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How do I taper from my antidepressant with tryptophan and can I safely use the other amino acids?

By Trudy Scott 119 Comments

antidepressant-tapering

Today’s article is based on a question I am seeing more and more on the blog: How do I taper from my antidepressant with tryptophan and can I safely use the other amino acids?

I find my clients do better when tapering off an antidepressant (which is often prescribed for anxiety and panic attacks) when their nutritional status is solid. Incorporating diet changes and adding amino acids and other nutrients first can result in a more successful taper with less side-effects. This would mean starting with the basics – eating real whole food, incorporating quality animal protein, eating to balance blood sugar, and removing gluten, caffeine and sugar.

If needed and based on testing results, it’s important to address any other nutritional deficiencies such as low iron, low vitamin D, low stomach acid, low total cholesterol, low B12 (and whatever else is an issue), plus support the adrenals/sex hormones/thyroid if needed and addressing gut health like leaky gut and dysbiosis.

Adding a good copper free multivitamin and often the addition of zinc and vitamin B6, evening primrose oil and possibly fish oil – the latter based on each person’s unique needs.

With antidepressants such as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), I have my clients work with their prescribing doctor and get the approval to add tryptophan (or 5-HTP) 6 hours apart from the SSRI. If they are taking the medication at night they get the approval from their doctor to switch it to the morning, and will take tryptophan (or 5-HTP) at least 6 hours later, mid-afternoon and evening.

If they decide to do both the medication and tryptophan (or 5-HTP), they get a protocol for the SSRI taper for the future. This is important. If you are in too big a rush to start right away, it often causes more issues. It’s also important to make sure you get a very slow taper protocol from your doctor. Some antidepressants are harder to taper (Paxil is notoriously difficult) and they all should be tapered really slowly.

The plan is to start to taper the SSRI once you have been using the tryptophan (or 5-HTP) for at least 4 to 8 weeks and are seeing real benefits by using it. This translates to much much less or none of the following symptoms: anxiety, depression, insomnia, rumination, worry, negative-self-talk, perfectionism, afternoon and evening carbohydrate cravings, PMS, rage or anger.

For some of my clients it’s 3 months before they feel they are ready to taper. This may be because of feedback they have provided based on prior taper attempts and how they are feeling this time. It may also be based on what else is going on in their lives like a stressful work situation. It may also be based on the time of the year: winter is generally not a good time to taper and definitely not if you suffer from increased depression or anxiety in winter.

The tryptophan (or 5-HTP) is adjusted up as needed while continuing to taper the SSRI.

The doctor is always kept informed and monitors for the possibility of serotonin syndrome. I learned about the potential concerns about serotonin syndrome when using tryptophan or 5-HTP with an SSRI from Julia Ross, author of The Mood Cure, and so I continue to caution my clients about this.

When I interviewed Dr. Peter Bongiorno in season 4 of the Anxiety Summit (Serotonin and anxiety: tryptophan, 5-HTP, serotonin syndrome and medication tapers), he shared that he is not concerned about serotonin syndrome being an issue with tryptophan or 5-HTP dosed with an SSRI, even if taken at the same time. He cited research that found the combination of tryptophan and SSRI did not result in serotonin syndrome in any of the participants.

Dr. Bongiorno also uses the same approach to address the basics:

the most important thing is that we really establish all the basics and that they’re in the healthiest place possible.  Because if those aren’t there, if a patient just gets off the medication and we haven’t really done anything to change the underlying reasons why they got to the place where they had the mood issue, in most cases they’re going to go back there again.

Some people need amino acid support in more than just the low serotonin area so we review the amino acid questionnaire and consider trials of GABA and other amino acids too. All this only applies for SSRIs and tryptophan or 5-HTP. The other amino acids can safely be used with SSRIs, and it’s not uncommon to also have low GABA, low endorphins, low catecholamines and low blood sugar and need them all, but it’s still best to discuss them with the prescribing doctor.

We also review all the amino acid precautions.

Some people choose to work with their doctor to taper the SSRI and then add the tryptophan (or 5-HTP) once they have quit the medication. I have found that this makes it much harder to do and more side-effects are seen. With the amino acids you start to get some relief right away and have hope on the first day! They also make it so much easier to quit the sugar, gluten and caffeine without having to use will-power.

