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The individual amino acids glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP), DPA and tyrosine are powerful for eliminating sugar cravings, often within 5 minutes

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The individual amino acids glutamine, GABA, tryptophan (or 5-HTP), DPA and tyrosine are powerful for eliminating sugar cravings, often within 5 minutes. It seems that this wonderful benefit – over and above the anxiety-reducing and mood-boosting benefits – is often overlooked or poorly understood.

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UPDATE 4/17/20 for coronavirus pandemic:

Keep in mind that in times of added stress – like being in the midst of a pandemic such as the coronavirus – you may find your sugar and carbohydrate cravings have increased, and you may be over-indulging, emotional-eating, comfort-eating and/or stress-eating as a way to self-medicate in order to feel calm and good.

This paper, Nutritional recommendations for CoVID-19 quarantine, published just a few days ago, shares how continuously hearing or reading about the pandemic without a break can be stressful and may be

pushing people toward overeating, mostly looking for sugary “comfort foods”. This desire to consume a specific kind of food is defined as “food craving”, which is a multidimensional concept including emotional (intense desire to eat), behavioral (seeking food), cognitive (thoughts about food), and physiological (salivation) processes.

You may also find you are more drawn to alcohol as a way to calm down and relax.  According to this Forbes article, Nielsen reports that online sales of alcohol have increased by 291% compared to the end of March 2019.

You may be surprised to learn that the amino acids also help with reducing alcohol cravings and the need to self-medicate with this “drug-of-choice.”  If one glass of wine leads finishing to an entire bottle in one evening or if you’re drinking beer or spirits excessively, know that the words “sweets”, “sugar”, “carbs” can be substituted in the blog post below with “alcohol” and consider trials of the respective amino acids.

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I recently posted this on Facebook: GABA for ending sugar cravings (and anxiety and insomnia) and I’m writing this blog today because it’s clear there is some confusion about this cravings aspect.

Let me first recap Melissa’s experience with Source Naturals GABA Calm during her family holiday trip (the link above has all the details):

I’m glad I bought it before traveling home for Christmas – I was cool as a cucumber at the airport and was much calmer when visiting family and friends compared to last year! I notice a general calmness and am sleeping well.

As well as the calming benefits of GABA, Melissa found this unexpected reduction in cravings for sweets, chocolates, truffles and ice cream after about a week of taking it:

I didn’t even realize this until I was grocery shopping and out of habit walked towards the ice cream – I stopped and realized I didn’t want ice cream. So I walked toward the chocolate – same reaction. For once in my life, I was not craving sweets. I made truffles for a NYE party and only ate two. But what is really shocking is that the leftovers are still in my refrigerator two days later and I haven’t touched them.

This is a very typical response that I see with my clients and when I shared the above blog, others on Facebook shared similar experiences and surprise about the connections. Kim found it fascinating and very timely saying:

I ran out of GABA a month ago. Not only has my anxiety been very difficult to manage but literally I haven’t been able to stop eating. Sugary, high carb, total junk has consumed my thoughts. I never realized the correlation.

April also seemed surprised to learn that GABA was also actually helping with her sugar cravings too:

I think my sugar cravings are down (not looking for something sweet every night after dinner, maybe I treat myself to once a week and not overindulge when I do) and when I think about it, I’ve lost a bit of weight as a result. Most of all it helps me sleep and reduces tension in my neck.

In the above examples, due to low GABA levels in these women, GABA was helped with both the anxiety and the stress-eating, leading to a calming effect and reduced sugar cravings. If you have low blood sugar cravings then glutamine is the amino acid to use; low serotonin cravings then tryptophan or 5-HTP will help; low endorphin cravings then DPA will do the trick; and low catecholamines then tyrosine is the amino acid to use.

