SOUL FOOD:
the Biology of Behaviour, Development & Becoming
Have you ever found yourself asking:
Who is my child beyond their behaviour?
Perhaps you have been told that:
tantrums are developmental
sleep disruption is normal
emotional volatility is just temperament
sensory overwhelm is a personality trait
picky eating is a phase
ADHD is a fixed diagnosis
you have to adapt your life around your kids moods
parenting is just supposed to be difficult
they will just “grow out of” behaviours that are impacting your entire family system
What if we've been asking the wrong questions about children's behaviour?
What if some of these experiences are actually biological signals asking for attention?
“There is a profound difference between raising a child and merely managing one.”
- Niecia Nelson
A child’s personality and nervous system is built from biological inputs (or lack thereof).
Mood.
Sleep.
Behaviour.
Emotional regulation.
Learning.
These all emerge from a child’s biology.
Modern parenting culture has been shaped around symptom control.
Parents are taught to interpret behaviour primarily psychologically or behaviourally, while the biological terrain underneath the behaviour remains largely unexplored.
Hi - we’re Kate & Niecia. We believe that parenting and family life become harder when biology is missing from the conversation.
Kate Pope is a Holistic Chef, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and Certified GAPS Practitioner (NTP, CGP), and founder of Regenerative Cooking School and @wildnutritionist.
Kate is known for helping mothers confidently navigate the introduction of solids the “gut health way” while also addressing the deeper patterns behind common (but not normal) symptoms. Her work supports families in resolving issues such as eczema, allergies, and digestive dysfunction by using food as a primary tool for healing.
Her concept and signature courses, Mama Baby Biome and Baby Biome First Foods Plan centers a mother’s healing authority and power while teaching practical skills, shaped by her own lived experience as a Mother, Chef, Dancer and self-healing woman.
At the heart of all her teachings is that when a mother, and thus the family, is well-nourished, the health of the world can shift.
Niecia Nelson is a mother, educator, and practitioner whose work explores the relationship between nutrition, physiology, child development, and family wellbeing. Drawing on more than two decades of study across counseling, depth psychology, functional and bioenergetic medicine, family systems, mineral science, and nutrition, she has become deeply interested in the ways biology influences behavior, mood, learning, sleep, emotional regulation, and development.
Her work with families and children has led her to explore how the health of a child cannot be separated from the larger environment in which they are developing. She is particularly interested in how patterns of nourishment, stress, regulation, attachment, and physiology shape both the individual child and the family system as a whole, often influencing generations in ways that go unseen.
Through her teaching, writing, and clinical work, Niecia helps parents move beyond symptom management and toward a deeper understanding of the biological foundations that support resilience, emotional wellbeing, healthy development, and family thriving.
In SOUL FOOD, we will explore:
Mood & Behaviour
How blood sugar stability shapes mood, behaviour, and nervous system regulation
The microbiome–brain connection: dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and emotional health
Nutrient deficiencies that contribute to dysregulation, irritability, anxiety, and behavioural challenges
Understanding behaviour as a biological communication rather than a behavioural problem
Sleep & Recovery
Why deep sleep is essential for emotional resilience, nervous system repair, and healthy development
The relationship between sleep, stress physiology, and behavioural regulation
Gut & Microbiome
How the microbiome influences mood, behaviour, personality, and emotional development
The gut-brain connection: understanding the constant conversation between the digestive system and the nervous system
Why digestion matters for attention, learning, emotional regulation, and behaviour
Microbial diversity and its role in resilience, adaptability, and overall wellbeing
Hidden Biological Stressors
Histamine's role in mood, behaviour, sleep, sensory sensitivity, and emotional reactivity
How oxalate accumulation may contribute to behavioural changes, discomfort, sleep challenges, and sensory issues
How immune activation can influence emotional regulation, attention, motivation, and resilience
How children’s detox systems differ from adults
"My logic is, if what I eat makes me feel better, wouldn’t that be the same for my children? And wouldn’t that translate to more harmony and peace in the family, and easier parenting?"
Kate Pope
You will leave with:
an understanding of how the microbiome, mitochondrial health, and blood sugar shapes behavior
practical tools for reading and responding to your child's biology with greater awareness and less guesswork
a body-first lens for interpreting tantrums, emotional outbursts, sensory overwhelm, and other challenging behaviours
knowledge of how to use nutrient density as an input for the regulation of the brain and emotions
the ability to differentiate the unmet needs of your child’s physiology from behaviour
the confidence to make nutrition and lifestyle decisions that support the biological foundations of learning, development, and emotional health
