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30 Experts Share Their Best Advice for Brain Health by Jordan Fallis

By Trudy Scott 4 Comments

Jordan Fallis of Optimal Living Dynamics reached out to some of his favorite cutting-edge health practitioners and researchers and asked them one question:

What is the one piece of advice you would offer to people who want to improve and optimize their brain health?

I was thrilled to be one of the people he reached out to. This is my response:

This a tough question and I can think of many things such as eating sardines or other oily fish for the omega-3 benefits; eating pumpkin seeds as a great source of zinc and tryptophan (both great for anxiety and depression); dumping the bread and cookies due to the inflammatory effects of gluten on the brain and body; and eating grass-fed red meat as a great source of zinc, omega-3s and iron, all of which are needed for brain health. 

But if I had to pick only one piece of advice, I would say to optimize gut health because of the very strong gut-brain connection. This means healing a leaky gut with an amino acid like glutamine; improving the microbiome by eating fermented foods like sauerkraut; improving protein digestion with enzymes; cooking and eating quality food at home; chewing our food slowly, and addressing issues like candida, parasites, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and dysbiosis.

In addition to the above, I always trial the use of targeted individual amino acids such as calming GABA, mood-boosting tryptophan and DPA, and addressing nutritional deficiencies with nutrients like zinc, vitamin B6, iron, magnesium and so on. You may need to also address Lyme disease, mold, heavy metals and many of the other possible biochemical causes of anxiety and depression.

Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite quotes:

  • Kelly Brogan: the brain “does not understand modern chemicals, processed foods, and industrial pollutants. It also doesn’t understand chronic stress, poor sleep, minimal movement, and indoor living”
  • Hyla Cass: “don’t follow a low-fat diet! Make sure to get sufficient fats and protein. Avoid trans fats, but eat healthy fats like omega 3’s found in fatty fish, and medium chain triglycerides from coconut oil”
  • Sayer Ji: “Turmeric is one of the most remarkable neuroprotective and neurorestorative agents yet identified”
  • Max Lugavere: “…there’s simply nothing like exercise for the brain.”
  • Gwen Olson: “Do your own due diligence before taking any pharmaceuticals. Put the name of the drug into a search engine followed by the words ‘controversy’ and ‘side effects’”
  • James Greenblatt: “As vitamins and minerals serve as co-factors in almost every enzymatic reaction in the brain, it is important to assess for adequate nutrient levels regularly to ensure that you are optimizing brain health”

You can read all the inspiring and valuable responses on Jordan’s blog: 30 Experts Share Their Best Advice for Brain Health. You’ll see some common themes: stress, the gut, exercise, real food, sleep and nutrients.

When I asked Jordan how he knew of me and my work he shared this:

I found you through Sean Croxton’s Depression Sessions. When that first came out, I was in the middle of my journey, trying to restore my own mental health. It was great timing. So I immediately purchased it and watched all the videos for more solutions.

I already knew about pyroluria, as I had read Dr. William Walsh’s book Nutrient Power at that time. But it was great to see you talk about it and bring it to light! And I believe I was taking just regular B6 before your talk. So then I switched to P-5-P. I continue to take P-5-P and zinc picolinate regularly.

I’m so thankful I’m feeling better and have my life back, so I’m going to work really hard to share everything that helped me. I just feel like I need to do that 🙂

I really appreciate that Jordan wants to share everything that has helped him and this article is a perfect way to do this.

Here are some additional resources for you on pyroluria, the social anxiety condition he mentions above:

I hope you enjoy these resources from me, Jordan and all the experts he reached out to!

I’d love to hear what you have found to be the best brain advice you have received and implemented?  

 

GABA helps with inhibition of unwanted thoughts

By Trudy Scott 74 Comments

There is plenty of research and clinical evidence showing that low serotonin promotes worry and ruminating thoughts and we know that using tryptophan (or 5-HTP) can help with easing these worries and unwanted thoughts i.e. the worry-in-the-head type of anxiety.

The calming supplement GABA has long been recognized to help ease the more physical type of anxiety where you feel body tension and may have stiff and tense muscles.

