Trudy Scott Anxiety Nutrition Solutions & Every Woman Over 29

Cholesterol Myths and The Healthy Heart Summit (starts next week)

July 6, 2015 By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

The Healthy Heart Summit (ONLINE and FREE) July 13-20, 2015

Dr. Steven Masley created The Healthy Heart Summit to address the great deal of misinformation that exists on lifestyle and heart disease – far too many myths are still believed.

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death for men and women. Yet, it is often addressed with stents and bypass surgeries that only treat the symptoms, not the causes. It’s time to dispel the myths and misinformation about the causes of heart disease, and learn how to give you and your family a long, healthy life together.

Here are some snippets from Dr. Masley’s interview with Jonny Bowden, known as The Nutritional Myth Buster, and author of The Great Cholesterol Myth

jonny-bowden

So from a pure weight loss point of view, it doesn’t matter if you eat your meat at McDonald’s or if you eat it from grass-fed Kobe beef from wherever. It probably is a wash in terms of weight loss, maybe not in terms of inflammation. But if you want the health benefits and the weight-loss benefits, then you’ve got to go to what we call smart fats, which are fats that actually support your metabolism, help balance your hormones, creates satiety, and do all the wonderful things that fats do without any of the bad things that what we call mean fat or unclean fat.
Smart fats would include the monounsaturated fats that we see so prevalent in the Mediterranean diet. And that would come from olive oil, macadamia nut oil, a couple of the other nut oils, oleic acid. That’s the monounsaturated fat. That’s a good fat.
Omega-3s, obviously, particularly the ones from fish oil, the DHA and EPA, the long-chain fatty acids have myriad of health benefits on the brain and on visual acuity and on attention and behavior and all kinds of depression (and anxiety). Those are smart fats.
All the recent studies have shown no harm from saturated fat. They’re neutral. For years, we’ve been villainizing them. And all the recent data would say that saturated fat from animal protein, from dairy, from these plant sources (like coconut), it’s harmless.
We now know that there are about 4 or 5 kinds of HDL and about 4 or 5 kinds of LDL. And they don’t all behave the same. And it’s not really 100 percent accurate to say that all HDL is good. Most of it is. But there’s a couple that may be a little inflammatory and some that are less good than others.
There’s a very big distinction between what’s known as LDL-A particles and LDL-B. Now, if you look at LDL-A particles under the microscope, they look like a big cotton ball. And they do just about as much damage. They’re just pretty innocuous. They’re not necessarily beneficial. But they don’t do any harm. It’s like a tennis ball thrown at you. It’s not going to do any harm. The others are like golf balls. And they’re very nasty inflamed oxidized particles. And they can cause damage. Now, the newer more modern tests (advanced lipid profile) looks at these particles.
Stress can cause a heart attack all by itself. We talk about voodoo death and Walter Cannon, the psychologist in the 20s who first discovered this phenomenon. You can die from fear. Your arteries are clear. But stress really can promote heart disease. It can even cause heart disease. So these are things that we don’t tend to look at nearly as much. And instead, we’re obsessively focused on this molecule of cholesterol, which is pretty harmless and very important for the brain and for the heart and for everything else in the body.

So yes, stress and anxiety play a big role in heart disease and this is the topic of my interview: Anxiety/Stress, Depression and Heart Disease

Tune in to hear Jonny Bowden, my anxiety interview and these speakers (and many more):

Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FAAFP, FACN, CNS – The Optimal Evaluation for Your Heart
Brenda Watson, CNC – A Healthy Gut for a Healthy Heart
Anna Cabeca, DO – Sexual Function and Your Heart
Mark Hyman, MD – Diabesity and Heart Disease
David Perlmutter, MD – How Heart Health Impacts Your Brain
William Davis, MD – The Impact of Wheat on Heart Disease and Health
Susan Albers, PsyD – Mindful Eating for Your Heart
Josh Axe, DC, CNS – The Best Food and Activity for Your Heart

Nutritional testing for figuring out the root cause/s of your anxiety

July 3, 2015 By Trudy Scott 51 Comments

test

This blog covers the nutritional or functional testing I use with my clients, and what tests I’d run (and/or have my client’s doctor run) if everyone had unlimited funds.

