By: Silvia Alemany Sierra
On: 16 March 2023
Is paracetamol use during pregnancy a risk factor for autism or ADHD?
A frequent drug Most women experience headache, flu or even infections while they are pregnant. In this special period of their lives they care a lot about their own health but also (and usually a lot more!) about their baby’s health. Pregnant women reconsider what they eat, what they drink and their habits in order to provide the best environment for their future babies. In this regard, most health professionals rely on paracetamol as one of the few safe drugs to use during pregnancy. Indeed, despite pregnant women being reluctant to use drugs, paracetamol (or acetaminophen) is used by 46–56%...
By: Lessa Madelief Schippers, Dr. Jeanette Mostert
On: 16 March 2023
What have we learned from 5 years Eat2beNICE?
From 18-20 January the final general assembly of the Eat2beNice consortium took place. During this meeting, we made plans for the future, reviewed where we currently stand, and looked back at how far we have come. Where we are All work packages presented the results from their studies. We saw for example the results from TRACE-study that show us how important eating healthy is for children with ADHD. The findings indicate that a healthy diet might lead to less medication use and a performance at least equal to the care as usual group. Similar findings come from the epidemiological studies,...
By: Lieke van Dongen
On: 22 December 2022
How to celebrate a gut-friendly Christmas
It is almost the end of December and Christmas is just around the corner. The holiday season is full of family gatherings with lots of food and drinks. How does this impact your health? In this blog I will discuss the effects of the “holiday diet” and the effect of visiting your in-laws during Christmas on your gut health. Additionally, I will give tips on how to celebrate a gut-friendly Christmas. Unhealthy food can harm your gut health Our diet affects the gut microbiome: the microbes that live in our intestines. These microbes grow on the food we supply to...
By: Alea Ruf
On: 28 November 2022
Do you eat more, less or the same when feeling stressed?
Even though many of us associate stress with eating more (i.e. overeating), research has shown that we differ in the dietary response to stress1: Some of us eat more, some eat less, while others show no change. Predicting who falls into which group is, however, very difficult, and research findings have been inconclusive. In our recent study, we found that situational factors might play a bigger role than stable individual factors, such as age, gender and BMI, in determining how stress changes our eating behaviour. Who of us eats more when feeling stressed? Knowing who is at risk for stress-induced...
By: Carolina Ramos
On: 28 October 2022
Did you know that Alcohol Abuse could Damage Intestinal Microbiota?
The detrimental effects of alcohol on health are widely known. Alcohol abuse is linked to several inflammatory pathologies, such as liver, intestinal and mental diseases (1). When we consume alcohol, there is minimal absorption of alcohol in the mouth and oesophagus, approximately 20% of the alcohol consumed is gradually absorbed in the stomach, and 70% of the alcohol absorbed in the small intestine (2). Because our gut comes into direct contact with the alcohol we ingest, it is in the alcohol-gut interaction that many of the pathologies associated with alcohol consumption originate; and it is here that our gut microbiota...
By: Barbara Šakić
On: 5 October 2022
What Genetics Can Teach Us About Mental Health
Is mental illness caused by our genes, our lifestyle, or both? What role do genes play in psychiatric disorders such as depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Research into the genetics of psychiatric disorders could provide us with the answer.But why would we care? Well, such discoveries can increase our understanding of the role our genes play in mental health and the biology behind these disorders. This can further help us improve the effectiveness of treatment and develop better diagnostics. Role of Genetics in Psychiatry Our genes can be seen as a recipe in a cookbook. Our genetic makeup contains information...
By: Dr. Manuel Schlipf
On: 4 August 2022
Why is it so difficult to change health-related behavior?
When you read the blogs on this website, you will know how healthy lifestyle and nutrition can contribute to mental health. With this information it should be easy for everyone to eat healthy, stop smoking and increase their physical activity, shouldn’t it? In reality, it is very difficult to adopt a healthy lifestyle, even when you know all the facts. Why it is so difficult to change our habits? Unlike what many people think, common sense or the right information about good health related behavior is not always enough for changing bad habits. It is more complex than that. Our...
By: Hannah Dorsman
On: 13 June 2022
Vitamin D and Students´ Mental Health
The exam season is almost upon us. Days in the library are getting longer and the urge to just go for some comfort food in the evening is growing. Unfortunately, this also means that our vitamin D levels are at a risk of falling. This can have a negative impact on our mood and overall mental health, which is exactly what we do not want during the busy weeks surrounding our exams. WHAT IS VITAMIN D? Truth is, Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a hormone that takes care of the uptake of calcium and phosphate in our...
By: Mandy Meijer
On: 9 June 2022
Picture a scientist – a gender imbalance in science
If you ask children to draw a scientist, they will probably picture a white man. There are less women than men in science, and thus female scientists are less visible for children [1]. The name of a 2020 documentary movie comes from that phenomenon: Picture a Scientist [2]. The documentary tries to answer why there is a gender imbalance in science. A leaky pipeline and implicit bias The main reason for this imbalance is called the ‘leaky pipeline’. The number of female/male science students are quite balanced. But women are facing difficulties when trying to get higher positions in science...
By: Hans van de Velde
On: 31 May 2022
What are the challenges for people with ADHD eating healthy?
During the annual meeting of the EU project Eat2Benice, Hans van de Velde, vice-president of ADHD-Europe, talked about the challenges for people with ADHD to eat healthy. We all know that we should eat healthy. But putting this knowledge into practice is often very difficult. And for individuals with ADHD this might be extra difficult, due to the symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and lower self-control. This is an appeal for scientists of how they can help individuals with ADHD to eat healthy What are the ADHD-challenges to eat healthy? Here are some examples from the ADHD community: People with ADHD...