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The Antianxiety Food Solution: This Book Is a Total Game Changer!!

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I write multiple blogs each week and the website is a wealth of information (be sure to check the comments too – I love the community feedback and questions and learn so much from you!) BUT the foundation of all that I teach and how I work with my anxious clients is outlined in great detail in my book The Antianxiety Food Solution, so I recommend this essential reading to make the basic food changes (for some people that’s all they need to do), and before using any of the nutrients, and especially before using targeted individual amino acids.  

Valerie Gangason posted this wonderful review on Amazon recently: This Book Is a Total Game Changer!!

If you have anxiety, panic attacks or phobias, read this book. It’s an eye opener and a complete game changer. It pushed me to re-evaluate the way I eat and to make some serious shifts in my life. FYI-sugar is the devil

I love the comment about sugar being the devil and commend her for re-evaluating how she eats and for making those serious shifts. It’s how you get results and I ever get tired of feedback like this.

Grab your copy from Amazon here if you don’t yet have it. If you already have a copy I’d love a review on Amazon please! And if you have an older copy with no index you can grab a copy of the index here

Feel free to share your great results or ask questions in the comments.

Vagus nerve rehab with GABA, breathing, humming, gargling and key nutrients

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vagus-nerve

I’ve got an issue going on with my vagus nerve at the moment and the throat spasms have been affecting my voice and ability to speak for any length of time. It’s also causing this persistent dry cough, despite not feeling sick or having any respiratory symptoms. It’s much worse later in the day and gets particularly bad after about 30 minutes of talking.

I’ve been working with the very talented PT/nutritionist Joe Tatta for the last week and I am seeing much improvement already. I’m also learning so much on vagus nerve rehab.

Joe is a Musculoskeletal Pain Expert and you may recall our wonderful interview on the last Anxiety Summit on pain and anxiety.

Let me give you some of the back story. Just over a week ago I posted this message in a private facebook group of integrative practitioners/colleagues:

I’d love some help for me please. I have this ongoing spasmodic dry cough that starts as soon as I talk and gets worse later in the day. As you can imagine it’s affecting my day to day meetings, seeing clients and doing interviews, not to mention being highly irritating!

I don’t feel sick at all and have no congestion. It started after my NYC trip and a really frightening flight over the Colorado mountains!

We had the most awful turbulence and it felt like wings on the plane were going to break. People were screaming and the parents behind us were reassuring their kids saying it’s ok, it’s just like a roller coaster ride. I was sitting next to a 6’4’’ young man who had just completed training in the Coast Guard. He was also terrified and said they had taught him how to survive a boat going down but not how to survive a plane going down.

I believe my immune system got suppressed big time! The day after I got home I got the flu for the first time in 30+ years and I felt pretty grim for a day and then recovered nicely over the next 4-5 days. The flu was over 10 days ago but this stupid cough continues!

One night I could not sleep due to the coughing and decided to try and relax my airways with GABA. I know how effective GABA is for stiff and tense muscles so why not try it for the throat spasms I was having? I am now able to have a reasonable conversation for say 15-30 mins if I take 500mg GABA opened on to my tongue. Viola! a new use for GABA – pretty cool!

I must be low in GABA because I’m able to take upwards of 5 (and sometime more) doses of 500mg a day and not feel too wiped out. That’s a lot of GABA for me – 125mg to 250mg used to be enough for the anxiety I once experienced! I did have a bit of my old early morning waking with anxiety (that I used to have in my late 30s) that week of the flu but that’s now gone.

I’m also using a homeopathic called Boiron Drosera. I’ve never had asthma and don’t have much experience with it but from what I’m reading it sounds like the“cough-variant” of asthma!?

I’m asking here because I’m intrigued by this whole scary flight/depressed immunity/GABA for the spasms thing and wonder if anyone here has any insights?

Joe Tatta responded in about 30 minutes with this message:

Sounds like you have a vagus nerve problem. Potentially loss of parasympathetics. You can read some in this article but there is much more…

Here is the article he shared: Arnold’s nerve cough reflex: evidence for chronic cough as a sensory vagal neuropathy

Arnold’s nerve ear-cough reflex is recognised to occur uncommonly in patients with chronic cough. In these patients, mechanical stimulation of the external auditory meatus can activate the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (Arnold’s nerve) and evoke reflex cough. This is an example of hypersensitivity of vagal afferent nerves, and there is now an increasing recognition that many cases of refractory or idiopathic cough may be due to a sensory neuropathy of the vagus nerve.

The paper presents two cases where the cough was successfully treated with gabapentin. Gabapentin (also known as Neurontin) affects GABA levels and this why I get such great results with GABA.