Often it can be challenging to figure out the root cause/s of your anxiety, but that’s where questionnaires, nutritional/ functional/ testing, and a good practitioner (or team of practitioners like nutritionist, functional medicine doctor, nurse practitioner, therapist etc.) comes in – so you can put all the puzzle pieces together.

The following are what I have most of my clients do:

The basic blood work that I like to see is a lipid panel, a CBC (complete blood count), a metabolic panel, an iron panel that includes ferritin, and a thyroid panel that includes TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, thyroid antibodies (antithyroglobulin and antithyroperoxidase), vitamin D, and CRP (C-Reactive Protein). There is much we can determine by looking at functional values: digestive status, possible gut dysbiosis, adrenal function, malabsorption, inflammation, as well as low iron, low vitamin D etc. I’ll share more about the markers on this panel of tests in a later blog post.
I also like to see an adrenal saliva test, which measures four times cortisol. So it’d be a saliva collection first thing in the morning, noontime, 5:00 PM, and 10:00 PM. It also shows DHEA; Secretory IgA; and an anti-gliadin antibody (a marker of gluten sensitivity)
I rely on the Pyroluria Questionnaire and response to the supplements. The pyroluria urine test is a possibility. But I seldom have clients do it, because we can often see a false negative.
For neurotransmitter imbalances – low serotonin, low GABA, low catecholamines and low endorphins – I rely on the Amino Acid Questionnaire and response to amino acids. Vitamin Diagnostics offer a platelet serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine and epinephrine panel, which is the most accurate way to measure neurotransmitters, if you really wanted to measure them. I don’t ever recommend urinary neurotransmitter testing. It just doesn’t seem to correlate with symptoms.
B12 levels. To determine a B12 deficiency, you would want to measure B12, methylmalonic acid (or MMA), and homocysteine.
The 23andme genetic testing. This will measure MTHFR, COMT, MAOA, CBS, GAD and many more polymorphisms.

Here is other testing that may be helpful for certain individuals:

A sex hormone saliva test. This will measures progesterone, estriol, estrone, estradiol, and testosterone. I have a wonderful nurse practitioner that I work with, and, if need be, will refer people out to the nurse practitioner if we need support when it comes to bioidentical hormones.
A food intolerance test that measures IgG antibodies to 60+ foods. This shows a delayed reaction to the foods.
A fatty acid test. This will measure omega-3s (EPA and DHA), omega-6s and omega-9s. And it’ll also measure trans fats. Doing this test is really helpful if you have pyroluria or think that you may have pyroluria.
A RBC (red blood cell) magnesium test. Dr. Carolyn Dean talked about the usefulness of this test season 2 of The Anxiety Summit: Take magnesium and melt your anxiety away
A stool test. Metametrix/Genova and Diagnostechs offers functional stool testing. It’ll show good bacteria, yeast, parasites, bad bacteria, and digestive markers.
A hydrogen breath test or SIBO test. Genova offers this or you can ask your conventional doctor to order this.
The H/pylori antigen test. Genova offers this or a conventional doctor can do this.
Intestinal permeability profile. Genova offers this.
A celiac panel. Genova offers this, or a conventional doctor can do this.
The Cyrex panels, which will show gluten and food cross-reactions, and various autoimmune markers.
The histamine whole blood is a useful test to see if you have high histamine/histadelia or low histamine/histapenia. This is offered by Vitamin Diagnostics and must be WHOLE blood.
Spectracell shows vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
A VAP test. If you have concerns about high cholesterol and heart disease, this is going to measure particle size, fibrinogen, Lp(a) and other cardio markers (since looking at only high total cholesterol is not particularly useful).
The OAT/Organic Acid Test. Great Plains offers this and it has markers of digestion, yeast overgrowth, infections, B vitamin status and neurotransmitter function.
A hair mineral analysis. This is a great way to look for toxic metals and mineral status. You want to look at ratios, not just levels. This is a good marker for copper toxicity as well. Analytical Research Lab offers this test.
If you think your copper is too high, or you’ve got low zinc, you can measure copper or ceruloplasmin. This is in serum.
Porphyrin testing. This is a measure of the effect of heavy metals such as lead and mecury. Kris Homme talked about this in Season 2 of the Anxiety Summit: Your hidden mercury burden – A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 2
An amino acid profile, which is a plasma or blood spot test. It’s not something that I use very often, but I have seen people with this test.
You can also test candida antibodies in blood, which is not terribly accurate, but sometimes will show up.

