Antianxiety Food Solution

Antianxiety food talk and book signing at Avid Reader

June 23, 2011 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

I’m a big fan of supporting local businesses, so I am thrilled that the Avid Reader book stores (http://www.avidreaderbooks.com/) in Sacramento and Davis are hosting me for a talk and book signing on Saturday and Sunday. It will also be terribly exciting to see MY book on display and on the shelves!

The Sacramento store is very impressive, with so many wonderful books, beautiful displays and a really good vibe. I’ve always loved reading and I can happily lose myself in there for hours. We were told that it is the largest independent book store between Redding and Bakersfield. And it’s a great place for some interesting book talks.

I’ll be talking about Food and Mood: 9 Steps to Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve your Mood and End Cravings. These are the 9 steps that are covered in my new book. In case you missed it, the official launch of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings was June 2. I am just thrilled to be able to share this important information with those who have anxiety and are looking for natural solutions. You can read more here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/antianxiety-food-solution-what-you-eat-makes-difference/

Here are the details:

Local Book Talk and Signing in Davis, CA – at The Avid Reader store

617 Second Street, Davis, CA, 95616 Tel: (530) 758-4040

Saturday June 25^th, 7:30pm – 8:30pm

Local Book Talk & Signing in Sacramento, CA – at The Avid Reader store

1600 Broadway, Sacramento, CA, 95818 Tel: (916) 441-4400

Sunday June 26^th, 2:00pm – 3:00pm

Hope to see you there to get a signed copy of my new book. It will be signed with a beautiful new pen my darling sister Wendy gave me earlier this month!

If you can’t make it, I look forward to seeing you at another talk. You can sign up to get my newsletter and talk notifications here www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com. And if you are looking for a speaker, either live in-person or via teleseminar, for a group or organization you belong to, please contact me at trudy@everywomanover29.com

EWG 2011 dirty dozen includes apples, celery, strawberries and why buy organic?!

June 17, 2011 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) has new 2011 “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists of produce. The 2010 version of these lists are included in The Antianxiety Food Solution, so I want to provide you with the latest and greatest information from the EWG as I’m a big fan of this group, and veggies and fruit of course!

So at a bare minimum use the lists when you cannot find organic or are traveling or visiting friends. The rest of the time, I still encourage buying organic produce.

Dirty Dozen 2011 (fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide residues)

Apples
Celery
Strawberries
Peaches
Spinach
Nectarines (imported)
Grapes (imported)
Sweet bell peppers
Potatoes
Blueberries (domestic)
Lettuce
Kale/collard greens

Clean Fifteen 2011 (fruits and veggies with the lowest pesticide residues)

Onions
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Asparagus
Sweet peas
Mangoes
Eggplants
Cantaloupe (domestic)
Kiwi
Cabbage
Watermelon
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Mushrooms

This is the previous (2010) list I included in the The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/antianxiety-food-solution-what-you-eat-makes-difference/

2010 “dirty dozen”: apples, bell peppers, blueberries, celery, cherries, grapes, kale or collard greens, nectarines, peaches, potatoes, spinach, and strawberries

2010 “clean fifteen”: asparagus, avocados, cabbage, cantaloupe, eggplant, grapefruit, honeydew, kiwi, mangoes, onions, pineapple, sweet corn, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, and watermelon.

The EWG is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health and the environment, and they have a super visual here http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ and a handy wallet PDF you can download. They have also addressed some great FAQS here http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/faq/ This fact I find particularly helpful: “if consumers simply chose their daily recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables from the least contaminated list over five from the dirty dozen, they would reduce the amount of pesticides ingested by 92%”.

I am a proponent of organic produce for these reasons:

We know there are health implications of pesticides: mood problems including anxiety and depression in farm-workers, ADHD/memory issues in kids (these and others will be covered in more detail in part 2 of this post)
It tastes SO much better
It is better for the environment
It does not impact farm workers (Tom Philpott addresses this topic here http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/06/dirty-dozen-veggies-dont-forget-farmworkers)

If the cost of organic produce seems to be an issue, buy and eat real whole food instead https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/we-dont-say-wet-water-why-do-we-say-real-food/ and spend less (or preferably nothing) on fast-food, sodas and junk!