Gabapentin is drug that is primarily used to treat seizures and neuropathic pain. It is also used for restless leg syndrome and hot flashes, and off-label for anxiety, insomnia, fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder. I’d love to see GABA being studied and used for these conditions especially because gabapentin can cause withdrawal syndrome: Withdrawal symptoms after gabapentin discontinuation and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

Joe offered to meet with me via skype and I learned that the neuro-rehab is key. I’ve been doing breathing exercises and humming every hour on the hour for the last week i.e. about 10 times a day. When I hum it’s the “happy birthday” song and I have to think of a specific birthday. I hum and smile and think about my baby sister’s 7th birthday party 37 years ago. I had just come back from Australia and I have such great memories of it! We chatted about it at the weekend and had a good laugh.

I continue to use the GABA as needed, and am also taking GPC (GlyceroPhosphoCholine) and Acetyl-L-carnitine, both of which are acetylcholine precursors for nerve rehabilitation.

Because I’ve had so many questions about what is going on with me and what I’m doing, I have decided to start this blog post and I’ll continue to add to it. I’ve been documenting what has been happening as I go through this rehab because I’m finding it so fascinating.

Stay tuned for all the details:

  • More on the vagus nerve and why it’s so important
  • Why the very scary plane ride triggered this issue I’m having
  • How GABA works to stop the spasms in 5-10 seconds (I have a video to share)
  • Exactly what exercises I’m doing for the rehab and why you need to build up and not do gargling exercises on day one
  • More details about the nutrients: GPC and acetyl-l-carnitine
  • And an interview with Joe Tatta to share his expertise (I’m the patient/client here and am in learning mode)

I wouldn’t suggest trying any of this yourself until I share more because from what I’ve learned so far, you need to slowly built up to certain of the exercises.

Updates 4/1/16:

Here is the first video (taken 3/16/16) where I share the story of the scary plane ride and my flu and the start of the throat spasms.  You can hear how my voice sounds and how quickly 500mg GABA relaxes the spasms in my throat/neck.  I share what I learned from Joe Tatta about it being connected the vagus nerve. 

 

Here is the second video (also taken 3/16/16) where I demonstrate the 3-6-6 second breathing exercise and the happy birthday song humming exercise. I have to think of an actual birthday. I hum and think of my baby sister’s birthday (you can see those photos above).  Be warned, I am what I call “musically challenged!”

Here is the third video (taken late evening 3/16/16) where you can hear how bad my voice and throat gets later in the day.

 

Here is the video taken at Heavenly ski resort on 3/27/16.  You can see me doing my humming exercises in between skiing on this beautiful mountain and how I needed GABA after a strenuous ski run.  And I summarize what has been working for me so far.  I hope you enjoy the stunning scenery too!  I feel so fortunate that we can hop in the car and visit such an amazing place like this on the weekend! It’s about 90 minutes up the hill from where we live.  

 

And here is the final video in this series (taken yesterday 3/31/16). I demonstrate the exercises I am currently doing: 3-6-6 second breathing, humming (which has improved), the yawning and the tongue massage of the roof of my mouth.  I also talk about GPC and acetyl-l-carnitine. 

 

You can probably see and hear that I am much improved and have not needed much GABA for the last two days now.  In the last week I have interviewed Dr. Josh Axe for his “Eat Dirt” book and Dr. Kelly Brogan for her “A Mind of Your Own” book.  And Dr. David Brady has interviewed me for his June Fibrofix Summit and Dr. Eric Zielinski interviewed me for his August Essential Oils 2 Summit.  For each interview I did my exercises right beforehand and took 500mg GABA half way through the interview.  

GABA for vagus nerve
I had 2 x 500mg GABA on hand for my interviews – opened and ready to use!

Update: 4/8/16

I continue to improve and have not needed GABA for 4 days and only have a very mild hint of the throat feeling late evening.  

Two days ago I added an essential oil called Parasympathetic. It contains clove and lemon and I’ll share more in a future post.  Right now I can share that I used too much the first day and had the very dry mouth I experienced with too much GPC and acetyl-l-carnitine.

Update: 4/22/16

A quick update to let you know that my dry spasmodic cough has completely gone.  I  have not had any symptoms for a week and I have stopped the vagus nerve rehab exercises, GPC,  acetyl-l-carnitine, the essential oil called Parasympathetic and GABA.  

I so appreciate all the caring and concerned comments, feedback and ideas for me!  And boy, am I grateful for Joe and his expertise!

I will still be interviewing Joe so he can share the theory and address questions so please post questions you may have. 

