Episode
Healing the Modern Brain with Dr. Drew Ramsey—Mental Fitness, Food, Connection & Attention
- Published
- Jun 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3200
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Summary
In this first part of a two-part conversation, Dr. Annie Fenn sits down with her friend and colleague Dr. Drew Ramsey, a board-certified psychiatrist, psychotherapist, author, and pioneer in nutritional psychiatry. Drew is the founder of the Brain Food Clinic, a digital mental health practice, and Spruce Mental Health in Jackson, Wyoming. His latest book, Healing the Modern Brain: Nine Tenets to Build Mental Fitness and Revitalize Your Mind , lays out a practical framework for building mental fitness and supporting a healthier, more resilient brain. Annie and Drew begin with the origin story of nutritional psychiatry: Drew’s childhood on a farm in Indiana, his training at Columbia, the early research on omega-3 fats and fish consumption, and the simple question he started asking patients that changed the way he practiced psychiatry: “What did you eat today?” They also discuss why food belongs in the mental health conversation, how the brain-food movement has grown, and why the best health advice often starts with the basics we can actually agree on. From there, the conversation moves into Drew’s framework for mental fitness: sleep, nutrition, movement, connection, engagement, grounding, unburdening, and purpose. Drew explains why mental fitness is something we can build over time, and why the modern world makes that both more difficult and more urgent. One of the most timely parts of the episode is Drew’s take on doom scrolling, AI, and the algorithm. He explains why these tools may do more than distract us — they may change how we seek novelty, pleasure, connection, and reward. Annie and Drew also explore the difference between connection and engagement, why social isolation matters for both mental health and brain health, and how unburdening past stress, grief, or tr…