Body, Brain & Behaviour: Why Nutrition Is a Psychological Intervention (Whether We Admit it or not)

(A neuroscience-informed perspective from me, a psychology student who has a very curious mind)

In psychology, we spend a lot of time talking about thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and coping strategies, all essential.
What we don’t always talk about enough is the biological cost of trying to regulate emotions with an under-resourced nervous system.

Your brain is not floating in a vacuum.
It is an organ with very real metabolic demands.

Iron, Oxygen & the Brain

Iron is required for oxygen transport, mitochondrial energy production, and neurotransmitter synthesis. When iron availability is low, the brain prioritises survival over optimisation,which can look like:

• brain fog

• low motivation

• irritability

• difficulty concentrating

Not a personality flaw.
A physiology problem.

Digestion, Absorption & Cognitive Load

From a behavioural science perspective, chronic digestive dysfunction increases cognitive load. When the body is struggling to absorb nutrients, the nervous system shifts into vigilance mode. Decision-making, emotional regulation, and executive function all become more difficult.

(Anyone who has tried to “think positive” while nauseous, anaemic, or inflamed can confirm this is not a mindset issue.)

B-Vitamins, Copper & Neurotransmitters

B-vitamins and trace minerals like copper act as cofactors in pathways involved in:

• dopamine synthesis (motivation, reward)

• serotonin pathways (mood, emotional regulation)

• methylation cycles (cellular repair and neural signalling)

When these systems are under-supported, therapy feels harder, habits feel harder, and life feels louder.

The Behavioural Takeaway

Supporting the biological foundations of the brain does not replace psychology, it enhances it.

A regulated nervous system:

• learns faster

• adapts more easily

• responds rather than reacts

BoneNBloom’s approach doesn’t promise to “fix” mental health.
It simply asks a better question:

What if we stopped asking the mind to compensate for what the body is missing?

And honestly, that’s a very psychologically sound place to start.