In summary, these are my recommendations for doing an SSRI taper with amino acids:

(please don’t simply read one or two blogs and jump in to this)

  • use the amino acids from day one to start addressing low levels of all the brain chemicals
  • use the tryptophan or 5-HTP at least 6 hours away from the SSRI

I would like to add that Dr. Brogan shares that coffee enemas help her patients who are doing medication tapers.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. It’s an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids and helping their clients/patients to taper from antidepressants (always working with the prescribing doctor).

Have you used a similar SSRI taper protocol? And how did it work for you? What would you have done differently? And what advice would you give someone contemplating an SSRI taper?

Have you found that coffee enemas have helped?

If you are a practitioner, has the above approach been helpful for your clients/patients?

Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense (Relora®) lowers cortisol and reduces stress and anxiety

By Trudy Scott 19 Comments

magnolia

I recently blogged about the Seriphos reformulation: Seriphos has been reformulated – what do I use to lower high cortisol? and promised to share additional products that could provide similar benefits. When someone in my community shared that she uses Relora® with success I started to look at the research and I am very encouraged.

This 2013 study: Effect of Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense (Relora®) on cortisol and psychological mood state in moderately stressed subjects

assessed salivary cortisol exposure and psychological mood state in 56 subjects (35 men and 21 women) screened for moderate stress and supplemented with a standardized/patented MP [Magnolia bark extract and Phellodendron bark extract] combination (Relora®, Next Pharmaceuticals) or placebo for 4 weeks.

After 4 weeks of supplementation (500 mg /day, with 250 mg at breakfast and 250mg at dinner) these were the results seen in the Relora® group (compared to the placebo group):

  • salivary cortisol exposure was significantly lower (18%)
  • lower overall stress (11%)
  • lower tension (13%)
  • less depression (20%)
  • less anger (42%)
  • less fatigue (31%),
  • less confusion (27%)
  • and significantly better mood state parameters (11%) and vigor (18%)

relora-effect-chart (table from Effect of Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense (Relora®) on cortisol and psychological mood state in moderately stressed subjects)

Each of the components in Relora® have been shown to be beneficial for controlling stress and anxiety, with the combination proving to be even more effective:

Extracts of Magnolia officinalis bark and its active constituent, honokiol, have been studied in animal models with comparable anxiolytic activity to diazepam (a benzodiazepine anxiolytic used to treat anxiety), but without associated side effects such as sedation.

Berberine, a constituent of the Phellodendron extract, has also demonstrated a significant anxiolytic effect in rodent stress studies.

The combination of magnolia plus phellodendron appears to be even more effective in controlling stress/anxiety compared to either herb used separately.

The study concluded that:

daily supplementation with a combination of Magnolia bark extract and Phellodendron bark extract (Relora®) reduces cortisol exposure and perceived daily stress, while improving a variety of mood state parameters, including lower fatigue and higher vigor.

These results suggest an effective natural approach to modulating the detrimental health effects of chronic stress in moderately stressed adults.

An added bonus is that there were no adverse events or side effects reported.

I’d like to note that the study does report that it was funded by the manufacturer of Relora® (Next Pharmaceuticals) and conducted by SupplementWatch.

A related study, also funded by the manufacturer: Effect of a proprietary Magnolia and Phellodendron extract on stress levels in healthy women: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial indicated that

Relora may offer some relief for premenopausal women experiencing mild transitory anxiety.

In this study, the participants used 250mg Relora® 3 times daily for 6 weeks and although mild anxiety was reduced, no changes were observed in cortisol levels. Clearly more research is needed and as with any nutrient, there will be the fact that you may benefit from it and someone else may not.

I’m encouraged enough by the research to begin recommending this product for high cortisol and the anxiety caused by the high cortisol. This will of course be done in conjunction with all the other approaches I use: real whole food, quality animal protein, eat to control blood sugar, no gluten/sugar/caffeine, addressing gut health, using GABA/tryptophan and the other amino acids as needed and addressing low levels of zinc, vitamin B6, vitamin D, iron if necessary. Additional adrenal support would include extra vitamin C and pantothenic acid, a B complex and possibly rhodiola.

