Archives for October 2019

GABA & Tryptophan: The Gut-Anxiety Connections with Trudy Scott on The Anxiety Summit 5

October 14, 2019 By Trudy Scott 2 Comments

One of my three interviews on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis airs on day 1 of the summit. The topic is: GABA & Tryptophan: The Gut-Anxiety Connections. In this interview, I’m interviewed by my colleague and friend Dr. Nicole Beurkens, PhD, and you’ll learn about:

Low serotonin: fear, overwhelm, gut motility & anorexia
Low GABA: physical tension, gut & rectal pain, burning mouth
Blood brain barrier, phenibut, candida & CBD

I start with some background on why a summit on the gut-brain axis, what we don’t know about the incidence of anxiety and the huge increase we are seeing. The big message is that we have growing awareness but no real solutions. This goal of this summit is to create awareness around gut issues as a possible root cause and the growing research in nutritional psychiatry – AND to provide solutions!

We cover some of the basics in case you don’t know anything about GABA and tryptophan. If you’ve been following my work you’re likely going to be familiar with this section.

I cover plenty of new research throughout the interview and we start with 5-HTP as it relates to both gut health and anxiety. We discuss this 2019 paper: Effects of Serotonin and Slow-Release 5-Hydroxytryptophan on Gastrointestinal Motility in a Mouse Model of Depression:

Administration of 5-HTP SR [slow release] to mice restored [serotonin] to the ENS [enteric nervous system] and normalized GI motility and growth of the enteric epithelium.
5-HTP SR [slow release] might be used to treat patients with intestinal dysfunction associated with low levels of 5-HT [serotonin].

This paper doesn’t mention anxiety or depression but we know that serotonin support with 5-HTP or tryptophan addressed this aspect too. And given this, it’s very possible that we could extrapolate some of this research to tryptophan.

We cover motility issues at length in the SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) interviews with Dr. Alison Siebecker and Shivan Sarna – SIBO: Anxiety, Testing, Probiotics and Fecal Transplants (Part 1 and 2). We also talk about the fear and overwhelm factor when starting a new protocol in that interview and in this interview of mine – and how addressing low serotonin helps so much.

We also talk about one of my favorite topics: GABA and the controversial blood-brain-barrier question and point you back to the discussion I have with Dr. Datis Kharrazian in his interview: Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut. Be sure to tune in to that one.

I also share some research on low serotonin and gut health in anorexia; interesting anti-candida properties of serotonin; how CBD can make tryptophan more effective (be sure to tune in to Dr. Hyla Cass’ interview for more on this: Endocannabinoid System and Your Gut); new GABA studies; the phenibut FDA ban; and updates on some possible reasons why one or more of the amino acids don’t work as well as expected when you do the questionnaire, you have all the symptoms, you review the precautions and a do a trial.

I mentioned this is one of 3 interviews I do on the summit. My other 2 interviews cover:

How Collagen Can Cause Anxiety and Insomnia
Simple Solutions for Anxiety and Gut Health

I’ll share highlights from these ones in another email/blog.

Please join us and listen to my interviews and all the others on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis.

When you register now you’ll get access to there 3 interviews right away:

Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS
MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND
Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc – Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights.

If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

If you’re considering purchasing the summit to keep for your learning library, you have a number of options that include:

Online only or flash drive or both
A PDF or printed transcripts of all the interviews
The Best of Anxiety-Gut interviews from previous Anxiety Summits
GABA Quickstart Program (a group program with me on how to actually use GABA for your physical anxiety, with a private Facebook group and live Q & A call)

Purchase options

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section at the bottom.

I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in to this interview and the others.

The Anxiety Summit 5: all the speakers and topics

October 11, 2019 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis, Nov 11-17, 2019
Hosted by Trudy Scott,
Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution
Founder of Anxiety Nutrition Institute

ANXIETY has become the defining mental health issue of our decade – women are affected at twice the rate of men, and now children and young adults are also more stressed and anxious than ever before. Join us to learn nutritional and gut solutions for your anxiety!

Here are all the speakers/topics and blog posts with additional information, interview snippets, links to studies and more. Each speaker title below links to the respective speaker blog.

“Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc” – Ann Louise Gittleman

“Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut” – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS

“Parasites, Anxiety and TUDCA for Liver drainage” – Jay Davidson, DC, PScD

“The Gut-Brain Axis and Mental Health” – Peter Bongiornio, ND, LAc

“GABA & Tryptophan: The Gut-Anxiety Connections” – Trudy Scott, CN

“The Endocannabinoid System and the Gut” – Hyla Cass, MD

“Herbs to Improve Digestion & Support GABA” – Magdalena Wszelaki

“4Lifesaving Tips to Reduce Anxiety” – Jonathan Landsman

“Anxiety & the Gut-Brain Axis in Autism” – Julie Matthews, NC

“Hidden Jewels in your Stools & Castor Oil Packs” – Marisol Teijeiro, ND

“Floatation Therapy for Anxiety and PTSD” – Evan Brand, BCHN, CFMP, NTP

“Self-Advocating and the Power of Community” – Misty Williams

“Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Anxiety” – Tara Hunkin, NTP, CGP, RWP

“Anxiety: The Latest Gluten Research and Testing Part 1” – Tom O’Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN

“Anxiety: The Latest Gluten Research and Testing Part 2” – Tom O’Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN

“MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety” – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND

“GI MAP Stool Test for Anxiety/Fibromyalgia” – David Brady, ND, DC, CCN, DACBN

“Fasting for Anxiety and Gut Health” – David Jockers, DNM, DC, MS

“Bacteriophage Therapy instead of Antibiotics” – Donna Gates, MEd, ABAAHP

“Food Sensitivities & Anxiety” – Rodger Murphree, DC, CNS

“Anxiety: Gut-Brain Communication & Diet” – David Perlmutter, M.D., F.A.C.N

“B12: Anxiety, OCD, Constipation & the Microbiome” – Edward F. Group III, DC, NP, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM

“Essential Oils for Anxiety & Digestion” – Eric Zielinski, DC, MPH(c)

“Lori’s Anxiety-Gut Story & Solution” – Jonathan & Lori Otto

“Homeopathy for Dysbiosis, Anxiety & Angst” – Joette Calabrese, HMC, CCH, RSHom

“Gut Health & Anxiety in Chinese Medicine” – Pedram Shojai, OMD

“Vagus Nerve Activation to Reduce Anxiety” – Navaz Habib, DC, AFMCP

“Spore-based Probiotics to Boost Serotonin & GABA” – Kiran Krishnan

“Eat, Play, Connect” – Chef Pete Evans

“Pyroluria, Oxidative Stress and Parasites” – Todd Watts, DC, PScD

“Collagen Can Cause Anxiety & Insomnia” – Trudy Scott, CN

“PQQ for Stress, Sleep, Mitochondria & Gut Health” – Michael Murray, ND

“SIBO: Anxiety, Testing, Probiotics & Fecal Transplants Part 1” – Allison Siebecker, ND, MSOM, LAc

“SIBO: Anxiety, Testing, Probiotics & Fecal Transplants Part 2” – Shivan Sarna

“Bitters: Calming and Digestive Support” – Summer Bock

“Really Simple Solutions for Anxiety & Gut Health” – Trudy Scott, CN

Please join us and listen to all the interviews on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis. When you register you’ll get access to 3 interviews right away:

MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND
Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc – Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS
Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights.

If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

If you’re considering purchasing the summit to keep for your learning library, you have a number of options that include:

Online only or flash drive or both
A PDF or printed transcripts of all the interviews
The Best of Anxiety-Gut interviews from previous Anxiety Summits
GABA Quickstart Program (a group program with me on how to actually use GABA for your physical anxiety, with a private Facebook group and live Q & A call)

Purchase options

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section below or in the click above on the respective speaker/topic blog and comment there.

What stood out for you? Gems you want to share with your friends and family? Changes you’re going to make? What you want to dig deeper into? What has already helped you? Light-bulbs? Do you want more information like this?

I’d love to hear from you!

Even if you already receive my newsletters and signed up some time ago to be notified of the upcoming Anxiety Summit, you will still need to register at the new link here because Health Talks Online is doing the backend work for me on this one.If you don’t register you won’t get access to the daily summit emails with all the interviews. You will however, continue to get these emails from me.

This is my 5th Anxiety Summit and it is all new content.

The content is geared to anxious individuals who are health-savvy and to practitioners who work with anxious individuals.

If you are totally new to functional medicine and nutritional solutions for anxiety, just take in what you can and know you’ll get all this eventually.

Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut with Dr. Datis Kharrazian on The Anxiety Summit 5

October 11, 2019 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS is one my guest experts on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis and our topic is: Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut. In this interview you’ll learn:

Impact of brain injury and impaired vagal activity (as well as motility and breakdown of the blood brain barrier)
Activate your neurons
Polyphenols (for neuroinflammation) and butyrate for leaky gut/brain

We’re taught that “healing begins in the gut” and it’s a huge factor but in certain instances we need to do more before the gut can truly be healed. When you have had a traumatic brain injury/TBI, integrative functional neurology teaches that the brain has to be fixed for the gut to gut to work well. Dr. Kharrazian why this is important:

Someone can have a TBI and 10 or 15 years later they can experience brain and neurological symptoms – like depression and anxiety. These patients can end up with chronic GI issues as a consequence of the TBI because there is this intimate relationship between the brain and how it controls gut function.

