everywomanover29

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

nutrition

Anxiety & the Gut-Brain Axis in Autism with Julie Matthews: The Anxiety Summit 5

By Leave a Comment

Julie Matthews, CNC, is one my guest experts on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis and our topic is: Anxiety & the Gut-Brain Axis in Autism. In this interview you’ll learn:

  • Nutritional and dietary intervention in autism (and the new study Julie contributed to)
  • Gut-immune-brain axis, mTOR and amino acids (we talk about tryptophan at length)
  • Significance of fecal microbiota transplants (and significance and future of this approach)

julie matthews

We start with a discussion about how common anxiety disorders are in autism, and how psychiatric medications are frequently prescribed.

This is why I’m so thrilled about the study Julie was part of: Comprehensive Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Randomized, Controlled 12-Month Trial.

  • study participants had a significant improvement in anxiety from a special diet and various nutritional supplements
  • study participants saw improved communication skills as well as improved daily living skills and social skills – all of which can lead to reduced anxiety and social anxiety, and improved overall happiness
  • there were also improvements in happiness, focus, IQ and language, as well as symptoms of autism

We talk about some of this in the in-person interview we did recently in San Diego.

(I also blogged about this study last year, shortly after the paper was published. You can read about it here so you’re familiar with all the details when you listen to our summit interview.)

Julie and I are both research geeks and in our full interview on the summit we get geeky and talk about new research on:

  • The Gut-Immune-Brain Axis in Autism Spectrum Disorders A Focus on Amino Acids (we discuss mTOR and have a good discussion on the use of tryptophan vs 5-HTP)
  • Fecal transplants in autism (the outcomes are incredibly promising! I’ve since heard that another bigger study is being planned by the same researchers)

julie matthews and trudy scott

You’re likely familiar with Julie’s autism nutrition work and practitioner training on special diets which I wholeheartedly endorse. In case you’re new to her work, Julie is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and published researcher specializing in complex neurological, digestive, and immune conditions, most notably autism. She is the author of the award-winning book, Nourishing Hope for Autism, and co-author of a study proving the efficacy of nutrition and dietary intervention for autism published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nutrients (the study I mention above).

If you’re looking for autism/anxiety and autism/gut solutions you won’t want to miss this interview.

If you are looking for anxiety nutritional and gut solutions but don’t have an autism spectrum disorder/ASD or family member with ASD I encourage you to listen in anyway.  Julie’s approach is based on the BioIndividual Nutrition® needs of each person and stems from her 18 years of work with autism. Using autism as a model for complex chronic disease, her approach and methodology helps practitioners specializing in varied disorders improve the health and healing of their clients through her BioIndividual Nutrition Training for practitioners.

The above statement – using autism as a model for complex chronic disease – is an important one. In the short video clip above I mention how those with ASD are like the canaries in the coal mine. And we talk about many of the overlapping root causes we see in both anxiety disorders and ASD – such as methylation, nutritional deficiencies, gut issues and food sensitivities, heavy metals and so much more.  Julie and I have been highlighting these overlaps for years. Much of what we cover in the interview has wide-reaching implications for anxiety and other chronic health conditions.

I am so appreciative to Julie for helping me figure out my own dietary oxalate issues which were causing excruciating hot-coals/shards-of-glass type foot pain. I’ve learned so much from Julie on this topic and you’ll hear me bring up oxalates in a number of interviews.

julie and trudy 

We also happen to be really good friends and love to laugh together (as you can tell!). These two pictures were taken in San Diego at the recent Mindshare conference (left) and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference (right), where we both presented.

anxiety summit

Please join us and listen to this interview and all the others on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis.

When you register now you’ll get access to there 3 interviews right away:

  • Fix the Brain to Fix the Gut – Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, FACN, CNS
  • MTHFR, B12 Genes and Anxiety – Carolyn Ledowsky, ND
  • Why Bile is the Key to Anxiety & Hormone Havoc – Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

anxiety summit 5 speakers

If you have already signed up for the summit, I hope you enjoy these interview highlights.

If you have yet to sign up, please do come and join us and learn.