Have you used Relora® with success either personally or with clients/patients? Has it lowered salivary cortisol levels? Has it helped with stress and anxiety?

If you had been using Seriphos to help lower high cortisol and reduce stress and anxiety, and decide to use Relora® please let us know how effective it is for you.

Update November 18, 2016: I emailed Interplexus asking if they will be bringing back the original Seriphos formula and received this message from them:

Yes, the information is correct we will be returning the previous formula of Seriphos and are expecting to have it late November, unfortunately we do not have a completion date as of yet so the estimated time frame is not a guarantee. It will be the same formula as before and we will also manufacture a Phosphatidylserine standalone product in the future. If you have further questions or concerns feel free to contact, and you’re also welcome to check on the status of Seriphos periodically.

Update January 20, 2017: Seriphos Original Formula is back and you can read more about it here 

 

Vitamin D: anxiety, depression, sun exposure, supplements and optimal levels

By Trudy Scott 36 Comments

vitamin-d
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

It was Vitamin D Day on November 2nd and it was a day to recognize vitamin D deficiency as a world problem. The day is led by the Vitamin D Society, Vitamin D Council and GrassrootsHealth, non-profit organizations dedicated to spread awareness on the vitamin D deficiency pandemic. According to the Vitamin D Day site:

Researchers agree that at least one third of the world is deficient in vitamin D, and some scientists even think a greater percent of people are deficient in vitamin D.

Why are so many people deficient, you might ask? It’s simple really. We get vitamin D from sun exposure. And now, more than ever, the world’s population lives an indoor lifestyle, avoiding the sun daily.

Doctors are beginning to discover that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Furthermore, they’re discovering that vitamin D deficiency may make some diseases more severe, like respiratory diseases and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus. And they’re discovering that vitamin D can be an important piece in the treatment of some illnesses and diseases, including multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, asthma and many other diseases!

Low vitamin D is also a factor when it comes to mental health. Even though this information is not listed on the Vitamin D day site, there is much research supporting the connection:

There is a strong association between low S-25(OH)D and higher negative and depressive symptoms in psychotic disorders.

In women at risk for depression, early pregnancy low vitamin D levels are associated with higher depressive symptom scores in early and late pregnancy.

Participants with higher serum vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels were significantly less likely to report problems with depression and anxiety.

Serum vitamin D status is related to the occurrence of anxiety in post-stroke patients and may be an independent risk factor of [post-stroke anxiety] after 1 month.

Here are eight key factors to know about vitamin D for Vitamin D day:

  1. Vitamin D comes from sun exposure, not your diet.
  2. Scientists and doctors agree that at least a third of the world is deficient in vitamin D.
  3. If you don’t get frequent moderate sun exposure or take a vitamin D supplement, you’re likely deficient in vitamin D.
  4. Moderate midday sun exposure is the best for making vitamin D.
  5. You don’t need to burn to make vitamin D.
  6. Vitamin D supplements are a good option in the wintertime to get the vitamin D you need.

In the northern hemisphere, the sun starts focusing more on the southern hemisphere. The sun’s rays strike the northern hemisphere at a different angle, an angle that isn’t quite as intense as during the summer. In consequence, your body has a harder time making vitamin D in the winter compared to the summer. The further north you live, the more difficult it is to make vitamin D in the winter.

Remember you can always check to see if you’re making vitamin D by looking at your shadow. If it’s longer than you, you aren’t making much vitamin D. And in the winter, your shadow is often longer than you.

Have no fear that you can’t make vitamin D! Vitamin D supplements are a good option in the wintertime. Low-pressure sunbeds and UV light units are also options to help you make vitamin D during the winter.

  1. Vitamin D is important for many things, including your bones, heart, respiratory system, brain [and mental health], and likely cancer prevention.
  2. Consider getting tested for vitamin D, to see if you’re getting enough.

