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Food, Mood and Women's Health – Be your healthiest, look and feel great!

Bite-sized carob heart recipe for Valentine’s Day

By Trudy Scott 11 Comments

carob-hearts

Enjoy this healthy treat for Valentine’s Day! Make your honey and the kids some of these yummy bite-sized carob hearts and you’ll all be smiling instead of feeling like you over-did it on the chocolates and candies.

  • 1 cup organic almonds, soaked
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked
  • ½ cup organic dates
  • ½ cup organic raisins, soaked
  • ½ cup carob powder
  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 4-5 teaspoons water from the soaked raisins

Soak almonds and pumpkin seeds overnight (or 4-6 hours) and then drain and rinse. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover with hot water for about 10 minutes. Save both the raisins and the raisin water in two separate bowls. In a food processor grind almonds and pumpkin seeds until fine. You can also use your blender and use the “grind” option.  Remove nuts/seeds from the food processor or blender and add dates, raisins, carob, coconut oil (first melt this on low heat on the stove) and vanilla.  Blend this well. Now transfer the nuts and fruit mix to a bowl and mix. Add 4-5 teaspoons of the raisin water, if necessary, until the mixture is the consistency of very thick cookie dough. Roll into 1 inch balls and then shape into bite-sized hearts. If you make these at another time of the year, just make them into bite-sized balls.

This recipe is thanks to Frances Holmes, one of my dear friends and a nutritionist colleague.  She used to make them for us when I worked in Julia Ross’ Recovery Systems Clinic in Mill Valley. Frances says: “Add pizzazz by rolling the balls in coconut, cinnamon, carob, toasted sesame seeds or any other tasty thing your little heart desires. You can also be creative and add flavored essential oils, or spices like cardamom as well.”  

Once they have been coated, chill for 2-4 hours in the refrigerator, or until the balls slightly harden. And Frances says “These little delightful bites freeze well too!”

I have modified the original recipe: I used half the carob powder and replaced 1/2 cup almonds with 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds.  Some optional additions: 1/3 cup whey protein powder; substitute some of the almonds with walnuts; add I T ginger to 1/3 of the batch; add ground mint leaves to 1/3 of the batch.

And here are some of the few healthy reasons for selecting these over store-bought candy:

  • Dates and raisins have health benefits like iron, fiber and are naturally sweet
  • Coconut oil is healthy fat that is delicious and helps offset the effects of the sugar in the dried fruit
  • Carob is a healthy magnesium-rich naturally caffeine-free alternative to cocoa and chocolate. The caffeine in chocolate affects some people and makes them anxious.  If you can eat chocolate do make sure it’s dark chocolate
  • Almonds  are a source of protein and fats and vitamin E
  • Pumpkin seeds are a good source of tryptophan and zinc (a functional food made from pumpkin seeds has been shown to help with social anxiety and insomnia).  You can read more about soaking and pumpkin seeds here
  • Sesame seeds are a great source of calcium and magnesium and add a delicious crunch
  • Coconut flakes add a delicious tropical flavor and crunch

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Antianxiety Food Solution debut on Gaiam TV

By Trudy Scott 18 Comments

regina-trudy-gaiamtv

I was thrilled to have been invited by Gaiam TV to be interviewed by the lovely and visionary Regina Meredith. They flew me out to beautiful Boulder, Colorado, picked me up from the airport, put me up in the historic Boulderado hotel, took me to dinner and pretty much treated me like royalty! I was very spoiled! The interview was an hour long and will air January 30 at 5pm mountain time, as part of The Healing Matrix show.

I spoke with Regina Meredith about the very powerful food mood connection, my story with anxiety and panic attacks and why I am is so passionate about helping people overcome anxiety. We discussed why grass-fed red meat and liver are so important and how I love sardines. We had a discussion about vegetarianism and why many people with mood problems do better with animal protein. I also talked about giving up chocolate and coffee (yes! really!), the toxic effects of sugar, and why gluten may be making you anxious. A healthy digestive system is imperative for good health and good mood and we discussed leaky gut and stomach acid at length. Finally I wrapped up with an overview of the incredible and amazing amino acids that end anxiety, worry, depression, and stop sugar cravings in their tracks, so zero willpower is required! It’s all powerful stuff and backed by plenty of science-based research and clinical results!