Register for the Anxiety Summit 5

 

If you’re considering purchasing the summit to keep for your learning library, you have a number of options that include:

  • Online only or flash drive or both
  • A PDF or printed transcripts of all the interviews
  • The Best of Anxiety-Gut interviews from previous Anxiety Summits
  • GABA Quickstart Program (a group program with me on how to actually use GABA for your physical anxiety, with a private Facebook group and live Q & A call)
Purchase options

 

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section at the bottom.

I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in to this interview and the others.

More kids are showing up in ERs with anxiety, depression and other common mental health problems: why isn’t nutritional psychiatry part of the discussion?

By 23 Comments

This article on NBC news, More kids are showing up in ERs (Emergency Rooms) with mental health crises, reports large increases across the country.

Dr. Anna Abrams, a pediatrician and researcher at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, finds the numbers both shocking and disheartening.

In the 5-year period from 2012 to 2016, when looking at ER mental health admissions in 45 children’s hospitals, they found the following increases:

  • 48 % in white children
  • 64% in non-Hispanic black children
  • 77% increase in Hispanic children

with about a 55 % increase overall.

Dr. Abrams and her colleagues presented these findings at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference in earlier this month.

Other than the very large increases, there is something else to be concerned about: the researchers say they aren’t sure why we are seeing these increases, speculating it “could be due to the scarcity of mental health professionals who can help children” and “People are also talking more openly about depression, anxiety and other common mental health problems and that may make parents feel more comfortable about seeking help for their children.”

While these are very valid reasons, we really do need to be incorporating nutritional psychiatry (a term coined in 2015) and functional medicine (Dr. Mark Hyman is one of the leaders in functional medicine) into these discussions, studies and conferences. Other than poor diets and nutritional deficiencies we need to be considering stress, exposure to toxins, poor gut health and increasing Wifi exposure, to name a few.

If we look at diet alone, there is so much recent research supporting the connection between diet and mental health. Here are two of many new studies:

Despite some contradictory results, overall there was support for an association between healthy dietary patterns or consumption of a high-quality diet and lower levels of depression or better mental health. Similarly, there was a relationship between unhealthy diet and consumption of low-quality diet and depression or poor mental health.

These data suggest that Iranian adolescent females eating a pro-inflammatory diet…had greater odds of having at least moderate depressive symptoms.

And here are just a few other factors to consider:

How do we get this nutritional psychiatry research and case studies into the hands of those who can change actually policy and the way mental health is addressed? I believe it has to be a grass-roots effort from the bottom up and I have these suggestions:

  • share this blog and the research with your doctor and/or allied health practitioner
  • reach out to study authors, journalists and legislators and share research and success stories like the above, and your own personal results
  • if you’re a practitioner, write blogs like this sharing the good results you see with your clients and patients – with researchers, journalists and legislators
  • share in forums and on social media, and with your neighbors, friends and family
  • comment on blogs like this – with success stories in your family or with clients – so more people get to see what really is working

Every little bit helps! I’d love to hear your ideas too.

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Treating Chronic PTSD: Why I feel we can do better and the role of nutrition and amino acids like GABA

By 5 Comments

You may be familiar with MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as “ecstasy”, because of its reputation as a party drug. And you have likely seen some of the media reports on the new research and growing support for MDMA-Assisted psychotherapy for treating chronic PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Due to adverse effects I’d like to share my concerns about this research and treatment and why I feel we can do better – by addressing nutrition and using amino acids like GABA and others.

In a recent press release, Colorado Study Shows Lasting Benefits of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Treating Chronic PTSD, the non-profit organization, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) reports these study results:

28 participants found that one month after their second day-long experimental session, 42.9% in the active-dose (100 mg and 125 mg) MDMA groups did not qualify for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared to 33.3% in the low-dose MDMA (40 mg active placebo) control group.

The results were even more notable 12 months after the third active-dose experimental session, which found that one year following treatment with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, 76% of participants no longer had PTSD.

It is the largest U.S. FDA-regulated double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of chronic PTSD and the results are impressive: 76% of the study participants no longer had PTSD after a year and 3 treatment sessions. I’m really happy for the participants BUT I believe we can do better because there are adverse reactions to this treatment and there are other safer approaches for recovery.

