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

Trudy Scott

The Super Size Me: 10-Year Anniversary Summit

By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

Super-Size-Me-10-Year

It’s time to fix food. (join me and 30+ top food experts?)

The biggest voices in health & nutrition are coming together to address the future of food (and how you can help fix it).

10 years ago, the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me showed how food can drastically change a person’s body and health over just 30 days. And what an incredible movie it was! (If you haven’t seen it I really encourage you to see what 3x day of fast food can do to a man!)

In this groundbreaking, eye-opening, conversation-starting, film, co-star Alex Jamieson helped to change the way we think about fast food and how what we eat affects our bodies.

But 10 years after Super Size Me rocked America, we’re still facing some big challenges.

People who desperately need good nutrition, like the working poor, don’t have access to it. Our children are still bombarded with junk food messaging, and our schools have yet to embrace healthier lunch programs and nutrition education.

And at home, we still deal with emotional eating issues, weight problems, and body image troubles. Even when we know that we could be doing things differently to eat better, the idea of fixing healthy food at home seems like a chore.

Which is why I’m excited and honored to join Alex (and her 30+ food experts) on her mission to #FixFood. We met last year and I am so impressed with the wonderful work she is doing! She is a woman on a mission – that’s for sure! Alex is truly a passionate and inspirational leader in the health and wellness field.

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Super Size Me, she is reuniting the powerful voices that shaped the film and helped make this little documentary a global sensation.

She’s asked the 30+ top experts in food and health who have come up in the last 10 years how they intend to help all of us #FixFood.

And she’s bringing all of these leaders and experts together for a virtual event like no other…

The Super Size Me: 10-Year Anniversary Summit

This conference is available via online streaming for FREE, March 10 – 14, 2014!

Get inside information on what the future holds for food from Alex Jamieson, and experts including JJ Virgin, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mark Hyman, John Robbins, Robb Wolfe and many more.

As I said, I’m just thrilled to be one of the speakers! I will be talking about real food, red meat (of course!), emotional eating/brain chemical imbalances and how the amazing amino acids can switch off cravings so we don’t feel deprived and don’t need to use willpower to avoid the junk foods, sugars and carbs. This is just one way that will help us #FixFood!

We have the power to change food culture – and it all starts here. See you March 10!

What you need to know:

Dates: March 10 – 14, 2014
Price: FREE
Where: Sign up online at
http://www.entheos.com/Super-Size-Me-10-Year-Anniversary/Trudy-Scott

9 Steps to Calm the Anxious Mind: Nourishing Hope Support Club

By Trudy Scott 8 Comments

nourishing-hope-support-club

The Nourishing Hope Support Club is led by nutritionist Julie Matthews and created to help support families of children with autism and ADHD to understand how to apply food and nutrition choices based on each child’s individual biochemistry. She has extensive experience on how food compounds such as salicylates, oxalates, glutamates, and food proteins affect learning, mood and health.

Once a month, Julie discusses emerging research, shares her clinical experience, answers your questions, and interviews special guests. These monthly talks help parents learn to make the most of food and supplement choices, identify possible pitfalls, and stay on track toward improving the health and learning potential of their child. Each month brings content-specific learning topics about how various special diets (gluten-free, GAPS, Paleo), nutrition concepts, and supplements help children with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorders, and learning and developmental delays.

I am pleased to announce that, this month, I will be the guest presenter on the Nourishing Hope Support Club with Julie Matthews. I will be speaking on “Food and Mood: 9 Steps to Calm the Anxious Mind.”

Guest Speaker: Trudy Scott, Certified Nutritionist
February 26th, 5:00 pm, PST

There is much recent evidence supporting the powerful food-mood connection and there are some very exciting recent studies that support this for both anxiety disorders, stress and other mood disorders. I use a comprehensive 9 step approach with my clients to help them overcome their anxiety, depression, emotional eating and sugar cravings. It is, of course, customized to their unique biochemistry, and includes:

  1. Real whole traditional food, including quality grass-fed red meat and 4 unique antianxiety food solutions
  2. Why and how to quit sugar with no willpower required and how to control blood sugar swings
  3. The effects of caffeine
  4. The importance of optimal digestion
  5. The bad-mood effects of gluten
  6. How to balance brain chemistry with individual amino acids to improve mood and stop cravings in their tracks
  7. How to correct social anxiety / pyroluria with zinc and vitamin B6
  8. The effects of other nutrients (such as low vitamin D), hormones and medications
  9. Simple lifestyle changes that include sleep, exercise and yoga

In preparation for the call, I shared some of the recent research with Julie:

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the very powerful connection between food and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Dr. Felice Jacka, is an Australian researcher who is one of the lead researchers on food and mental health.