I want to look into the following testing:

The gene testing that Dr. Peter Osborne talks about in his interview on Season 3 of The Anxiety Summit: Grainflammation – How Grain Consumption Contributes to Anxiety and other Mood Disorders
The mold testing that Dr. Jill Carnahan talks about in her interview, also during Season 3 of The Anxiety Summit: Is Toxic Mold the Hidden Cause of Your Anxiety?
Testing of oxytocin by Meridian Valley – a 24 hour urinary test. I blogged about oxytocin, social anxiety and autism here

What functional/nutritional testing have you had done and have found to be helpful? Which of the above tests would you like more detailed information about?

The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements

June 26, 2015 By Trudy Scott 674 Comments

antianxiety food solution and amino acids

Here are my amino acid and pyroluria supplement recommendations. These are the products I use with my one-one clients and those doing my online group programs.

You can find most of these products in my online store at Fullscript – you’ll find details here on how to set up and account (you just need to do this once) and make your purchase.

Purchase products through our Fullscript virtual dispensary.

Questionnaires and information

My publisher would not allow me to make specific product recommendations in my book so this list is a courtesy to those of you who have purchased the book.

If you do not have my book I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in to taking supplements: The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings

There is a complete chapter on the amino acids and one for pyroluria, plus information on real whole food, sugar and blood sugar, gluten, digestion and much more.

Once you have read it you can use these blogs as summaries (they do contain some information that is not in my book).

Here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and additional information on Anxiety and targeted individual amino acid supplements: a summary

Please read and follow these Amino Acid Precautions

Here is the Pyroluria Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and additional information on Pyroluria, social anxiety, introversion: a summary

Here is a useful post: Pyroluria/social anxiety protocol: why aren’t I getting results? (trouble-shooting checklist)

Supplements for Low Blood Sugar (anxious, shaky between meals and intense sugar cravings)

Glutamine helps with low blood sugar, may help eliminate the strong desire for something sweet when opened on to the tongue, and is very healing for the digestive system

Pure Encapsulations L-Glutamine 500mg: L-glutamine (free-form) 500 mg, vitamin C (as ascorbyl palmitate) 5 mg. The capsules can be swallowed or the capsule can be opened on to the tongue
Designs for Health Glutamine Powder: This is a powdered glutamine that you can use right on your tongue or even mixed in water. The taste is quite pleasant.

Supplements for low GABA (stiff and tense muscles, anxious, panic attacks, use sugar/wine to relax)

GABA helps to raise GABA levels. I find GABA to be most effective when taken sublingually or opened on to the tongue. I find GABA to be more effective than pharmaGABA for most of my clients. I don’t ever use Phenibut (which the FDA recently removed from non-prescription use). Here are some GABA products that I like and use with clients.

Source Naturals GABA Calm (lozenges): This is a pleasant-tasting sublingual product that is my most popular and the most effective form of GABA I use with my clients. It is a lozenge that contains 125mg GABA, 5mg magnesium, 50mg glycine, 25mg tyrosine and 20 mg taurine. [AS OF NOV 24, 2021 THIS PRODUCT IS IN SHORT SUPPLY AGAIN]

[Note: this product is a lozenge with 125mg GABA and is not to be confused with the Source Naturals, GABA Calm Mind, 750 mg tablets]

Nutritional Fundamentals for Health GABA-T SAP: gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) 300 mg, l-Theanine 150 mg. This is pleasant-tasting when opened on to the tongue and works very well when GABA Calm can’t be used. I find best results when it is used opened on to the tongue.

