Antianxiety

The Anxiety Summit – Pyroluria, Amino Acids and Anxiety: Real Cases, Real Solutions

May 16, 2015 By Trudy Scott 22 Comments

Karla A Maree CNC, Neuronutrient Therapy Specialist, is interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Pyroluria, Amino Acids and Anxiety: Real Cases, Real Solutions

How pyroluria affects mood and anxiety and introversion
Amino acids GABA and tryptophan: how they can help you feel less anxious and happier in as little as 5 minutes
What is a pixie dust person
Gina, case study 1: social anxiety/pyroluria, birth control pill, vegetarian, low GABA, low serotonin and low iron
Mark, case study 2: social anxiety, pyroluria, claustrophobia, low serotonin, very sensitive to noise, gluten sensitivity

Here are some snippets from our interview:

When we do a trail of an amino acid, you open the capsule into water and hold this in your mouth for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. It bypasses the digestive system and you can expect results in 5 minutes or less

“Pixie dust” people are very sensitive to the environment or vitamins and we have them do finger touches of the opened capsule [of an amino acid] and that small amount can literally shift their brain chemistry

Here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution. I encourage you to do it and see which sections may be an issue for you. And as Karla mentioned re-do it frequently to see how much you’ve improved if you’ve been using amino acids.

We discussed why Urinary neurotransmitter testing falls short and why we use the above questionnaire instead.

Here is the Pyroluria Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution. Karla has pyroluria and having it helps her identify with her clients. She also used to be an introvert but when she is on the pyroluria protocol she can easily walk up to people and talk to them.

[please stay tuned for the Dalai Lama vegetarian article]

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

The Anxiety Summit – Pyroluria, Amino Acids and Anxiety: Troubleshooting when you are not getting results

May 16, 2015 By Trudy Scott 101 Comments

Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution. presents during the Anxiety Summit Season 3.

Pyroluria, Amino Acids and Anxiety: Troubleshooting when you are not getting results

Pyroluria and the effects of leaky gut, oxalates and low oxytocin levels
CFS, ADHD, autism, alcoholism, Lyme disease: the pyroluria connection
Introversion and musician’s dystonia: an update on the pyroluria connection
Troubleshooting the pyroluria protocol and mistakes I see
Testing for pyroluria, zinc, vitamin B6 and fatty acids
The 8 factors that make the targeted individual amino acids more effective
What to do when the amino acids are not working
Concerns about quinolinic acid and tryptophan?

Pyroluria/social anxiety/introversion protocol: trouble-shooting

This is the blog I mentioned that summarizes a number of prior blog posts on the topic: Pyroluria, social anxiety, introversion: a summary

We discussed factors to consider when you are not getting results on the pyroluria protocol. Here is the blog with the 21 we talked about during the interview plus additional factors that I’ve added.

Pyroluria protocol: why aren’t I getting results – trouble-shooting checklist

Here are the oxytocin blogs that discuss social anxiety, testing, the oxytocin receptor gene and connections to autism and depression:

Oxytocin, social anxiety, pyroluria and autism

Dr. Woeller shares how helpful oxytocin is for social anxiety, facial recognition and voice recognition in individuals with autism and Asperger’s syndrome

Oxytocin and social anxiety, pyroluria and depression?

Genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) has been implicated in anxiety, depression and related stress phenotypes

I mentioned my aminos and pyroluria interview with Sean Croxton on the upcoming Depression Sessions (an online video series) in June. He is an introvert and is fascinated with pyroluria-introversion connection. I said I’d share a link to the Depression Sessions but the site isn’t quite ready so please stay tuned. I’ll share it in a few days. This one is not to be missed.

Targeted individual amino acid supplements for anxiety: trouble-shooting

This is the blog I mentioned that summarizes a number of prior blog posts on the topic: Anxiety and targeted individual amino acid supplements: a summary

Here are the categories I discussed, together with the associated amino acid/s

low blood sugar: glutamine
low GABA: GABA (I prefer GABA to Phenibut or pharmaGABA)
low serotonin: tryptophan or 5-HTP
low endorphins: DPA (d-phenylalanine)
low catecholamines: tyrosine

Here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution. I encourage you to do and see which sections may be an issue for you (or see how much you’ve improved if you’ve been using amino acids)

I discussed why Urinary neurotransmitter testing falls short and why I use the above questionnaire instead

There are some precautions to be aware of when taking supplemental amino acids. Here are the Amino Acid Precautions

The 8 factors that make the amino acids more effective:

addressing blood sugar issues and eating real whole food
the brand and quality
timing i.e. between meals and away from protein
your unique amount for your own need
addressing bipolar or bipolar-type symptoms
using the pyroluria protocol at the same time (if needed)
addressing thyroid health and hormonal health
taking the amino acids opened up

