the anxiety summit

The Anxiety Summit – Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 2

November 10, 2014 By Trudy Scott 43 Comments

Kris Homme, MPH retired engineer turned science writer was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 2

how to get rid of your mercury burden: dental amalgams, mercury in fish
how a special diet can help
important supplements to include: antioxidants; essential fatty acids; minerals
foods and supplements to avoid
concerns around chelation
chronic mercury poisoning resources

Here is a snippet from our interview:

I’d really like to emphasize the toxicity of mercury and just how insidious it is and how important prevention is because, once you have toxicity, it can be pretty hard to get rid of. The first thing to do is address your exposures, and one big one is dental amalgams. If you are inclined to think you may have a mercury burden, then consider safe dental amalgam removal. It’s not an emergency, but put it into your five-year plan. You can read about this on IAOMT/ International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology web site. They’re the pro-science dental association that has been working to fund and disseminate the science since 1983. They have developed a safe amalgam removal protocol. You can find a dentist who appreciates the toxicity of mercury and takes every precaution. Your old dentist may have an office full of mercury vapor, so you may want to find a new dentist and discuss the details of the procedure with the new dentist and decide for yourself whether the procedure is adequate. You got into trouble by trusting your old dentist to do what the old dentist thought was right, so it’s a good idea not to trust, but to figure out what you think is the right protocol for amalgam removal

Kris asked the following in the interview:

if you believe that your dental amalgams have affected your health, please report this to the FDA on the FDA MedWatch web site. They have a form to report adverse events, and dental amalgams are considered a medical device, so if you’ll use that form, it may help. In the last go-round against the FDA’s amalgam rule, the 2009 statement by the FDA said that they had received very few adverse event reports on amalgam, so let’s not let them say that again.

Here is the Environmental Working Group January 2014 report we mentioned: US Seafood Advice Flawed on Mercury, Omega-3s

Kris has some additional fish information here – Fish mercury: Some inconvenient truths

Here is short video of Kris talking about genetic susceptibility to mercury toxicity

This was a 2-part interview – here is the link to the blog for part 1

Here are links to the resources Kris shared:

Amalgam Illness by Andrew Cutler

Mercury Exposure

DAMS – Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions

IAOMT/International Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology

Kern 2012 article on brain pathology in mercury poisoning: Evidence of parallels between mercury intoxication and the brain pathology in autism

Kris’s website MercuryandMore

Kris’ paper published earlier this year: New science challenges old notion that mercury dental amalgam is safe

Here is a link to part 1 of this mercury discussion – chronic mercury poisoning effects at the molecular level, the cellular and organ level, effects on hormone imbalance and neurotransmitters and how to test.

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

The Anxiety Summit – Targeted individual amino acids for eliminating anxiety: practical applications

November 10, 2014 By Trudy Scott 126 Comments

Host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution. was interviewed by Dr Lauren Noel, host of Dr Lo radio.

Targeted individual amino acids for eliminating anxiety: practical applications

Glutamine: how it’s calming and helps with blood sugar balancing
GABA: how it eases physical tension
Tryptophan: how it eases anxiety in the head/busy ruminations (and when not to use 5-HTP)
DPA and tyrosine: how they help you quit the comfort-eating and coffee
Precautions when using individual amino acids
Factors that make them more effective and factors that make them less effective

Here are some snippets from our interview:

You’ll hear some practitioners say GABA molecules are too large to cross the blood brain barrier so GABA won’t work or if it does work you must have a leaky blood brain barrier

Some practitioners are talking about and using a “test” for leaky brain called the GABA Challenge which recommends taking1000- 2000 mg of GABA at night. If the blood brain barrier is intact, you supposedly won’t feel any effect from the GABA. If you do feel a change (drowsiness /feeling drunk or even jittery) then you will need to repair your leaky blood brain barrier.

I have not used the GABA Challenge and only recently learned about it but I am concerned with the very high dose of 2000mg of GABA. That is a lot of GABA for most people and I would expect severe drowsiness for most people or even a reverse effect. I find 125mg (in GABA Calm) is a good starting dose for my anxious clients.

I have also seen research indicating that GABA’s relaxing effect may be due to peripheral effects rather than the effect on/in the brain

Here are some of the papers about there being GABA-receptors in peripheral tissues (these are older papers and I’d love to see some newer research).