The Antianxiety Food Solution: what you eat does make a difference!

June 2, 2011 By Trudy Scott 18 Comments

The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings…official launch date is June 2, 2011!

This book will show you that what you eat (real whole food and yes, animal protein), when you eat (controlling blood sugar), what you don’t put in your mouth (sugar, coffee and foods you’re sensitive to like wheat), your digestion, your hormones and neurotransmitters – and more – can affect how anxious and overwhelmed you feel. And the magical thing is that when you address the root cause of your anxiety with food and nutrients it really does make you happier, eliminates sugar cravings and you’ll even sleep better! And who doesn’t want all of that?

The book has it’s own site www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com and this site is going to continue to grow and evolve. You can also buy your own copy of the book or eBook directly from my publisher New Harbinger (15% off this and all other books from their site). It’s also available in book stores and on Amazon. Right now you can check out the Table of Contents here , some Selected Quotes from the book here and some of the Rave Reviews I’ve already received here. In October I blogged about the new cover (you can read more here) and now we have the official launch! I am so excited!

I’m working with my publisher, New Harbinger on some exciting PR, events and book signings. If you have a need or know someone looking for a speaker on this topic, please let me know as I have big plans to get out and speak, and I may just be in your city! Don’t forget to sign up here to receive newsletter updates and stay up to date on new research, workshops and special offers.

Gluten Elimination Challenge: An Easy Way to Figure Out If It Affects You! (part 2)

March 31, 2011 By Trudy Scott 20 Comments

The easiest and most affordable way to figure out if gluten affects you is to do a 2-week gluten elimination trial (and see how you feel) and then provoke or challenge with gluten (and see how you feel). The 2 week trial will mean zero consumption of food containing wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, triticale or oats. Oats must also be excluded as they are frequently contaminated with gluten during processing. It really is best that you eat home-made, real, whole foods (always, but especially during the trial) as gluten is so often “hidden” in many processed foods. Watch for ingredients like hydrolyzed protein, textured vegetable protein and all derivatives of wheat, oats, rye and barley (including barley malt, modified starch, most soy sauces and natural flavoring).

Other wonderful grains and nutritious starchy vegetables

Rice, corn and buckwheat are acceptable, as are the wonderful ancient grains like quinoa and amaranth. You can find gluten-free-everything – pasta, crackers, you-name-it – made from rice, bean, potato, coconut and corn flour. There are also many wonderful recipes books but some call for margarine, soy milk and excessive sugar – so make substitutions as needed. Rather than simply replacing the problem grain with another grain, consider incorporating more vegetables into your diet. Starchy vegetables like sweet potato and squashes are a wonderfully nutritious source of carbohydrates.

Adding back the gluten

Once you have removed the gluten from your diet and seen improvements in your mood and other symptoms (digestive, pain, skin etc), add it back after 2 weeks and see if it affects you adversely. This test is often more powerful for my clients than any lab test. I’ve seen symptoms ranging from severe mood swings to terrible anxiety to stomach aches to general aches and pains to fatigue and brain fog (and all of the above in some very sensitive individuals). If you experience any of the above, then it’s important that you remove gluten from your diet and work with someone to do additional testing. I’ll cover additional testing in a future blog post.

See here for part 1 (Gluten, your mood and your health) and read more about this and other food intolerances in my forthcoming book The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods you eat can calm your anxious mind, improve mood and end cravings. Find out more at www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com

Gluten, your mood and your health (part 1)

February 28, 2011 By Trudy Scott 17 Comments

Looking at whole-wheat with a different set of eyes is so important if you have any mental or physical concerns! Perhaps you are one of the many people who cannot tolerate wheat and other gluten-containing grains. Wheat, rye, barley, spelt and kamut all contain gluten. Oats is often contaminated with gluten during processing and transportation. It really is best that you eat home-made, real, whole foods as gluten is so often “hidden” in many processed foods. Processed foods often contain ingredients like hydrolyzed protein, textured vegetable protein and derivatives of wheat, oats, rye and barley (including barley malt, modified starch, soy sauce and natural flavoring).