Thorne PharmaGABA-100: the label says Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) 100 mg but it also states that the product uses Pharma Foods International’s Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (PharmaGABA®). This is also pleasant-tasting when opened on to the tongue and is most effective when used this way. [AS OF NOV 24, 2021 THIS MAY BE UNAVAILABLE]

Thorne PharmaGABA-250: as above but contains 250mg of PharmaGABA®. This is also pleasant-tasting when opened on to the tongue and is most effective when used this way. [AS OF NOV 24, 2021 THIS MAY BE UNAVAILABLE]

Designs for Health PharmaGABA Chewables: gamma-amino butyric acid (pharmaGABA) 200 mg in 2 chewable tablets. It’s quick-acting and convenient like GABA-Calm because it’s chewable. This does contain xylitol, natural flavors, stevia and some other ingredients so taste may be a factor and xylitol can cause gas, bloating and diarrhea when too much is consumed.

Natural Factors PharmaGABA: gamma-amino butyric acid (pharmaGABA) 200 mg in 2 chewable tablets. It’s quick-acting and convenient like GABA-Calm because it’s chewable. However it also contains organic cane sugar and natural fruit flavors so it’s a little too candy-like for my preference, especially if you have low GABA-related sugar cravings. Also 2 chewable tablets – 4g of carbs which is almost 1 teaspoon of sugar!

[January 22, 2021/November 24, 2021: I’ve included this as a stand-by option for occasional use when Source Naturals GABA Calm is in short supply or if Designs for Health PharmaGABA Chewables are not available.]

Now Foods GABA Powder: 1/4 Level Teaspoon (500mg). This is pleasant-tasting when opened on to the tongue and is most effective when used this way. The only challenge with powder like this is making sure you don’t use too much by mistake. And it’s especially challenging when you only need 100mg. A mini measuring spoon set like this one (my Amazon link) is so easy and convenient to use and allows for accurate dosing.

Quicksilver Scientific Liposomal GABA with L-Theanine: 2ml (4 Pumps) provides (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) 240mg, L-Theanine 100mg and Phosphatidylcholine 120mg (from purified sunflower seed lecithin). Spray and hold 30 seconds before swallowing. It does contain ethanol so would not be suitable for alcoholics or young children.

GABA-Pro Calming Effect Chewable: This is a chewable that contains 100 mg of pharmaGABA in 1 tablet. It is pharmaGABA even though the product says GABA-Pro on the front and the label states Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). It does contain natural flavors and xylitol. [This product is a reasonable replacement for Source Naturals GABA Calm when it’s not available (Nov 24, 2021)]

GABA-Pro Calming Effect: This contains 100 mg of pharmaGABA in 1 tablet. It is pharmaGABA even though the product says GABA-Pro on the front and the label states Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). This capsule can be opened onto the tongue. It does contain rice flour which can be an issue if you have a rice allergy/sensitivity and/or SIBO.

Designs for Health Stress Arrest: Niacin (niacinamide) 100 mg, Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCL) 10 mg, Pantothenic acid (d-calcium pantothenate) 100 mg, GABA 300 mg, Glycine 200 mg

Supplements for low serotonin (worry, rumination, negativity, afternoon and evening cravings and insomnia)

Tryptophan and/or 5-HTP can help to raise low serotonin. I typically recommend starting with tryptophan and don’t recommend 5-HTP if you have high cortisol as it can raise cortisol. Some people do better on tryptophan and some do better on 5-HTP.

Lidtke l-tryptophan 500mg: I only recommend the Lidtke brand for tryptophan as quality is a big consideration when it comes to this amino acid. This can be opened and/or chewed but doesn’t taste good. It can be mixed with inositol powder to make it more pleasant (see below) or with mashed banana. NOTE: This is not the same as the Lidtke Tryptophan Complete which has ingredients other than tryptophan making it more difficult to titrate up.

Lidtke l-Tryptophan Chewable: tablets contain 200mg L-Tryptophan per 2 tablets. This chewable form is both good and bad. It’s good because it’s a nice 100mg of tryptophan per tablet, is chewable, tastes good and is suitable for kids and “pixie dust” individuals (who need a very small amount). The bad aspect is that it does contain sugar and is quite sweet. Because you are continually consuming something sweet you may end up over-consuming them if sugar addiction is your issue.

