Tim Spector on his good mood foods...plus three recipes 

What we eat doesn’t just affect our physical health, it can also play an important role in how we feel, think and behave.

According to Tim Spector, a medical doctor, gut health expert, scientific co-founder of health science company ZOE, and professor of epidemiology at King’s College London, the connection between our gut and brain is much more powerful than many people realise.

In his new cookbook, Good Mood Food, written with Dr Federica Amati and featuring recipes by Kathryn Bruton, Spector explores how the food we eat can influence our mood, energy levels and long-term brain health.

The book aims to make improving gut health accessible, affordable and enjoyable, with everything from comforting family favourites to quick and easy snacks.

“There’s a lot of recent science particularly linking the gut and the brain that most people don’t know about,” Spector says. “There’s also big advances in the gut microbiome and neuroscience – so I wanted to write a book that showed people that the brain is not totally in charge of us – a lot of the orders of how we behave come from our gut.”

So, how exactly does the gut-brain connection work, and what foods should we incorporate into our diets?

Our gut is home to trillions of microbes, which Spector describes as “little mini pharmacies” working together to produce chemicals that can influence different functions throughout the body.

He explains that what we eat can change how these microbes behave, with certain foods potentially contributing to inflammation.

“If you eat junk food such as high-fat, ultra-processed ready meals or fast foods, they change your microbes and stop producing some of the good chemicals like short-chain fatty acids and that has an effect on your immune system,” he says.

“They produce what we call pro-inflammatory signals – signalling to your immune system, which is also lining your gut, that the body’s under threat.

“That might cause this low-level inflammation which is like in a state of fight or flight all the time.”

While inflammation is an important part of the body’s response to infection or injury, Spector explains that persistent inflammation can have a negative impact on wellbeing.

“Inflammation is wonderful when you have a trauma or infection and it goes up and down but what’s happening with bad food is it’s never going down,” he says.

“It stays at this level, which is a like a minor alert for the body and it sends signals to the brain.”

“The brain thinks it’s got an infection or it’s unwell and reacts in a way that’s normal for the brain.

“It means you stay in bed, you won’t want to meet friends, you’re not interested in food or sex – you’re basically in recovery mode.”

Spector adds: “The opposite then occurs if you have a healthy meal full of fibre. This engages your gut microbes who’ve now got lots to eat.

“They break down the fibre into these short-chain fatty acids. These are the ones that tell your immune system to calm down.”

What foods should we reach for when we’re feeling low?

When we’re tired, stressed or feeling anxious, it can be tempting to reach for sugary snacks, takeaway meals or other convenient comfort foods. However, Spector explains that these cravings can sometimes work against what our bodies need.

“If you understand what your body is trying to do – you’ve got to try and overcome that and the book has lots of healthy snacks in there that should fill you up and do the job,” he says.

Rather than focusing on eating less, he encourages people to choose foods that are satisfying and provide longer-lasting energy.

“It’s made me understand that you need to fill up. If you just have things like a sugary snack or drink, it just makes you hungry and increases the inflammation, making it worse.”

What affordable foods should we keep in our kitchens? Eating well doesn’t necessarily mean buying expensive ingredients or completely overhauling your weekly food shop.

For Spector, a few simple kitchen staples can make it easier to prepare nutritious meals and snacks throughout the week.

“I always have a mixed bag of nuts for a snack,” he says. “I would probably always have full-fat Greek yogurt as it fills you up and it’s a fermented food and it’s got protein.”

He also recommends keeping frozen berries in the freezer and tins of mixed beans in the cupboard.

Beyond its potential impact on our day-to-day mood and energy levels, Spector believes diet also has an important role to play in protecting our brains as we get older. “We all need to be thinking of ways to improve our risk of dementia,” he says, emphasising the importance of dietary quality.

“A really good diet – if you include reducing things like diabetes – will approximately half your rate of getting dementia,” claims Spector.

Good Mood Food, by Tim Spector, with Dr Federica Amati and recipes by Kathryn Bruton, is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape. All photography by Issy Croker.

Mushroom & Hispi Cabbage Pappardelle

This is delicious, filling and packed with nutrients.