Over the last year I’ve been getting feedback from women in my community saying that oral GABA supplements also helps some of the head symptoms too and now we have some new research supporting the possible mechanism of this – Scientists identify mechanism that helps us inhibit unwanted thoughts:

We are sometimes confronted with reminders of unwanted thoughts – thoughts about unpleasant memories, images or worries. When this happens, the thought may be retrieved, making us think about it again even though we prefer not to. While being reminded in this way may not be a problem when our thoughts are positive, if the topic was unpleasant or traumatic, our thoughts may be very negative, worrying or ruminating about what happened, taking us back to the event.

Scientists have identified a key chemical within the ‘memory’ region of the brain that allows us to suppress unwanted thoughts, helping explain why people who suffer from disorders such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and schizophrenia often experience persistent intrusive thoughts when these circuits go awry.

Professor Anderson, Dr. Schmitz and colleagues showed that the ability to inhibit unwanted thoughts relies on a neurotransmitter – a chemical within the brain that allows messages to pass between nerve cells – known as GABA.

GABA is the main ‘inhibitory’ neurotransmitter in the brain, and its release by one nerve cell can suppress activity in other cells to which it is connected.

Anderson and colleagues discovered that GABA concentrations within the hippocampus – a key area of the brain involved in memory – predict people’s ability to block the retrieval process and prevent thoughts and memories from returning.

The study is looking at GABA concentrations within the hippocampus and there is no mention of the use of GABA supplementation to enhance this process:

While the study does not examine any immediate treatments, Professor Anderson believes it could offer a new approach to tackling intrusive thoughts in these disorders.

Ideally the next step will be to study the use of oral GABA supplementation.

Here is the study abstract: Hippocampal GABA enables inhibitory control over unwanted thoughts

UPDATE Jan 28, 2022:

This 2021 paper, Astroglia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, supports the low GABA mechanism when it comes to obsessive compulsive disorder/OCD which is characterized by persistent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions).

The researcher shares the most prominent theory regarding the underlying mechanisms of OCD and persistent intrusive thoughts (and compulsions):

an increased excitation to inhibition (E/I) ratio due to increased glutamatergic excitation or reduced GABAergic inhibition.

And states that, in astrocytes (a subtype of glial cells), both the glutamate transporter GLT1 and GABA transporter GAT-3 are critical for regulating this balance.   

Feedback on GABA helping with overactive brain and perseveration

When I shared this research on facebook two people commented on how the Source Naturals GABA Calm product I recommend helps them with this aspect of anxiety.

Tiffany shares how Source Naturals GABA Calm helps calm her overactive brain:

I have definitely noticed that sublingual GABA Calm that you suggest helps calm my overactive brain.

Dawn shares how this same GABA product has helped her a lot:

I have an old TBI [traumatic brain injury] and the physiology of PTSD, from childhood trauma, so a double whammy. This sublingual lozenge makes a big difference in my day if I start to get anxious, or begin to perseverate on something that really isn’t all that important.

Perseverate is not a word I use very much and in case you’re not familiar with this term, the Oxford dictionary defines it as follows: “repeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased.” It’s also defined as: “the tendency of an idea to stick in your mind or recur, or getting stuck on something mentally and not being able to shift gears.” In psychiatry it’s “the persistent and pathological repetition of a verbal or motor response, often seen in organic brain disease and schizophrenia.”

Updating the GABA questionnaire and GABA blog

I’m using this research and feedback to make an update of the low GABA section on the amino acid questionnaire:

  • Do you have intrusive thoughts, perseverate or have an overactive brain? Or do you have unwanted thoughts – thoughts about unpleasant memories, images or worries?

I’ve also updated this recent blog post – Anxiety, compulsive thinking, counting behaviors: gluten, tryptophan and inositol where I to share my feedback on a question I received on how to approach working with a child with anxiety, compulsive thinking and counting behaviors. I mentioned GABA as a possibility but with her symptoms and this new research, a GABA trial would definitely be something to pursue.

Resources if you are new to using GABA as a supplement

If you are new to using the the amino acid GABA as a supplement, here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution (you can see the low GABA and other low neurotransmitter symptoms) and a brief overview here: Anxiety and targeted individual amino acid supplements: a summary.