Thanks to Dr. Josh Friedman, Integrative Psychotherapist, for the interview. As I mentioned, I interviewed him on season 1 of the Anxiety summit on: “Integrative Psychotherapy: My Journey from Psychoanalysis to Whole Person Mental Health.” If you missed it, I highly recommend it. Dr. Friedman is dear friend, colleague and integrative psychotherapist who uses amino acids and other nutritional approaches in his practice. During our season 1 interview I asked him if he uses GABA with his patients and I love his answer:

it is definitely something I use. I am not a biochemist, so I actually don’t really know whether it crosses the blood/brain barrier, nor do I care actually. the first question should be, is it harmful? Are any of these things going to cause harm? And the answer with all the amino acids are no, they’re not going to cause harm, especially when compared to psychiatric medicines. The second question is, does it work? Is it helpful for our patients that we see in our practice?

Here is a link to my book: The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings

As we mentioned, it has the amino acid questionnaire, pyroluria questionnaire and all the protocols BUT does not contain the 21+ pyroluria touble-shooting checklist (see the separate blog post for this)

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

The Anxiety Summit – Serotonin and Anxiety, Happiness, Digestion and our Hormones

May 14, 2015 By Trudy Scott 43 Comments

Dr. Peter Bongiorno ND, author of Holistic Therapies for Anxiety and Depression is interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Serotonin and Anxiety, Happiness, Digestion and our Hormones

What is serotonin and why is it often considered the molecule of happiness
The role of serotonin when it comes to anxiety?
How serotonin was first discovered and the 5-HT1A receptor/oxytocin connection
Serotonin’s strong relationship to the digestive tract
The connection between inflammation and serotonin
How to naturopathically support serotonin and the overall neurotransmitter system for optimal mood support: 5-HTP, L-tryptophan and its vitamin co-factors
Serotonin’s effects on our hormones, other neurotransmitters and whole body

Here are some snippets from our interview:

In modern medicine we tend to focus on one thing and tend to work it to death, almost to the point that we believe we are doing things that will be helpful. Many studies have shown that antidepressants are not working any better than placebos in most people and yet we’re still treating it [depression/anxiety] the same way

In naturopathy we look at things from all angles. There can be multiple factors involved and why someone has anxiety. How you’re going to work through these factors successfully is going to be very different for each person.

Here is the 2010 JAMA paper: The Antidepressant Drug Effects and Depression Severity A Patient-Level Meta-analysis

The magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo increases with severity of depression symptoms and may be minimal or nonexistent, on average, in patients with mild or moderate symptoms. For patients with very severe depression, the benefit of medications over placebo is substantial.

Dr. Bongiorno shares how using 5-HTP and tryptophan leads to quicker results for his patients, and unlike drugs you don’t get side-effects. He likes to use acupuncture for this too.

He discusses the co-factors that are needed for making neurotransmitters: the B vitamins like riboflavin, niacinamide and vitamin B6, plus the need for a good multivitamin. Here is a recent Psychology Today article: Multiple Vitamins for Anxiety

Here are Dr. Bongiorno’s two books:

How Come They’re Happy and I’m Not – The Complete Natural Program for Healing Depression for Good

Holistic Solutions for Anxiety & Depression in Therapy: Combining Natural Remedies with Conventional Care

You can download his free gift here: 10 Ways to Boost Serotonin Naturally. Once you sign up you’re taken to a page that has the free ebook about serotonin.

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

The Anxiety Summit – Histamine-containing Foods: their Role in Anxiety, Depression and Schizophrenia

May 13, 2015 By Trudy Scott 81 Comments

Yasmina Ykelenstam, the Low Histamine Chef, was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Histamine-containing Foods: their Role in Anxiety, Depression and Schizophrenia

What is histamine
Yasmina’s anxiety story and how she discovered the histamine connection
How histamine can cause symptoms of anxiety: high-histamine foods, low levels of DAO or HMNT enzyme, neuroinflammation
The histamine and depression/ schizophrenia connection and possible links to pyroluria
Histamine disorders: allergies, histamine intolerance and mast cell activation
The difficulty in diagnosing a histamine intolerance
High histamine foods and factors that cause histamine to be released
High histamine foods with anti-inflammatory properties
How to eat when you have a histamine intolerance: the “histamine-balanced” diet
Histamine interaction with psych medications such as valium and why this can be problematic for many doing the Ashton benzodiazepine taper protocol
Histamine interaction with other medications and dyes in medications

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Histamine is the gluten of the intolerance world

Histamine is a neurotransmitter and plays a role in mood disorders

Here is one of the recent studies I mentioned: The human histaminergic system in neuropsychiatric disorders

The histaminergic system is involved in basic physiological functions, such as the sleep-wake cycle, energy and endocrine homeostasis, sensory and motor functions, cognition, and attention, which are all severely affected in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Here, we present recent postmortem findings on the alterations in this system in neuropsychiatric disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntington’s disease (HD), depression, and narcolepsy.

