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Glutamine for blood sugar stability, calming and gut healing

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Glutamine powder by DFH: 3/4 of a teaspoon = 3g, so 1/6 of a teaspoon = 500mg
Glutamine powder by DFH: 3/4 of a teaspoon = 3g, so 1/6 of a teaspoon = 500mg

If you’ve been following me for awhile, worked with me, read my book The Antianxiety Food Solution, or listened in on The Anxiety Summit, you’ll be aware that I use glutamine with clients to help with blood sugar control while we’re figuring out diet/breakfast/adrenal health and the carbohydrate/sugar cravings associated with low blood sugar. Opened on to the tongue or taken in powder form glutamine is super-effective for stopping that intense desire for something sweet if it’s related to low blood sugar.

Integrative psychiatrist Dr. Hyla Cass and Julia Ross, MA both recommend glutamine for addiction and carb cravings, as well as for blood sugar control. During a past Anxiety Summit, Dr. Cass shared how to break free of addictions. And Julia Ross, a pioneer in the use of individual amino acids talked about glutamine and other amino acids for eliminating anxiety.

My clients also find benefits as far as healing the leaky gut and glutamine is recommended by many respected integrative practitioners for this purpose: Dr. Josh Axe, Dr. Amy Myers, author of The Autoimmune Solution , and Dr. David Perlmutter, author Grain Brain during his interview with Dr Tom O’ Bryan on The Gluten Summit.  Steven Wright also writes about leaky gut and glutamine on the SCD lifestyle blog, as does fermentationist Summer Bock.

With all these benefits, my clients love this amino acid!

Here is very encouraging feedback from one of the participants in the Amazing Aminos for Anxiety group program:

I started the glutamine trial low and slow. I have been taking 500mg three times a day AM AFT & BED for the past 4 days. I am celiac and have irritable bowel as well. The 2-3x a day diarrhea I have been experiencing has completely stopped! Blood sugar feels stable – not hungry and not craving. Psychologically, I’m feeling more resilient i.e., calmer and more positive on a daily basis. I am surprised that glutamine has helped so much 🙂  My gut is healing and my mental health has improved markedly through this trial.

She confirmed that adding the glutamine was the only change she made. She is already gluten-free and her diet doesn’t include any grains, legumes or lactose etc. She also avoids other foods to which she has had reactions.

I was so thrilled with these fabulous results and this was my feedback:

These are fabulous results – so happy for you! If you feel you could get added benefits i.e. if these symptoms (low blood sugar, hunger, craving, resilience) are not all 0s (with 10 being the worst on a scale of 1 to 10) then I’d consider bumping up the glutamine to 1000mg 3 x day to see if you get added benefits. If you don’t see added benefits then you can go back down.

It’s very common to get good results like this so I’d like to share another example. I met Nicole at the NTA conference and she shared how she suffers from low blood sugar issues:

I get irritable, I get shaky and I get to the point that if I don’t get food NOW I think I’m going to hurt something!

She did a trial of 500mg glutamine and in under 5 minutes she went from that frantic feeling to a very calm feeling:

I’m ok. I feel happy, I feel calm, I feel I can make it longer without needing food right away. I’m impressed at how well that worked for me.

You can read more about low blood sugar and watch Nicole’s video feedback here.

Of course there is research supporting the many benefits that glutamine has for gut health. Here are some excerpts from the abstract of a 2015 paper titled: Glutamine and intestinal barrier function.

glutamine has been reported to enhance intestinal and whole-body growth, to promote enterocyte proliferation and survival, and to regulate intestinal barrier function in injury, infection, weaning stress, and other catabolic conditions

glutamine stimulates growth of the small intestinal mucosa in young animals and also enhances ion transport by the gut in neonates and adults

as a functional amino acid with multiple key physiological roles, glutamine holds great promise in protecting the gut from atrophy and injury under various stress conditions in mammals and other animals.