If you suspect low levels of GABA and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the team you or your loved one is working with.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the GABA products that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

I’d love your feedback

  • Do you resonate with any of this and have you seen this benefit when using GABA, in addition to the relief of physical anxiety?
  • If you’ve also observed improvements in your ruminating thoughts when using tryptophan, I’d love you to try and share how GABA helps and how tryptophan helps i.e. how you feel before and after with each supplement?
  • Also, if you are also using tryptophan and/or 5-HTP how do you know if it’s these amino acids or the GABA that is helping?
  • I’m really looking for the differences you observe as you support low GABA vs low serotonin?  Are they clear or are they blurred?
  • If you’re a practitioner what feedback do you get from your clients/patients about low GABA vs low serotonin?

As I mention above I would love to see follow-on research showing that sublingual GABA supplements can actually shift this. Sharing what we see clinically will be very helpful so your feedback is valuable and appreciated.

Feel free to ask your questions here too.

Healthy travel food, first aid and avoiding anxiety and motion sickness when flying

By Trudy Scott 15 Comments

Updated: June 28, 2024

In today’s blog I share what I eat on a long international flight, plus what “first-aid” goodies I take in my carry-on luggage, how to stay cool, calm and collected when flying and demonstrate my favorite wrist bands for preventing motion sickness.

Even though I order gluten-free meals, I’m sure you’ll agree that the food on planes is pretty horrible and sometimes you can’t even be sure you’ll get your special meal.  One flight we ordered gluten-free only to be told on the plane that they don’t serve gluten-free meals! Fortunately we did a layover in Hawaii and were able to buy a salad and some fruit after a lot of searching but it was not what you’d expect. It was a good thing we did take some snacks with us too but I am now way more prepared when I travel.

As you can see from the above image, this is the typical travel food (or “padkos” as we call it in South Africa) for a 13-hour flight:

  • 2 organic apples
  • 2 organic boiled eggs and some sea salt
  • Homemade biltong from grass fed beef (a South African version of jerky) made with sea salt, coriander and pepper
  • Coconut flakes and organic raisins
  • Sprouted pumpkin seeds (many nuts and seeds are medium and high oxalate but a few tablespoons of pumpkin seeds are low oxalate – more on oxalates here)
  • A selection of herbal tea bags: ginger (which is great for motion sickness), Nighty night which contains chamomile and is relaxing), Breathe Easy (in case of congestion) and rooibos (great for stress and an excellent source of polyphenols)
  • A can of wild salmon
  • Pea protein powder or whey or beef protein powder (as tolerated)

I also packed a meal of roast lamb with a veggie selection of carrots, zucchini and asparagus, plus some cauliflower sauerkraut. This was really delicious!

Also, to be safe, I take a selection of “first-aid” products in my carry-on luggage.

Here is some of what I typically pack for “first-aid”:

  • Arnicare which is an arnica gel * (for muscle pain)
  • Xlear nasal spray * and Biocidin throat spray * – I find that using these two products before boarding the plane and half way into the flight prevents me from picking up any bugs and getting sick
  • Tree tree oil *
  • Essential oils of lavender * (for relaxation and sleep) and peppermint * (for energy and a headache). Both are antibacterial too.
  • Melatonin spray * to help reset my circadian rhythm and help with jetlag
  • Designs for Health Oil of Oregano * and garlic supplements (not shown) for bug protection
  • Source Naturals GABA Calm for tension and anxiety. I didn’t use it/need it this trip but after my scary plane ride last year leading to vagus nerve issues, I’ve decided to always have some on hand when flying
  • Boiron Cold Calm, one of my favorite homeopathic cold remedies

I also take a few of each of the following in a supplement box: Designs for Health Inflammatone * (a natural anti-inflammatory), DPP-IV enzymes * (for accidental gluten exposure), activated charcoal * (also for accidental gluten exposure) and my daily supplements.

Note: the products marked with a * above can all be found on my Fullscript supplement store. And tryptophan, mentioned below, is also available on Fullscript.

Here is a video I did for the Healthy Travelers Global summit, an online event that was hosted by my good friend Robyn Benson in 2015 (just ignore the summit promo and enjoy the tips and demonstrations).

