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GABA

Yoga increases brain GABA levels and reduces anxiety

By Trudy Scott 8 Comments

triangle-pose

In a 2007 study published by the Division of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine – Yoga Asana sessions increase brain GABA levels: a pilot study – researchers had 8 yoga practitioners complete a 60-minute yoga session and 11 comparison subjects complete a 60-minute reading session.

The study objective was to compare changes in brain levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) – our calming neurotransmitter – in those completing the 60-minute yoga session and in those reading.

These were the results that were reported:

There was a 27% increase in GABA levels in the yoga practitioner group after the yoga session but no change in the comparison subject group after the reading session.

And here is the conclusion the authors reached:

These findings demonstrate that in experienced yoga practitioners, brain GABA levels increase after a session of yoga. This suggests that the practice of yoga should be explored as a treatment for disorders with low GABA levels such as depression and anxiety disorders. Future studies should compare yoga to other forms of exercise to help determine whether yoga or exercise alone can alter GABA levels.

In this study, GABA levels were measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRS/MRSI) before and after the yoga and reading sessions. If you really want to know how yoga improves your anxiety you could do the GABA section of the amino acid questionnaire and rate your before and after symptoms:  

  • Anxiety and feeling overwhelmed or stressed
  • Feeling worried or fearful
  • Panic attacks
  • Unable to relax or loosen up
  • Stiff or tense muscles
  • Feeling stressed and burned-out
  • Craving carbs, alcohol, or drugs for relaxation and calming

The above study looked at experienced yoga practitioners but there is so much research on the many benefits of yoga for everyone and for many conditions. Here is a small sampling of some other studies that include anxiety as well as depression, stress, hormonal imbalances and sleep issues:

If you’ve never done yoga or if you haven’t been doing it for a while this blog will hopefully give you the motivation to start a yoga practice or get back into it.

You may ask: how do I get started?

The important thing is to find the joy in doing it so I encourage you to try different classes until you find one you love. I love Iyengar yoga but it’s not for everyone (it can be seen as too slow for some people.) Here is a yoga DVD for more advanced Iyengar yoga students: Iyengar Yoga with Gabriella.

If you already do yoga this will confirm what you already likely know. Please share what yoga you enjoy, how often you practice and how it leaves you feeling.

If you’re a health practitioner, please share if yoga is something you recommend to your clients or patients.

GABA-consuming bacteria discovered: Evtepia gabavorous

By Trudy Scott 25 Comments

bacteria

New bacteria that consumes GABA, the main calming neurotransmitter, has been discovered. It has provisionally been named KLE1738 Evtepia gabavorous (vorous means “eating”).

This new discovery was presented at the recent American Society for Microbiology conference in Boston in the Microbial Mind Control session.

Here is the entire abstract: Gaba Modulating Bacteria of the Human Gut Microbiome:

The gut microbiome affects many different diseases, and has been recently linked to human mental health. The microbiome community is diverse, but 50-80% of its diversity remains uncultured. We previously reported that uncultured bacteria from the marine environment require growth factors from neighboring species, and by using co-culture, we could cultivate novel diversity. In the present study, we used a similar co-culture approach to grow bacteria from humans stool samples. KLE1738, a “Most-Wanted” member of the human gut microbiome only known by its 16S rDNA signature, was found to require the presence of Bacteroides fragilis KLE1758 for growth. Using bio-assay driven purification of B. fragilis KLE1758 supernatant, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system, was identified as the growth factor for KLE1738. We found no other tested compound but GABA supported the growth of KLE1738, and genomic analysis suggests an unusual metabolism focused on consuming GABA. Due to this unique growth requirement, we provisionally name KLE1738 Evtepia gabavorous. Using growth of E. gabalyticus as an indicator, we then identified novel GABA producing bacteria from the gut microbiome. Reduced levels of GABA are associated with depression, and we found fewer GABA producers in a human cohort of depressed individuals. By modulating the level of GABA, microbial producers and consumers of this neurotransmitter may be influencing host behavior.