This comment about an acceptable risk profile and adverse reactions concerns me (and I suspect it concerns you too):

The study replicated previous research showing an acceptable risk profile for MDMA, with the most frequently reported adverse reactions during experimental sessions being anxiety, jaw clenching, headache, muscle tension, dizziness, fatigue, and low mood.

Adverse reactions one week following treatment included insomnia, low mood, irritability, and ruminations. Temporary elevations in pulse, blood pressure, and temperature were also recorded during MDMA sessions, and did not require medical intervention.

A common theme we see in the research on psychedelics is how effective it is for PTSD that doesn’t respond to therapy or medications. This paper states:

There is an immense need for innovative treatment options that improve outcomes, especially for PTSD refractory to psychotherapy and/or pharmacotherapies

I agree there is an immense need for successful treatment approaches, but jumping to MDMA from psychotherapy and/or psychiatric medications is skipping out the entire nutritional and biochemical step which is SO powerful and doesn’t have the above adverse effects. I’m concerned too many who have not seen benefits from therapy or medications are seeing MDMA as THE solution and are going to be harmed even further.

This paper, The Potential Dangers of Using MDMA for Psychotherapy, the author is concerned about the fact that “acute MDMA can stimulate the release of difficult feelings and memories, which may be distressing” and also the negative moods that occur after MDMA treatment:

This period of negative cognitions may be counter-productive, especially in psychiatrically vulnerable clients, for instance those with predispositions to anxiety, depression, or psychosis. For example, it could increase the likelihood of suicide in those individuals with strong post-recovery feelings of depression.

Because of this, I wholeheartedly agree with the author’s position:

it will always be far safer to undertake psychotherapy without using co-drugs. In selected cases MDMA might provide an initial boost, but it also has far too many potentially damaging effects for safe general usage.

In addition to psychotherapy, there are also so many nutritional and biochemical factors we can consider when it comes to PTSD. These don’t have any of the above damaging effects seen with MDMA. Here are a few to consider:

I feel it is these above approaches and others like this that we need to be using to address PTSD, rather than subjecting individuals who are already suffering to treatments that have adverse reactions AND are not addressing underlying nutritional deficiencies of low GABA, low serotonin, out of balance endocannabinoid system and overall health, to name a few of many possible underlying biochemical factors.

If this treatment approach is approved, I would hope that all the adverse effects and dangers are clearly explained and I’d also like there to be informed consent before it is used – so individuals know exactly what they are getting into. Hopefully, by the time it is approved, nutritional psychiatry will be more accepted.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this research and treatment approach. Is it something you have considered or would possibly consider in the future – you personally or with patients?

Or do you have similar concerns that I have?

Have you already tried MDMA recreationally (possibly for therapeutic reasons) and what were your experiences like?

Mental Health Month: anxiety, nutrition, gluten, GABA, leptin and fluoroquinolones

By 21 Comments

egg-asparagus-salad

Since 1949, Mental Health America and affiliates across the country have led the observance of May is Mental Health Month by reaching millions of people both online and locally. They share this:

This year’s theme for Mental Health Month is – Life with a Mental Illness – and calls on individuals to share what life with a mental illness feels like for them in words, pictures and video by tagging their social media posts with #mentalillnessfeelslike (or submitting to MHA anonymously). Posts are being collected and displayed at mentalhealthamerica.net/feelslike.

I love that they say that spreading the word that mental health issues like anxiety, depression, bipolar and other disorders is something everyone should care about.

I’d love to educate and inspire many of those individuals who have already posted on social media using #mentalillnessfeelslike and have yet to find a solution. There are so many of them and it’s heart-breaking. You can go to mentalhealthamerica.net/feelslike now and see what is being said.