“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” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2162457)
“GABA is widely distributed in endocrine tissues including the pituitary, pancreas, adrenal glands, uterus, ovaries, placenta and testis” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16338174)

Here is the research on oral GABA being a natural relaxant for 13 subjects who crossed a suspended bridge as a stressful stimulus

GABA could work effectively as a natural relaxant and its effects could be seen within 1 hour of its administration to induce relaxation and diminish anxiety.

Here is the research on the stress-reducing effect of chocolate enriched with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in humans

the participants performed an arithmetic task and those that were given the GABA choc made a quick recovery to the normal state from the stressful state.

It has been reported that ordinary doses of GABA by oral ingestion do not permeate the blood brain barrier. Therefore, it has been considered that GABA may act on the peripheral nervous system of the digestive organs and not the central nervous system

Here is the blog post that discusses why I don’t use urinary neurotransmitter testing.

There are some precautions to be aware of when taking supplemental amino acids. Here are the Amino Acid Precautions.

Meme Grant shared her success story with the amazing amino acids (and the pyroluria protocol) in season 1. She had anxiety, had panic attacks, didn’t enjoy speaking in public, had insomnia and was an emotional eater.

glutamine allowed her to walk past the gluten and dairy free junk foods

tyrosine helped her flutterby mind, gave her energy, focus and a desire to do things again
DPA stopped her comfort eating for too much of the “healthy” sweeteners
Tryptophan stopped her mind talk, got her sleeping through the night for the first time in 11 years and helped reduce the frequency of her panic attacks
GABA was the best amino acid and how the panic attacks disappeared
zinc, vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil helped her pyroluria symptoms

Enjoy the bonus audio of my interview with Meme. You’ll be able to hear first-hand from someone who experienced amazing results.

Here is a video of Nicole trying some glutamine for low blood sugar

The questionnaires are also on the blog – amino acid questionnaire and pyroluria questionnaire. Both have many comments that are invaluable.

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

The Anxiety Summit – Adrenals – Master glands of anxiety / tranquility

November 8, 2014 By Trudy Scott 16 Comments

Dr. Alan Christianson, ND. author of Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease and a forthcoming book on adrenal health, was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Adrenals – Master glands of anxiety / tranquility

Why the adrenals regulate the anxiety response
Why some are more prone to anxiety than others
How to know if your adrenals are healthy
Testing your adrenal function
The difference between adrenal dysfunction and disease
How your diet and daily habits stress your adrenals
The best ways to heal your adrenal glands

Here is short video of Dr. Christianson sharing his story as an unhealthy kid and why he does what he does

Here are some snippets from our interview:

So even if we’re not being chased by the classic tiger if our blood sugar’s crashing, that, by itself, can trigger high amounts of stress hormones to make us feel more anxious, or if our sleep schedules have been thrown off, or if we’re missing some key nutrients that are needed by the adrenal glands, or if we’ve got a high amount of some external toxin in our body. All these separate things – and it can also be thought of that it’s not just a factor, but it’s the collective weight of all of those adrenal stressors. It’s how much we’ve got pushing those glands off at any given point in time that makes us more or less apt to have anxiety symptoms.

So caffeine is a stimulant, and what it does specifically is it causes our body to take all of our stored energy. We make something called glycogen. We take good carbs, and we pack them deep into our muscles. We pack them really tight, and we make glycogen out of that. It’s also in our liver. So caffeine causes us to just dump a whole of glycogen out, and it makes this big burst, this big rise in your blood sugar. The same thing would happen if you just drank a full sugar coke. It’s the same phenomenon, the same rise in blood sugar.

Here is a link to the online Adrenal Quiz we talked about. Let us know your score in the comments below.

In this Huffington Post blog called the Top 3 Myths of Adrenal Fatigue he writes how strategically using sunlight is one of the best-documented ways to help restore daily rhythms and heal the adrenals. We discussed some of this in the interview and here is a nice summary:

Within an hour of waking, expose yourself to sunlight or a light box emitting at least 10,000 lux (measure of light intensity). Do not wear sunglasses, do not look directly at the source of light, and get at least a half hour of exposure.
Get low wattage (under 40 watts) red-colored light bulbs for your bedroom. For the last 50 minutes of your day, feel free to read a book our journal, but use no other sources of light or electronics.
In your bedroom, make sure your windows block all outdoor lights and cover any lights on thermostats, or alarm units. Make sure that any lights used to find your way around are colored red.