In this 2010 study in The American Journal of Psychiatry, lead author Dr. Jacka, found that a “western” diet of processed or fried foods, refined grains, sugary products, and beer was associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression in women. The “traditional” diet or real whole food diet was associated with a lower risk of anxiety and depression. This real whole food diet did include grass-fed red meat and she believes following the recommended weekly intake of red meat could boost our mental health.

Dr. Felice Jacka is also the lead author in a 2011 PLoS One paper that found that diet quality in adolescents was associated with a lower risk of mental health issues. They found that “improvements in diet quality were mirrored by improvements in mental health over the follow-up period, while deteriorating diet quality was associated with poorer psychological functioning.” The author stated that this “study highlights the importance of diet in adolescence and its potential role in modifying mental health over the life course.”

You can read the rest of the article here on the Nourishing Hope site.

I hope you can join us! I’ve known Julie for years and admire her immensely. She is truly a trailblazer in the world of nutrition for autism, ADHD, and other developmental delays.

Here is her bio: Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism spectrum disorders. She provides dietary guidance backed by scientific research and applied clinical experience. Her award winning book, Nourishing Hope for Autism, has helped people around the world to make food and nutrition choices that aid the health, learning, and behavior of those with autism, ADHD, and other developmental delays. She presents at leading autism conferences in the US and abroad, and is the Nutrition Editor of the Autism File magazine. She is on the advisory boards of the US Autism & Asperger Association and Autism Nutrition Research Center. Julie has a private nutrition practice in San Francisco, California, and supports families and clinicians from around the world. Visit http://NourishingHope.com

To learn more about the Nourishing Hope Support Club and join the call, visit: http://nourishinghope.com/support-club/

Amazing Amino Acids for Ending Emotional Eating – No Willpower Required! Really!!

By Trudy Scott 7 Comments

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We start Monday with this live course where I am going to share the five brain chemical imbalances and respective amazing amino acids that can end cravings and emotional eating.

If you have these symptoms, then amino acids may help:

  • LOVING a certain food (do you just LOVE pizza or really LOVE cookies as a reward or to numb!?)
  • wanting caffeine or sugar for a pick me up in the afternoon
  • afternoon or night time cravings for carbs
  • poor sleep
  • feeling anxious and irritable (and wanting sugar/starches/alcohol to calm you down)
  • depression and low self-esteem (and wanting sugar/starch/alcohol for soothing)

Yep, all of those can be caused by a lack of some key amino acids that we either don’t get in our food or don’t get enough of.  I have amazing results with my clients!

I recently participated in the incredible Loving Food Loving Life Emotional Eating telesumit hosted by Aimee Serafini. The participants were so wowed by this new information that Aimee asked me to create a group program that would be affordable AND where participants could all support each other.

I’m going to share exactly what and how much to take and what brands based on your own brain chemical imbalances.  Plus we’ll also talk about diet, breakfast, getting enough protein, meal timing, your adrenals and thyroid, food intolerances and much more!