Pure Encapsulations 5-HTP 50mg: Some of my clients do better on 5-HTP and some find taking this during the day and tryptophan at night works well for them.

Designs for Health Inositol: is fabulous for obsessive thoughts/behaviors that the tryptophan isn’t quite enough for. It’s also been shown to be very helpful for OCD itself. The powder has a slightly sweet taste and I recommend taking it in the powdered form. You can take up to 18g a day but I suggest starting with 2g a day and building up as needed. I think it makes a great addition for mixing into the nasty tasting tryptophan – I suggest starting with 2g inositol per 500mg tryptophan.

Douglas Labs 1mg melatonin sublingual: If the tryptophan isn’t enough for sleep issues, adding this often helps if you can’t fall asleep (and if it’s a low serotonin/low melatonin issue). Start with one and increase to 3 as needed

Douglas Labs 3mg melatonin prolonged release: If the tryptophan isn’t enough for sleep, adding this often helps if you wake in the night and if it’s a low serotonin/low melatonin issue. Start with one and increase to 2 as needed.

Supplement for low endorphins (comfort and reward eating, weepy, pain issues)

DPA or D-Phenylalanine is the amino acid that helps to raise endorphins and eliminates the comfort/reward eating and the feelings of “I deserve this” and LOVING certain foods

Lidtke Endorphigen 500mg: Riboflavin 5mg, Pyridoxal 5-phosphate 5mg (enzymatic form of vitamin B6), D-Phenylalanine 500mg. This is also one of my top products that I recommend. I used to recommend simply chewing the capsule to get the quickest and best effects and this worked well when it was produced in a gelatin capsule. Now it’s made with a cellulose capsule and chewing doesn’t work at all well so opening the capsule (or just biting off the top) and tipping the powder into your mouth works well. It does taste quite pleasant – some of my clients think it has a dark chocolate-like taste. A few people don’t like the taste at all but even then, it can be very effective when low endorphins are an issue.

Supplement for low catecholamines (tired, coffee-drinking, blahs, poor focus, low motivation)

Tyrosine is the amino acid that helps to raise low catecholamines and can often help you quit coffee if you “self-medicate” due to low catecholamines.

Progressive Labs tyrosine 500mg: 500mg l-tyrosine. This is the last amino acid I trial with my anxious clients because it can make you more anxious (although with one client it reduced her anxiety because she was able to focus better at work).

Vitamin C for negating the effects of any amino acid

Vitamin C 1000mg is used to negate the effects of any amino acid. I used to use EmergenC but this still contains folic acid, so here are some good alternate vitamin C recommendations:

Designs for Health C + Biofizz: Vitamin C 2569 mg (as Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Ascorbate, Magnesium Ascorbate) Quercetin 20 mg Hesperidin 20 mg Rutin 10 mg. This one mixes nicely in water and can also be added to a smoothie but tastes quite sweet for many people. I personally prefer less of a sweet taste.

Designs for Health Buffered Vitamin C: Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 2000 mg, Calcium (as calcium ascorbate) 80 mg, Magnesium (as magnesium ascorbate) 160 mg, Potassium (as potassium bicarbonate) 200 mg. This one doesn’t mix very well in water and can also be added to a smoothie. The taste is not very pleasant.

The supplements for pyroluria

Zinc, vitamin B6, evening primrose oil and a good copper-free multivitamin are what I use for my clients with pyroluria or for those who score above 15 on the questionnaire:

Solaray OptiZinc 30mg. Zinc (as Zinc Monomethionine [OptiZinc®] 30 mg, Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxine HCl) 20 mg. The zinc in this form seems to be well absorbed by many of my clients and is available over the counter. This also does not contain copper. Be aware as there are other OptiZinc products on the market that do contain copper (Source Naturals is one example)

Douglas Labs Opti-Zinc: Zinc (from 150 mg Zinc Monomethionine) 30 mg. The zinc in this form seems to be well absorbed by many of my clients. This also does not contain copper.