In this interview you’ll hear how, after a TBI, the bidirectional gut-brain-microbiotia axis leads to structural and functional damage to the gut, increased intestinal permeability and an altered microbiome, an immune response and inflammation. There is also often impaired motility, breakdown of the blood brain barrier and impaired vagal activity (and much more).

Dr Kharrazian discusses aspects of this paper: The bidirectional gut-brain-microbiota axis as a potential nexus between traumatic brain injury, inflammation, and disease

we will examine the extent to which the bidirectional influence of the gut-brain axis modulates the complex biological processes occurring at the time of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and over the days, months, and years that follow.
In addition to local enteric signals originating in the gut, it is well accepted that gastrointestinal (GI) physiology is highly regulated by innervation from the CNS.
Conversely, emerging data suggests that the function and health of the CNS is modulated by the interaction between 1) neurotransmitters, immune signaling, hormones, and neuropeptides produced in the gut, 2) the composition of the gut microbiota, and 3) integrity of the intestinal wall serving as a barrier to the external environment.
Specific to TBI, existing pre-clinical data indicates that head injuries can cause structural and functional damage to the GI tract, but research directly investigating the neuronal consequences of this intestinal damage is lacking.

Dr. Datis Kharrazian is a clinical research scientist, academic professor, and a functional medicine health care provider. You likely are familiar with his work as the author of Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? and Why Isn’t My Brain Working?

He is also the creator of several functional medicine and neurology online courses, and the founder of the Kharrazian institute, a post-graduate institute for functional medicine and restorative neurology. Earlier this year I attended his excellent Neuroinflammation training and decided I really wanted him on the summit to share an important an often overlooked aspect – integrative functional neurology.

What I found most surprising is that you don’t even have to have been concussed for a head injury to have an impact on your gut! The serious consequences of a head injury (and subsequent damage to the gut) is very much related to your blood sugar, nutritional status and stress levels at the time of the fall or head bang.

After learning all this it really got me thinking about the many falls I have had. I have never been concussed but I’ve been in a roll-over car accident, fallen hard snow-boarding, fallen sideways off my mountain bike onto rocks at Moab, and taken a really big pendulum fall when rock-climbing in Cape Town. Based on all this and my many chronic gut issues, I am going to have a full functional neurology assessment done and will report back as I learn more. I’ve completed Dr. Kharrazian’s questionnaire and it seems like I would really benefit from some neuro-rehab. I hope our interview gives you some insights too.

We also talk about one of my favorite topics: GABA and the controversial blood-brain-barrier question. I think you’ll really enjoy this discussion. Do let me know what you think!

We go on to talk about resveratrol, curcumin and butyrate, as well as some very practical neuro-rehab exercises he uses with his patients.

Please join us and listen to the entire interview on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis. When you register you’ll get access to 3 interviews right away, including Dr. Kharrazian’s interview:

Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS
MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND
Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc – Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights.

If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

If you’re considering purchasing the summit to keep for your learning library, you have a number of options that include:

Online only or flash drive or both
A PDF or printed transcripts of all the interviews
The Best of Anxiety-Gut interviews from previous Anxiety Summits
GABA Quickstart Program (a group program with me on how to actually use GABA for your physical anxiety, with a private Facebook group and live Q & A call)

Purchase options

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section at the bottom.

I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in to Dr. Kharrazian’s interview and the others.

MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety with Carolyn Ledowsky on The Anxiety Summit 5

October 7, 2019 By Trudy Scott 4 Comments

Carolyn Ledowsky, ND is one my guest experts on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis and our topic is: MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety. In this interview you’ll learn:

The mechanisms of methylation
B12 gene variants: MTR, MTRR, TCN
The tryptophan “steal” and a simple niacin test
and a whole lot more!

It’s an in-depth interview that really gets into the science and mechanisms, and we start with why methylation is so important:

We need methylation to create one of the most important brain substances – phosphatidyl choline – because our brain lives on it. This is incredibly important for neurotransmitter function.

And unfortunately, this whole methylation process is not only affected by our genes but it’s hugely affected by our environment. Stress is probably one of the one of the biggest things that chews up our methyl groups.

We also talk about what the research is showing and discuss a 2018 paper titled Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and psychiatric diseases:

Increasing evidence demonstrates that MTHFR polymorphism including C677T and A1298C is associated with psychiatric diseases. The MTHFR gene polymorphism is linked to onset, clinical symptoms, prevalence as well as response to treatments.

