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I'm Lavena Xu-Johnson. I write about psychology for founders. Why? Because scaling a business means scaling ourselves first.
Happy Friday, founders,
Today is WHO’s #WorldMentalHealthDay!
To honour the health of our minds, this week’s issue is slightly longer and more on nutritional neuroscience than our usual psychology reads. It is a tribute to all of us who are keeping our mental muscle strong so we can keep growing ourselves and our businesses.
In the past few years, my mental-health journey has been… colourful: having a child, pivoting the business, a cancer scare, an ADHD diagnosis, and relocating to a new continent. One major lesson for me was: before our minds are impacted by relational issues (trauma, abuse, neglect or drama), interpersonal struggles (avoidance, loneliness or even death anxiety), environmental stressors (air quality), or socioeconomic pressure (finances), so much comes down to the most basics of our biology changes - hormones, micronutrients, sleep, and physical activities.
In other words, it all comes back to brain chemistry.
To make our brains less vulnerable to anxiety and depression when life throws us under a bus, I thoroughly believe optimal brain function is the number one health practice to take seriously.
After childbirth, I spent two years with brain fog, spiky ADHD symptoms, mild anxiety, sensory overload, mood swings, and allergies I never had before. I was tired and confused, so I started experimenting with different types of diets and supplements.
And it changed everything.
The brain fog is gone, and my mind went back to its positive self.
Below is a shortlist of common deficiencies that most of us suffer from without realizing it. For optimal brain care, I try not to skip daily consumption of these nutrients from either food or supplements. For each point, we look at 1. The nutrition neuroscience behind how nutrients relate to anxiety, depression, sleep, and clarity. 2. What you can do.
Let’s dive in.
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Disclaimer: This is general information, not medical advice. If you’re pregnant/postpartum, have kidney/thyroid/autoimmune conditions, or take prescription meds, check with your clinician before starting any supplements.
1) Fish oil / Omega-3 fatty acids
The highest concentration of lipids (part of our cell membranes) in our organism is in the central nervous system. Among the lipids, the brain is enriched with a type of fatty acids called polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), represented by omega-3 and omega-6. Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA, EPA & ALA) have an important role in modulating neurotransmitters, anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, and neuroplasticity. Deficiency of Omega-3 can lead to poor memory, fatigue, dry skin, and mood swings, even psychiatric conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, and bipolar.
Anti-inflammatory (why it can help mood): Omega-3s help your body turn down inflammation - think of them as a coolant for an overheated system. They nudge your chemistry to make fewer “pro-inflammatory” signals and more “clean-up/resolver” signals (which tell your body the flare-up is finished). In studies that show drops in blood markers of inflammation (e.g., CRP), especially if your baseline inflammation is higher and the formula is EPA-heavy.
Anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials found omega-3s produced a statistically significant reduction in anxiety symptoms vs. the control group; effects were clearer in clinically diagnosed (with anxiety disorder) groups and with EPA-heavier formulas.
What you can do:
Food first: 2 servings/week of oily fish (e.g., salmon, sardines).
Supplement (if diet is low): choose a third-party-tested fish oil. If mood support is your goal, many clinicians prefer EPA-leaning products.
Safety: Stick with evidence-based ranges and 3rd party lab-tested formulas. Always talk to your clinician if you’re on treatment.
2) Probiotics & prebiotics
Via the gut–brain axis, certain strains modestly reduce depressive symptoms in RCTs; effects are strain-specific and small on average (heterogeneous trials). Emerging work in MDD patients suggests adjunctive benefits with antidepressants, but this is early-stage.
Sleep quality: Multiple randomized controlled meta-analyses show modest but significant improvements in sleep scores after 4–16 weeks of probiotics. Better sleep equals lower reactivity and, therefore, steadier mood.
Stress reactivity / HPA axis: There are well-established evidence to show the link between stress, mood disorders and gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Certain probiotic strains reduce psychological distress and even cortisol in trials, and lowered psychological stress is the best protection for mood and focus.
Depression: A 2023 meta-analysis of 13 random controlled trials (786 adults with clinically diagnosed depression) found gut-microbiota interventions produced a significant overall reduction in depressive symptoms vs placebo, in subgroup analyses, the effect was confirmed for agents containing probiotics (not prebiotics alone).
What you can do:
Food first: Aim for 1–2 servings/day of live-culture fermented foods—plain yoghurt or kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, or tempeh. Look for “live & active cultures” on the label, choose unsweetened, and rotate types each week to diversify your microbiome.
Supplements: look for labeled strains with real clinical data (e.g., products studied in trials rather than generic blends). Track mood/sleep for 4–8 weeks, then keep or cut based on response.