It really is a small world – Regina actually also lives in the Sacramento area and flies into Boulder each week to do her interviews! In 2004, together with her husband, she formed Conscious Media Network which was acquired by Gaiam TV last year. Prior to that she was on various Sacramento shows: KCRA Channel 3, NBC, KTXL Channel 40 and PBS.

I think Gaiam TV is going to become a firm favorite of mine. They have thousands of conscious media titles, fitness and health titles and much more.

The details on how to watch my show will be coming shortly. I’ll also be unveiling an exciting new product to help you on your journey to feeling on top of the world, and will have some special offers so look out for this!

PS. I’m a fan of work and fun and since we used to live in Colorado, we decided to make a trip of it! We stayed to ski afterwards and met up with good friends Susan and Tim, and the Lainis family. We arrived in balmy weather…balmy for Colorado so 50F (9 or 10 C) and then the cold snap hit and wow was it COLD! We skied at Vail twice and the second time the high was 15F! The last day we skied at Keystone and the early morning temperature was minus 11F. But we had a blast. And we were, as always, impressed with how stunningly beautiful the Rocky Mountains are in winter!

tim susan brad trudy vail

Vitaclay slow cooker beef stew recipe and why I love this slow cooker

By Trudy Scott 41 Comments

vitaclay_ladies

I’ve been searching for a good slow cooker for some time. As well as convenience and of course taste, quality and safe materials are always a big factor when it comes to cooking materials. So when I came across the Vitaclay crockpot at the recent Weston A Price conference I was excited! And the more I read about this crockpot the more excited I got. Let me first share a yummy recipe and then I’ll share why I love this crock!

Vitaclay crockpot beef stew

Place 2 lbs (1 kg) of uncooked beef cubes into the bottom of the crock
Place 2 chopped onions and 4 cloves chopped garlic on top of this
Place 1 lb (1/2 kg) of chopped carrots and 4-6 chopped celery sticks on top of the onions/garlic
Don‘t stir but rather leave the veggies on top so they kind of steam and don’t get too mushy.

Mix the following and pour over everything: 4 cups water or beef stock, plus 2 T olive oil, 1T sea salt and 2 T paprika.

Place the lid on the crock, close the cover and hit SLOW COOKING. The default is STEW /2 hours. The clock will begin the countdown from 2 hours to 0. It will beep when the 2 hours is up and will switch to warming mode.

Cook for 2 hours – the meat will be super-tender and the veggies will be nicely cooked. You’ll start to smell the wonderful aroma of home-cooked stew after about an hour of cooking.

Why I love my Vitaclay slow cooker:

  • the ease of use and they look really great
  • the aroma and flavor of slow-cooked is awesome, plus those gorgeous home-cooked aromas get your digestive juices going
  • it is non-toxic and doesn’t contain Teflon or lead. I’m always looking for good products that I can share with my clients and wanted to be sure about this one. Of course I turned to Debra Lynn Dadd, author of Home Safe Home (one of my absolute favorite books) and found this very useful information about the best non-toxic slow cooker: “This is a nontoxic slow cooker”;“only one I know of that does not have a finish that could contain lead”; “made from zisha clay, which is a famous Chinese clay, known for its purity. It has been used for centuries to make teapots because of their ability to enhance the flavor, aroma and texture of tea. Zisha clay is also structurally strong without glazing and does not crack when subjected to large and sudden temperature differences.”

  • They are tested for purity after they are made. I did have some concerns about pollutants from China and found this comment by Dadd in the above blog: “The raw materials for zisha clay are buried deep underground, sometimes under heavy sedimentary rock formations. Processing of raw material involves removing the clay from the from it’s underground storage, drying it under the sun, and then pulverizing the dried clay pieces into fine particles. The clay powder is then passed through a screen to isolate clay particles of the finest grit size. The screened clay is mixed with water to a thick paste and vacuum processed to remove air bubbles and some of the moisture. The quality and quantity of water is critical in that it determines the quality of the stoneware products produced. After this processing, the clay is then ready to be formed into pots.