And this 2015 paper titled: Oral supplementation with L-glutamine alters gut microbiota of obese and overweight adults found that adults supplemented with 30g of glutamine a day for just 14 days had a change in gut bacteria:

Oral supplementation with [glutamine], for a short time, altered the composition of the gut microbiota in overweight and obese humans reducing the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, which resembled weight loss programs already seen in the literature.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that was conducted in children aged two months to nine years from the urban shanty compound community of Fortaleza, Brazil, it was found that:

Glutamine and all combined nutrients (glutamine, vitamin A, and zinc) improved the intestinal barrier function in these children

When it comes to cravings, addiction and appetite we have this research supporting the use of glutamine:

I do want to end by saying there are some possible concerns with cancer supplementation and be sure to check with your oncologist if you are currently undergoing treatment. I write about these concerns here – Glutamine supplementation: cancer concerns and benefits.

Have you successfully used glutamine for helping with low blood sugar control, reducing carb or other cravings/addictions, and healing your leaky gut?

 

Mindful Eating World Summit: Stop dieting and START LIVING

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This is just a reminder that the Mindful Eating World Summit: Stop dieting and START LIVING! online event runs March 16th – 26th for 11 days.

mindful-eating

I’m very excited to be a part of Dr. Kellee Rutley’s virtual event. She’s brought together over 28 amazing POWERHOUSE experts to help you remove the guilt, shame and confusion around weight issues and TRUE health, and disocver powerful ideas that work to EMPOWER you!

We are Doctors, Educators, Scientists, Zen Masters, Psychologists, Naturopaths and Holistic Chefs! New York Times and Hay House authors, World Renowned Master Trainers, Coaches and Nutritionists. Many of us have had our own issues with poor health, unhealthy weight rollercoasters, emotional eating, anxiety and depression – and our personal stories reflect that.   Had my own issues with anxiety and panic and at one stage was such a choco-holic!

Together, we’ll share ways to help you reach optimal health, vitality and happiness!

I was given a sneak peek at some of the interviews and would love to share some gems from the wonderful interview with Dr. Michael Finkelstein….

Dr. Michael Finkelstein, The Slow Medicine Doctor, has been featured in top media outlets including The New York Times and CNN; has presented at leading venues including GE Corporation and Omega Institute; and blogs on the topic of Slow Medicine for The Huffington Post.

  • Dr. Finkelstein opened with this powerful message: “The promise of science let us down…the reality was that it doesn’t work for everything. Procedures and medicines often cause side-effects and problems, and 80% of people going to the doctor these days have a chronic problem (often contributed in part by their treatments). My patients would say to me (after 15 years of writing prescriptions): ‘isn’t there something else?’   I didn’t have the answer. When my blood pressure started to rise, I went to my physician who said you said to me ‘you need to be on medication’ and I said: ‘isn’t there something else?’ I had to go back to school to study integrative medicine to find the answer and I learned about other tools to augment my tool box. Instead of a pen and a scalpel I had so much more”
  • He suggests putting flowers and candles on the table when we’re eating – to improve our mood and overall eating experience
  • I really love when he talked about how “activity with meaning” or “movement with purpose” and how it is way more than simply exercising (like being on a treadmill). He suggests things like building a community garden, hiking with friends and gardening. “Do something you love and then you’ll do it!”
  • He loves to garden, his office is located in a garden and he shared the importance of nature, air, natural light, rain, getting your hands in the dirt, and probiotics and the microbiome and how it changes when you garden. I loved hearing him say so many of us suffer from nature-deficit-disorder! It’s so true!
  • His best quick fix for your health is Slow Medicine…when you change how you are living, you’ll feel in alignment and your anxiety will go down because your expectations are reasonable.

Dr. Finkelstein also shared how if we aren’t living a life that’s meaningful with purpose, we’re going to be very hungry and our craving will lead us to food because it’s readily available. Sometimes our hunger is emotional and with food we are feeding our bodies, and our minds and spirits.  He talks about finding your purpose and finding the treasure in your pain (for example, your anxiety or emotional eating) and looking for one key to the treasure.   Beautiful!

If you haven’t already heard me speak on amino acids and emotional eating my topic is: 5 Powerful Amino Acids that Banish Emotional Eating and Balance Your Brain Chemistry – No Willpower Required!  

The amino acids may be one of the keys to finding your treasure i.e. the freedom from your anxiety and/or or emotional eating.  