The best way to figure it which neurotransmitter deficiency is affecting your sugar cravings is to do the amino acid mood questionnaire and also review this list for further clarification:

  1. If you have to eat sugar when you haven’t eaten in awhile it’s likely low blood sugar and glutamine on the tongue stops the sugar desire almost immediately and also helps with the low blood sugar symptoms of shakiness and irritability
  2. If you stress-eat your sugar cravings are likely due to low GABA, and GABA will stop the stress-eating and calm you down
  3. If you eat sugar or carbs to feel happy (and especially from late afternoon into the evening) then your sugar cravings are likely due to low serotonin, and tryptophan (or 5-HTP) stops the cravings and boosts mood and reduces anxiety
  4. If you are a comfort-eater then it’s likely due to low endorphins and DPA will stop that feeling of “I deserve-it” kind of reward-eating or comfort-eating and also give you a hug-like mood boost
  5. If you eat sugar for an energy boost or to give your focus then it’s likely due to low catecholamines and tyrosine will stop those cravings and give you a mood and energy boost, and help with mental clarity

It’s not uncommon for my anxious clients to have issues in all these areas and I have them address low blood sugar and each neurotransmitter deficiency one by one (for 2 through 5) and very methodically so they know exactly which areas are problematic for them.

When it comes to low blood sugar, addressing adrenal health is also key. And as always, we need to be making dietary changes, fixing gut health, addressing other deficiencies, removing toxins and more, using a complete functional medicine approach.

However, using the amino acids in a targeted way like this gets you results quickly while you’re figuring out everything else.

You may say “what exactly do you mean by quickly”?   When opened onto the tongue and used with the trial method, based on your unique needs, if you have low levels, you can expect to notice effects in as quickly as 5 minutes and sometimes up to 15 minutes in some cases! This is why I like to refer to them as the amazing amino acids! They truly are amazing for eliminating cravings, reducing anxiety and improving mood and even sleep – provided they are needed.

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts on each of the above-mentioned amino acids. If you missed them you may find them helpful for getting a better understanding, even though they are not specific about sugar cravings:

You can find the amino acid supplements that I use with my clients here.

Keep in mind the amino acids are intended for relatively short-term use so the goal is to work on your diet, gut health, adrenals, nutritional deficiencies etc. so they are no longer needed or only needed in times of added stress. My book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings (my Amazon link), covers in-depth how to implement much of what is mentioned in the above article: a real food Mediterranean diet, red meat, oily fish, the importance of zinc, vitamin D, antioxidants and so on, and the powerful role of nutrition in immunity, inflammation, sleep, stress, anxiety and food cravings.

The amino acids help you make those dietary changes with ease, end your cravings and stress-eating or excessive drinking, so no will power is needed and you don’t feel deprived.

Have you found any of the amino acids to help you eliminate your cravings for sweets, chocolate, ice-cream and other high-carb foods? Were you pleasantly surprised to experience this lovely benefit when you were initially looking for anxiety-relief?

Were you / are you drinking more and have you figured out which amino acids help you quit?

If you’re a practitioner, do you see similar cravings benefits with your anxious clients/patients?

Are you still struggling with comfort-eating, stress-eating of carb/sugar or drinking alcohol to “self-medicate” and feel better?

Feel free to ask your questions and share challenges and/or successes you’ve had too.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Depression as a black dog that comes in and lays down beside you at night

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Trevor King’s interview about his journey with depression – on That Vitamin Summit – is not to be missed if you are depressed, have ever suffered with depression or if you have a loved one or friend with depression. He shares how he feels a sense of complete hopelessness at times:

It descends like a black cloud that makes me almost sort of retreat into myself. And my eyes will know and I don’t want to take the world in. I don’t want to get out of bed at times. Actually, that’s one of the things that … one of the only things that actually helps me, is going to bed and lying down.

Winston Churchill famously described it as this black dog who’d come in and lay beside him at night.

“From the moment my eyes opened in the morning, I am engaged in a battle. I must protect myself with armor against ongoing, negative, intrusive thoughts that flood into my brain, while sending my prefrontal cortex, which is the home of logical thought, the green light to make decisions and take charge of my brain’s limbic system. That is, before the fear center completely spazzes out. I spend more time and energy chasing and maintaining good health than I do in any other aspect of my life. My marriage, family or work. Because I know that everything meaningful and good around me depends on a stable base. And I hope and pray that one day, I don’t have to fight so hard for my sanity.”