Vitamin D tests are pretty easy. You can ask your doctor to add it to your next routine blood panel, or you can order an in-home test online through the Vitamin D Council.

vitamin-d-1
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

Here are the vitamin D range guidelines from various organizations and the recommendations from the Vitamin D council:

vitamin-d-2

This blog post by the Vitamin D Council helps you to interpret your results: I tested my vitamin D level. What do my results mean?

When you get your test results you will see a number in units of ng/ml, for example, 50 ng/ml. These are the units that health professionals in the United States use. Elsewhere in the world, vitamin D blood test results are given in units of nmol/l.

  • To convert a test result measured in ng/ml to one measured in nmol/l, multiply the ng/ml number by 2.5. For example, 20 ng/ml is the same as 50 nmol/l (20 x 2.5).
  • To convert a test result measured in nmol/l to one measured in ng/ml, divide the nmol/l number by 2.5. For example, 50 nmol/l is the same as 20 ng/ml (50÷2.5).

This great Sunshine Calendar shows the amount of time needed to produce sufficient vitamin D.

vitamin-d-3
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

And this graphic shows why most of us aren’t getting enough vitamin D and why we need to supplement and get more sunshine exposure.

vitamin-d-4
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

To learn more about vitamin D, please visit Vitamin D Council, Vitamin D Society, GrassRootsHealth and the Vitamin D Day website.

Do you have your vitamin D levels tested at least once or twice a year? Are they in the 40-80ng/ml range?

And do you spend time in the sun and supplement?

The pill and other hormonal contraception: depression, anxiety and FAM

By Trudy Scott 9 Comments

homonal-contraception

Women taking the contraceptive pill and other hormonal contraception are more likely to be depressed. These are the findings from a Danish study published in JAMA Psychiatry and reported in an article on PubMed Health.

This was a large prospective cohort study which aimed to investigate whether using hormonal contraception is associated with the future use of antidepressants and a diagnosis of depression.

More than 1 million women aged 15 to 34, with no prior history of depression, were included in the study [and followed for 13 years].

The researchers compared users of hormonal contraception with non-users and found users were more likely to be prescribed antidepressants and diagnosed with depression.

This study found that those women who used the pill were 23% more likely to use antidepressants.

And here are the connections between antidepressant use and these other birth control methods (categorized by estrogen type and dose, progesterone type and the method of contraception):

  • progestogen-only pill – 34% more likely to use antidepressants
  • levonorgestrel intrauterine system (IUS) – 40% more likely to use antidepressants
  • vaginal ring (etonogestrel) – 60% more likely to use antidepressants
  • contraceptive patch (norgestrolmin) – 100% more likely to use antidepressants

The study authors state this:

it’s important to note this study is not able to prove that the contraceptive methods are responsible for the depression, only to find possible links to investigate further.

The researchers don’t advise that women should stop using their contraception, just that further studies are needed. If this association is found to be true, depression may have to be added as a possible side effect of hormonal contraception. 

My fellow nutritionist Karla Maree says this: ‘we’re going to need black box warnings on these medications” and I agree. It’s disappointing that the researchers say further studies are needed.

Dr. Daniel Amen sees the association in his practice and shared this about birth control pills when I interviewed him during season 3 of the Anxiety Summit.

Unfortunately, they drop serotonin levels. You’ve got to ask yourself why are 23 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 60 taking antidepressants. In large part, it’s the birth-control pills that are changing the hormones in their brain, the neurotransmitters in their brain. All of a sudden, they’re more anxious and they’re more depressed.

Birth control pills also can drop magnesium. Magnesium is a natural calmer to nerve cells. They literally can change things. 

We know the pill can also deplete vitamin B6 and folate, and can raise copper levels so these are likely some of the additional reasons we see mood changes in women taking them.

You may have noticed that Dr. Amen mentions 23 percent in our interview – which was actually done in May 2015. He is referring to a 2011 report released by the National Center for Health Statistics:

  • the rate of antidepressant use in this country among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older) increased by almost 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008.
  • 23% of women in their 40s and 50s take antidepressants, a higher percentage than any other group (by age or sex)
  • women are 2½ times more likely to be taking an antidepressant than men

Is this related to hormonal birth control? Very likely! I’m not in favor of any of these hormonal birth control methods and know from experience that they often cause both depression and anxiety in my clients but seeing these percentages is still shocking!

