Fueling A Healing Brain with Natalie Gavi | E50

We talk with registered dietitian Natalie Gavi about how to use simple, evidence-led nutrition to support concussion recovery and long-term brain health. We trade myths for practical steps, from Mediterranean staples to smart supplements and steady meal timing.

• the acute energy mismatch after concussion and what to eat first
• practical meals when appetite is low
• mediterranean and MIND diet foundations
• omega-3s, polyphenols, and fermented foods
• pitfalls of overusing supplements and how to choose safely
• meal timing for cognition and headaches
• targeted picks: magnesium, riboflavin, creatine
• add-in mindset instead of restriction

Find Natalie: Instagram @NatalieGavi.nutrition • Email: Natalie@Gavinutrition.com • Website: Gavinutrition.com

REGISTER for the online global Love Your Brain Summit on March 20th-22th 2026: https://www.loveyourbrain.com/summit

Get 20% off your first order of Puori protein with code LIFEAFTERIMPACT by following this link.

Transcript

Meet Dietitian Natalie Gavi

Dr. Ayla Wolf 0:38

Natalie Gavi is a registered dietitian specializing in neurology, sports nutrition, and eating disorders. Natalie has extensive experience supporting individuals recovering from traumatic brain injury. She has provided inpatient nutrition support for patients with moderate and severe TBI in the ICU and general hospital settings, worked with UCLA's brain sport team, providing individualized nutrition counseling for athletes following sports-related concussions, and led interactive cooking and education classes with UCLA's Operation MEND program for post-9-11 veterans who sustain TBIs while deployed. In her private practice, Natalie uses a comprehensive approach to help clients implement sustainable, evidence-based nutrition strategies to support concussion recovery, optimize cognitive function, and promote long-term brain health. She also helps athletes achieve optimal performance and create healthy relationships with food. Please enjoy my conversation with Natalie Gavi. Welcome to Life After Impact, the Concussion Recovery Podcast. I'm Dr. Ayla Wolf, and I will be hosting today's episode where we help you navigate the often confusing, frustrating, and overwhelming journey of concussion and brain injury recovery. This podcast is your go-to resource for actionable information, whether you're dealing with a recent concussion, struggling with post-concussion syndrome, or just feeling stuck in your healing process. In each episode, we dive deep into the symptoms, testing, treatments, and neurological insights that can help you move forward with clarity and confidence. We bring you leading experts in the world of brain health, functional neurology, and rehabilitation to share their wisdom and strategies. So if you're feeling lost, hopeless, or like no one understands what you're going through, know that you are not alone. This podcast can be your guide and partner in recovery, helping you build a better life after impact. Natalie Gavi, welcome to Life After Impact, the Concussion Recovery Podcast.

Natalie Gavi 2:50

Thank you so much for having me. Very excited to be here.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 2:54

Yeah, so I'm I'm looking forward to talking to you because you have worked with patients with traumatic brain injuries across the spectrum from ICU level injuries to athletes with sports-related concussions. So give me a little bit of your background and talk about your journey through that evolution of your career.

Natalie Gavi 3:14

Yeah. So I've always been very interested in neurology and the impact that nutrition has on brain health and recovery and treatment in a variety of neurological conditions. I attended grad school at Oregon Health and Science University and completed my thesis on the ketogenic diet in patients with pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy. So out the gate, very interested in nutrition from that perspective. I then started working as an inpatient dietitian, was in multiple hospitals, spent quite a bit of time in the neuroICU, so provided direct care, tube feeding, alternative uh forms of nutrition support to help patients in that acute recovery period following moderate and severe TBI. I was really interested in pursuing the ketogenic diet as a uh as a career, and there was an opportunity to um just temporarily uh serve as a relief dietitian in UCLA's uh ketogenic diet program. So I jumped on that and as soon as that position um you know was uh concluded, there was an opening at UCLA's brain sport um program. They were looking for a dietitian, um, and that just felt like a very um, just a very natural direction for me to go at the point. Um I just personally have a background in sports and um including martial arts and um horseback riding. So both sports that have um, you know, quite a bit, we see quite a bit of sports-related concussions there and and severe, moderate to severe TBIs. Um so was just really interested in exploring that further. Um and yeah, I continue to provide support in my private practice um and helping clients from a spectrum of um, you know, concussion recovery, um, just people interested in brain health in general. And I'm still working on that to this day. So yeah.