Here is the complete overview of the course:

  • Five Live Classes covering each of the 5 neurotransmitter deficiency categories (low serotonin, low GABA, low catecholamines, low endorphins and low blood sugar) and recordings for your library after the calls (live class dates are 5pm PT / 8pm ET: Mondays May 13 & 20, Tuesday May 28 (due to holiday), and Mondays June 3 & 10)
  • Bonus Live Q&A call after course to answer questions (Monday, June 17)
  • If you cannot attend the live classes, you will get the recordings to download so you can listen when you have time and refer to them later, plus you can ask questions on Facebook. Please do not let scheduling affect your being able to start getting relief now
  • Amino Acid Precautions questionnaire (to address contraindications)
  • Amino Acid Deficiency questionnaire
  • Food Mood Log – to figure out how food affects you and how you are feeling prior to eating
  • Supplement Sheet for amino acid timings
  • Membership in a private Facebook Group for peer support.  Support is super important and hearing the experiences and questions of other participants will surely be of great benefit
  • A Bonus audio interview with Mira Dessy, Nutrition Educator and Whole Food Advocate: The Pantry Principle, How to Read the label and Know What’s Really in Your Food 

If you’re still on the fence

Are you in or out? 

Aimee and I hope to have you join us (Aimee enrolled for this class too!)  If you would like to enroll in this 6 week live virtual class you can still register here 

[7/8/13 update: this event has concluded and this program is now available as a 6 week homestudy program: The Amazing Amino Acids for Ending Emotional Eating – No Willpower Required! Really!! (Home Study Program – with or without Live Q&A calls) ]

 

Glutamine for low blood sugar and calming effects

By Trudy Scott 85 Comments

Nicole is an NTP (Nutritional Therapy Practitioner) and fire-fighter paramedic and has problems with blood sugar control. Diabetes runs in her family. We met at the recent 2013 NTA (Nutritional Therapy Association conference) where I had a booth to promote my services and book The Antianxiety Food Solution. I also presented on the Role of Inflammation in Anxiety, Stress and Depression – which covered amongst other factors, the amino acids.

Nicole came by my booth after my presentation and she wanted to try the glutamine because of low blood sugar symptoms. The results she experienced were great!

You can watch this video to hear how powerful glutamine was for Nicole – she saw results in around 5 minutes. I really like to get testimonials like this because when I talk about the profound and quick effects of the amazing amino acids it almost sounds too good to be true! But in this case (and the majority of cases), it really is true!

Nicole says “I get irritable, I get shaky and I get to the point that if I don’t get food NOW I think I’m going to hurt something!”

She tried the glutamine and in under 5 minutes she went from that feeling to: “I’m ok. I feel happy, I feel calm, I feel I can make it longer without needing food right away.”

She finished up by saying “I’m impressed at how well that worked for me” and she plans to share the benefits of this amino acid with her clients who may have blood sugar issues and the associated symptoms of shakiness between meals, irritability, a frantic need for something to eat and often an intense desire for something sweet.

Signs of low blood sugar include:

  • Irritability, agitation, nervousness
  • Shaky between meals or when you skip a meal
  • Poor memory, focus and fatigue
  • Intense sweet craving at various times of the day
  • Feeling stressed & overwhelmed
  • Waking in the night (low blood sugar is one of many causes of insomnia)

When you have stable blood sugar, you will feel grounded, experience less overwhelm and stress and have no cravings – if your cravings are blood sugar related. Cravings can also be due to low serotonin, low endorphins, low catecholamines and low GABA, and even as a result of candida or yeast overgrowth. For many of my clients it may even be a combination of the above.

Naturally, making food changes can help a great deal as you can read in this blog post on low blood sugar and anxiety.

Eat Naked Margaret Floyd interviewed by Trudy Scott

By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

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I’d love to introduce you to Margaret Floyd, author of Eat Naked: Unprocessed, unpolluted, and undressed eating for a healthier, sexier you and its follow up cookbook, The Naked Foods Cookbook: The whole foods, healthy fats, gluten-free guide to losing weight and feeling great, which she co-authored with Chef and husband, James Barry.

We met last year at the Weston A. Price conference and saw each other again at the recent Nutritional Therapy Association conference, where I interviewed her about her two fabulous books! (I also met her lovely husband James and delightful daughter Sia)

You can watch this video to hear why she wrote this book…

You’ll hear Margaret talk about: real clean food… misconceptions about food… healthy food… simplify… and plenty of recipes

Margaret wrote Eat Naked for her clients and to educate the public at large. This book is an excellent introduction for people who are completely new to the concept of real nourishing food. And if you have been on this path for a while, you’ll receive validation and some interesting new facts. This book also meshes so perfectly with the eating message in the first chapter of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution and is a perfect companion for those who are familiar with my work, and yet want and need more detail, and more “meat” (no pun intended!).