    Because the clay is mined from underground, it would not be affected by air or water pollution in the region. However, the water it is mixed with could add pollutants to the finished product. Since the quality of the water affects the quality of the finished stoneware, it’s very likely that good quality water would be used.

    I called Vita-Clay and was told that their pots are tested for toxics AFTER they are made, to ensure that no toxic substances are present that might leach into food.”

Since I am doing a review of this product I do have one negative comment: There is a definite new burning rubber smell the first time you use it. I did a quick google search and was told it’s typical. Fortunately the smell faded in about 10 minutes. I would have loved the supplier to have done something in the factory to prevent us having to smell this!

In the interests of full disclosure, the above Vitaclay link is my affiliate link but I only recommend products that I would use myself. I do hope you enjoy it as much as we are enjoying it!

Trudy Scott (CN), Certified Nutritionist is the founder of www.everywomanover29.com, a thriving nutrition practice with a focus on food, mood and women’s health. Trudy educates women about the amazing healing powers of food and nutrients and helps them find natural solutions for anxiety and other mood problems. Trudy’s goal for all her clients (and all women): “You can be your healthiest, look your best and feel on-top-of-the-world emotionally!”

Zinc deficiency is common: using liquid zinc status test as an assessment tool

By Trudy Scott 156 Comments

zinctest

“Zinc deficiency is quite common in the developing world. Even in the United States, about 12 percent of the population is probably at risk for zinc deficiency, and perhaps as many as 40 percent of the elderly” Science Daily, Sept 17, 2009

I, however, find that the majority of my clients with anxiety, pyroluria, depression and/or sugar and carb cravings are low in zinc. I have all my clients do the zinc status test when we start working together and then we retest their levels each week until they have good zinc levels. I use zinc sulfate, a liquid zinc that tastes a certain way depending on zinc levels.

Zinc Status test (also called zinc taste test or zinc tally or zinc challenge)

Category 1:

No specific taste or sensation – “It tastes like water” INDICATES GREATEST NEED FOR EXTRA ZINC

Category 2

No immediate taste noticed, but after a few seconds, a slight taste is noticed – ‘stale’, ‘dry mineral’, ‘furry’ or ‘sweet’ INDICATES SOME NEED FOR ZINC

Category 3

A definite mildly unpleasant taste is noticed almost immediately , and tends to intensify with time.. INDICATES LESS NEED FOR ZINC

Category 4

A very strong and very unpleasant taste is noticed immediately – bad enough to need to spit it out.. INDICATES NO NEED FOR ADDITIONAL ZINC, EXCEPT THAT FOUND IN A MULTIVITAMIN

Here is a video of Kelly taken at the recent 2012 Weston A Price conference. She did the zinc status test at my Antianxiety Food Solution booth and this is how the zinc sulfate should taste! Really really terrible! She was the one and only person over a 3 day period who had this reaction. Most of the other attendees scored either 1 or 2 i.e low zinc; a few people scored 3.

If your zinc status is good, this is what the zinc sulfate should taste like!

Zinc is an important and much-needed mineral:

  • Zinc is needed for neurotransmitter functioning ie to make “calming” GABA and “happy” serotonin
  • Zinc helps eliminate pyroluria (a social anxiety condition – see the pyroluria questionnaire here
  • Zinc is critical for wound healing, protein synthesis, muscle contractions, skin conditions
  • Zinc is critical for taste buds and appetite
  • Zinc is crucial for blood sugar control, weight control and diabetes
  • Zinc is crucial for thyroid health and sex hormones (and fertility)
  • Zinc is important for immunity and protection against yeast infections
  • Zinc helps with mental alertness and brain function, as well as sleep
  • Zinc is needed for many enzymatic processes in the body
  • Zinc is not stored in the body and can be depleted by sugar consumption, exercise and sweating and stress

Food sources of zinc

  • The highest concentration of zinc is oysters
  • Zinc is also found in other shellfish such as shrimps and crab
  • Zinc is also found in red meat, fish, poultry and cheese
  • It’s also found in smaller amounts in whole grains, beans, miso, tofu, nuts and seeds, mushrooms and broccoli (many of the plant sources also contain phytic acid which binds to zinc and prevents it being absorbed; many also contain copper so overdoing something like nuts or nut flours can be an issue for many of my clients with low zinc and anxiety)

Zinc supplements

I have found that zinc supplement containing 30mg is a good place to start if your level is low i.e. level 1 or 2 or even 3. I also find that Opti-zinc is very well absorbed by most of my clients (I like the Solaray brand). For someone with pyroluria I prefer a zinc supplement without copper and this brand is free of copper.