If you have a MTHFR polymorphism and it’s expressing it’s very likely contributing to neurotransmitter imbalances and playing a role in both anxiety and depression. Methylation is also important for detox and fertility, and often plays a role in ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia and autism.

Carolyn covers SAMe, folate and the importance of addressing low B12 first and how this ties back to the gut, low HCl (hydrochloric acid) and nutrient absorption. We cover B12 genes (MTR, MTRR, TCN) in detail, B12 testing, ideal forms of B12 supplementation based on your SNPs and more.

The connections she has found with pyroluria, oxalates, the CBS gene, glutathione, vitamin B6 and lysine is just fascinating and I look forward to really digging into the research and mechanisms in the future. This was not on our planned outline of topics to discuss but we went with it anyway and I’m so glad we did.

We end with a discussion on the tryptophan steal and niacin, and agree to differ on our use of tryptophan – she prefers 5-HTP while I typically start with tryptophan and then have my clients switch to a trial of 5-HTP if the tryptophan is not helping.

Carolyn Ledowsky is the founder of MTHFR Support Australia. She is a naturopath, herbalist and nutritionist and based on what I learned in this interview and this lovely note of appreciation I received yesterday, I know you’ll really enjoy it:

I had to write to you to to thank you for your work. I’ve bought your book and followed you for a while, but that interview with Carolyn Ledowsky was probably one of the most eye opening talks I’ve ever listened to! The way she explained all the difficulties with the MTHFR gene was a wealth of information, and you both worked together so well to really make things clear. I feel I have hope, and better understand what the problem is. Thank you again.

Getting feedback like this makes my day because we’re sharing great information and offering hope! May this inspire you to tune in and learn too.

Please join us and listen to the entire interview on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis. When you register you’ll get access to 3 interviews right away, including Carolyn’s:

MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND
Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc – Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS
Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights.

If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please click below to go to the blog and post in the comments section at the bottom. I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in.

Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc with Ann Louise Gittleman on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis

October 4, 2019 By Trudy Scott 5 Comments

Ann Louise Gittleman is one my guest experts on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis and our topic is: Why Bile is the key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc.

We had such a wonderful interview. She is sharp and funny, and really good with her short catchy phrases like this one: “Let’s make bile as important as probiotics!”

We start with the important role of bile in our bodies:

it emulsifies and digests fat, breaking it down into small particles so that your intestines can absorb them. It also helps escort toxins that your liver has removed out of the body.

We cover some of the many symptoms of low quality bile, such as queasiness, nausea, pale-colored stools, constipation and even motion-sickness.

Here is a snippet from our interview where Ann Louise shares about bitters, bile and the importance of digesting your fats:

I’m all for fat, I’ve written about it for years and have been on the frontlines of essential fatty acids. But if you’re not digesting fats you’re not using them and getting the benefits of your fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

So bile is brilliant! Bring back the importance of bile and we know that bitter is better!

If you can remember all of that you’re on the right track to dealing with your anxiety and hormone havoc.

She covers role of bile in PMS, estrogen imbalance and thyroid health; how it’s involved in the removal of toxins from the body; and simple tools to improve bile production (one of them being the addition of bitter greens to your diet). We take a deep dive into key nutrients for bile production and quality: choline, taurine, inositol and methionine.

We also go into zinc: copper imbalances and the role this plays in PMS, hormone balance and anxiety. We talk about avocado and almond flour – both are good sources of fats and both need good quality bile to be digested. You may be surprised to hear what Ann Louise shares about these two foods. You’re going to have to tune in to know what I’m talking about. If you’re surprised (or even if you’re not) please let me know in the comments.

You likely know Ann Louise Gittleman as a New York Times Bestselling author of over 30 books on diet, detox, the environment, and women’s health. Beloved by many, she is regarded as a nutritional visionary and health pioneer who has fearlessly stood on the front lines of holistic and integrative medicine.

One of my favorite books of hers is Before the Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause. This book helped me so much when I was in the midst of my PMS, anxiety and panic attacks in my late 30s. It was this book that taught me about my need for zinc and vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil before I even knew that pyroluria existed. It was one of the many books I read at that time, starting me on my lifelong journey of reading about nutrition, studying to become a nutritionist and attending conferences and summits.

Please join us and listen to the entire interview on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis. When you register you’ll get immediate access to Ann Louise’s interview and these two interviews:

Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS
MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND

I’ll be sharing snippets like this over the weeks leading up to the summit, highlighting speakers and their topics. Do let me know how you like this format.

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights. If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section below.

Even if you already receive my newsletters and have already signed up to be notified of the upcoming Anxiety Summit, you will still need to register at the new link here, because Health Talks Online is doing the backend work for me on this one. If you don’t register you won’t get access to the daily emails with all the interviews. You will however, continue to get these emails from me.