I share the following:

  • A quick demonstration using Xlear (notice that I actually miss my nose by mistake!) and Biocidin Throat Spray for avoiding bugs
  • The pressure-point wrist-bands I use for motion sickness (find them on Amazon here). Many people with pyroluria are more prone to morning nausea and may be very prone to motion sickness (and it’s commonly a sign of low vitamin B6). In order to be effective they do need to be put on BEFORE you start to travel and the position is key).
  • I don’t mention it in the video but motion sickness can be a sign of low bile production or poor quality bile. I share more about how I’ve been using ox bile to improve fat digestion and help with oxalate issues here. Hopefully this will help even more with my motion sickness.
  • Amino acids for travel anxiety (GABA for the physical anxiety and tryptophan for the fearful, worrying-about-flying anxiety)
  • Healthy travel snacks

Enjoy the beautiful Rocky Mountains! When I filmed this I was on a trip to St Paul, MN for the National Association of Nutrition Professionals conference and wanted to share just how I travel.

Additional resources when you are new to using amino acids such as GABA or tryptophan as supplements

As always, I use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low GABA or low serotonin may be an issue.

When considering them for flying I have clients do a trial before they leave and figure out optimal doses for their unique needs. And then use GABA and/or tryptophan as needed on the flight.

If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the practitioner/health team you or your loved one is working with.

There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, gluten, blood sugar control (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

If, after reading this blog and my book, you don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA QuickStart Program (if you have low GABA symptoms too). This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. This is also a paid online/virtual program with an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Wrapping up and your feedback

I hope this is all helpful for your next long flight or even a road-trip you have coming up. Do keep in mind that some of this can be adapted for a day out shopping or a day at the beach too.

I’d love to hear about your favorite travel foods and first-aid goodies that you take on a trip.

Feel free to share and ask your questions below.

Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why the Kids Are Not Alright – my response

By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

Teens suffer from so much anxiety and their anxiety symptoms are now more of an issue than depression; they are cutting and self-harming as a way to feel normal; they are super-stressed; social media and iPhone use is taking over their lives, and in general, they seem to have poor coping skills.

This article in TIME magazine is a sad and concerning read: Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why the Kids Are Not Alright. It was written last year but is still very relevant. The author writes:

“Adolescents today have a reputation for being more fragile, less resilient and more overwhelmed than their parents were when they were growing up”

It’s an excellent article for creating awareness and to get an understanding of the extent of the issues and does highlight the crazy online world of teens:

It’s hard for many adults to understand how much of teenagers’ emotional life is lived within the small screens on their phones, but a CNN special report in 2015 conducted with researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Texas at Dallas examined the social-media use of more than 200 13-year-olds. Their analysis found that ‘there is no firm line between their real and online worlds.’

Here is my response to the article and how I feel we can do better.

No solutions other than coping mechanisms

These teens are hopeless and resigned to the fact that this is how they are going to have to live i.e. simply managing their symptoms. It breaks my heart and it’s not alright!

Unfortunately (like the recent Xanax anxiety article in the New York Times) it offers no solutions other than coping mechanisms.

No mention of the importance of diet or nature

I agree that these kids are under a lot of stress (certainly more than when I was a teen) BUT there is ZERO mention of a real foods diet (that includes quality animal protein), a nourishing breakfast with protein (balancing blood sugar makes such a difference for reducing anxiety levels), the removal of caffeine, gluten and sugar, the importance of addressing nutritional deficiencies and poor gut health.

I love the movie project but there is no encouragement to get these teens out into nature (and maybe take up bouldering or gardening, both of which have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression).

No mention of DPA or GABA or tryptophan for self-harming, anxiety and addiction

The article makes the connections between the endorphin/opioid system and pain and the comfort these teens get from self-harming and cutting:

Scientists want to better understand how self-harm engages the endogenous opioid system–which is involved in the pain response in the brain–and what happens if and when it does

However, there is NO nutritional solution offered and NO mention of the amino acid DPA (d-phenylalanine), which can often be very effective for the cutting and self-harming, because it creates a similar endorphin boost that the cutting provides.  

There is also NO mention of the calming amino acid GABA or the happy and worry-free amino acid tryptophan for the anxiety and worry.

All the above amino acid also address addictions and may well offer neurotransmitter support to help with the addictive nature of their “drug-of-choice” i.e. their iPhones, games and other devices.