It’s quite strange how many of my clients don’t think of birth control as having side-effects or being as “bad” as other medications. This was certainly the case for me. I’ve very seldom taken medications in my life but I did use the pill and then an IUD for a short while, and initially I didn’t give either a second thought. But I’m sure they were part of the perfect storm that contributed to my anxiety and panic attacks in my late 30s. I was prescribed an antidepressant at this time but chose not to take it, instead searching for nutritional solutions.

During my search for answers, I read tons of books and one book has had a huge impact on me: Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It offered a powerful non-hormonal option for birth control: the Fertility Awareness Method or FAM and gave me so much insight about my body and hormones. It’s also something I now share with my clients. It deserves an entire review so stay tuned. For now, you can check out an overview on her website.

My version of the book was published in 1995 and Toni now has a new revised 2015 edition: Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health.

taking-charge-of-your-fertility

What about you? Do you consider birth control more acceptable than other medications? Are you or were you on birth control and an antidepressant? And do you/did you feel that the birth control affected your mood and contributed to your depression or anxiety?

Or did it improve your symptoms (some women do report a better mood)?

Have you considered or used FAM as an alternative method of birth control? (or pregnancy achievement?)

Have you been offered birth control because of heavy periods or PMS? There are better ways to deal with this and one approach would be to address low serotonin levels with tryptophan.

If you’re in menopause and have no need for this information, please pass it on to your daughters and grand-daughters, nieces, sisters and girlfriends.

The Autoimmune Fix by Dr. Tom O’Bryan: gluteomorphins, casomorphins and withdrawal

By Trudy Scott 4 Comments

 

autoimmune-fix

Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, celiac disease, osteoporosis, and lupus are all autoimmune diseases and can be reversed because 70% of them are found in the gut. In Dr. Tom O’Bryan’s new book, The Autoimmune Fix: How to Stop the Hidden Autoimmune Damage That Keeps You Sick, Fat, and Tired Before It Turns Into Disease he provides a practical and much-needed guide to navigating autoimmune diseases to help you feel better and develop a plan that works for you.

A big factor with many autoimmune diseases and conditions is going gluten-free and often going dairy-free too. As Dr. O’ Bryan states:

This does not mean that everyone with a systemic autoimmune disease has a sensitivity to gluten, but it does show the very high correlation.

He also shares that Marios Hadjivassiliou MD believes that

gluten sensitivity is associated with autoimmune disease and that celiac is just one manifestation of it.

Here is a wonderful success story from the book – a gluten-free and dairy-free diet, and the nutrition to heal her intestinal permeability (or leaky gut):

Nancy never left the house without a packet of tissues. She suffered from chronic allergies but could never figure out exactly what she was allergic to. She was also constantly battling her depression, and although she didn’t think of herself as someone who had digestive problems, she always felt bloated. The comforting allure of a box of doughnuts, a pint of ice cream, a bowl of noodles, or, when things were really bad, a roll of raw cookie dough was often too hard to resist and seemed to calm down her anxiety. She dressed to hide her weight gain in public, hoping to pass invisibly through life. She didn’t even consider dating. She had lost interest in men anyway, despite being only 28 years old.

To the average doctor, Nancy was a classic depressed patient who needed a prescription for antidepressants, perhaps some antianxiety medication, and a good weight-loss and exercise program. But here’s what most doctors miss with people like Nancy: Her depression, anxiety, and weight gain were actually the result of immune responses that were causing chronic inflammation. Nancy, like so many women, had a constellation of symptoms that all pointed to one culprit: a systemic inflammatory cascade.

When Nancy came to my office, I ran an antibody test to determine the cause of her problems. I discovered that the culprits for her immune reaction were a sensitivity to gluten and dairy and elevated levels of LPS [lipopolysaccharides] in her blood. These molecules were activating her immune system. But how did these molecules enter her bloodstream? The answer was the third factor: intestinal permeability. With the proper testing and treatment, a gluten- and dairy-free diet, and the nutrition to heal her intestinal permeability, Nancy’s antibody load to LPS reduced within 6 months. She stopped throwing gasoline on the fire (by removing gluten and dairy), and her symptoms began lifting within the first 2 weeks as her inflammation subsided. Within 6 months, she was down two dress sizes and came back to see me, vibrant with life.