If you’re anxious and especially if you have physical anxiety, it’s worth considering if low GABA is an issue and addressing your anxiety by trying to raise your GABA levels by taking GABA as a supplement, with lifestyle activities like yoga sessions, by eating a real whole foods traditional diet and by addressing gut health.

There is much research supporting the gut-brain connection and how imbalances of the microbiome i.e. intestinal dysbiosis, can contribute to:

Could Evtepia gabavorous be a factor in all of the above? It’s too soon to know but I expect we’ll know more as more research is completed.

If you’re looking for more information on GABA and the gut:

We certainly appreciate Postdoctoral Research Associate, Phillip Strandwitz and his team for the work they are doing. Strandwitz shares this on his bio:

my work has led me to focus on the gut-microbe-brain axis, specifically microbes able to modulate levels of neurotransmitters

I reached out to I asked him why he is interested this area of research and he shared this with me:

I think mental health is an incredible burden to society and there is not nearly enough spotlight nor funding to understand and treat these issues. I believe the microbiome is involved (at least to some capacity), and I’m passionate about trying to understand this involvement to create novel therapies to help those in need. I’m also a strong supporter of diet/lifestyle changes for better cognition!

How wonderful is this!

It’s early days and right now we can only speculate but it may be worth to considering if the presence of Evtepia gabavorous may be a reason why some individuals continue to need to take GABA supplements long-term to keep anxiety at bay. It also gives us additional reasons to focus on addressing gut health and boosting good bacteria to help to reduce the need for ongoing GABA supplementation.

As soon as the paper is published, I’ll have more details to share. In the meantime, enjoy the fascination and wonderment of the human body and our microbiome.

Please share if you have signs of low GABA and have you been taking GABA supplements long-term? Do you also have gut issues and dysbiosis too (based on stool testing)?

PS. So many of you contacted me with a link to this preliminary research so I’d just like to say thanks!

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day – say NO to Benzodiazepines for anxiety!

By Trudy Scott 17 Comments

world benzo awareness day july 11 2016

Today, July 11th, is  World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day

This date was designated in recognition of Prof. Heather Ashton’s significant contributions to the benzodiazepine cause over so many decades; together with all of the help she has given to so many people around the world.

In honor of World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day, also called W-BAD I’ve decided to re-release a webinar I did last year: Say NO to Benzodiazepines for anxiety  [CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND THE WEBINAR]

say no-to-benzo

Here is an excerpt of the overview from: Say NO to benzodiazepines for anxiety! 

Benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive drugs that work by enhancing the effect of the calming neurotransmitter GABA, and are used to treat anxiety, insomnia, pain, muscle spasms and a range of other conditions. They are widely prescribed, particularly among elderly patients and may even be used off-label with children with autism.

Use of this medication is very controversial.  We know long term use leads to tolerance, dependence, and many adverse psychological effects and even physical effects. Short term use is generally considered safe but even using them for 2 – 4 weeks can lead to problems for certain individuals.

This presentation provides an overview of benzodiazepines; when they are used; who they are prescribed to; details about tolerance, dependence, and the many adverse effects; how to taper, including nutritional support during the taper; what to do instead of saying yes to a benzodiazepine prescription in the first place; and additional resources.

Here is one of the benzo stories I share in the webinar:

world benzo awareness day story

 

We know that some individuals are much more affected than others when it comes to tolerance and withdrawal.  Here are some other possible factors that may affect tolerance and withdrawal:

world benzo awareness day liver enzymes

During season 4 of the Anxiety Summit, Lisa Bloomquist talked about Antibiotic Induced Anxiety – How Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Induce Psychiatric Illness Symptoms.   During this interview she shared how:

People who have gone through benzodiazepine withdrawal before should never take a fluoroquinolone because essentially it can throw people right back into the benzo withdrawal – because it has very similar effects on people’s GABA’s receptors as what happens when people go through benzodiazepine withdrawal. 