Metagenics Zinc Drink: Zinc sulphate monohydrate in a base of distilled water. Each 2 tsp provides Zinc sulfate monohydrate 8 mg. Use this for testing your zinc status as described here: Zinc deficiency is common: using liquid zinc status test as an assessment tool

Here are a selection of 100 mg Vitamin B6/pyridoxine products. Use dream recall as a way to monitor if it’s working, plus social anxiety and mood improvements. If this doesn’t work you may need to use the activated form in conjunction with or instead of this one (see below)

Progressive Labs 100mg Vitamin B6 (contains rice flour)

NOW 100mg Vitamin B6 (contains rice flour)

Vital Nutrients 100mg Vitamin B6 (Only B6 and glycine)

Klaire Labs 250mg Vitamin B6 (Use this one if you find you do better with more i.e. 250mg)

Pure Encapsulations P5P 50 (activated B-6): pyridoxal 5 phosphate (activated B6) 50 mg, vitamin C (as ascorbyl palmitate) 3 mg. This activated form of B6 may be needed if the 100-500 mg B6/pyridoxine doesn’t work or may be needed in addition to vitamin B6/pyridoxine. Use dream recall as a way to monitor if it’s working, plus social anxiety and mood improvements.

Designs For Health P5P 50mg: another good product with pyridoxal 5 phosphate (activated B6) 50 mg

Now Foods Super Primrose 1300mg: Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera blennis) (Seed) 1.3 g (1300 mg) – 120 count. GLA is often low in pyroluria and EPO helps with zinc absorption and PMS symptoms.

Designs for Health Twice Daily Multi: This is a good copper-free multi. It also contains Folates (NatureFolate™ blend) 400 mcg instead of folic acid (no DFH products contain folic acid).

Free form amino acids and magnesium

Pure Encapsulations Amino Replete: A free form amino acid powder blend that does contain tryptophan. It does contain fructose, flavors and luo han guo

Allergy Research Free Aminos: A free form amino acid blend in capsules. It contains 5-HTP and not tryptophan. I’d prefer it if it had tryptophan.

Designs for Health Amino Acid Supreme: A free form amino acid blend powder that does contain tryptophan. It is sweetened with stevia and contains natural flavors.

Designs for Health Magnesium Malate 360mg

Liquid and powder options for children

Here are some liquid and powder options for children (or for adults, if you have a hard time swallowing pills):

Carlson 100mg B6: Use dream recall (and no more nightmares) as a way to monitor if it’s working, plus improvements in social anxiety and mood.

Designs for Health 50mg P5P (with a little zinc and magnesium): This is the activated form of B6. Use dream recall (and no more nightmares) as a way to monitor if it’s working, plus improvements in social anxiety and mood.

Pure Encapsulations 15mg Zinc gluconate: A liquid zinc option.

Metagenics 15mg Zinc (as zinc sulfate): A liquid zinc option.

Designs for Health Zinc Challenge: Zinc sulphate monohydrate in a base of distilled water. Each 2 tsp provides Zinc sulfate monohydrate 8 mg. I use this for testing zinc status but it could be used as a supplement too.

BodyBio evening primrose oil: Gamma Linolenic Acid/GLA (omega-6) 473 mg. GLA is often low in pyroluria and EPO helps with zinc absorption, eczema and PMS symptoms.

Klaire Labs Vitaspectrum multivitamin/mineral: This is a great copper-free, iron-free powdered multi for kids. You can mix the powder directly into room temperature or cold foods or beverages just before serving.

Pure Encapsulations Amino Replete: A free form amino acid powder blend that does contain tryptophan. It does contain fructose, flavors and luo han guo.

Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Citrate 250mg powder

Designs for Health Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate 300 mg powder: This one does have stevia and natural flavors

Also see chewable tryptophan, GABA Calm and inositol powder, plus powdered Vitamin C (all listed above).

What about international orders?

Unfortunately, Fullscript does not ship internationally.

So we suggest folks try an intermediary shipping service like www.shipito.com (we haven’t used them as of yet, so do your own research, and if they or someone else does work out please let us know in the comments below).

An alternative is to use iHerb to get similar products, as they ship worldwide and may even have a branch in your country for free shipping.

Here is the link for iHerb and to get 5% off, and if you are interested in iHerb’s exclusive brands to get 10% off here.