If any of this resonates with you or if you have any other questions I’d love to hear back from you.

Please post them in the comments section below.

 

Anna Clendening: Anxious Singer on America’s Got Talent 2014

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anna clendening agt

Anna is a very talented 20 year old young woman who recently performed on America’s Got Talent 2014. Her singing was just beautiful and you could hear the raw emotion in her voice.

Being on this big stage was quite something for her – she’s been suffering from anxiety and depression since she was 16. A few months ago she was bedridden and having panic attacks. She said: “my mind had given up on me. I didn’t see a future. I didn’t want to be here anymore and I felt so bad about myself.”

She was able to turn things around dramatically with therapy and music.

During her audition, judge Howie Mandel shared: “I also suffer from an anxiety disorder – I have OCD.” He also said: “There isn’t anyone alive who doesn’t need help at some time and the world is here for you.” After her song, Howie was very kind and went and hugged her. He also said this: “life is filled with peaks and valleys, you have experienced a lot of valleys. Tonight, young lady, you are on a peak.”

I would have to agree and I’d like to say “bravo Anna!”  Watch her performance here….

I’ve got three other comments on this: the stigma of mental health, the wonderful effects of music for mood and encouragement to look in to the powerful effects of food and nutrients.

The stigma of mental health

I commend her for being open about her anxiety and depression. There is a great deal of stigma around mental illness but I had no idea how bad it was. I was very surprised to see all the cruel and insensitive comments on the youtube video. Here is one example:

Couldn’t leave her bed?  What a joke.  You didn’t see this kind this stuff 50 years ago.  It was called responsibility and accountability.  She was obviously validated and enabled by her parents.  Society today substantiates this crap.  It’s called life, and everybody has challenges and feeling they need to overcome, get over it.  I bet she’s drawing a nice little social security disability check, too. Its pretty sad that she has such self pity.  She is very attractive, talented, not overweight, racially advantaged, has loving parents.  She needs to visit a children’s cancer ward or burn ward and get a grip as to how truly blessed she is.  

I say this to Anna: “Just ignore these naysayers. You did good and the more of us who talk about it the more awareness we’ll bring.”

The wonderful effects of music for mood

In a 2009 paper called The effect of group music therapy on quality of life for participants living with a severe and enduring mental illness

A 10-week group music therapy project was designed to determine whether music therapy influenced quality of life and social anxiety for people with a severe and enduring mental illness living in the community. Ten one-hour weekly sessions including song singing, song writing and improvisation, culminated in each group recording original song/s in a professional studio.

This is what they found:

music therapy gave joy and pleasure, working as a team was beneficial, participants were pleasantly surprised at their creativity, and they took pride in their song.

A 2014 study called Possible benefits of singing to the mental and physical condition of the elderly, reported that the study participants felt:

refreshed, comfortable, light-hearted, relieved, and relaxed, they felt less tense and confused and their mood improved.  The level of cortisol, a salivary stress marker, decreased after singing.  The same tendencies were shown regardless of whether or not the subjects liked singing !  (this is my exclamation point)

I say this to Anna: “Good for you for finding music! I wish you all the best in AGT 2014!”

The powerful effects of food and nutrients

I would also like to encourage Anna and anyone with anxiety and depression to look in to the powerful effects of food and nutrients. Here are just a few of the topics we covered on the recent Anxiety Summit:

I say this to Anna: “I’d like to encourage you explore these and other biochemical approaches – so you can have zero anxiety and depression.”

And I say this to Howie: “I’d like to encourage you to also explore these and other biochemical approaches for eliminating your OCD.”  In this blog post about Charlize Theron I talk about how GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP and/or inositol can end OCD and obsessive thoughts and behaviors.

I am musically “challenged” and can’t sing to save my life so while this is all very interesting to me, it’s not something I have experienced first hand.  I’d love to hear from you.  

Do you sing or play a musical instrument? How does it make you feel?  Does it help with anxiety, depression, stress?

Neurotransmitters in food addiction: dopamine, endorphins, GABA and serotonin

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chocolate-cake-icecream

Food can be as addicting as drugs and we often see mood changes when someone has addictions or out of control cravings.

In this blog post Why do you crave and how do you self-medicate? I covered a simple way for you to figure out why you crave something or why you’re drawn to a particular food, substance, or behavior. I also said that it can be challenging to determine which part of your brain chemistry it’s affecting, and you may not associate cravings with mood issues.

In a series of connected articles I’m going to share some of the research supporting this. If you’ve read my book or have been reading my blog posts, you know I like to share research-based evidence. Unfortunately there are not many double blind studies on intervention and symptom management when it comes to amino acids, but I’ll be sharing the research that has been done – focusing on each neurotransmitter and amino acid individually.