Here is my blog with the supplements I recommend to clients and details on how to set up an account with the fulfilment company I use.  Simply search for zinc and you’ll find various professional grade zinc products and the zinc tally or zinc challenge products.

If you’d like more information on zinc, pyroluria and anxiety, 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 and from Amazon.  You can read more about it here.

Figure out if gluten is making you anxious or depressed and win a book

By Trudy Scott 12 Comments

Even wholegrain bread may be a problem
Even wholegrain bread may be a problem

Wouldn’t you like to know if gluten is making you anxious or depressed (or causing other health issues). I teamed up with Richard and C.R. Zwolinksi on their Therapy Soup blog on Psychcentral.com to show you how to do a gluten elimination and challenge.

And you have a chance to win one of two copies of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings – keep reading and I’ll share the link below. The deadline is December 3, 2012.

Here is the series of very informative blogs with everything you’ll need.

#1 Introducing the Gluten-free Challenge

“Although sugar and junk and fast foods cause health problems for many, one major dietary culprit that has been getting a lot of attention is gluten. For the next few weeks, Trudy, C.R. and I are going to talk about the importance of diet, and specifically gluten, as it affects your mental health. Many people don’t realize that they might have gluten a intolerance, or even an allergy to gluten….” More about Introducing the Gluten-free Challenge

#2 Getting Rid of Gluten

“A list of foods that contain gluten so you can avoid them”…”Several gluten-free menu suggestions”… “Suggestions for how you can keep track of what you’re eating and what kinds of symptoms might be present or lessened” More about Getting Rid of Gluten

#3 The Gluten-Mood Connection

“There are many studies supporting the gluten-mood connection – anxiety, social phobia, depression and even schizophrenia”… “Dr. Fasano is one of the leading researchers in this field and states that gluten sensitivity is undertreated and underrecognized as a contributing factor to psychiatric & neurologic manifestations.” You’ll see from some of the comments that many people are not yet ready to accept the research based evidence! More about The Gluten-Mood Connection

#4 Your Gluten-Free Shopping List

“Buckwheat is acceptable, as are the wonderful ancient grains like quinoa and amaranth. Starchy vegetables like sweet potato and squashes are a wonderfully nutritious source of carbohydrates. Rather than simply replacing the problem grain with another grain, consider incorporating more vegetables like these into your diet.” More about Your Gluten-Free Shopping List

# 5 Your Gluten-free Food and Mood Log

#6 Gluten-free Menus to Improve Your Mood.

C.R posted some lovely menu ideas and some recipes from her food blog, healthyjewishcooking.com, “(her blog is not completely gluten-free but many individual recipes are), followed by some links to gluten-free resources” More about Gluten-free Menus to Improve Your Mood

#7 I want my turkey and stuffing.

“We got an email from a reader who says she doesn’t want to miss the traditional turkey and stuffing during Thanksgiving. And she doesn’t want to “experiment” with gluten-free stuffing. So, we asked nutritionist Trudy Scott whether or not it’s okay to add back in the gluten a bit early.” More on I want my turkey and stuffing

#8 Win a free copy of The Antianxiety Food Solution

Read this blog to find out how to win one of two copies of the book. “We’d love to hear your gluten-free story if you want to include it in your email entry. If you like, please briefly describe your gluten-free experience.” Deadline for entries is Monday, December 3rd.

It’s been a lot of fun (and a real pleasure working with the Zwolinkis) and I hope you get as much out of it as we have! We will be sharing more in the coming week, talking about some testing options and how the amazing amino acids can help if you have quit but feel deprived and are using will-power.

The Antianxiety Food Solution seminars on the east coast

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).