Here are a few examples:

Severe anxiety feels like you are lost in a big city where no one else can speak your language and you are trying to get home.. #mentalillnessfeelslike

#anxietyfeelslike #mentalillnessfeelslike a never ending battle to keep worry from creeping in to your every thought. Trying to be present

Anxiety Attack #mentalillnessfeelslike: I’m swirling in a cyclone while also being constructed by a Boa

#MentalIllnessFeelsLike Worrying About Passing This Semester Causing Your Anxiety To Mess Up More Although Your Anxiety Put You Here

And this profound quote by MentallyAbnormallyNormal (you can find her here on Facebook)

mentally-abnormally-normal-meme

I encourage you to participate if it feels ok to you. I’d especially love you to share how nutrition and nutrients like GABA, tryptophan, zinc, vitamin B12, and/or vitamin D have helped you. You can also respond directly to the posts others have made.

Here are some links to my prior blog posts on some of the many nutritional (and biomedical) approaches so feel free to also share some of this information and use it if you’re still on your healing journey to overcome anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, insomnia and other mood problems:

I’ll be adding to this last blog during season 4 of The Anxiety Summit which runs June 6th – 16th. As I continue to interview experts I learn more about the myriad of possible underlying causes of anxiety:

For some of my clients, eliminating anxiety (and other mood disorders) can be as simple as switching to a real whole foods diet, eating to balance blood sugar, quitting sugar/gluten/caffeine and adding some key nutrients like zinc and vitamin D. Many benefit immensely when using targeted individual amino acids like GABA and tryptophan. And some need to dig deeper to find the root cause of the anxiety.

But let’s always keep looking for that root cause or causes – find YOUR root cause/s – and address it/them.

My heart goes out to you if you are still suffering and still seeking a solution (and to everyone tagging themselves with #mentalillnessfeelslike and #anxietyfeelslike).

I say let’s aims to change this to the past tense so instead of #mentalillnessfeelslike let’s get to #mentalillnessfeltlike. Or how about #anxietyfeltlike or even #nutritionfixedmyanxiety ?

It truly is possible with food and nutrients! Do you agree? What has worked for you? Feel free to share in the comments and tag yourself on social media.

And do join us on The Anxiety Summit next month and share this during the Mental Health Month of May.

 

The Anxiety Summit – What if… Nutrition could Treat Anxiety and Depression?

By 18 Comments

 

Julia Rucklidge PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 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.

Julia has over 75 peer-reviewed studies and is passionate about helping people find alternative treatments to medications for their psychiatric symptoms. Her current research interests can be found at the University of Canterbury site here.

What if… Nutrition could Treat Anxiety and Depression?

  • The increasing prevalence of mental health problems and medication side-effects
  • Why diet is so important when it comes to mental health (anxiety, depression, ADHD and even schizophrenia)
  • Nutritional medicine as mainstream in psychiatry and ISNPR (International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research)
  • The problems with food: pesticides, soil quality, Roundup
  • Micronutrient research for ADHD, anxiety, bipolar and PTSD
  • The emerging field of nutritional mental health: Inflammation, the microbiome, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Why is nutrition important? As a scientist I can just say because the data says it’s important. So if we start with the wonderful work that has really been spearheaded from Felice Jacka and there are other people in Spain and in Japan who have published similar studies showing that the more you eat a processed, western type of diet, the higher your risk for mental illness. They’ve published data on depression and anxiety, but also other mental illness as well. And the more you eat what we call, a prudent or a healthier Mediterranean type of diet, the lower your risk for depression and anxiety.

How long is it going to take our society to pay attention to the research that shows that suboptimal nutrition is contributing to the epidemic of mental illness? Are we just going to sit around and ignore this evidence to our peril? Or are we going to start paying attention and start to invest in the really important research that needs to happen?

Here is an earlier blog post I did on Dr. Rucklidge’s excellent TEDX talk: The surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health

Here is part of the recent paper titled “What if nutrients could treat mental illness?”

We are at a tipping point in psychiatry.

The growing body of literature on the effect of nutrients on mental health is compelling enough and consistent enough for us to pay attention. It is time to revisit the role of diet and supplementary nutrients in the treatment of mental illness and to invest in this line of research.

Here is the smoking and cannabis study we talked about: Use of micronutrients attenuates cannabis and nicotine abuse as evidenced from a reversal design: a case study.

This case adds to a growing body of research supporting the use of micronutrients in the treatment of psychiatric symptoms and suggests it may extend to substance dependence. Micronutrients, by assisting with mood regulation and reductions in anxiety, may assist with successful cessation of drug use.