The Brain’s Acute Energy Crisis

Dr. Ayla Wolf 5:29

And uh you are speaking at the the Love Your Brain Summit as well that's coming up in March. And uh so that was one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on the show too, uh, just to help kind of introduce people to you. And if they want to learn more, they can check out your uh talk at the summit, and I'll provide links to the show notes. So, one of the things I wanted to talk about was the fact that, you know, anybody who studies brain injuries, we all learn about the metabolic crisis that happens within the first seven to ten days following an injury. We learn the science of this uh energy mismatch in the body where the brain needs more energy at a time when it is not able to get it because of the brain injury. And yet nobody really talks about nutrition. You know, we talk about this energy crisis in the brain, but I don't ever hear people talking about what should you be eating and what should you be paying attention to during the first seven to ten days after a concussion. So I thought let's maybe start there and talk about this kind of acute stage and then move on to more of the kind of long-term issues with energy metabolism that can happen.

Practical Eating In The First Week

Natalie Gavi 6:41

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, and unfortunately, there isn't a ton of research around, you know, the practical nutritional interventions that um we can incorporate in that time frame. So a lot of a lot of my work focuses on some of the symptom management that uh addresses the symptoms that we see. So a lot of the clients and patients I've worked with in that acute phase experience loss of appetite. Um, they may experience um, you know, post-concussive headache, um just being disrupted and dysregulated, pulled out of their schedule and routine. And so from a practical standpoint, it's really just focusing on the just getting food in in whatever way is feasible for that person. Um ideally, we're focusing less on calorically rich foods. That is something that we focus on in more moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, where we do see a significant increase in the total energy demand. In the, you know, post-concussion, it's more of a functional injury rather than uh structural. Um, and so because of that, we're focusing on um some of the oxidative stress that we see, combating that oxidative stress. So really uh supporting the brain with antioxidant-rich foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains. Um, there's been some interesting research looking at the connection between the gut and the brain and how the um, you know, gut microbiome and the lining of the gut can also get disrupted following uh injury in that acute phase. Um, and so providing the gut with fermented foods, which help increase, you know, certain metabolites that can then cross into uh cross the blood-brain barrier to support the brain. Um, and a lot of anti-inflammatory foods as well, um, you know, things like olive oil, nuts and seeds, um, and really focusing on, you know, kind of an add-in approach, but um just a lot of, again, just can we eat whatever's feasible, especially if somebody just doesn't have the appetite, um, and then focusing on adding in some of those antioxidant and inflammatory rich foods.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 9:00

Yeah. And I know too, with the, you know, like the Mediterranean diet, I think one of the things that's so powerful about that is the combination of both the healthy essential fatty acids from fish, but also pairing that with all the polyphenols that you get with olive oil and all of these brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Um, so are you also really encouraging people to get those healthy omega-3 fatty acids in their diet with a lot of those polyphenols as well? Absolutely.

Mediterranean Basics And Omega-3s

Natalie Gavi 9:31

Yes. Um, and there's some evidence that looks at higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. So not just encouraging, you know, intake of fatty fish and polyphenol-rich foods, but um, you know, potentially increasing the uh dose of omega-3 fatty acids, um, looking at what somebody's already doing. Um, but absolutely I will use the Mediterranean diet as a foundation. And I'll I'll talk about this more in the summit, but um, the diet that has been shown to be really beneficial for just overall brain health is uh the mind diet, and it's a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. Um following uh especially a sports-related concussion, I definitely uh lean more toward that Mediterranean diet with uh versus the the Dash or the mind diet that can be a little bit more restrictive. Um so yes, absolutely, strong emphasis on polyphenols, olive oil, fatty fish, omega-3s. Uh I'll I'll conduct a full nutritional assessment and you know, depending on somebody's again, symptoms, um it's I'll looking at the relationship with food as well. If there somebody is already in maybe a more restrictive mindset or there's any stress or concern around food, I don't want to layer an additional uh area of stress. So really focusing more on what they have access to, what the relationship with relationship with food looks like, um, and you know, just finding ways to, you know, add in those really supportive foods and nutrients versus, you know, maybe restricting or limiting other things.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 11:18

What would you say is a common nutrition mistake that you see people in this uh you know recovering from a traumatic brain injury or a concussion doing?

Personalization And Food Relationship

Natalie Gavi 11:28

Yeah. Um I see a I would say an overuse of supplements. Um supplements themselves, I think, can be wonderful, but there's a lot of misunderstanding um around the types, the forms, the doses, um, and supplements themselves are not FDA, um, they're they're not FDA uh regulated. And so the unless they're third-party certified by specific third-party organizations, there's no way to guarantee the safety, efficacy, whether the dose matches what's in the bottle. Um, and so, you know, I would say definitely meeting with a dietitian would be helpful and or, you know, a healthcare provider who can provide recommendations that um, you know, supplement recommendations that are, again, third-party certified, and supplements that actually have some evidence to support um any form of recovery following concussion or um, you know, brain health symptom management.