It really can be as successful as this and I see these kind of results with so many of my clients who make these few simple changes.

However, for some people, it can be more challenging and you may experience withdrawal symptoms when you give up wheat and dairy, and feel tired, depressed (or anxious) or nauseated:

Some don’t want to exercise, and some have headaches (just like with coffee withdrawal). This is especially true of those who in their blood tests have elevated levels of the peptide in wheat called gluteomorphin or elevated levels of the peptide in dairy called casomorphin.

These poorly digested peptides can stimulate the opiate receptors in the gut and brain. Opiate receptors trigger the production of hormones called endorphins and enkephalins that produce that feel-good response. Remember the last time you laughed out loud in a movie or with your friends? Perhaps you even had belly laughter—when you laugh so hard your belly hurts? Remember how good you felt after that? It’s because your opiate receptors were stimulated and you now have a little more endorphins circulating in your bloodstream. Well, gluten and dairy can mildly stimulate these same receptors. And just as an addict may have withdrawal symptoms when they stop their drug of choice, such may be the case with gluten and dairy withdrawal. My friend William Davis, MD, author of Wheat Belly, even came up with a name for it: wheat withdrawal. The same may be true for removing dairy or sugar.

If this happens to you, don’t be surprised. First of all, this may be the first time you had to give up some of your favorite comfort foods cold turkey. And these favorite foods become comfort foods for a reason: Sugar-laden foods, especially refined carbohydrates, are highly addictive. Your body is actually going through a gliadin-casein-sugar–derived opiate withdrawal.

You may ask how common is it to have these withdrawal symptoms? This can be different for each individual and can differ from one practice to the next:

Dr. Davis [author of Wheat Belly] believes that wheat withdrawal can be quite unpleasant for close to 40 percent of the population. That has not been my clinical experience. Our number has been closer to 10 percent, which is still a substantial number. You may have a friend or family member who has tried to go gluten-free and has told you, “My body must need wheat. It’s been 3 days since I’ve had anything made of wheat, and I feel awful!” This response can be scary. But remember, it’s not that the body needs wheat; it craves it. This is just the body craving a toxic substance that it has gotten accustomed to. Don’t worry: The symptoms will disappear quickly. And best of all, the cravings for sugar and wheat will subside, and then you feel wonderful!

It is interesting to read that Dr. O’Bryan finds that only 10% of his patients have unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. I’d like to add to the discussion and share that with the anxious women that I work with, it’s even higher than the 40% that Dr. Davis reports. It’s in these instances that I find the targeted amino acids so helpful to break the addiction, prevent the need for having to use willpower and provide instant mood and anxiety relief at the same time: tryptophan (if it’s afternoon/evening cravings), GABA (if you stress-eat), DPA (if you comfort-eat) or glutamine (if you crave due to low blood sugar).

Dr. O’Bryan does recommend glutamine for gut healing, together with vitamin D, fish oil, probiotics, zinc carnosine and colostrum. I suspect he doesn’t recommend the amino acids I mentioned above because he doesn’t see as many unpleasant or difficult withdrawal symptoms.

Some of my other favorite sections from this new book include:

  • his brilliant description of the immune system and how antibodies are created, and how inflammation is the primary tool in our immune system’s arsenal that keeps us healthy
  • the differences between autoimmune diseases and the many autoimmune conditions (he lists 159 that are on the autoimmune spectrum!)  
  • the differences between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity
  • the leaky gut and lipopolysaccharides discussion, and the section on the microbiome and dysbiosis (and the big connection to stress)
  • the connection of a disproportionally large forehead to celiac disease (fascinating!)
  • testing and measuring autoantibodies (I love that he calls them “messengers from the future”) and the chart that shows the likelihood as to whether you will develop a particular disease
  • the extensive lists of the hidden sources of gluten in supplements, cosmetics (this is surprisingly long) and even household products
  • the connection between gum disease, mouth bacteria and leaky gut
  • his food and nutrient recommendations
  • the long list of references and study summaries – if you’ve have the wonderful opportunity to have heard Dr. O’Bryan speak live or on summits (he’s a popular speaker on prior Anxiety Summits) you’ll recognize and love this style of his right away