The Depression Sessions, Online event, June 14th to 27th

June 19, 2015 By Trudy Scott 12 Comments

It’s a wonderful FREE online event hosted by my friend Sean Croxton. Click here to register:
https://at105.isrefer.com/go/depreg/trudyscott/

This started earlier this week but looks what is ahead…

These Thursday/Friday interviews air until 8am tomorrow:

Damage Control for Anxiety and Panic Attacks – Dr. Corey Schuler, DC
PMS, PCOS and Postpartum: A Woman’s Guide to Depression – Alisa Vitti, HHC
How to Rewire Your Brain and Beat Depression with Neurofeedback – Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT (I hear this one is very popular!)

Coming up on Saturday/Sunday:

Reframing Depression: A Functional Nutrition Approach – Andrea Nakayama, CNE (I love her functional medicine approach!)
The Microbiome-Mood Connection – Dr. Jillian Teta, ND (gut health is such a hot topic!)
How to Boost Your Mood with Foods and Fats – Dr. Ann Childers, MD (yes!)

Coming up on Monday/Tuesday:

Natural Antidepressant Alternatives – Sayer Ji (I love how he’s on top of the research!)
Depression is NOT a Serotonin Deficiency – Dr. Kelly Brogan, MD (you’ve heard me say why I don’t agree with everything Dr. Brogan says about serotonin and the amino acids)
How to Safely Transition Off of Psychiatric Meds – Dr. Hyla Cass, MD (her information is always great! She is always a favorite on the Anxiety Summits!)

And on Monday I’m doing a live Google hangout Q and A with Sean – once you’ve signed up you’ll just watch for emails from Sean with the details.

If you know you want these videos/transcripts/mp3s, simply go here to order them:
https://at105.isrefer.com/go/deporder/trudyscott/
Prices will increase after the summit.

Got questions? Please ask them in the comment section below.

The Future of Healing, online event – starts June 22nd

June 16, 2015 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

future-of-healing

Here is another great opportunity for you to hear more great speakers and become more empowered!

I’m excited to announce that I’m a featured expert in a great upcoming event: The Future of Healing Online Conference – sponsored by the Institute for the Psychology of Eating.

This breakthrough virtual event goes live on June 22nd and you can register for FREE here: https://ipe.isrefer.com/go/fhconf/trudyscott/

The Future of Healing Conference showcases the voices of 70+ top professionals and thought-leaders. They’ll explore cutting edge thinking in:

Nutrition
The Psychology of Eating
Functional Medicine
Cultural Transformation
Spiritual Awakening
Sexuality, Supplements Herbs & Medicinals
Planetary Health
Our Global Future
And much more…

We’ll be expanding the definition of healing like never before. This will be the largest online conference of its kind, with interviews that are honest, in depth, edgy, information rich, and designed to give you some new inspirations and “aha” moments.

Here is a great “willpower stress anxiety mindfulness” snippet from Dr. Aviva Romm, a Yale trained, board certified family physician, midwife, herbalist, and award winning author, an internationally respected authority on botanical and functional medicine for women and children. She’s the author of seven books on natural medicine, including Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health.

There’s some interesting science about what happens when we try something with willpower and it doesn’t work. Let’s say you’re trying to quit smoking or you’re trying to eat sugar or trying to cut a coffee habit because you feel like you’re drinking too much coffee. Let’s say you fail. In your own mind, you’ve failed or fallen off the wagon. Guess what? The very stress that led us to have that habit in the first place, as soon as we kind of feel we’ve failed, we’re back in that same stress mode. Those same stress hormones are pumping out. Guess what the first thing we do is? We reach for exactly what it was that we were trying not to do.

The first part of that is creating mindfulness. The first step in that mindfulness is to actually become aware of what those physical sensations are. If we can start to identify what those stress response symptoms are, that’s the key, because once you know it, then you can start to go, “Oh, okay. It’s not just that I’m an anxious person. It’s not just that I’m this weak willed person. This is actually my survival mechanism kicking in and what can I do to feed whatever that survival mechanism is in a healthy way, not in a self-sabotaging way?”

The symptoms are pretty much the same that we recognize with anxiety. We might feel our heart racing a little bit faster, our breathing may become faster. We feel a certain amount of kind of chemical anxiety, right?