I’ll be offering $50 off my homestudy 6-week digital delivery program called The Amazing Amino Acids for Ending Emotional Eating – No Willpower Required! Really!!

Mark the date and sign up here http://mindfuleatingworldsummit.com?affiliates=33

Enjoy all these great speakers and topics!

 

The Anxiety Summit – Targeted individual amino acids for eliminating anxiety: practical applications

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Host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution. was interviewed by Dr Lauren Noel, host of Dr Lo radio.

Targeted individual amino acids for eliminating anxiety: practical applications

  • Glutamine: how it’s calming and helps with blood sugar balancing
  • GABA: how it eases physical tension
  • Tryptophan: how it eases anxiety in the head/busy ruminations (and when not to use 5-HTP)
  • DPA and tyrosine: how they help you quit the comfort-eating and coffee
  • Precautions when using individual amino acids
  • Factors that make them more effective and factors that make them less effective

Here are some snippets from our interview:

You’ll hear some practitioners say GABA molecules are too large to cross the blood brain barrier so GABA won’t work or if it does work you must have a leaky blood brain barrier

Some practitioners are talking about and using a “test” for leaky brain called the GABA Challenge which recommends taking1000- 2000 mg of GABA at night. If the blood brain barrier is intact, you supposedly won’t feel any effect from the GABA. If you do feel a change (drowsiness /feeling drunk or even jittery) then you will need to repair your leaky blood brain barrier.

I have not used the GABA Challenge and only recently learned about it but I am concerned with the very high dose of 2000mg of GABA. That is a lot of GABA for most people and I would expect severe drowsiness for most people or even a reverse effect. I find 125mg (in GABA Calm) is a good starting dose for my anxious clients.

I have also seen research indicating that GABA’s relaxing effect may be due to peripheral effects rather than the effect on/in the brain

Here are some of the papers about there being GABA-receptors in peripheral tissues (these are older papers and I’d love to see some newer research).

  • “GABA and its receptors are found in a wide range of peripheral tissues, including parts of the peripheral nervous system, endocrine, and non-neural tissues such as smooth muscle and the female reproductive system” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2162457)
  • “GABA is widely distributed in endocrine tissues including the pituitary, pancreas, adrenal glands, uterus, ovaries, placenta and testis” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16338174)

Here is the research on oral GABA being a natural relaxant for 13 subjects who crossed a suspended bridge as a stressful stimulus

GABA could work effectively as a natural relaxant and its effects could be seen within 1 hour of its administration to induce relaxation and diminish anxiety.

Here is the research on the stress-reducing effect of chocolate enriched with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in humans

the participants performed an arithmetic task and those that were given the GABA choc made a quick recovery to the normal state from the stressful state.

It has been reported that ordinary doses of GABA by oral ingestion do not permeate the blood brain barrier. Therefore, it has been considered that GABA may act on the peripheral nervous system of the digestive organs and not the central nervous system

Here is the blog post that discusses why I don’t use urinary neurotransmitter testing.
 
There are some precautions to be aware of when taking supplemental amino acids. Here are the Amino Acid Precautions.
 

Meme Grant shared her success story with the amazing amino acids (and the pyroluria protocol) in season 1. She had anxiety, had panic attacks, didn’t enjoy speaking in public, had insomnia and was an emotional eater.

  • glutamine allowed her to walk past the gluten and dairy free junk foods
  • tyrosine helped her flutterby mind, gave her energy, focus and a desire to do things again
  • DPA stopped her comfort eating for too much of the “healthy” sweeteners
  • Tryptophan stopped her mind talk, got her sleeping through the night for the first time in 11 years and helped reduce the frequency of her panic attacks
  • GABA was the best amino acid and how the panic attacks disappeared
  • zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil helped her pyroluria symptoms

Enjoy the bonus audio of my interview with Meme. You’ll be able to hear first-hand from someone who experienced amazing results.

Here is a video of Nicole trying some glutamine for low blood sugar

Get your gift here:  Amino acid mood/anxiety and cravings questionnaire (as PDF) and some changes you can start to make right away, pyroluria questionnaire (as PDF) and some snippets from season 1 (Julia Ross, Kelly Brogan and Dr. Felice Jacka).  