Safety: If you have kidney disease or are on medications that interact, talk to your clinician first.
3) Magnesium
Magnesium (Mg) is the second most abundant mineral in the human body and serves as a cofactor for numerous enzymatic reactions. Magnesium helps to keep our brain’s excitatory (glutamate) and calming (GABA) systems in balance, supports stress regulation, and is involved in hundreds of cellular reactions tied to energy and sleep. Magnesium deficiency shows up as irritability, poor sleep, muscle tension, and fatigue.
Sleep quality: A systematic review on magnesium and sleep found that a consistent link between magnesium status/intake with better sleep (e.g., fewer daytime sleepiness episodes, less snoring, longer duration, higher sleep quality).
Mood regulation: Beyond sleep, magnesium can help lift low mood and dial down anxious arousal - especially if your intake is low. In a pragmatic, randomized open-label trial of primary-care adults with mild-to-moderate depression, taking 248 mg elemental magnesium/day for 6 weeks showed meaningful drops in clinical symptoms, with benefits showing up by week 2 and good tolerability.
What you can do:
Food first: leafy greens, beans/lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains.
Supplements (if intake is low):
Magnesium glycinate: the most absorbent type of magnesium, best for the evening for restful sleep.
Safety: If you have kidney disease or are on medications that interact, talk to your clinician first.
4) Vitamin D & B12
Vitamin D (mood & clarity): Acts like a hormone - regulating genes in brain and immune cells, damping neuro-inflammation, and syncing sleep/circadian pathways. When it’s low, inflammation increases, sleep quality and stress tolerance lower, and your cognitive performance feels slow. It might show in low mood, fatigue, frequent minor illnesses, bone/muscle aches, and non-restorative sleep. Best to check: 25-OH vitamin D, after a period of supplement intake, re-test in 8–12 weeks.
Vitamin B12 (mood & clarity): A cofactor for methylation/one-carbon metabolism (making and recycling neurotransmitters) and myelin maintenance (nerve insulation). Deficiency disrupts neurotransmitter balance, raises homocysteine (neurotoxic at high levels), and slows nerve signaling - translating to brain fog and mood drag. Common signs: memory slips, irritability/low mood, tingling or numbness in hands/feet, balance issues, sore tongue, pallor; later, megaloblastic anemia.
Vitamin D
Mood: Recent meta-analyses of randomized trials showed statistically significant improvements in depressive symptoms with vitamin D, mainly when people start out deficient.
B12
Brain energy & clarity: Low B12 (often with elevated homocysteine) is linked to cognitive changes and low mood, correcting true deficiency can improve cognition and fatigue, though benefits without deficiency are uncertain.
What you can do
Test, don’t guess: ask your clinician about vitamin D, B12, and MMA/homocysteine if your B12 level is borderline.
Food first: Vitamin D (fatty fish, fortified foods; sunlight with caution), B12 (animal products; fortified options for veg/vegan).
Supplements: replace only if low, follow evidence-based dosing, and re-test.
5) Amino acids
Amino acids are the ‘raw materials’ for your brain: precursors to neurotransmitters (tryptophan - serotonin/melatonin; tyrosine - dopamine/noradrenaline), signal modulators (L-theanine calms glutamate “noise” and promotes relaxed focus), and metabolic helpers (creatine, amino-derived, buffers brain ATP, supporting thinking under load). Aminos cross the blood-brain barrier via a shared “lane” (large-neutral-amino-acid transporter). When we are not lacking in amino acids, we have a steadier mood, better stress handling, and clearer attention, especially under sleep loss or high pressure.
L-theanine (from green tea): RCTs and systematic reviews suggest reduced stress/anxiety, improved sleep, and cognitive benefits.
L-tyrosine: This 2015 review finds acute tyrosine “loading” can buffer working memory and information-processing during stressors (sleep loss, cold, high cognitive load) in healthy adults.
What you can do:
Try L-theanine first (generally well-tolerated); log stress/sleep for 2–4 weeks and assess.
Think of L-tyrosine as a situational tool (e.g., jet lag, heavy on-call), not a daily pill.
If you feel like you’re experiencing mental health struggles, investigate whether you have a deficiency of a nutrient with a blood test first, before looking at other contributing factors.
Disclaimer: This is educational, not medical advice. Nutrient status is one piece of a larger picture (sleep, stress, trauma, thyroid, meds). Review any results and treatment options with a qualified clinician before starting supplements—doses and interactions vary, especially if you’re pregnant/breastfeeding, have kidney or thyroid disease, or take anticoagulants. If you’re in acute distress or having thoughts of self-harm, seek immediate help from local emergency services or a crisis line.
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Until next week,
Lavena
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