Events

End emotional eating – no willpower required!

April 13, 2013 By Trudy Scott 13 Comments

chocolate-cake

I’m excited to be participating in the Emotional Eating Loving Food Loving Life telesummit being hosted by Aimee Serafini, a women’s empowerment coach and an energy psychology practitioner specializing in helping people transform their personal relationships with themselves and others.

Because we are all so different, the message can be many different things. The 12 experts are going to speak about emotional eating from many different angles including:

Which emotions are the biggest culprits
Why diets make it even worse
How Overwhelm and Overload contribute
How brain chemistry and hormones play a part
Why forgiving others who have wronged us can help
How our body image is a catch 22 with eating
A simple tool to release cravings right in the moment
How intimacy or lack of can affect our eating habits

Emotional eating isn’t one size fits all, so take advantage of this variety of experts to help you figure out what approach(es) are best for you.

I’ll be sharing “5 Easy Ways To Banish Emotional Eating and Balance Your Brain Chemistry – No Willpower Required!” and you won’t feel deprived! Really!

I’m going to be sharing how eating real whole food and using some pretty amazing nutrients can balance brain chemistry and end emotional eating, with zero willpower required and no feelings of being deprived!

There are some pretty amazing nutrients that can balance brain chemistry and end emotional eating and I will be talking about the amazing nutrient DPA (d-phenylalanine) or Endorphigen. It is SO effective if you’re low in endorphins! Just watch Angie’s reaction when she sampled some….she actually called it a miracle!

~~Join me and 12 other experts for a teleseries each evening at 5pm PST. It starts Monday April 15 and runs through Friday April 26~~

[Update: this event has concluded and this program is now available as a 6 week homestudy program: The Amazing Amino Acids for Ending Emotional Eating – No Willpower Required! Really!! (Home Study Program – with or without Live Q&A calls) ]

Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2013 conference highlights

April 12, 2013 By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

My gluten-mood poster at the 2013 ADAA conference

Last weekend I attended the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America / ADAA and am pleased to share some of the highlights.

The keynote was presented by Dr. James Fowler and was fascinating! He shared how we are all connected and how your friends’ friends’ friends affect everything you feel, think and do! Check out his site and book Connected, The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks

Gluten does have such a big impact on mood for so many people and I had many interested and curious visitors at my poster presentation (see the above picture) “Evidence-based Research On The Serious Effects Of Gluten On Mental Health, With An In-depth Look At Testing And The Gluten-free Diet.” A number of people shared how gluten removal had eliminated their anxiety and/or depression too: a mom whose daughter quit gluten and found that this eliminated her panic attacks, a Canadian MD who didn’t know about gluten intolerance and infertility and the director of an anxiety clinic in Argentina. I was also honored to have Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, ADAA Past President, Chief of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, stop by. He said “interesting… everyone where I live is going gluten-free.” I asked him “and what kind of feedback are you getting?” Dr. Rosenbaum: “They’re all feeling better!”

I attended a great presentation by Dr. Teri Pearlstein: “Treatment of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders”. Dr. Pearlstein shared studies that show that babies born to depressed moms may have similar health problems as those born to moms taking anti-depressant medications i.e. lower birth weight and smaller head circumference. However, I also learned this: in a JAMA Psychiatry study of more than 1800 children, investigators found an adjusted 2-fold increased risk for ASD (autism spectrum disorder) among mothers who used an SSRI during the year before delivery and a 3-fold increased risk when SSRIs were ingested during the first trimester. The study was done in 2011 so it’s not new but it’s still an important finding. To me, this provides a very big incentive for using drug-free solutions for pregnancy – which is why the amino acids, fish oils and other nutrients that I cover in The Antianxiety Food Solution are worth investigating as a better option. We really need some research in this area!

I’ll be sharing some other interesting posters (like “Mindful-based stress reduction for stress and cognition in older adults”) and presentations (like Benzodiazapine side-effects and tolerance) in my next post on the ADAA.

Gluten and the serious effects on mental health: ADAA 2013

April 1, 2013 By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

The 2013 annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America is April 5-7 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine (La Jolla, California). It’s a wonderful conference to hear all the latest research on anxiety and depression. The focus of the conference is primarily therapy and medications with some presentations and posters on exercise, nutrients, guided imagery, yoga and one topic on gluten (mine!)

I’m doing a poster presentation Friday, April 5, 6:30 – 8pm, “Evidence-based Research On The Serious Effects Of Gluten On Mental Health, With An In-depth Look At Testing And The Gluten-free Diet.”

This poster will identify what gluten is, where it is found and if the gluten-free diet is a fad or very real concern for those with mental health disorders. The following will be explained: gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, and wheat allergies. Evidence-based research will be reviewed, showing the serious impacts of gluten on various mental health disorders: anxiety, social phobia, panic attacks, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Here are a few examples of some the research that will be reviewed:

“gluten sensitivity remains undertreated and underrecognized as a contributing factor to psychiatric and neurologic manifestations” (Jackson, Psychiatric Quarterly 2011)
Spectrum of gluten-related disorders: consensus on new nomenclature and classification (Sapone, BMC Medicine, 2012)
Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and gluten sensitivity: when gluten free is not a fad. (Pietzak, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 2012)
Gluten-free diet may alleviate depressive and behavioural symptoms in adolescents with coeliac disease (Pynnönen , BMC Psychiatry 2005)
Social phobia in coeliac disease (Addolorato, Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 2008)

There will be an in-depth discussion of the various testing options and the many associated health problems that may be associated with gluten intolerance. This session will clearly define gluten-containing versus gluten-free foods when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet.