The questionnaires are also on the blog – amino acid questionnaire and pyroluria questionnaire.  Both have many comments that are invaluable.

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

2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference: Marc David shares

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day 1The 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference started today and I thought I’d share some gems from Marc David’s opening interview. Marc is the Founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and the host of the 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference. He shared this:

My mission is to expand eating psychology so it’s for everyone
I have an inclusive approach and I have invited speakers and thought leaders with diverse viewpoints
I have invited people who care and who bring something special to their work

Marc says we need to handle eating challenges, emotional eating, body image issues, mood, digestion, immunity, fatigue etc. so “we can step forward into our greatness and give our gifts in this world”

Marc shared an example of 40 year old client who had digestive issues, was a binge eater, was constipated, had a low mood, got coughs and colds, needed to lose 20 lbs. She had tried everything and nothing worked. He looked at her diet which was extremely low in fat. He shared this “When you go low fat, binge eating is common.” When he said “You need to eat more fat, she had a horrified look. She had toxic belief that fat was bad for her. It’s an outdated belief but she had a fear of fat.” He had to work with her at a psychological level – suggesting a little bit of olive oil on her salad, eating an avocado and taking a fish oil supplement. She made the changes and she lost 14 lbs over the course of 3 months.

I really enjoyed his principles of “dynamic eating psychology” (a term Marc David coined):

  1. Food is a doorway and our relationship with food is a doorway to see what is there. He says “Stop fighting yourself and stop hating yourself and walk through the door and be a little curious. Insights will start to happen”
  2. Food is a great teacher. For example, I hate my job, I’m unhappy, something is out of balance.
  3. Every symptom has a deeper meaning and message
  4. You are here to heal – you could tweak someone’s diet and it can help, sometimes you need to do more
  5. Our life has a bigger purpose and higher calling – our eating challenges are here to move us in the right direction, help us get better and grow
  6. The more we can become personally empowered the more we can reach our metabolic potential. As you become the best possible person you can be, you have the best chance for the body to reach it’s potential.
  7. Food is love, energy, information and nutrition.

Marc says “We are banding together and bringing together experts to find a better way to eat.”

I am thrilled that I am one of the featured experts in the 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference on July 21 – 26, 2014.

My interview plays tomorrow July 22 and is called: “The amazing amino acids for eliminating anxiety and emotional eating.” Could your anxiety and emotional eating be a brain chemical imbalance? And how do we address this with the amazing amino acids and other key nutrients

Join me, along with Marc David, as he interviews over 45+ experts in eating psychology, embodiment, weight, health, and nutrition. Get ready to hear some great insights and information that will advance your understanding of eating psychology and personal transformation in this one-of-a-kind virtual conference!

Here are a few gems from other speakers on day 1.

Dr. Mark Hyman, founder of the Ultrawellness Center, and author of the new book “The Blood Solution 10 day Detox Diet” shared this in his interview:

We have bought it hook line and sinker that we have to eat less and exercise more i.e. it’s your fault that you’re fat
The science now shows that all calories are not the same and certain foods are addictive
When we outsource our cooking to food corporations we will get sick. We have to learn how to cook. We have to eat real food! Eat an avocado – it doesn’t have a barcode on it and it doesn’t have an ingredient list. If something has an ingedient list it’s probably not that great for you!

Amy Pershing’s topic is “The Psychology of Binge Eating” and she shared:

Binge eating is not a willpower issue
Causes are profoundly varied – genetics, trauma, dieting, weight-related bullying, mood disorders like anxiety and depression
5 million adults 18 years and older ie 3.5 % of women and 2% of men, meet the criteria for BED (binge eating disorder)

You can sign up for the 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference for FREE here: https://ipe.isrefer.com/go/2ndepoc/trudyscott/

2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference

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eating-pyscholgy-conf

I’m beyond thrilled to announce that I’m a featured expert in the 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference on July 21 – 26, 2014.

Join me, along with Marc David, Founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, as he interviews over 45 experts in eating psychology, embodiment, weight, health, and nutrition. Get ready to hear some great insights and information that will advance your understanding of eating psychology and personal transformation in this one-of-a-kind virtual conference!