If any of this is new to you and you suspect you may have an autoimmune disease or condition, then this book, The Autoimmune Fix is a must-read. It launched earlier this week and as you would expect from Dr. O’Bryan, it’s brilliant! You can order your copy here on Amazon. This is groundbreaking information we all need to know!

Let us know if you have an autoimmune disease or condition and if going gluten-free and/or dairy-free has helped you? Was it an easy change for you to make or did you experience withdrawal symptoms? Did you power through or did you successfully use amino acids to help? Have you done any of the testing he discusses or addressed dysbiosis? Healed your leaky gut?

If you have already purchased and read the book, please share some of your favorite sections and what has helped you.

Sugar vs fat, BPA in cans, PCOS awareness month: in the news

By Trudy Scott 2 Comments

sugar-vs-fat

Sugar vs fat, BPA in cans, and PCOS awareness month are all in the news this month so here are some links to more information on each of these topics.

This shocking NPR article covers this new paper about the sugar vs fat debate: 50 years ago, sugar industry quietly paid scientists to point blame at fat

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded research that downplayed the risks of sugar and highlighted the hazards of fat, according to a newly published article in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The article draws on internal documents to show that an industry group called the Sugar Research Foundation wanted to “refute” concerns about sugar’s possible role in heart disease. The SRF then sponsored research by Harvard scientists that did just that. The result was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1967, with no disclosure of the sugar industry funding.

It’s hard to believe that researchers would do this! The worst part is that this type of thing is still happening. You can read some of Marion Nestle’s commentary at the end of the above article.

At least now research sponsors do have to be disclosed so we are hopefully getting better at preventing this type of thing. We must always look at who funds a paper.

canned-foods

A CNN article, Canned foods linked to BPA risk in new study reports:

A study published in the journal Environmental Research on Wednesday not only reveals that consuming canned foods can expose our bodies to BPA, it pinpoints the worst offenders.

The study suggests that canned soups and pasta can expose consumers to higher concentrations of BPA than canned vegetables and fruit – and although those foods are tied to BPA concentrations, canned beverages, meat and fish are not.

BPA stands for bisphenol A, it’s a chemical that is found in plastics and it behaves in a very similar way to estrogen in the body. Because of this it’s called an endocrine disrupter and has an impact on depression, ADHD and anxiety.

An animal study published in 2015, Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity accounts for anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in rats perinatally exposed to bisphenol A reports

hyperactivity of the HPA [hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis] is an important link between perinatal BPA exposure and persistent potentiation in anxiety and depression

It’s unfortunate they didn’t get a commentary from the Environmental Working Group which has a great short Guide to BPA.

pcos-yoga

September is PCOS awareness month and here is some wonderful information on yoga for anxiety and PCOS, from my friend and PCOS expert Amy Medling at PCOS Diva. I’m such a big fan of yoga for stress and anxiety but had no idea it could improve these PCOS symptoms:

Yoga can reduce anxiety symptoms, reduce mFG score for hirsutism, improve menstrual frequency, insulin values and more according to a 2012 study. For more about the benefits of yoga for women with PCOS check out this blog post: 5 Reasons Why Yoga is Beneficial for PCOS

In case you’re not familiar with PCOS, Amy shares this overview on her site

PCOS Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders found in women, affecting approximately 10% of women worldwide, with less than 50% of them diagnosed. The syndrome is present throughout a woman’s life from puberty through post-menopause and affects women of all races and ethnic groups. Women with PCOS wrestle with an array of possible symptoms including obesity, irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, depression [and anxiety], acne, and hair loss. Far reaching health implications such as increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes make these already stressful symptoms even more daunting.

What do you think? Are you shocked about the sugar study discovery? Do you already avoid BPA? Do you have PCOS or know someone who has PCOS?