He talks about how he is affected by sugar and low blood sugar, and how he’s found some benefits with niacin, chromium, magnesium and tryptophan (when he’s consistent with taking them!).

Trevor actually talks about the GABA interview I did with him a few days earlier and how he’s very interested in what he learned. He is planning to do a trial of GABA to see if it can help him further.

Here is a snippet from my interview on GABA (so do tune in to this interview if you’re new to my work and the targeted amino acids):

GABA is really quite profound. When I had my anxiety, GABA was my lifesaver. It completely turned my life around. Within three days of using GABA, the panic attacks stopped and the anxiety started to go down, and then I had to look for all the other root causes. It worked immediately so I’m a complete believer, just because I’ve experienced it myself. You’ll hear a lot of people say GABA won’t work. It doesn’t cross the blood/brain barrier so it’s not going to have an impact.

We’ve now got research showing that there may be ways that it crosses the blood/brain barrier. We’ve also got research showing that we have GABA receptors in various parts of our body. We’ve got a lot in our muscles, and with low GABA symptoms you’ll have physical tension.

The beautiful thing is it works. It works quickly, and if you have these low GABA symptoms, which is the physical anxiety, which could be panic attacks. It could be stress eating, it could be drinking to calm down. If you are the kind of person who needs wine to wind down at the end of the day, that’s a big sign that you may need GABA. You take the GABA and you just feel this physical tension release from you, you know you’re onto something good.

I just wish I’d known about his struggles with depression at the time of our interview – I would have talked more about tyrosine for dopamine support (for curl up in bed depression) and DPA for endorphin boosting (for low endorphins weepy depression). 

I did discuss gluten and would consider this especially since his daughter has issues with it. I talked about low serotonin and mentioned Lidtke tryptophan.  If someone doesn’t do well on another brand I’d have them trial the Lidtke brand.  I’d also look into SIBO – I have SIBO and rice and grains make me feel flat and low and I see this often with clients.  Finally I’d look into lithium orotate for keeping an even mood. 

Trevor shares these wise words at the end of his interview:

You do find that when you actually bite the bullet and share it with people,

people are very, very understanding. And actually, you’re amazed that many people have been there themselves.

I could not agree more which is why I’ve always shared my journey with anxiety. I appreciate him for being willing to share his story with depression!

If you’re not already registered here is the registration link for That Vitamin Summit

Feel free to post questions or feedback below – and share your story with anxiety or depression if you feel drawn to do so

Sweet Freedom Summit: industry manipulation, mouth feel and vanishing caloric density

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The Sweet Freedom Summit runs April 10-17. I like to do a sneak preview of some of the interviews so I can share some highlights with you and I was blown away by some of what I learned from Damon Gameau, Australian actor and producer of That Sugar Film.

His interview: The Real Dope on Added Sugars. We know this goes on but every time I hear it I feel mad (and a bit sad) that it happens and that it’s actually allowed to happen! And that so few people even know about this! Here goes:

Nestlé, for example, have about seven hundred PhD scientists just working on their foods and understanding what the mouth feel of the food is that makes us really like them or how it triggers certain parts of our brain and releases dopamine that makes us want more.

People often talk about, “It’s freedom of choice. People should be able to decide what they want.” But that’s fair enough if you understand the playing field and it’s a very one-sided playing field because these foods are being engineered to get you liking and wanting more and more of them. So, it is very hard for some people to say no to things.

This term was new to me: vanishing caloric density!

There is a great term I learned for those kind of—we have them in Australia—they are called Cheetos or Puffs where you have them and they feel like they turn to air in your mouth very quickly. It’s called vanishing caloric density. It means that you don’t feel like you are eating much. So, you can just sit there and watch TV and demolish an entire bag because it’s tricking your brain into thinking that you are actually not eating very much because they are disappearing in your mouth. So these have been designed this way, very carefully so that they’ll sell more of those products.

Damon is shocked by the manipulation and so should we all be!