You may be in for some pleasant surprises if you’ve given up meat for health reasons and no longer eat butter – and yet secretly long for these foods. They are back on the menu, but with the emphasis of quality of course! I knew I was in for a treat when I read Margaret’s dedication to her gamma: “You were right, butter is better.”

Here are a few of my favorite parts of Eat Naked:

  • It’s for people who love food, want to eat well and don’t have loads of time
  • It covers all the bad stuff: hydrogenated oils, sugar and HFCS, artificial sweeteners, soy
  • It covers all the good stuff: organic produce with some great information on pesticides and climate change and why canned tomatoes are a good choice
  • It addresses some interesting aspects of red meat: the Certified Humane Label, the sustainability of meat and a nice review of grass-finished
  • The discussion on eliminating sugar!  (why? because as you’ve heard from me many times, sugar is toxic, addicting, and can contribute to anxiety and depression)
  • How to transition to this way of eating and how to shop naked (don’t you just love the play on words!?)
  • Many delicious and yet simple recipes (try the Eggs on a Bed of Greens)

I LOVE recipe books and The Naked Foods Cookbook is a happy addition to my collection and is one I’ll use and recommend to clients. It fits the bill of having simple, fast and delicious recipes with the added bonus of them being super-nourishing too.

Finally, don’t you just love the covers of these books and the concept of naked undressed food!? How can that not make you fall in love with real food all over again!? And as Margaret says, eat like this and soon you’ll be proud to see your naked body!

Here are links to purchase these books on Amazon: Eat Naked: Unprocessed, unpolluted, and undressed eating for a healthier, sexier you and the cookbook, The Naked Foods Cookbook: The whole foods, healthy fats, gluten-free guide to losing weight and feeling great

Margaret Floyd is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified GAPS Practitioner and Healing Foods Specialist based in the Los Angeles area. She’s a passionate advocate for the healing power of a real, whole-foods diet, and works with clients all over North America and Europe to regain their health and vitality through food and lifestyle.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2013 conference highlights

By Trudy Scott 14 Comments

My gluten-mood poster at the 2013 ADAA conference
My gluten-mood poster at the 2013 ADAA conference

Last weekend I attended the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America / ADAA and am pleased to share some of the highlights.

  • Gluten does have such a big impact on mood for so many people and I had many interested and curious visitors at my poster presentation (see the above picture)  “Evidence-based Research On The Serious Effects Of Gluten On Mental Health, With An In-depth Look At Testing And The Gluten-free Diet.” A number of people shared how gluten removal had eliminated their anxiety and/or depression too: a mom whose daughter quit gluten and found that this eliminated her panic attacks, a Canadian MD who didn’t know about gluten intolerance and infertility and the director of an anxiety clinic in Argentina. I was also honored to have Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, ADAA Past President, Chief of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, stop by. He said “interesting… everyone where I live is going gluten-free.” I asked him “and what kind of feedback are you getting?” Dr. Rosenbaum: “They’re all feeling better!”
  • I attended a great presentation by Dr. Teri Pearlstein: “Treatment of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders”. Dr. Pearlstein shared studies that show that babies born to depressed moms may have similar health problems as those born to moms taking anti-depressant medications i.e. lower birth weight and smaller head circumference. However, I also learned this: in a JAMA Psychiatry study of more than 1800 children, investigators found an adjusted 2-fold increased risk for ASD (autism spectrum disorder) among mothers who used an SSRI during the year before delivery and a 3-fold increased risk when SSRIs were ingested during the first trimester. The study was done in 2011 so it’s not new but it’s still an important finding. To me, this provides a very big incentive for using drug-free solutions for pregnancy – which is why the amino acids, fish oils and other nutrients that I cover in The Antianxiety Food Solution are worth investigating as a better option.  We really need some research in this area!

I’ll be sharing some other interesting posters (like “Mindful-based stress reduction for stress and cognition in older adults”) and presentations (like Benzodiazapine side-effects and tolerance) in my next post on the ADAA.