The Role of Inflammation in Stress, Anxiety and Depression

March 8, 2013 By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

NTA-Conference-2013

“Inflammation: The Fire Within” is the theme of the annual conference of the Nutritional Therapy Association. It will be held in Vancouver, WA on March 15, 16, 17. I’m thrilled to presenting on Friday from 10-11:30am and my topic is “The Role of Inflammation in Stress, Anxiety and Depression.”

This presentation will provide health and nutrition professionals with current, evidence-based information the role of inflammation in stress, and on anxiety and mood disorders. It will explain:

the negative impact of pro-inflammatory junk food, trans fats, feed-lot meat, pesticides, gluten, fructose and caffeine on stress, anxiety and depression
the recent research supporting the anti-inflammatory benefits of real whole food, the Mediterranean diet (for both reducing inflammation and reducing and preventing depression, fish and fish oils (with some exceptions), dark chocolate (with some caveats), probiotics, zinc and vitamin B6
the links between social stress and inflammation
the effects of maternal inflammation on anxiety and social behavior of offspring
the links between pyroluria (see the pyroluria questionnaire here), social anxiety and oxidative stress
how inflammation leads to low serotonin and mood issues

It’s quite incredible how much of an impact inflammation has on mood disorders and how simply taking steps to lower inflammation can have a positive impact. What is equally fascinating is that so many of the foods and nutrients that eliminate anxiety and depression also lower inflammation! The body is quite amazing in its ability to heal when provided with the correct nutrients!

I will also be exhibiting and will have delicious 100% certified Organic Tulsi Teas donated by Organic India and great for stress-relief and you guessed it… inflammation! Do come and try some yummy lemon-ginger or licorice or find some in your local grocery store. We’ll also do zinc status testing because zinc is key for alleviating anxiety, stress and depression. I’ll also have DVD sets and copies of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution for sale. And I’ll also be offering Lidtke samples of the amazing amino acids tryptophan (for low serotonin) and DPA/Endorphigen (for low endorphins and comfort eating). These amino acids also help with inflammation!

And I’m thrilled that my friend and colleague Mira Dessy will be joining me at my booth. She is a Nutrition Educator, Real Food Advocate and author of the fabulous new book The Pantry Principle: How to read the label and understand what’s really in your food (find her here and on facebook here).

The event has many great speakers and will be a content-rich educational three days. You can learn more and register here:
http://nutritionaltherapy.com/events-resources/nta-conferences

The sessions will be recorded and available for purchase from Nutritional Therapy Association if you can’t make it to the live event.

The Antianxiety Food Solution seminars on the east coast

November 20, 2012 By Trudy Scott 4 Comments

Please join me for a full 1 day seminar to learn about the powerful connection between food and mood, and anxiety specifically.

“The Antianxiety Food Solution: Calm the Anxious Mind, Improve Mood & End Cravings”

I’ll be doing 3 talks on the east coast in these locations and on these dates:

Wednesday, December 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Portland, ME
Thursday, December 7, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Manchester, NH
Friday, December 8, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Burlington, VT

The fee of $89.99 includes course materials. You can register here:
http://www.pesi.com/search/detail/index.asp?eventid=15072

These are PESI seminars and are geared towards mental health professionals and are also open to the public. They are delivered as a live event with Q & A at various times during the presentation. I’ll be covering all the latest research on food and mental health, as well as practical steps for implementing changes.

There is much recent research supporting the food mood connection and here is one recent study:

Dias GP, Cavegn N et al. 2012. The role of dietary polyphenols on adult hippocampal neurogenesis: molecular mechanisms and behavioural effects on depression and anxiety. 2012. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity Epub 2012 Jun 28

“Studies on the effects of dietary polyphenols” (such as those found in green tea and turmeric), “on behaviour and AHN” (adult hippocampal neurogenesis), “may play an important role in the approach to use diet as part of the therapeutic interventions for mental-health-related conditions.”

If you can’t make the event in person, a great resource is my book The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com. You can also purchase a DVD or CD set of the presentation (it’s a live recording from the Wisconsin presentation done earlier in 2012).

The Antianxiety Food Solution seminars in California

October 5, 2012 By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

Please join me for a full 1 day seminar to learn about the powerful connection between food and mood, and anxiety specifically.

“The Antianxiety Food Solution: Calm the Anxious Mind, Improve Mood & End Cravings”

I’ll be doing 3 talks in northern California in these locations and on these dates:

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Palo Alto, CA
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Oakland, CA
Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM in Sacramento, CA

The fee of $89.99 includes course materials. You can register here http://www.pesi.com/search/detail/index.asp?eventid=14682

There is much recent research supporting the food mood connection and here is one recent study:

Davison KM, Kaplan BJ. 2012. Nutrient Intakes Are Correlated With Overall Psychiatric Functioning in Adults With Mood Disorders. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 57:85-92

This study looked at Canadian adults with mood disorders. Intake of carbs, fiber, total fat, linoleic acid, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin B6, B12, pantothenic acid, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc were measured and “higher levels of nutrients equated to better mental health.” (This study was included on my poster presentation at the 2012 Anxiety Disorders Association of America conference)

One of the study authors, Dr Kaplan, PhD was quoted as saying: “Doctors should consider counseling their patients to eat unprocessed, natural, healthy foods and refer them to a nutrition professional if specialized dietary consultation is needed.”