I would love to see a survey of people who have experienced adverse effects when using benzodiazepines as prescribed or when tapering. Could these be some of the contributing factors?

  • Taking Valium/ diazepam and have the CYP2C19 polymorphism (about 10-20% of Western populations are defective in genes of the CYP liver enzyme superfamily)
  • Taking Xanax/ alprazolam and have CYP3A5 polymorphism (about 10-20% of Western populations are defective in genes of the CYP liver enzyme superfamily)
  • Taking any benzodiazepine and also
    • Taking oral contraceptives
    • Taking a course of antibiotics
    • Taking a course of one of the fluoroquinolone antibiotics
    • On an SSRI prescription
    • Taking a course of antifungal medications
    • Drinking alcohol on a regular basis
    • On an opioid such as oxycodone
    • Drinking grapefruit juice on a regular basis

For withdrawal/tapering, the best resource I know of is Benzo.org.uk which contains the Ashton Manual. You will need to educate yourself and your doctor and/or find a doctor willing to help you with the adjusted prescription. It does need to be done very very very slowly.

Finding a good support group like Benzobuddies.org  is very helpful for many of my clients. Just be aware that this group and some of the other support groups say no to any supplements during the taper process. I find it to be very individualized and have many clients that see great benefit by using GABA, tryptophan, zinc, magnesium and other nutrients. (You can read more about this here: Anxiety and the amino acids overview)

That being said some people tapering can only tolerate very low amounts of the amino acids (like a dab or pinch from a capsule) and some can’t tolerate any supplements and do better with essential oils, yoga, light therapy and dietary changes.

You can find more information on World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day on Benzo Case: Raising Awareness about Benzodiazepine Drugs  (widely prescribed for anxiety, stress, sleep, pain and much more…) and additional stories on the World Benzo Awareness facebook page.

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day was conceived by the acting Chair Barry Halsam, former Chair of Oldham TRANX, and jointly organized by Wayne Douglas, founder of benzo.case.com / benzo-case-japan.com

Please read share so your loved ones are informed and can say NO to benzos!  

If you have experienced adverse effects when taking or tapering from benzodiazepines I’d love some feedback on the above possible contributing factors.

 

The Anxiety Summit – GABA: Blood brain barrier controversy, concerns, best forms and how to do a trial for eliminating anxiety

By Trudy Scott 106 Comments

Trudy Scott_GABA_Anxiety4

Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution. presents during the Anxiety Summit Season 4.

GABA: Blood brain barrier controversy, concerns, best forms and how to do a trial for eliminating anxiety

  • Dispelling the blood brain barrier and the leaky brain myths
  • The newest research on GABA effectiveness
  • The best forms of GABA and why I have concerns about phenibut
  • Results from clients and feedback from practitioners using GABA
  • How to do a trial for the best results in eliminating anxiety

Here are some snippets from my presentation:

Worry and anxiety can be a result of low GABA and also low serotonin, so you may check off anxiety in both sections. Low GABA tends to result in a more physical anxiety, while low serotonin tends to result in more anxiety in the head and ruminating thoughts etc

With low GABA you have physical anxiety

  • Anxiety and feeling overwhelmed or stressed
  • Feeling worried or fearful
  • Panic attacks
  • Unable to relax or loosen up
  • Stiff or tense muscles
  • Feeling stressed and burned-out
  • Craving carbs, alcohol, or drugs for relaxation and calming

The targeted use of individual amino acid supplements like GABA will balance brain chemistry to alleviate anxiety, fear, worry, panic attacks, and feeling stressed or overwhelmed. They can also be helpful in addressing other problems that contribute to or exacerbate anxiety, such as sugar cravings and addictions. In addition, they can help with depression and insomnia, which often co-occur with anxiety.