Here is a link to Dr. Alan Christianson’s book on thyroid disease:

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease

As we mentioned at the start of the interview, Dr. Christianson has a new book on adrenal health coming out next month! When you register for the free gift he has kindly offered, you’ll also be updated on information about the new book.

Here is Dr. Christianson’s new book on adrenal health – The Adrenal Reset Diet: Strategically Cycle Carbs and Proteins to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, and Move from Stressed to Thriving

The free gift is 49 Fresh Recipes for a Stronger Body and More Vibrant You

UPDATE: Season 2 of The Anxiety Summit concluded in November 2014. If you’d like to be on the notification list for the next summit just sign up here www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview and want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts + interview highlights and listen when it suits you

The Anxiety Summit – How thyroid imbalance can cause anxiety and depression

November 8, 2014 By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

Dr Hyla Cass, MD, author of Eight Weeks to Vibrant Health was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

How thyroid imbalance can cause anxiety and depression

An aside on Abram Hoffer and orthomolecular medicine
Thyroid disorders: frequency, causes, symptoms and the mood/anxiety connection
Hashimotos thyroiditis and anxiety
Hyperthyroidism and anxiety
Testing: basal temperature and blood tests
Conventional medical treatment
Natural thyroid hormones and dietary factors
Shoulder stands, rebounding and exercise for stress and anxiety

Hyla and I recently both presented at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference. While we were these I asked her to do a quick video. Here it is…

Here is Hyla’s answer to: “What are some of the other factors that can cause us to have a low thyroid function?”

Well, if you’re not converting T4 to T3, you want to go another step deeper, and that is why aren’t you converting T4 to T3? Because that is the active form. So it could be that you’re converting it to inactive form, which is reverse T3. That’s what you do in times of stress. It could be that you’re deficient in certain minerals that are required to convert the T4 to T3. Those are selenium, for example, zinc, magnesium.

We need to have a lot of chemicals in our body, a lot of good chemicals, good vitamins, good minerals for all the chemistry to work properly. So rather than simply replacing thyroid hormones, which is a good idea and it works, but also to find out what’s going on to make your body produce the T3 instead of giving it exogenously, giving external T3. But let’s encourage the body first to make it.

Or your adrenals can be wiped out. You get really stressed and your adrenals are working too hard, and they kind of go on strike. What happens when your adrenals are really exhausted is they’re releasing cortisol. You actually suppress your thyroid, your production of thyroid. You could actually have a low TSH and a low T4 and a low T3. It has to do with your adrenal glands being really tired. What you look for is reverse T3. That’s a good clue that your adrenals are not functioning on all cylinders.

Here is the paper: The prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in patients with euthyroid Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: a comparative study, discussing the connection between thyroid disorders and anxiety and depression (and treatment resistant depression)

Euthyroid Hashimotos thyroiditis and euthyroid goiter increase predisposition to major depression and anxiety disorders, and thyroid autoimmunity and other thyroid pathologies should be investigated in euthyroid patients with chronic and treatment-resistant complaints.

We discussed hyperthyroidism and psychiatric diagnoses. Here is the paper in the European Journal of Endinocrinology: Hyperthyroidism and psychiatric morbidity: evidence from a Danish nationwide register study:

Hyperthyroid individuals have an increased risk of being hospitalized with psychiatric diagnoses and being treated with antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anxiolytics, both before and after the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism.

Here is the 2014 paper I mentioned – Paradigm shifts in thyroid hormone replacement therapies for hypothyroidism.