There are many studies supporting the gluten-mood connection – anxiety, social phobia, depression and schizophrenia. A study titled” Psychiatric symptoms and celiac disease” states that celiac disease “should be taken into consideration in patients with psychiatric disorders particularly if you are not responsive to psychopharmacological therapy, because withdrawal of gluten from the diet usually results in disappearance of symptoms”. Gluten can also cause fatigue, aches and pains, poor focus and of course digestive problems like constipation.

I assess all my clients for gluten intolerance and the majority have seen dramatic improvements on a gluten-free diet – improved mood, no more anxiety, more energy, better sleep and improved digestion. One of my clients saw an almost complete resolution of the eczema that had been plaguing her for over 10 years, was able to get off her antidepressants and lost over 10 pounds. Another client has her Hashimotos thyroiditis (an autoimmune disease) under control as a result of removing gluten from her diet. I’ve seen a number of people who have seen improvements in their rheumatoid arthritis (also an autoimmune disease) when they quit gluten.

You’ve probably seen it as a common theme in many of my presentations and many of my blog posts, such as Good Day Sacramento, Exercise and Food for Mood and Detox, Get Healthy and Lose Weight

I cover this subject extensively in my forthcoming book The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods you eat can calm your anxious mind, improve mood and end cravings. Find out more at www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com

This is part 1 of the gluten-mood connection – part 2 is all about doing a 2-week gluten elimination trial so you can determine is gluten is possibly a problem food for you!

Food and Mood on Good Day Sacramento: Eggs are ok!

February 2, 2011 By Trudy Scott 27 Comments

My Food-Mood TV debut on Good Day Sacramento was a blast! And there really was a green “Green Room” where I waited to go on and watched what was happening in the studio. It went by so fast but I was well-prepared and loved it! And I was thrilled to share my message about Food and Mood for stress, anxiety and worry, depression, irritability and mood swings.

Now you get to enjoy it either watching and listening or reading the summary below. If you watch and listen…take note right at the end when someone (he’ll remain un-named!) yells that they want the sugar! It’s too funny!

Change Your Food – Change Your Mood!

Stress & overwhelm – Eat breakfast always & include protein. THE most important tip for all my clients is to eat breakfast every single day and include some protein such as eggs – this sets them up for the rest of the day so they don’t have blood sugar swings. And eggs (including the yolks!) really are ok to eat!
Anxiety & worry – Quit caffeine and try some herbal tea. There are a subset of people who are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine, found in coffee, tea, sodas, medications and even chocolate.
Depression – Eat grass-fed red meat and salmon or sardines. Beef jerky is one such choice. Grass-fed red meat actually has the same amount of omega-3s as salmon!
Irritability – Quit sugar and diet sodas. Sugary foods are empty calories and they deplete us of nutrients we need to feel calm and happy – like the B vitamins and zinc. 1 soda has a LOT of sugar: approximately 12 teaspoons and if you drink 5 sodas a week you’re consuming 60 teaspoons of sugar. Fruit is a much better choice. Sugar also has many other harmful effects
Mood swings – Avoid wheat and other gluten-containing grains such as oats, rye & barley – use rice and other non-gluten grains instead

In summary eat like our grandparents ate or as you did as a child – real whole food – quit the processed foods with sugars, additives, colors and ingredients you can’t pronounce!

You can use the amazing healing power of foods to improve your mood naturally so you can feel on top of the world without having to resort to medications!

I would like to add that is very simplistic and we are all unique individuals with our own unique biochemistry and nutritional needs – so what may work for one person may not work for the next person …but making the change to real whole food is a great starting place and implementing some of the above changes makes a huge difference for most people.

Much of the information covered is addressed in a special report called 5 Simple Steps to Reduce Anxiety Now, available at www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com