Here is the amino acid questionnaire with all 5 sections including GABA

Here is the blog that discusses urinary neurotransmitter testing and why I don’t use it

Here are the list of amino acid precautions 

the main precaution with GABA is low blood pressure but I have yet to see it as an issue, liver/kidney issues – watch, GABA has not been studied in pregnancy or breastfeeding

Many individuals tapering from benzodiazepines find using GABA and other nutrients help the taper while others can’t tolerate GABA and other supplements.  If you’re new to the ill-effects of benzos do watch this webinar I did for Hawthorn University last year: Say NO to Benzos

The blood brain barrier controversy and the fact that so many people say GABA only works if you have a leaky brain

Does a GABA supplement have to cross the blood brain barrier to be effective? A nutrition seminar I have been to, said it does not and GABA supplements are ineffective

The 1960 paper published by Eugene Roberts, the scientist who discovered GABA mentions the failure of GABA to penetrate the blood-brain barrier readily:  Metabolic and Neurophysiological Roles of GABA

The 2015 zonulin intestinal permeability/leaky gut and possible blood brain barrier disruption paper: Gluten Psychosis: Confirmation of a New Clinical Entity

Zonulin is a tight junction modulator that is released by the small intestine mucosa upon gluten stimulation. Interestingly the zonulin receptor, identified as the precursor for haptoglobin-2, has been found in the human brain. Overexpression of zonulin (aka haptoglobin-2) could be involved in the blood brain barrier disruption similarly to the role that zonulin plays in increasing intestinal permeability.

NY Times article: Could Alzheimer’s Stem From Infections?

A virus, fungus or bacterium gets into the brain, passing through a membrane — the blood-brain barrier — that becomes leaky as people age

GABA – other possible mechanisms of action:

The microbiome and the bidirectional gut brain communication: Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve

Is the blood brain barrier more dynamic than assumed? A 2015 study discusses this Oral GABA supplementation allows better prioritizing of planned actions: new research

In the literature, there are controversial findings about GABA entering the brain through the blood brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a tightly sealed layer of cerebral endothelial cells that form continuous tight junctions and prevent most solutes from entering the brain on the basis of size, charge, and lipid solubility. However … recent studies have demonstrated that the BBB is much more dynamic than assumed in the past, and some passage of solutes can occur by transcytosis, carrier-mediated transport, or simple diffusion of hydrophobic substances.

GABA’s relaxing effect may be due to peripheral effects rather than the effect on/in the brain. Here is an excerpt from this paper: GABA-receptors in peripheral tissues

GABA and its receptors are found in a wide range of peripheral tissues, including parts of the peripheral nervous system, endocrine, and non-neural tissues such as smooth muscle and the female reproductive system

The possible peripheral effects are also mentioned in this paper –  Psychological stress-reducing effect of chocolate enriched with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in humans: assessment of stress using heart rate variability and salivary chromogranin A

it has been considered that GABA may act on the peripheral nervous system of the digestive organs and not the central nervous system

The newest research on the mechanism of GABA was published just last year in October 2015 – Neurotransmitters as food supplements: the effects of GABA on brain and behavior

There is some evidence in favor of a calming effect of GABA food supplements, but most of this evidence was reported by researchers with a potential conflict of interest. We suggest that any veridical effects of GABA food supplements on brain and cognition might be exerted through BBB passage or, more indirectly, via an effect on the enteric nervous system. We conclude that the mechanism of action of GABA food supplements is far from clear, and that further work is needed to establish the behavioral effects of GABA. 

Here is other GABA research I mentioned:

I voiced concerns about how with phenibut physical dependence can develop and withdrawal symptoms can be similar to benzodiazepines

And how gabapentin withdrawal tends to mimic some of the same withdrawal symptoms associated with benzodiazepine withdrawal

Here is the blog post: how to do an amino acid trial for anxiety

I get valuable feedback about GABA’s effectiveness from other practitioners. Here are a few (and more here):

Dr. Josh Friedman, integrative psychotherapist uses amino acids and other nutritional approaches in his practice:

[GABA] is definitely something I use. I am not a biochemist, so I actually don’t really know whether it crosses the blood/brain barrier, nor do I care actually. The first question should be, is it harmful? Are any of these things going to cause harm? And the answer with all the amino acids are no, they’re not going to cause harm, especially when compared to psychiatric medicines. The second question is, does it work? Is it helpful for our patients that we see in our practice?