“Here the rich and intensely flavoured sauce is made using dried mushrooms, their stock, silken tofu and miso. Hispi cabbage is shredded to resemble the pappardelle, which adds another layer of flavour as well as increasing the plant and fibre count of this recipe,” says Tim Spector.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Prep: 8 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

20g dried mushrooms

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

600g portobello or chestnut mushrooms

4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

100g silken tofu

1tbsp miso

130g pappardelle pasta

1 hispi cabbage, leaves picked and shredded to resemble pappardelle

Salt and black pepper

Top-ups

Chopped nuts or seeds

Chopped parsley

Parmesan cheese, to serve

Swaps

Any pasta for pappardelle

Savoy cabbage for hispi

Plants: 6

Fibre: 5-10g

Method

1. Cover dried mushrooms with 120ml of boiling water and set aside to rehydrate.

2. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat and sauté the fresh mushrooms and thyme for 10–12 minutes. They will release a lot of liquid while cooking – keep cooking until the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are soft and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.

3. Place tofu and miso into bowl and add the rehydrated mushrooms, then gently pour in the soaking liquid, taking care to leave behind any grit from the mushrooms. Use a hand-held blender to blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and stir into the mushrooms. Then remove from the heat.

4. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 7 minutes. Add the hispi cabbage, bring the water back to the boil and simmer for 1 minute longer. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

5. Put mushrooms back over a low heat and add pasta and hispi cabbage along with 8–10 tablespoons of cooking liquid. Stir until everything is heated through and sauce is creamy and coating the pappardelle. Serve immediately.

Cheesy Seeded Scones

Perfect served warm with a cup of tea.

“These are lovely with a spoonful of kimchi scooped on top or served with a pâté. They are best frozen the day or day after you make them,” says medical doctor and gut health expert Tim Spector.

“To defrost, simply remove from the freezer the night before and leave at room temperature. To serve warm, heat in a toaster or warm oven, or blast in a microwave for 15–20 seconds.”

Ingredients

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Makes: 12 scones

185g mix of hazelnuts, pecan nuts, walnuts

210g wholemeal rye flour, plus extra for dusting

80g mixed seeds

¾ tbsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

100g Cheddar cheese

250ml kefir

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

Top-up

Handful of roughly chopped nuts for added texture

Swaps

Wholemeal or buckwheat flour for rye flour

Greek yoghurt for kefir

Plants: 5

Fibre: 5g

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/gas 6 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Put nuts into food processor and blitz till very fine. Transfer to large bowl with rye flour, mixed seeds, bicarbonate of soda, salt and ¾ of the Cheddar cheese.

3. Whisk kefir with one of the eggs and add to dry ingredients. Gently mix everything using a wooden spoon or spatula – be gentle with the mixture as overworking it will result in a tough dough.

4. Tip out on floured surface, knead gently to bring dough together (flour hands if necessary) and roll out to a thickness of 2.5cm. It will be slightly sticky – this is normal.

5. Use 5cm round cutter to cut out 12 scones and transfer to prepared baking tray. Whisk remaining egg with milk and use pastry brush to brush tops of scones with egg wash. Then scatter the remaining Cheddar cheese over the tops.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then cool on wire rack. Keep a few to eat over the next couple of days and freeze the rest in batches.

Chocolate Pecan Bites

The perfect sweet treat, these can be whipped up in no time.

“These chocolatey bites taste as good as they look and are best enjoyed with a cup of freshly brewed coffee,” enthuses Tim Spector. “Ensure you use a high-quality peanut butter that is 100 per cent peanuts as the labels can look very similar to cheaper varieties that often have added salt, sugar and palm oil. The same goes for the chocolate.”

Ingredients

Prep: 10 minutes, plus freezing time

Makes: 12

80g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

70g crunchy (100%) peanut butter

70g berry chia jam – use fresh raspberries, mashed with a fork instead

12 pecan nuts

Pinch of sea salt

Top-up

Mixed seeds

Swaps

Any nut butter for peanut butter

Walnuts for pecan nuts

Plants: 6

Fibre: 5g

Method

1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until melted. (Alternatively, microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring as it melts.)

2. When ready, spoon 12 circles, each about 3cm in diameter, onto the lined baking tray, making sure you leave enough space between each one.

3. Place a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each, followed by a teaspoon of jam. Cover each one with the remaining melted chocolate. Place a pecan nut on the centre and press down gently. Sprinkle some sea salt over the top, then freeze on the tray for 1–2 hours until set. Gently peel the bites off the baking parchment and store in a container in the freezer.