What type of perfectionist are you?

Welcome to the MHD newsletter. A 3-minute weekly read where you will be encouraged to get reflective with a journal prompt, have relevant reading suggestions with a new book each month and hear about nutrition in the news and what we have going on over in team MHD.

Weekly check in:

Today we reach the Summer Solstice, the day of the year with the longest daylight hours. It is also a day traditionally associated with magic and mysticism. Neolithic stone circles such as Stonehenge are believed to have been made on this day, thousands of years ago to align with the movements of sun.

Considering all things magic and mystic, here’s our journal prompt for the week:

Journal prompt for this week: What is a word, phrase or mantra that can guide you through this season? 

I know mantras aren’t for everyone, but we use them with many of our clients to keep them aligned with their aims. Maybe just try one out and see how it feels. I hope you find some magical results.

Podcast recommendation: Dr Stephen Porges on The Being Well Podcast

Dr Stephen Porges is the psychologist who created and formed the initial research around the Polyvagal Theory. Which is the theory that emphasises how our nervous system works in terms of regulating our stress levels, behaviour and overall health. It is a really important concept in the world of mental health and eating disorders. I really enjoyed this episode and the podcast Being Well is one of my favourites.

June Book of the month:

The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler

What type of perfectionist are you?

Before starting this book I had never considered myself a perfectionist. This is because I hadn’t examined the concept of perfectionism in detail and had only considered the stereotypical traits of perfectionism. I strongly resonate with two of the perfectionist types that the author has identified. I took the quiz and came out as a “Parisian perfectionist with Messy tendencies”. You can take the quiz yourself to identify what type of perfectionist you might be.

Take the quiz: https://www.perfectionistsguide.com/quiz

Nutrition in the news:

I am raising this as an example of bad reporting on nutrition.

As Mark Twain said “If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.” This very much a confirmation of this quote.

The article I am referring to was published last week, in both the Daily Mail and CNN titled “Vegan Fake meats are linked to an increase in heart deaths”.

But low and behold, if you look into the research they quoted, this is actually not what the research found. The research wasn’t done on vegan meats specifically but on overall diets and no specific association was found with vegan alternatives. In fact vegan meat alternatives only made up 0.2% of all energy intakes. The title is almost completely untrue and as a result many nutrition professionals have been raising their concerns about the reporting of nutrition in the press and the potential for harm.

We have to remember that as we increasingly get our news online, the news outlets are dependant on clicks, views and engagement. Just like social media.

The Science Media Centre is an organisation aimed at clarifying misleading headlines. They wrote a response to this article and frequently get experts to clarify misinformation, a good organisation to be aware of.

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That’s all from us this week, back again same time next week.

Look after yourself <3

Sophie and the team at Mental Health Dietitians.