The first thing I do is say, “Okay, let’s get really keyed in to what those symptoms are, just start to recognize and pay attention.” If you’re feeling those agitated, amped up feelings, then the next step comes into place that I call “permission to pause.”

Then the next question is, “How do I really want to feel?” I think that’s such an important question that most of us don’t really ever ask ourselves.

My good friends and colleagues Marc David & Emily Rosen, founder and director of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating will be hosting this one-of-a-kind online event. You’ll be impressed by their engaging style and the fascinating collection of passionate people they’ve brought together. It’s time for an approach to healing that honors all of who we are – body, mind, heart, planet and soul. If you’re ready to step into the Future of Healing, then please join me for FREE here: https://ipe.isrefer.com/go/fhconf/trudyscott/

Holistic Solutions for Anxiety and Depression: review

June 12, 2015 By Trudy Scott 84 Comments

Although it is written for therapists I feel that Holistic Solutions for Anxiety and Depression: Combining Natural Remedies with Conventional Care, written by Dr. Peter Bongiorno, ND, is a great resource for anyone working with individuals with anxiety or depression, and this includes nutritionists.

As a nutritionist who works primarily with women with anxiety, I was so pleased to receive a physical review copy of this wonderful book. I did purchase the kindle but a real book is just so much nicer!

It’s also perfect for the anxious individual who taking charge of their own health and wants to become more empowered. It would also be a perfect book for the anxious person to share with their open-minded therapist or doctor.

Here are some of the reasons why I really enjoyed this book:

The extensive coverage of diet – Dr. Bongiorno favors a Mediterranean diet and cites research supporting this way of eating for mental health (I’d add more red meat and skip the grains, especially gluten)
The recommendation to eat crunchy vegetables based on the research about crunchy foods making us feel happier and calmer
The coverage of nutrients such as 5-HTP and tryptophan. Dr. Bongiorono will use 5-HTP first (he feels its “more effective at crossing the blood brain barrier) , whereas I tend to start with tryptophan. But he does say that “when dosed accordingly, tryptophan appears to be quite safe and effective.”
The coverage of GABA: “GABA supplementation helps open chloride channels in neurons, which hyperpolarizes them, so that the positive charges remain on one side of the membrane, which inactivates the nerve cell. This slows firing and calms the brain.”
The coverage of vitamin B3: one way it helps mood is “its ability to inhibit the liver enzyme tryptophan pyrrolase. This enzyme breaks down tryptophan making it less available to produce serotonin. Vitamin B3 is also responsible for activating the enzyme that converts tryptophan to 5-hydroxytryptophan.”
The coverage of lithium orotate: “It is suggested that lithium’s beneficial effects on mood may be due to its oxytocin-raising properties.” He suggests using it with an oxytocin-raising massage! Oxytocin also helps with social anxiety: Oxytocin and social anxiety, pyroluria and depression?
The fascinating discussion of the 5-HT1A receptor and oxytocin
The history of the discovery of serotonin (clams used it to keep their shells closed)
The coverage of light therapy, getting house-plants and a mind-body approach

As you can see, it includes plenty of geeky science, something I really love!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Bongiorno on The Anxiety Summit – our topic: Serotonin and Anxiety, Happiness, Digestion and our Hormones. Dr. Bongiorno’s speaking is as eloquent, factual and caring as his writing.

Dr. Bongiorno has been kind enough to offer a copy of his book as a giveaway. We’ll do a drawing and select one lucky reader and announce the winner next Friday. If you’d like to be entered in to the drawing simply comment below and share:

~~why you’d like to win the book~~
~~which section you’re most excited about reading and why (just go to the Amazon preview and check out the table of contents)~~
~~which holistic approaches you already use with patients/clients or you’ve used yourself~~

~~This drawing is open to practitioners and non-practitioners alike.~~

Peter Bongiorno, ND, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, is co-director of InnerSource Natural Health and Acupuncture in New York City. President of the New York Association of Naturopathic Physicians, he is a contributor to numerous blogs and online magazines, including DrOz.com and Sharecare.com, and is regularly interviewed as a natural medicine expert on national television and radio.