Jonathan Prousky, ND, MSc, editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and author of Anxiety: Orthomolecular Diagnosis and Treatment shares this in our season 2 interview: Tapering off psychiatric drugs so they do not ruin your life 

I have found GABA to be invariably helpful and I don’t really know exactly how GABA works but I know it to be very, very safe and, to me, that is fundamentally important. It’s not associated with any withdrawal, with any tolerance, with any habituation, so people can try it without a lot of concern.

And it seems fitting to end with a quote from my mentor Julia Ross

On a scale of zero to ten, zero is not an unrealistic goal when it comes to anxiety.  It’s really the human potential and GABA gives us access to it.

And some feedback from real people who’ve used GABA (more here)

Dee likes the instant calm from a product that contains 500mg GABA and 200mg Theanine:

I have taken Xanax in the past for panic attacks. My functional medicine doctor suggested this product as I wanted a natural product. I was amazed how it works just like the Xanax did – instant calm feeling within 10 mins of taking 2 capsules. I use them as needed when I am having heightened stress and anxiety.

Melissa likes a product that contains GABA, taurine, glycine, inositol, niacin and vitamin B6

After my first panic attack I thankfully found Julia Ross’s work. I began taking 250 mg GABA every night. That really helped! Now a few years later I don’t need it every day, and I take a half pill during my cycle anxiety – more like uneasiness and over worried now, just as needed. I then heard you speak Trudy and share more info, bought your book, and put into place supportive lifestyle changes, and I have my life back. GABA is a great supplement for some of us!

Gina chewed two 100mg pharma GABA tablets and said this:

It changed my life in minutes! Take it every day now. No more hopelessness!

Do the amino acid questionnaire, review the precautions and do a GABA trial and let us know how it worked for you? If you’re a practitioner I’d love feedback too.

I’d also love to hear if you notice any difference opening a capsule or using something like GABA Calm instead of swallowing a capsule.

Here’s to hope and calm!

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here.: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, Anxiety Summit Season 3, and Anxiety Summit Season 4.

The Anxiety Summit – How We Used GABA for Lyme Anxiety

By Trudy Scott 15 Comments

Tricia Soderstrom_Anxiety4

Tricia Soderstrom of Abounding in Hope With Lyme was interviewed on the Anxiety Summit by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

How We Used GABA for Lyme Anxiety

  • Lyme disease can mimic a number of psychiatric illnesses, including anxiety disorders
  • Our journey with Lyme Disease
  • Essential oil for ticks and having pets
  • My daughter’s symptoms; Lyme pain, OCD, Anxiety, Panic Attacks
  • Protocols; antibiotics, herbs, supplements, anxiety meds and anti-depressant meds
  • Used GABA Calm sublinguals with good results and the Lyme pyroluria connection

Tricia shares this about her daughter’s Lyme anxiety:

When she was about seven my husband and I started noticing that she was washing her hands a lot, to the point where her hands would be just so raw and they would bleed a little bit.  And we noticed just some repetitive things that she was doing.  She started having like facial tics and motor tics and just really certain things would just kind of scare her more than usual.  I kept taking her to the pediatrician and everything and then we started noticing more symptoms.  She just began having anxiety, and it started out just kind of like little spurts here and there, but it became so overwhelming and so controlling over her life that she did not want to leave the house and she did not want me to leave her.  Part of her anxiety was that something was going to happen to me.  So she would just try to protect me with everything in her to keep me home with her or that I would take her with me everywhere I went.  I could not leave her for a second.  And if I did you could just tell she was so afraid and it was so heartbreaking, but it was so exhausting as a mom because it was 24 hours a day, it was not wanting to go to sleep at night; waking up in the middle of the night.  If she read something for school it would set her off.  If she saw something on TV that would set her off.  And it just became a life consuming problem.  And we were desperate, just desperate for answers. 