Histamine can cause symptoms of anxiety:

Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Shortness of breath and gasping for air
Pounding heart
Dizziness and feeling faint

Here is the complete list of Histamine Intolerance Symptoms on Yasmina’s blog

Yasmina’s blog is a wealth of information. Here is a post on The Histamine Mast Cell Depression link

According to a growing body of research, by Dr Theoharides and others, shows that pro-inflammatory brain cytokines are implicated in depression. In English: mast cells cause inflammation in the brain, which causes depression.

In short, neuroinflammation, involving mast cells, can manifest in many different ways. In some people it can cause disorders involving a loss of speech (autism) or psych disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression), or demyelination disorders like Multiple Sclerosis

We didn’t discuss this paper, but I’m sharing it because it’s the most recent study by Dr. Theoharides: Mast cells, brain inflammation and autism

brain MCs [mast cells] may be involved in the pathogenesis of “brain fog,” headaches, and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), which worsen with stress

I did bring up “whole blood histamine” testing and the work of Dr. Carl Pfeiffer and Dr. William Walsh but we’ll have to take a deeper dive into this in a subsequent interview. You can read more about this here: Methylation and anxiety: histadelia and histapenia

We did also briefly talk about this in my interview with Dr Ben Lynch: How Methylfolate can make you Feel Worse and even Cause Anxiety, and What to do about it

Our discussion around the benzodiazapines was fascinating and very concerning:

Many people doing a benzo taper are often switched to Valium which is a DAO blocker and further prevents histamine from being removed from the body

Dye are also triggers…the pink Xanax can be problematic

In general I have real concerns with benzodiazapines being prescribed and you can check out my interview with Dr. Katherine Pittman on season 1 of the Anxiety Summit here: Benzodiazepines Risks vs Benefits

Be sure to get Yasmina’s ebook Taster of My High Nutrient Diet

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

The Anxiety Summit – Micronutrients for Eliminating Anxiety

May 13, 2015 By Trudy Scott 22 Comments

Mira Calton CN and Jayson Calton PhD, micronutrient specialists, authors of Naked Calories, are interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Micronutrients for Eliminating Anxiety

The importance of micronutrient sufficiency and Mira’s osteoporosis
The Calton’s 6 year, 135 country expedition to explore traditional diets
The definition of naked calories
How glyphosate/Roundup impacts mineral absorption in plants and thereby impacts us
The new GM arctic apple and why it should be avoided
How minerals compete for absorption
Zinc/copper balance and why we want a multi with no copper

Here are some snippets from our interview:

When food is picked early it doesn’t have all the micronutrients

Spraying our food with glyphosate (Roundup) is starving our food of nutrients because it doesn’t allow the roots to absorb minerals from the soil so the plant is less micronutrient-rich

When you sweat, you become more deficient in micronutrients

The Arctic Apple doesn’t brown when it’s cut open and looks visually good but it’s really rotten and has lost the micronutrient value

They are really passionate about this topic of Arctic apples – as you heard in the interview and as you’ll see in this excellent Arctic apple blog

There is a relationship between micronutrients and there is this web of competition. Here are a few examples Mira and Jayson talked about:

Iron is the most competitive

Zinc and copper compete for absorption

Magnesium can affect zinc absorption

The zinc-copper discussion was fascinating. Mira and Jayson mentioned copper/iron position of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: Doctors Urge FDA to Ban Multivitamins Containing Iron or Copper

The Physicians Committee (for Responsible Medicine) urging the Food and Drug Administration to require vitamin manufacturers to reformulate common multivitamins that contain iron or copper, due to possible links with Alzheimer’s disease.

I wholeheartedly agree with this concern about copper and iron in multivitamins. My concern is with copper connection to lower zinc in anxiety and depression. (Just a heads up: I’m not on board with the Physicians Committee’s dietary recommendations on vegetarianism.)

Here are two of the papers I mentioned at the end of the interview

Zinc prevents sickness behavior induced by lipopolysaccharides after a stress challenge in rats.

Lipopolysaccharide or LPS is an endotoxin that mimics infection by gram-negative bacteria

Zinc treatment was able to prevent sickness behavior in LPS-exposed rats after the stress challenge, restoring exploratory/motor behaviors, communication, and TNF-α levels similar to those of the control group.

They found that zinc treatment appears to be beneficial for sick animals when they are facing risky/stressful situations

Possible involvement of corticosterone and serotonin in antidepressant and antianxiety effects of chromium picolinate in chronic unpredictable mild stress induced depression and anxiety in rats.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of chromium picolinate (CrP) on behavioural and biochemical parameters in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced depression and anxiety in rats.