Let’s start with this 2013 review titled Pharmacotherapies for Overeating and Obesity. Although the focus of the review is drug-based interventions for finding solutions to food addictions, the mechanisms of food addiction is nicely spelled out: neurotransmitter or brain chemical imbalances. I’d like to add that all of this can be in play even if you are not obese – you just have to love sugar/carbs, wine, coffee etc and eat or drink them to self-medicate.

  • “Research has shown that obesity can and does cause changes in behavior and in the brain itself that are very similar to changes caused by drugs of abuse”
  • “While food addiction is not the causal agent of all obesity, it is clear that many people no longer eat to survive, but instead survive to eat.”
  • “This review considers the importance of the brain’s reward system in food intake.”
  • “…research has recently demonstrated that each of these nutrient elements affects specific neurotransmitter systems in the brain providing the potential for targeted pharmacologic treatments” [instead of targeted drug treatments, we can use targeted amino acid supplements]
  • “The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) now recognizes addictions as a brain disorder, and as such, treatments aimed at addressing food addiction must address the dysfunctions at the level of the brain”
  • “There are a number of such therapies under investigation targeting neuropathways and neurotransmitters implicated in addiction, including: dopaminergic [i.e. low or high dopamine, a catecholamine], opioid [i.e. low endorphins], GABAnergic [i.e. low GABA or a need for glutamine], cannabinoid, serotonergic [i.e. low serotonin], and other novel treatment options.”

If this scientific information is of interest to you, I encourage you to read the whole paper here.

In this 2014 study looking at food addiction, in 233 participants, they did find a relationship between food addiction and negative mood i.e. there was: “an inclination toward behaving irrationally while experiencing negative mood states (Negative Urgency) and low levels of task persistence (lack of Perseverance)”

As a reminder here is the table again:

How you feel before

How you feel after

Brain chemistry imbalance

Amino acid to supplement

Anxious or stressed

Calm or relaxed

Low GABA

GABA

Depressed or anxious

Happy or content

Low serotonin

Tryptophan or 5-HTP

Tired or unfocused

Energetic, alert, or focused

Low catecholamines

Tyrosine

Wanting a reward or sad

Rewarded or comforted

Low endorphins

DPA (d-phenylalanine)

Irritable and shaky

Grounded or stable

Low blood sugar

Glutamine

 

As I said, the research is important, but more important are the incredible results my clients get when they have brain chemical deficiencies and use the amino acids in a targeted manner addressing each area of deficiency.

Meme Grant, GAPS Practitioner, Nutritional Therapist, FNTP, givennewlife.info participated my Amazing Aminos for Ending Emotional Eating program and this is what she said afterwards:

“I still am amazed at how quickly the panic attacks, binge eating, and mood swings disappeared. Tyrosine enabled me to focus and gave me energy to do things again, glutamine allowed me to walk past the gluten and dairy free junk foods, d-phenylalanine [DPA] stopped my comfort eating, tryptophan enabled me to stop my negative thoughts and helped me sleep but the best was when GABA was introduced, the panic attacks disappeared.”

This is why I call them the amazing amino acids. And this why addressing neurotransmitter deficiencies can end food addiction and out-of-control sugar cravings (and at the same time they help to eliminate or reduce anxiety, mood issues and insomnia).

Update June 24, 2016:

Research is now further highlighting the connection between food addiction and depression and anxiety.

In this May 2016 paper, Food addiction associations with psychological distress among people with type 2 diabetes  they looked at the relationship between food addiction and psychological distress among 334 patients with type 2 diabetes and found that those:

meeting the FA [food addiction] criterion had significantly higher depression, anxiety, and stress scores as compared to participants who did not meet the FA [food addiction] criterion.

This applies whether or not you have type 2 diabetes and whether or not you are overweight.

As you can see in this blog post: GABA for ending sugar cravings (and anxiety and insomnia), Melissa started taking Source Naturals GABA Calm in anticipation of stressful holiday travel and holiday gatherings.  She felt much calmer when she used GABA Calm and discovered that a wonderful side-benefit (we like side-benefits vs side-effects!) was reduced cravings (as well as improved sleep):

An unexpected result was that I stopped craving sweets after about a week of taking it! I didn’t even realize this until I was grocery shopping and out of habit walked towards the ice cream – I stopped and realized I didn’t want ice cream. So I walked toward the chocolate – same reaction. For once in my life, I was not craving sweets. I made truffles for a NYE party and only ate two. But what is really shocking is that the leftovers are still in my refrigerator two days later and I haven’t touched them. I don’t understand what is going on! Can this be the GABA Calm?