Tricia shares how Source Naturals GABA Calm was so helpful for her daughter’s anxiety and for her too:

when your child is in this full-blown panic attack they’re not going to swallow a pill so the sublingual was great because I would put it in her mouth under her tongue and just tell her to suck on it.  And you could just tell it would start to work and start to calm her down and really help her out. 

They would take the edge off of her anxiety; they would help her to go back to sleep at night.  And they helped me because I started taking GABA when I was so stressed out trying to interact with her and trying to help her.

And it’s nice to be able to just carry it in my purse if I need to, if anybody needs one

According to Dr. Klinghart, pyroluria needs to be addressed in order for the Lyme treatment to be successful.  Here is the pyroluria questionnaire

Here are some resources from Tricia:

Pet Flea & Tick Collar

Essential Oils Repellent

Lyme Links & Resources

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here.: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, Anxiety Summit Season 3, and Anxiety Summit Season 4.

Anxiety Summit season 4: the top six reasons to attend

By Trudy Scott 7 Comments

anxiety-summit-hope

We’re getting ready for the Anxiety Summit! It starts next week June 6th and runs through June 16th and I can’t wait to share all the amazing speakers and resources with you.

If you’ve already signed up for the summit these top six reasons will inspire you even further. If you haven’t yet signed up I hope to motivate you to join us and learn nutritional tools to overcome anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, OCD and even insomnia and stress eating.

(1) More and more children and adolescents have anxiety

Dr. Zendi Moldenhauer, integrative psychiatric NP, is one of the wonderful summit speakers. Her topic is Anxiety in children, adolescents and young adults: an integrative psychiatric approach, and she shares this:

Anxiety in children and adolescents is on the rise globally. The number of teens ages 13-18 who have been officially diagnosed with an anxiety disorder is only 8%, however our real-life experience shows it to be closer to 1 in 4 or 1 in 5.

Dr Zendi shares that many anxious children and adolescents actually have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and that by addressing gut health we can see anxiety symptoms disappear. The adrenals can be supported with theanine, an amino acid that promotes alert relaxation, and low GABA levels can be boosted with a calming amino acid such as GABA-Calm.

(2) American Psychiatric Association Lobbies FDA to Electroshock Children

This is the title of a recent article published on the CCHRINT website and here is what they are saying:

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is aggressively lobbying the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow it broader use of Electroshock (ECT) on patients, including children.

While the APA looks to seizure-inducing, brain-disabling, electricity as a form of ‘treatment,’ lobbying the FDA to make ECT available for children, no one in medicine, let alone psychiatry, has a clue how ECT machines ‘work’ or how passing large amounts of electricity into a child’s brain ‘treats’ the subjective mental disorder.

It’s unfathomable to me that with what we now know about nutritional psychiatry (see more on this below) that we could be considering something as awful as this.

We can control the size of our hippocampus by what we eat
We can control the size of our hippocampus by what we eat

(3) We can control the size of our hippocampus by what we eat

Dr. Drew Ramsey, M.D., psychiatrist, farmer and author of the new book Eat Complete, another wonderful summit speaker, covers Nutrients that Fuel Brain Power and Reduce Anxiety.

I love what Dr. Drew Ramsey says in our interview: “I eat for a bigger hippocampus.” The hippocampus is an area of your brain involved in emotional regulation and learning. Don’t you want a bigger hippocampus?

We talked about this in the context of the research published by Dr. Felice Jacka and her team: Western diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus: a longitudinal investigation. Here is the conclusion of the study:

Lower intakes of nutrient-dense foods and higher intakes of unhealthy foods are each independently associated with smaller left hippocampal volume. To our knowledge, this is the first human study to demonstrate associations between diet and hippocampal volume concordant with data previously observed in animal models.