Impaired psychological well-being, depression or anxiety are observed in 5-10% of hypothyroid patients receiving levothyroxine, despite normal TSH levels

Here is a link to my interview with Dr. Prousky – Tapering off psychiatric drugs so they don’t ruin your life. It has information about the Canadian Society for Orthomolecular Medicine

Here are two of Hyla’s great books:

Natural Highs: Supplements, Nutrition, and Mind-Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All the Time

Eight Weeks to Vibrant Health: A Take Charge Plan for Women to Correct Imbalances, Reclaim Energy and Restore Well-Being

Get your free gifts from Dr. Hyla Cass: “Outsmart Your Addiction Quiz” and “Reclaim Your Brain” e-report

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

The Anxiety Summit – Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety part 1

November 7, 2014 By Trudy Scott 39 Comments

Kris Homme, MPH retired engineer turned science writer was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 1

chronic mercury poisoning effects at the molecular level: blocks enzymes, displaces minerals
chronic mercury poisoning effects the cellular and organ level: mineral transport, destroys barriers like gut and brain, mitochondrial dysfunction
effects on hormone imbalance, blood sugar regulation, food sensitivities, GABA/serotonin levels, autoimmunity
why mercury toxicity is complicated and hard to test for
subjective signs of chronic mercury poisoning

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Mercury inhibits methylation, which is the biochemical process that affects the production of many hormones and neurotransmitters. It also causes a selective loss of Purkinje neurons in the brain which produce GABA.

Mercury is known to concentrate in glands, including the thyroid and blocks the enzyme that converts T4 to T3. Also, your mercury burden is a chronic stressor that seems to provoke symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Erethism: It’s the mercury personality, and that involves excessive timidity, diffidence, shyness, conflict avoidance, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive, a pathological fear of ridicule and explosive loss of temper when criticized. There are different versions of this definition and they’re all fun and they really resonated with me, so that can be interesting to look that up on the internet.

Here is the link to Kris Homme’s publication in Biometals, published earlier this year: New science challenges old notion that mercury dental amalgam is safe

Kris has gathered some additional information into this document – Chronic mercury poisoning: A brief summary of the science

It was lovely to recently meet Kris. After enjoying a nice cup of herbal tea with her, she shared a few things about mercury toxicity in her pretty back garden. Here is one of the videos we did – enjoy!

Here is a link to part 2 of this discussion- what to do and additional 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

The Anxiety Summit – Our environmental toxin exposures promote anxiety

November 7, 2014 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

Tom A. Malterre, MS, CN author of Nourishing Meals: Healthy Gluten-Free Recipes for the Whole Family was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Our environmental toxin exposures promote anxiety

The drastic spike in ADD/ADHD and autism and increase in anxiety and depression
Air pollution as an environmental toxin: concerns and sources (mercury, the brown cloud)
Mercury in fish and fish meal for animals
EDCs/ Endocrine Disrupting Compounds: BPA, phthalates and anxiety
Pesticides and the effects on folates in the colon and the production of serotonin
TILT /Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance
What to do: nutritional and lifestyle tips

Here are the quotes from The Journal of Environmental Health paper co-written by Dr. Steven Genuis:

Toxicity and nutritional deficiency states often receive insufficient attention as common source causes of chronic disease in the developed world

it’s evident that a reevaluation of conventional wisdom on the current construct of disease origins should be considered

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Now 74 billion pounds of chemicals are being imported or produced in the United States every single day, that doesn’t include pharmaceuticals, it doesn’t include fuels and food additives. It doesn’t include some of the primary things like pesticides that we’re exposed to on a daily basis so that number is conservative and still, to me, it’s completely and totally overwhelming

Excessive levels of chemicals like BPA can inactivate Vitamin D which is one of the key components for turning off inflammation in the central-nervous system. Excessive inflammation can lead to increased excitatory glutamate and anxiety.

Here is the 2012 study co-authored by Stephen Genuis: Human Excretion of Bisphenol A: Blood, Urine, and Sweat (BUS) Study

Biomonitoring of BPA through blood and/or urine testing may underestimate the total body burden of this potential toxicant. Sweat analysis should be considered as an additional method for monitoring bioaccumulation of BPA in humans. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of BPA.

The Environmental Working Group SkinDeep site is a great resource for checking out safe cosmetics

Here is some of the research on Vitamin D and inflammation that is being conducted by Colleen Hayes and colleagues

If you are interested in learning more about broccoli’s superhero powers, watch Tom’s TED talk here on YouTube! “Broccoli – the DNA whisperer”

Cauliflower is also a good source of sulforaphane and here is a yummy Coconut lemon garlic cauliflower recipe from one of Tom’s books Nourishing Meals: Healthy Gluten-Free Recipes for the Whole Family.

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