We have a plethora of nutritional solutions

We have a plethora of nutritional solutions to consider. Here are some relevant blogs that need to be part of the conversation for these teens:

Something as simple as a weighted blanket may help ease the anxiety some of these teens are experiencing.

We can do better than simply discussing the problem teens face. I’ve worked with both children and teens and we’ve shifted things in a matter of months. It really can be done but we need to share the powerful nutritional psychiatry solution, especially because research shows that most children with anxiety relapse, regardless of conventional treatment approaches.

Do you have a teenager who is experiencing anxiety and what has helped her/him?

Do you work with teens and do you incorporate some of these approaches?

How do we get this information into the hands of parents, schools, organizations, doctors, mental health practitioners and others those who can help make this happen?

Midday bright light therapy for bipolar depression

By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

A recent study from Northwestern University and published in The American Journal of Psychiatry: Adjunctive Bright Light Therapy for Bipolar Depression: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial has found that midday daily exposure to 7,000 lux bright white light for 6 weeks, significantly decreased symptoms of depression and increased functioning in people with bipolar disorder.

The press release issued by Northwestern University reports as follows

Previous studies found morning bright light therapy reduced symptoms of depression in patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD.). But patients with bipolar disorder can experience side effects such as mania or mixed symptoms from this type of depression treatment. This study implemented a novel midday light therapy intervention in an effort to provide relief for bipolar depression and avoid those side effects.

Compared to dim placebo light, study participants assigned to bright white light between noon and 2:30 p.m. for six weeks experienced a significantly higher remission rate (minimal depression and return to normal functioning). More than 68 percent of patients who received midday bright light achieved a normal level of mood, compared to 22.2 percent of patients who received the placebo light.

Images used with permission from Northwestern University

How the 7,000 lux bright light therapy was used

Here are the details of how the 7,000 lux bright light therapy was used in the study:

The light therapy patients were instructed to place the light box about one foot from their face for 15-minute sessions to start.

Every week, they increased their exposure to the light therapy by 15-minute increments until they reached a dose of 60 minutes per day or experienced a significant change in their mood.

Study lead author Dr. Dorothy Sit shares that starting low and slowly increasing the treatment made it more tolerable. None of the study participants experienced side effects, likely because the treatment was customized for each patient:

No one experienced mania or hypomania, a condition that includes a period of elation, euphoria, irritability, agitation, rapid speech, racing thoughts, a lack of focus and risk-taking behaviors.

A noticeable mood improvement with bright light therapy was also noticed as quickly as four weeks, which is similar to other light therapy research for non-seasonal depression and depression during pregnancy.

How do you do this in the middle of a work day?

You may have concerns about doing this at midday as this facebook follower voiced:

I guess if your bipolar depression is so debilitating that you cannot hold a job, then this is worth trying.

But 60 minutes!! What working person has 60 minutes in the middle of their workday?

It’s very doable because there are very nice desk versions that could easily be used at work (without anyone knowing – if privacy is a concern) or at a home-office desk for your convenience. I share some examples in this blog – Winter blues or SAD: light therapy.

I have tried lights in the morning but found that it caused agitation

I also received this feedback about increased agitation:

I have tried lights in the morning but found that it caused agitation. Over time my tolerance went down so that I could only use for less than 5 minutes. I haven’t ever tried midday light though. I’m not bipolar but I have depression which is generally worse in the winter. Exercise helps.

It may be worth trying midday light therapy if morning light therapy causes agitation or other adverse effects.

The press release mentions that light therapy is typically used in the morning to help reset circadian rhythms and the authors are unclear why midday light therapy worked for these patients with bipolar disorder. They plan to investigate further. If it is working via the same mechanism i.e. by resetting circadian rhythms, then it may well work at this time for other individuals too.

It may also be that your depression (and/or anxiety) is not caused by low serotonin but by something else instead – such as low catecholamines, poor thyroid health, gluten issues, poor diet and so on.

Using light therapy and tryptophan (or 5-HTP)

I have also found that some people do well on a combination of light therapy and tryptophan (or 5-HTP). One of my clients had many low serotonin symptoms and did better mood-wise and with reduced anxiety, on a small amount of tryptophan but still needed additional serotonin support. Additional tryptophan was too much for him and increased his day-time sleepiness, but using a small amount of tryptophan together with light therapy was the ideal balance for him.