The Anxiety Summit is “a bouquet of hope”
The Anxiety Summit is “a bouquet of hope”

(4) Tryptophan and GABA give you hope and an immediate feeling of calm

The Anxiety Summit has been called a “bouquet of hope” and these calming and mood-boosting amino acids are my favorite nutrients for anxiety because they offer so much hope right away. They get much coverage this season.

Serotonin and anxiety: tryptophan, 5-HTP, serotonin syndrome and medication tapers, an interview with Dr. Peter Bongiorno, ND, author of Holistic Therapies for Anxiety and Depression:

Low levels of tryptophan contribute to generalized anxiety and panic attacks. Back in the early 1990s, a laboratory I was associated with at Yale University performed “tryptophan depletion studies” and which volunteers who were already prone to anxiety were put on a tryptophan-free diet. Within days, these people were extremely anxious, panicky and unstable – and they had lots of trouble staying asleep.

In my interview, GABA: Blood brain barrier controversy, concerns, best forms and how to do a trial for eliminating anxiety, I cover the research and practical steps on how to get the best results. But most importantly you’ll hear heartwarming success stories from people who use GABA, like this one:

It helps lower my overall anxious feeling all day (anxiety for no reason). I just started increasing the dose slightly and am beginning to take it a few times a day to help with social anxiety.

And this one:

It changed my life in minutes! Take it every day now. No more hopelessness!

If you have anxiety I want you to have hope that you will find an answer and I want to give you tools and resources to get there.

Tryptophan and GABA give you HOPE and relief right away while you are addressing some of the bigger underlying causes of your anxiety which may take longer to address. Some of these more complex causes may be leaky gut, mercury toxicity, gluten issues or Lyme disease and are also their own topics in the summit.

(5) Anxious individuals are actively looking for nutritional solutions

In a paper published earlier this year, Herbal medicine use behaviour in Australian adults who experience anxiety: a descriptive study, out of 400 anxious Australian adults in the study:

  • 47% were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder
  • 82% experienced anxiety symptoms in the previous 12 months
  • 3% had used prescribed pharmaceuticals for anxiety
  • 8% had used herbal medicines for anxiety

The authors of the study voice concerns about the dangers of self-prescribing saying this about the widespread use of herbal medicines:

Herbal medicines are being used by adults with anxiety and are commonly self-prescribed for anxiety symptoms. These behaviours are concerning as people may not be receiving the most suitable treatments, and their use of herbal medicines may even be dangerous. It is critical we develop a better understanding of why people are using these medicines.

Based on my practice and after interviewing over 100 experts on nutritional solutions for anxiety and seeing the research, this is my belief: more and more people who are not getting solutions from medications are being smart and are looking to address the root cause/s of their anxiety naturally and nutritionally. Are you one of them?

I’m all about self-empowerment and being informed and the summit delivers plenty of practical content and the research.

(6) Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness affecting children and adults. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association Of America, it’s estimated that 40 million American adults suffer with an anxiety disorder. These numbers are much higher because you may never get a diagnosis and be counted (just look at the Australian herbal study below). You may not even identify with the term anxiety because you have felt like for so long and just think ‘this is me, this is just how I am.’

It doesn’t have to be like this. We can change these stats. You can feel on top of the world again!

The summit offers hope and solutions, research and success stories!

Discover the connections between anxiety and brain food, why healthy fats and turmeric feed our brains, how grass-fed red meat helps with anxiety, the impact of coffee and gluten, the best gluten testing, GABA and the blood brain barrier, serotonin and tryptophan, best forms of GABA and tryptophan, anxiety in autism, MS and anxiety, Lyme disease and anxiety, mercury and lead detox, leaky gut and the SCD diet, low cholesterol and low oxytocin, the microbiome, stomach acid and zinc, fluroquinolones, methylation, pyroluria, the importance of community and much more.

Join us June 6-16th online – register here www.theanxietysummit.com

And please share widely!