I’m SO pleased to see this on the cover the February issue of O Magazine. Helping women with anxiety is my mission because I personally experienced the most awful anxiety and panic attacks in my late 30s and found complete resolution with food and nutrients!
Oprah shares how she has recently come face-to face with mental illness and recognizes that there is shame, that more help is needed and that we need to start talking about it. I commend her for these wise and compassionate words.
And I agree with so much of this: there is no shame, we are not alone and we need to be talking about it and offering help and hope. There is a solution for each one of us (it’s just a matter of finding the right one) and each of us deserves to feel on top of the world again!
I’m hoping to see some coverage of the growing field of nutritional psychiatry in one of the next two issues of O Magazine.
The fact that something like the removal of gluten could eliminate anxiety has not yet reached the mainstream and stories like the ones below would go a long way towards making that happen.
Lauren was feeling overwhelmed with life, she had some stressors that triggered heightened feelings of anxiety and fear. Her daily meditations were not enough to curb the anxiety and the supplements she trialed (inositol, Kava Kava and others) didn’t help either. But she did find a solution that worked for her and shares this in her blog: Tried & True: Gluten-Free Anxiety Fix
At the start of the new year, I found my saving grace. I had discovered an article written by Dr. Kelly Brogan, a Holistic Psychiatrist, in which she discusses the detrimental effects of gluten and the positive use of probiotics in treating neurological disorders. A light bulb went off in my brain. I’ve always considered myself a health-conscious eater, but I’d never paid much attention to the gluten-free trend. I figured since I don’t have celiac disease there was no way gluten could be negatively affecting me. Right? Wrong! There’s plenty of research linking gluten sensitivity to anxiety and depression and numerous testimonials of people who have cured their anxiety and depression by giving up gluten.
It was around this same time that I’d purchased a book called The Antianxiety Food Solution by Trudy Scott who also highly suggests eliminating gluten. The more I delved into the relationship between gluten and anxiety, the less I could convince myself that gluten-sensitivity wasn’t a possible issue for me.
On January 1st, Lauren cut all gluten from her diet. She shares:
It felt like a last ditch effort and I had little hope that it would actually work. Much to my surprise, I started to feel drastically better within a few days of going gluten-free. I would go hours without feeling anxious (a rare feat in the previous month). I was able to enjoy life again! And since I couldn’t eat bread or other gluten-filled foods, I found myself eating a lot more vegetables and protein. It was exactly what my body needed, a healthy, whole foods diet. Within 2 weeks, I was feeling 75% better. Not only did my mind feel better, but my whole body felt better.
Lauren went gluten-free and went from feeling anxious, fearful, defeated, baffled and out of control to feeling better than ever (90% better) in just 24 days.
For some people it’s the removal of gluten that makes the difference, for other it’s addressing biochemical imbalances and other nutritional deficiencies. With Jan it was a matter of addressing low GABA levels with the amino acid GABA and using zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil for her pyroluria symptoms. She recently shared her lovely results in the comments of this blog post – GABA, the calming amino acid: products and results:
After reading your book The Antianxiety Food Solution and taking one of your workshops I have had a great deal of improvement in my life. I did something I thought I would never be able to do again (not solo yet), but I drove further than I have in over 5 years, which gives me a lot of hope of regaining my independence. I’m a small step taker, but it’s working! I’ve had no panic attacks and so many improvements since I started taking the aminos and using the Pyroluria protocol. I take the GABA before I’m in any of the situations (like driving) that might trigger anxiety and its working! I couldn’t be happier!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!… I’m getting my life back!
It warms my heart to hear powerful results like this and I appreciate both Lauren and Jan sharing and inspiring others with their hopeful stories.
Be sure to read Lauren’s whole blog post and the GABA blog (to see plenty of feedback from others who have also benefited from GABA).
Now we just need to get to get this information into the mainstream. Hopefully with Oprah starting the conversation and including stories like this, we can make this happen.
There certainly is help and much hope if you have anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders.
Do you have a story of hope to share? Please let us know in the comments.