I am a big fan of Marc David and the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and am truly honored to be included in this line-up of inspirational speakers. I’ve “attended” his past online summits and they are so enlightening. Also Marc is a fabulous interviewer who asks interesting questions and really gets you thinking!

My interview is: “The amazing amino acids for eliminating anxiety and emotional eating.”

Could your anxiety and emotional eating be a brain chemical imbalance? And how do we address this with the amazing amino acids and other key nutrients?

This is what we’ll be exploring on our interview:

  • The importance of optimal blood sugar balance and how glutamine is so powerful
  • The brain chemicals/ neurotransmitters and how they are related to anxiety and emotional eating
  • The tie in to low serotonin and also low GABA, symptoms and what to do: the powerful amino acids tryptophan and GABA
  • My favorite amino acid for comfort or reward eating: endorphigen (my clients call it a miracle amino acid)
  • My other favorite nutrients anxiety and emotional eating, and how they also help pyroluria and PMS: zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil

It really is time for a whole new understanding of our relationship with food. Obesity, overeating, body image concerns, emotional challenges with food, and diet-related health issues are with us more than ever.

People have abundant access to nutrition facts and information, but need to search long and hard for true healing wisdom. It’s time for an approach that honors all of who we are as eaters – body, mind, heart and soul.

Join us for an exciting time together as we explore leading edge thinking in the fields of eating psychology and nutrition. Get inspired by speakers from a variety of disciplines who have something unique and innovative to share.

Speakers include Dr Mark Hyman, Dr David Perlmutter, Paul Chek, Dr Hyla Cass, Amy Pershing, Dr Srini Pillay, Dr Frank Lipman, John Robbins, JJ Virgin, Tom Malterre, Dave Aprey, Dr Tom O’Bryan, Jon Gabriel, Dr Susan Albers, Sayer Ji, Donna Gates, Dr Alan Christianson, Jessica Ortner, Daniel Vitalis, Emily Rosen, Meghan Telpner, and many more!

Some topics include:
A Deeper Dive into Body Image
Neuroscience and Personal Change
A Holistic Approach to Eating Disorders
The Healing Power of Embodiment
Mindfulness based approaches to overeating
Sexuality and the Psychology of Eating
New insights into Weight
Culture, emotional health and metabolism
Hormones, Eating and Inner Health
The Gut-Psychology Connection
Spirituality and Nutrition
The Hidden Politics of Food
New Approaches to Nutritional Health
And much more…

Dates: July 21 – 26, 2014
Price: FREE
Where: Sign up online: https://ipe.isrefer.com/go/2ndepoc/trudyscott/

I look forward to seeing you in the conference!

The Anxiety Summit: Comfort food or sweet misery? How sugar controls your mood

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margaret floyd 1

[REPLAY on Saturday 6/21 – ENJOY!]

This is day 5 of the Anxiety Summit. Margaret Floyd, nutritional therapist, writer, real food advocate and author of Eat Naked, is interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Comfort food or sweet misery? How sugar controls your mood and how to get it out of your diet 

  • why sugar is so harmful to our mood, where it hides in the diet and how to get it out
  • why protein is so important and why we shouldn’t be afraid of fat
  • the challenges of gluten, soy, and other food toxins
  • other important aspects of real whole food eating

Here is some great gems from my interview with Margaret

a little sugary treat puts your body into an emergency

historically sugar was very scarce in our diets, and so our bodies are not adapted to having lots of it

a blood sugar crash is actually as much of a state of emergency for your body as running from that wooly mammoth

I highly recommend Margaret’s books:

Eat Naked: Unprocessed, Unpolluted, and Undressed Eating for a Healthier, Sexier You published by New Harbinger Publications in 2011. Here is my book review of Eat Naked.

She is also the coauthor with Chef James Barry of the follow-up cookbook, The Naked Foods Cookbook: The Whole-Foods, Healthy-Fats, Gluten-Free Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great

Get your free gift from Margaret: Get Naked with the 10 week Dietary Program

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

UPDATE: the summit concluded on Tues 6/24 – season 2 of The Anxiety Summit will be in November 2014. If you’d like to be on the notification list just sign up 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 + interview highlights and listen when it suits you