The Supplement Trap

Dr. Ayla Wolf 12:36

Yeah, I absolutely agree. There's just so many brands out there that are just like their main goal is simply to just make money in the market. And I just I have to tell people all the time, bring everything in so I can take a look at what you're doing. And I just feel like so often 80% of it's probably not doing much for them. Uh, which is, you know, again, a lot of people are are trying to do their own research, right? They're trying to help themselves. And sometimes it's hard to say, like, you know, I get that you're trying to do everything you can to recover here, but some sometimes these things aren't aren't moving the needle uh as much as you maybe would hope they would. Uh, and I think that's where just the actual food that we're eating plays such a huge role. Now, the ketogenic diet is a very difficult one to follow. It's very restrictive. Are there some cases where you're um still recommending that for people maybe not on the severe TBI side, but um in other cases, I have yet to have recommended the ketogenic diet for anyone who hasn't experienced um either epilepsy or uh a more severe brain injury.

Why Keto Rarely Fits Concussions

Natalie Gavi 14:29

Um I, you know, like you said, it's incredibly restrictive, can be very difficult to follow, um, and it really needs to be treated like medicine in order for it to be effective, which um is incredibly, incredibly time intensive and uh has you know quite the the learning curve. Um and we just don't quite have the research as well to support the use of the ketogenic diet in concussion recovery. There's a a pilot study um that did look at its use. Um I don't believe any other studies have have looked at the ketogenic diet um in concussion recovery, but um, you know, one of the things that it also limits is uh, you know, all of those polyphenol-rich um, you know, oils and fruits and vegetables. And that in and of itself could potentially impact healing.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 15:26

I think the other thing I see with my patients is that maybe if before their concussion they didn't have any issue with skipping meals or going for, you know, six to eight hours without eating, all of a sudden they get the brain injury, and now they're maybe having a hard time putting two and two together that their brain is maybe struggling to to function if they do skip breakfast or skip lunch. And so sometimes they're not making that connection that after the concussion, they maybe need to be more aware of uh eating at regular time points. Do you see that often?

Natalie Gavi 16:02

Yeah, I'll see, I'll see that and I'll see kind of the opposite, um, especially among athletes who had a more regimented schedule and you know had their set times um, you know, to eat before between practices, et cetera. Um, and then without the schedule, they'll they'll forget to eat. So I've seen, you know, kind of both ends of the spectrum there. And, you know, I think just that consistent eating, um, it trying not to go more than five hours without eating has been really helpful for so many of my clients after concussion and just in general to support cognitive functioning. The brain is our body's most metabolically active organ. It needs that consistent source of energy and nutrition. And so um, yeah, um, you know, creating structure and kind of a flexible meal plan, if you will, is something that's been quite helpful for a lot of my clients. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 16:58

Um, do you have a top 10 list of maybe foods that have the most uh either research behind them as far as being uh brain friendly and brain supportive?

Timing Meals To Feed The Brain

Natalie Gavi 17:09

Yeah. Um so definitely um, and this is where, again, I'll talk about it more in the summit, but the mind diet is really interesting because it essentially takes um, you know, the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, which is uh the DASH diet was specifically created to reduce uh the risk of hypertension. So focuses more on sodium reduction. Um, but the mind diet specifically focused on adding in leafy greens and berries. Um leafy greens, berries, those both have research to support um just brain health. Um olive oil has lots of research to support its benefit in um in long-term brain health, walnuts, um again, fermented foods, so things like yogurt, kimchi, um, kefir, anything to support the gut. Um, and then whole grains, because whole grains uh you know have fiber that help to act as fuel for those probiotics that give us those brain healthy metabolites that we need, um uh as well as lots of other benefits. But um I don't know exactly how many that is, but that's kind of and and fatty fish. Um, yes, those are you know kind of my core things that I'll recommend.

Top Brain-Friendly Foods

Dr. Ayla Wolf 18:34

Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. And you know, you mentioned that you're an equestrian. I don't know if I've ever met an equestrian who hasn't fallen off their horse. And so yeah, concussions are very common in that sport. Um, do you yourself follow certain diets just to like? I mean, have you had concussions? Have you had to deal with that?

Natalie Gavi 18:56

I am almost certain that I've had concussions, never diagnosed. Um I I also grew up doing judo and like thinking back to like the splitting headaches that I get after, you know, taking a bad fall or um you know, after falling off a horse and you know, not quite feeling, you know, quite right. Um, so I for sure I I think have experienced them, never diagnosed. Um, but I, you know, I would say I follow for the most part like a Mediterranean um way of eating and combining that with um intuitive eating. So um, you know, honoring hunger cues, honoring fullness cues, knowing when I can't rely on my cues to eat and needing to kind of override that to give myself that consistency and balance throughout the day. Um, and also just enjoying food that I enjoy because stressing about food doesn't help either. Um so just a balanced um way of eating, prioritizing a lot of those um brain healthy foods as well.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 19:59

Yeah. So you've never had a concussion where you didn't, you couldn't walk away from it, but you've had those falls and injuries where you were like looking back, oh yeah, that could have probably been a concussion.