That probably shocked me in terms of the manipulation there. And just to start to understand the level of rigging of science, the paid scientists, the PR companies that are pushing the food industry’s brand, how they attack certain groups in social media; just the sort of orchestration that these companies use to make sure that there is ambiguity and doubt in the public mind.

Damon’s interview airs on day 1 and not to be missed. Be sure to listen to the entire interview! You won’t believe what he did to himself in That Sugar Film! (hint: he embarked on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived, or promoted to be ‘healthy’.)

On day 1 you can also hear Jonathan Landsman (what sugar does in your body), JJ Virgin (sugar’s full impact) and Ty Bollinger (sugar-cancer connection).

The first step is awareness and knowing where sugar is found – this is covered extensively during the summit.

The next step is switching to a real whole foods diet with quality animal protein (I’m not a fan of a vegetarian diet – covered by one of the speakers) and healthy fats, organic produce and no sugar.

This is easier said than done for many people. You may know you need to quit sugar but willpower gets the better of you. If this sounds like you be sure to tune in to my interview.

In case you missed it, a few weeks ago I shared some snippets from my brain chemical/neurotransmitter imbalance interview with Sherry – addressing sugar cravings as well as anxiety and depression. I talk about the BIG connection between stress eating, comfort eating, emotional eating and low levels of the brain chemicals serotonin, GABA and endorphins.

Sherry loved our interview so much she’s decided to offer it as a gift to EVERYONE who signs up for the summit! So you can enjoy it from day 1 or tune in and comment when it airs.

The Sweet Freedom Summit runs April 10-17 and when you register you’ll get immediate access to my interview and some other cool sign up gifs.

Please share with family and friends who you know can benefit from this information!

Got questions or feedback? Please share them in the blog comments below.

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

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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?

The Anxiety Summit – Sugar Impact Diet with JJ Virgin

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JJ Virgin, CNS Celebrity Nutrition & Fitness Expert, author The Virgin Diet and the new Sugar Impact Diet  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.

“The Sugar Impact Diet” and stress/anxiety
– The role stress and anxiety play in sugar addiction
– Why sugar is a drug and what it’s doing to our health and mood
– Why all sugar is not created equal and where it hides
– Why fructose is worse than glucose
– Can we eat natural sugars, fruit, honey and agave
– The dangers of artificial sweeteners
– Signs of high sugar impact and how the sugar impact diet works
– Why snacking may not be a good thing

Here is a snippet from our interview:

When you look at it, sugar is as addictive as cocaine. It’s more addictive than morphine. Connecticut College did a study where they looked at morphine and Oreos with rats and they both lit up the same pleasure centers/reward centers in the brain. The only difference was when the rats were given a choice between morphine and Oreos; they picked the Oreos because they were more pleasurable. Maybe it’s because with the Oreos you got a little trifecta because when you look at it what’s the worst thing? So sugar lights up the reward center and then you’ve got gluten and dairy, opiates, you know, caseomorphins and gluteomorphins and so just an opiate load to you when you look at something like cereal and milk, right, with all the sugar, gluten and dairy. So clearly you’ve got a drug and the more of it you eat the more of it you want.

stress and anxiety make you crave more sugar, you’re hungrier overall and then tired so you want things that are quick, energetic pick-me-ups and have unstable blood sugar. It’s like this trifecta of bad for setting you up for going after sugar

Here is one of the sugar-is-like-a-drug studies from 2013 – Sugar addiction: pushing the drug-sugar analogy to the limit.

research has revealed that sugar and sweet reward can not only substitute to addictive drugs, like cocaine, but can even be more rewarding and attractive.

The biological robustness in the neural substrates of sugar and sweet reward may be sufficient to explain why many people can have difficultly to control the consumption of foods high in sugar when continuously exposed to them.

And the rat oreo study/faculty research concluded with this:

Even though we associate significant health hazards in taking drugs like cocaine and morphine, high-fat/ high-sugar foods may present even more of a danger because of their accessibility and affordability

sugar impactJJ’s new book Sugar Impact Diet launches November 4th – be sure to grab your copy to learn how you can lower your sugar impact today!

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