Have you used light therapy with success – for the winter blues or depression or bipolar disorder? Or even for anxiety?

Have you ever used it at midday or at other times?

And have you used light therapy in conjunction with tryptophan or 5-HTP?

Anxiety, compulsive thinking, counting behaviors: gluten, tryptophan and inositol

By Trudy Scott 42 Comments

Today I’m going to share my feedback on a question I received on how to approach working with a child with anxiety, compulsive thinking and counting behaviors in the hope it can help you or someone you know (or are working with if you’re a practitioner). Here is the question:

Regarding anxiety and compulsive thinking/OCD counting behaviors in a 12 year old, have you experienced (or heard through client sharing) a correlation with certain foods or inflammatory compounds? In a younger person, I am trying figure out the triggers if there is low production of certain neurotransmitters driving the symptoms. This child in particular has had a long history of allergies and terrible asthma (requiring nebulizer treatments) so I’ve long suspected food sensitivities as a driver for systemic inflammation but am trying to connect the dots for her parent. The counting seems to be a distraction of sorts for her – I assume following a triggering thought. This parent is very new to integrative therapies so treating with an amino acid is going to *feel* like she’s not doing enough as parent. Standard talk therapy has not helped.

This is how I responded and it’s how I would start to work with a parent with a child with these types of issues.

After looking at the basics to make sure the child is eating real whole food with no additives, is not consuming any caffeine and is getting quality animal protein at breakfast (to keep blood sugar stable and reduce anxiety), I always consider gluten and even dairy and other food intolerances. I write about the success of a gluten-free diet with a 7 year old boy in this blog: Integrative Medicine Approach to Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety. He saw a “marked reduction of OCD symptoms and anxiety along with marked improvement of social behavior and school work.”

OCD and counting behaviors are classic low serotonin symptoms and her anxiety could be the low-serotonin worrying type or the low GABA type which is more physical anxiety. I’d have them do the amino acid questionnaire

I’d start with a trial of tryptophan – using 100mg of Lidtke Chewable Tryptophan – to help with the OCD, counting and worry-type anxiety. If it helps, I’d have her use it twice a day mid-afternoon and evening, increasing it over the course of a few weeks to find the ideal amount for symptom relief (and keeping a food mood log to record doses and symptoms).

Some people do really well with tryptophan, others do better with 5-HTP for low serotonin symptoms, so doing a trial with 25mg of 5-HTP would be an option if the tryptophan doesn’t help as expected.  

I would carefully review the precautions with the mom as tryptophan and 5-HTP can sometimes be an issue with asthma and may need to be lowered or discontinued.

Inositol can be added if additional nutritional support is needed for the OCD and counting behaviors and may even be needed to replace the tryptophan or 5-HTP if either one triggers asthma. The maximum dose in the research is 18g of inositol per day and I start at 2g once a day and increase slowly over a few weeks to find the ideal dose. Here is feedback from one mom on how inositol alone helped her son with migraines, stress, anxiety and OCD

Once we’ve figured out nutritional support for the low serotonin symptoms then we’d address low GABA if needed, using sublingual GABA. [Update Nov 17, 2017: I mentioned GABA as a possibility but with her symptoms and the new GABA research on intrusive thoughts, a GABA trial would definitely be something to pursue]

I found this comment to be rather unusual: “treating with an amino acid is going to *feel* like she’s not doing enough as parent.” The parents I work with are thrilled to discover how powerful the amino acids are and how quickly they provide amazing results.

These other factors would also be addressed: possible high cortisol, gut health and any of the other possible contributing root causes. I also always keep Lyme disease, heavy metals and PANDAS on the list as possible areas to refer out for if symptoms are not resolving with the above approaches.

Here are links to the amino acid questionnaire, the precautions and the supplements:

  • I have my clients complete the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and check off their symptoms in each of the sections. The rating uses scale of 1-10 with 10 being worst.
  • I also have my clients review the Amino Acids Precautions and we figure out which amino acids they can and can’t use
  • These are some of the supplements I use with my clients

Have you used any of the above approaches with your child or for your symptoms or for a client/patient?