An Athlete’s View And Intuitive Eating

Natalie Gavi 20:11

Um so so important, you know, just thinking about that to, you know, support my brain while I can. And, you know, of course we can't go backwards. And I wish I could go back with all the knowledge that I have and um, you know, incorporate the supplements, incorporate, you know, the the foods in the way that I encourage my clients to, but um, it's it's never too late to start doing that. Exactly.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 20:35

Well, and food is one of the things that we can control, you know, that we do have control over. And so I think for people who do want to feel empowered, like they're doing something uh to help in their recovery, but also just for promoting general brain health, um, that's huge. So you mentioned uh, you know, obviously there's a lot of uh supplements that are out there, you know, and different, obviously huge changes, differences in quality uh from company to company. And so oftentimes, you know, people are taking things that maybe are not beneficial for them. Are there outside of say a fish oil supplement, are there certain things and we won't like without getting into brands or like the quality issue, are there certain things that you see as maybe more important? I know lots of women are deficient in magnesium. It's hard to get a lot of magnesium in the diet these days. Um, so are there certain nutrients that you think are more important than others?

Smart Supplements: Magnesium And Creatine

Natalie Gavi 21:36

Yeah, I will I will often recommend magnesium, um either magnesium glycinate or magnesium three-inate. Those are the more bioavailable forms. Um magnesium-3-8 is the form that is able to better cross the blood-brain barriers. So, especially for just supporting brain health, relaxation, um, that is the form that I'll recommend. Um, for anybody who experiences like migraines, magnesium and riboflavin are are the two that I will very routinely recommend. It's, you know, overall safe. Um, so higher doses of both. And um, although it's not a nutrient necessarily, but I will very often recommend creatine monohydrate. It has been shown time and time again to be incredibly safe. And the research coming out around its use for supporting brain health as a neuroprotective agent, as a potential supplement, you know, post uh concussion or you know, post-post-injury, there's just so much so much promising research out there. And with its safety profile, it's something that I very routinely recommend as well.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 22:47

Yeah. And for women, are you recommending the five grams a day or even less than that? I'm recommending typically three to five.

Natalie Gavi 22:56

Yeah.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 22:56

Yeah. Okay. So kind of that standard three to five.

Natalie Gavi 22:59

Yep. Um for anybody who's like vegan or vegetarian women, I will usually recommend the higher um five grams, but yeah. Um and it's, you know, again with the uh it's the dosage for brain health and recovery is not super clear because. We have seen recommendations as high as like 20 to 30 grams a day. I have not quite recommended that just for tolerance, although that has been shown to be pretty well tolerated. But the research in around creatine and brain health and again neuroprotection is it's evolving, but I'm still still recommending that five grams for the most part. Yeah.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 23:46

Awesome. And if there was maybe one misconception about nutrition that you would love to correct that you see out there, what would it be?

Rethinking Restriction: Add-In Approach

Natalie Gavi 23:57

Yeah. I would say rather than focusing on things to remove and limit, I've had so many clients come to me with um, you know, foods that they've restricted because of specific diets or recommendations coming from well-meaning, you know, well-intended friends, family, healthcare professionals. Um, instead of focusing on restriction, focus on what you can add in. So focus on adding in, you know, those leafy greens, um, olive oil, um, berries, fatty fish in a way that fits, you know, into food preferences and and routine. Um, but it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be difficult or complicated. It could be really simple.

Medical Disclaimer

Dr. Ayla Wolf 24:44

Yeah, I love it. And then I know you have another appointment to get to. So uh where can people find you before we wrap up here?

Where To Find Natalie & Closing

Natalie Gavi 24:51

Yeah, so I'm on Instagram mainly. Um my account is NatalieGavi.nutrition. Um, and anyone interested in working together, just reaching out to chat, um, they can always um email me um Natalie at Gaviynutrition.com or go to my website with more information and other ways to work together.

Dr. Ayla Wolf 25:12

Super. Well, I'll add all of that in the notes here, and then uh I will see you at the summit that third weekend in March. Sounds great. Thank you so much. Yeah, have a great day. You too. Medical disclaimer. This video or podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is formed. The use of this information and materials included is at the user's own risk. The content of this video or podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and consumers of this information should seek the advice of a medical professional for any and all health related issues. A link to our full medical disclaimer is available in the notes.