The results showed that treatment of CrP produced significant antidepressant effect

It was also found that CrP (8 and 16μg/mL) significantly increased 5-HT [serotonin] concentration in the discrete regions of brain (cortex and cerebellum).

On the other hand, the plasma corticosterone level was significantly decreased with CrP (16μg/mL).

The results suggested that increase in the concentration of 5-HT/serotonin and decrease in plasma corticosterone levels could be responsible for improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety in CUMS induced depression and anxiety in rats.

Here are two of their great books:

Naked Calories: The Calton’s Simple 3-step Plan to Micronutrient Sufficiency

And Rich Food Poor Food: The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing System (GPS)

Be sure to grab their amazing gifts:

A PERSONAL Micronutrient Sufficiency Analysis
Rich Food, Poor Food chapters
Micronutrient Miracle Guide to Reducing Stress, Anxiety and Depression;
NUTREINCE SAMPLE PACK & COUPON; and more

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

The Anxiety Summit – How Methylfolate can make you Feel Worse and even Cause Anxiety, and What to do about it

May 12, 2015 By Trudy Scott 176 Comments

Dr. Benjamin Lynch ND, MTHFR and methylation expert, is interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

How Methylfolate can make you Feel Worse and even Cause Anxiety, and What to do about it

Methylfolate and the MTHFR polymorphism
Anxiety and other side effects of too much methylfolate
How to prevent methylfolate side-effects
How to determine how much methylfolate to take

Here are some snippets from our interview (Dr Lynch actually closed with these wise words) :

Just because you have MTHFR doesn’t mean you’re screwed!

Don’t look at MTHFR as a bad thing

It just means you have to do things differently

Be proactive and don’t be scared about it

At the start of our interview he said this:

Anxiety can be relieved by methylfolate but it can also be made worse

Here are some snippets from Dr. Lynch’s excellent article: Methylfolate Side Effects

Methylfolate is a remarkable nutrient yet it can create significant side effects.

Those who have MTHFR mutations (especially the C677T MTHFR mutation) learn that methylfolate is critical to take. The issue is methylfolate can cause more harm than good if not started at the right time or tapered up slowly in amount.

There appear to be three types of responses to methylfolate:

FIRST: A person who can jump on methylfolate and feel absolutely wonderful. The only down side they experience is why didn’t they know about methylfolate before?!

SECOND: A person starts methylfolate has an amazingly incredible week where they are happy, interacting and alert. Then the second week comes and they switch to wanting to hide in a room by themselves or literally throw dishes across the room out of anger. Or they may become bed ridden from muscle aches, intense headaches or joint pain.

THIRD: A person takes a small amount of methylfolate and feels all the methylfolate side effects right out the gate.

The above blog also lists the Methylfolate Side Effects:

irritability
insomnia
sore muscles
achy joints
acne
rash
severe anxiety
palpitations
nausea
headaches
migraines

I encourage you to read the whole blog that Dr Lynch has written (Methylfolate Side Effects)

And here is the related blog on Preventing Methylfolate Side Effects. I’ve included some snippets here but please read the whole article too

ALREADY TAKING METHYLFOLATE AND FEEL GREAT?

Excellent! However, it may be a ‘honeymoon’ period and in a few days or weeks, side effects may appear.

Discuss this article with your doctor and make appropriate changes to your protocol.

Just think of a bell-shaped curve.

Before you started taking methylfolate, you felt terrible. You began taking it and started to feel good. Day after day goes by and you continue to improve. In time if the above things are not corrected, you will begin to slide down the other side of the bell-shaped curve.

My whole point of this article is to prevent this from happening!

My goal is to keep you feel amazing!

I’ve seen it happen way too much – caused by me, caused by other doctors and caused by over-excited people feeling amazing and pushing their system too hard with methylfolate. Methylfolate is powerful.

This last statement by Dr. Lynch is why I invited him to speak on this summit on this topic!

This is the Dr. Carl Pfeiffer and Dr Bill Walsh histapenia/histadelia blog post that I referred to in our discussion. You can either read the discussion in the comments or read this new blog post I created: Methylation and anxiety: histadelia and histapenia.

Here is information about the first annual Seeking Health Educational Institute Conference, SHEI Con 15 (an event for health professionals).

Dr Lynch and a team of world-renowned physicians will be presenting absolutely new clinically-relevant information that has never been seen before ANYWHERE.

The main topics of SHEI Con 15 are centered around where physicians must look to recover their patient’s heath at the core.

Mitochondria: Function, Dysfunction, Connections to Pathologies, Identification and Restoration

Cell Membranes: Function, Dysfunction, Connections to Pathologies, Identification and Restoration

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.