We discussed this earthquake paper, a favorite of hers: Shaken but unstirred? Effects of micronutrients on stress and trauma after an earthquake: RCT evidence comparing formulas and doses.

This study supports micronutrients as an inexpensive and practical treatment for acute stress following a natural disaster with a slight advantage to higher doses

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, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

Nutritional medicine as mainstream in psychiatry

By 31 Comments

Home-made grass-fed burger, greens/basil, avocado, sprouts and cheese
Home-made grass-fed burger, greens/basil, avocado, sprouts and cheese

Psychiatry is at an important juncture, with the current pharmacologically focused model having achieved modest benefits in addressing the burden of poor mental health worldwide. Although the determinants of mental health are complex, the emerging and compelling evidence for nutrition as a crucial factor in the high prevalence and incidence of mental disorders suggests that diet is as important to psychiatry as it is to cardiology, endocrinology, and gastroenterology. Evidence is steadily growing for the relation between dietary quality (and potential nutritional deficiencies) and mental health, and for the select use of nutrient-based supplements to address deficiencies, or as monotherapies or augmentation therapies.

I’m excited to share this groundbreaking publication, “Nutritional medicine as mainstream in psychiatry” which was published just last week in the mainstream journal Lancet. We have members of The International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research, also known as ISNPR to thank: Jerome Sarris, PhD, Alan C Logan, BA, Tasnime N Akbaraly, PhD, G Paul Amminger, MD, Vicent Balanzá-Martínez, MD, Marlene P Freeman, MD, Joseph Hibbeln, MD, Yutaka Matsuoka, MD, David Mischoulon, MD, Tetsuya Mizoue, MD, Akiko Nanri, MD, Daisuke Nishi, MD, Drew Ramsey, MD, Julia J Rucklidge, PhD, Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, PhD, Andrew Scholey, PhD, Kuan-Pin Su, MD, Felice N Jacka, PhD.

The abstract concludes as follows:

We present a viewpoint from an international collaboration of academics (members of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research), in which we provide a context and overview of the current evidence in this emerging field of research, and discuss the future direction. We advocate recognition of diet and nutrition as central determinants of both physical and mental health.

You may recognize some of these people from my prior writings and interviews.

Dr. Marlene Freeman is also the author of an editorial, Nutrition and Psychiatry, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2010.

It is both compelling and daunting to consider that dietary intervention at an individual or population level could reduce rates of psychiatric disorders. There are exciting implications for clinical care, public health, and research.

This is one of my favorite quotes! If you’ve ever heard me present I’m sure you’ll recognize it! This was in 2010 so we are making progress with getting nutrition recognized in the mainstream mental health world and I couldn’t be happier.

Here are a few select quotes from the new paper (which will shortly be released as an open-source document).

Mental disorders in general, and major depression and anxiety disorders in particular, account for a large burden of disability worldwide. Rapid urbanisation, and an overall transition from traditional lifestyles (concerning diet, physical activity, and social structures), which are some of the most pressing global and environmental issues of our time, have both been linked to increases in depression and other mental disorders

The mechanisms by which nutrition might affect mental health are, at least superficially, quite obvious: the human brain operates at a very high metabolic rate, and uses a substantial proportion of total energy and nutrient intake; in both structure and function (including intracellular and intercellular communication), it is reliant on amino acids, fats, vitamins, and minerals or trace elements.

The purpose of this Personal View is to provide a platform for robust debate in the specialty, particularly regarding the need to move towards a new integrated framework in psychiatry, whereby consideration of nutritional factors should be standard practice.

Diet and nutrition offer key modifiable targets for the prevention of mental disorders, having a fundamental role in the promotion of mental health. Now is time for the recognition of the importance of nutrition and nutrient supplementation in psychiatry. Nutritional medicine should now be considered as a mainstream element of psychiatric practice, with research, education, policy, and health promotion supporting this new framework.

This is so powerful! I commend the efforts of these authors and thank the researchers for all the groundwork which has led to where were are today…recognizing the very powerful connection between what we eat and how we feel. It’s exciting to be part of this movement!