders and neurodivergence were hitting the then tabloid and broadsheet headlines.

This all resonated with me as I am researching how and what we eat affects our mood, and creating new dishes and menus in preparations to teach at my next wellness retreat later in March.

And I discovered Brain Brilliance, which is an addictive and fascinating read, by Lucinda Miller.

She explains in simplistic terms we are what we eat - the increasing research linking heath and diversity of the gut microbiome and how the brain operates. Termed the gut-brain axis.

Quite simply - what goes on inside the belly is of huge influence on the brain. What we eat can help us regulate mood, sleep behaviour patterns (especially those with ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia and, of course, anxiety and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)- so very personal to me. She explains why our gut is doubled as our second brain and shares a nutritional toolkit and easy to follow recipes showcasing how making the right choices, packed and balanced with protein, healthy fats help support maintain focus and energy levels throughout the day. Whether you are eight or 88. It made my heart sing.

So, Yes, I am showing my age. This article took me straight back to my Primary School days, a time when I lived with my Nan in the mid 1970’s and almost everyone had school dinners for lunch. But it was my breakfast 50 years ago that I want to share with you.

My grandparents were so ahead of their time. Sadly, we have seemed to have lost a generation of self-taught, practical home cooks who intuitively understand how to cook. And this is at the heart of my retreats and private dining events; bringing people together, sharing my love through unforgettable food experiences and showing, through practical teaching, how small changes - that needn't be so costly or time consuming, can result in delicious dishes, supporting improvements to both mental well-being and physical well-being.

So let’s go back in time to Breakfast 1975.

This is how I started my school day. It sounds like a fairy tale, and thinking back now, it was.

Calm and comforting, the kitchen table was laid the night before, rainbow colours of ruched seersucker tablecloth, matching napkins, colour coded with our own napkin ring (this to save on washing for the week) Sitting to eat at the table, to ‘aid the digestion’ I can hear my grandfather say.

Complex carbs nestled alongside the comforting sounds and calm of BBC Radio 4. It was always wholemeal toast, always cut from a loaf, never pre-sliced. (this played havoc with the toaster at times as you can imagine) and flora margarine, not butter. (yes, I know - the one that got away!) And to start, Kellogg’s All Bran, rolled oats, dried fruits, prunes (to keep you regular) and a chopped apple. Cored and quartered. Never peeled. Eating with a knife, fork and spoon. Deeply mindful, resonating tones of Thought for The Day, just before 8am, and the fun gobbledygook of the shipping news with all its odd nautical number sequences.

School Dinners - take you back?

The packed lunchers, were small in number, and tightly held their plastic boxes like war rations. And I remember, were segregated to the back of the hall. The School Dinner Gang was where it was at.

In the dimly fluorescent lit lunch hall, rows of trestle tables laid with cutlery. Yes, we were taught how to correctly use knives and forks, and to sit neatly on benches. I recall queuing, in a somewhat orderly pushing and shoving manner, at the food hatch, greeted by the austere eyes of a team of dinner ladies; some strict, some stern, some soft hearted - their smart starched authoritative uniforms of pressed aprons, hairnets, caps, wielding serving ladles and spoons - to dollop and serve from vats - delicacies of meat pie, curry, mashed potato, and, of course, fish fingers and chips on a Friday.

It is the sweet things I remember most. That extra scoop of ice cream, the larger wedge of jewel-jam encrusted desiccated coconut sponge, my favourite, awash with sunshine yellow (must have been Birds) custard. Frogs spawn semolina, with jam, rice pudding - soft textures playing amidst the backdrop of a myriad of multi coloured tin drinking cups, lips and tongues tentatively exploring the exposed metal, russian roulette of finding out which colour cup would make your eyes wince and nerves jangle – to the sound of long nails scraping down the school chalkboard.

We are living in interesting and uncertain times.

Time drives our choices. On the one hand, thanks to social media and the internet, there is more understanding than ever before about what supports our physical and mental well-being. And on the other more forces which undermine our physical and mental well-being - today's time pressures and a society, and economy driving poor food choices. Ready meals. Convenience, healthy low fat (which we now know not to be true) eating on the move, lunch at laptops; unpeel plastic microwave dinners, finger food PlayStation after school suppers. The rise of the sugar monster and UPF.

It sounds like an outer space movie that could never happen - my inner eight-year-old from 1975 tells me.

We need to keep these new conversations going.