What A Holistic Psychiatrist Eats In A Day To Bolster Brain Health & Ease Anxiety

As a general rule of thumb, she recommends a balanced plate full of sustainably sourced protein, starchy tubers, veggies, and ample healthy fats, with less refined carbs and added sugars. "Design your plate to look like what your great, great, great-grandmother ate," she explains. If you're curious about the specifics, see how Vora builds her own menu below: 

First off: Vora always includes some sort of well-sourced protein. Her staples include grass-fed ground beef ("That's easy to cook," she says) and cold-water fatty fish, like wild salmon, sardines, and anchovies. These fish are rich in omega-3s, which are revered for their mental health benefits: One study shows that omega-3 fats can decrease stress1, and another demonstrates that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help promote a healthy emotional balance and positive mood. 

Finally, Vora recommends "getting weirder" with your protein staples. "If I see game meats, if I see unusual meats on the menu somewhere, I'll usually opt for that to get a different variety of nutrition," she mentions. That said, she's also a fan of organ meats (liver, tongue, thymus, pancreas, kidney, etc.), which are rich in B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium, hard-to-obtain choline, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). "I eat a lot of chicken liver pâté. I try to stock it in my fridge at all times—I take about a spoonful a day," she notes. 

Complex carbs (like potatoes) also boost serotonin in the brain2, and serotonin is a precursor for melatonin production—that's why many experts consider baked potatoes a great bedtime snack. And according to Vora: "Sleep is probably our most potent anti-anxiety [remedy]."

Vora welcomes any and all vegetables to her plate: "It's every veggie," she says—simple as that. If you are curious about brain-specific favorites, experts are quick to call out prebiotic-rich foods, like avocado (which are also rich in omega-3s), asparagus, and jicama, but feel free to read all about the best brain foods here. Generally, though, the more variety you have, the better: "Let vegetables be at least half your plate and the centerpiece of each and every meal," she writes. 

"Sometimes we'll cook with things like beef tallow or lard, or we'll cook bacon first in the pan and then cook everything else in the bacon grease," says Vora. Now, all that grease may make you raise a brow (although, cardiologists actually say some naturally occurring animal fat can be heart-healthy), but Vora emphasizes that sourcing is everything: "If that's a healthy animal, this is a healthy cooking fat with a high smoke point, and it's a real food that our body can recognize," she notes. 

If Vora's list of favorite foods seems simple, well, that's because it is—in fact, its simplicity is what makes it so effective. However, a simple menu doesn't mean it has to be boring: "It's so important to do all of this in a way that feels exciting, delicious, and easy," Vora says. "And to do it with a mindset not of deprivation but in a way that feels like you're feeding yourself nourishing food because you love yourself."