She was pleasantly surprised as many of my clients are – she felt more calm, she had better sleep and saw an end to her cravings!

If this is new to you this is what I do with my clients:  

  • Have them do the Amino Acid questionnaire  so they can figure out if they may have low brain chemicals that are affecting both mood and playing a role in food addiction or cravings.   
  • Review the Amino Acid Precautions
  • Have them do a trial  of the relevant amino acids, one at a time and monitor how they feel in terms of reduced cravings, less anxiety, improved mood and sleep

Let us know if this resonates with you and if you have tried the amino acids for food addiction or sugar/carb cravings? And what results you have seen?

 

 

Why do you crave and how do you self-medicate?

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Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out why you crave something or why you’re drawn to a particular food, substance, or behavior. It can be challenging to determine which part of your brain chemistry it’s affecting, and you may not associate cravings with mood issues. Here is a way to figure out why you may crave certain things.

Your drug-of-choice is something you self-medicate with and it is something that makes you feel good or “normal.” It could be candy, chocolate, starchy foods like bread or pasta, cookies, ice-cream, coffee, sodas or wine/beer. It could also be cigarettes, marijuana, a prescription medication like Prozac, street drugs, or even shopping or exercise.

Cravings for these substances (or behaviors) typically indicate a brain chemistry imbalance, so it’s very helpful to identify how the substances you crave affect you. This will help you determine which amino acids you might supplement to address the imbalance.

For example, a glass of wine may be calming for one person but energizing for another, or chocolate may be calming for some people and comforting for others. Certain prescription medications also offer clues. If you have many symptoms of low serotonin and have found that prescription SSRIs help, it’s possible that low serotonin is an issue.

Taking chocolate as an example, here’s what I suggest: Before you eat some chocolate, think about why you want it. Is it because you’re sad or tired or anxious? Or do you feel like you deserve a reward or feel irritable and shaky? Then, once you’ve eaten it, think about how it made you feel.

Use your drug-of-choice (candy, chocolate, starchy foods like bread or pasta, cookies, ice-cream, coffee, sodas or wine/beer etc) and the chart below to help you determine what brain chemistry imbalance may be affecting you and which amino acid you may benefit from.

How you feel before

How you feel after

Brain chemistry imbalance

Amino acid to supplement

Anxious or stressed

Calm or relaxed

Low GABA

GABA

Depressed or anxious

Happy or content

Low serotonin

Tryptophan or 5-HTP

Tired or unfocused

Energetic, alert, or focused

Low catecholamines

Tyrosine

Wanting a reward or sad

Rewarded or comforted

Low endorphins

DPA (d-phenylalanine)

Irritable and shaky

Grounded or stable

Low blood sugar

Glutamine

Feel free to share in the comments section: your drug-of-choice and how it makes you feel before you indulge and how you feel afterwards. If you’ve used any of the amino acid supplements to end the craving or addiction, I’d love to hear your feedback too.

The Antianxiety Food Solution on Annie Jennings’ JenningsWire

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trudy scott on annie jenningsI really enjoyed sharing a few of my top antianxiety food solution tips on the Annie Jennings’ JenningsWire podcast! It was short but sweet! We managed to cover real food, red meat, coffee!!, tryptophan and gluten in 10 minutes!

The Antianxiety Food Solution

  • How do you calm your anxious mind, improve your mood and end cravings with food?
  • Does red meat cause anxiety?
  • If you’re anxious do you really have to quit caffeine?
  • Everyone is talking about the gluten-free diet – what is the tie in to mood?
  • What is your favorite nutrient for eliminating anxiety, worry, negative self-talk, low self-esteem and afternoon/evening sugar cravings?
  • What are the key nutrients for addressing social anxiety?

You can go to the Annie Jennings’ JenningsWire podcast page to listen to the 10 minute audio interview.

We didn’t get to the last question: What are the key nutrients for addressing social anxiety?  If you have the little-known condition called pyroluria (the main symptoms are inner tension and social anxiety) you may need to supplement with zinc and vitamin B6. These nutrients also happen to be co-factors for making brain chemicals like serotonin and the calming GABA.  I am seeing an overlap between the traits anxious introverts resonate with and the pyroluria symptoms !  Imagine a nutritional solution for anxious introverts!

From Annie’s site:  “This podcast is presented by Annie Jennings, of the National Publicity Firm, Annie Jennings PR and the creator of JenningsWire online magazine. JenningsWire is capturing the heart of America with its rich community of talented, insightful and relevant bloggers and podcasters!”

Thanks Annie and Stacey for the opportunity!