vitamin D

The Anxiety Summit – Take magnesium and melt your anxiety away

November 11, 2014 By Trudy Scott 36 Comments

Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, author of The Magnesium Miracle was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Take magnesium and melt your anxiety away

how important is magnesium: enzymatic processes, mitochondria, heart health, anxiety
how important is magnesium compared to calcium; and the vitamin D connection
the medication fluoride concern and magnesium impact
the symptoms of magnesium deficiency
why we are deficient in magnesium
dietary sources of magnesium and why diet is often not enough
how to test your magnesium level

Here are some snippets from our interview:

If your magnesium is low, your adrenal glands, which require a lot of magnesium, get kind of trigger-happy. And you can start getting adrenaline surges when you’re under stress, blood sugar can go low and you think you’re having an anxiety attack or a panic attack.

Now, your cholesterol depends on a magnesium enzyme to balance cholesterol. If you have too much, it brings it down; if you have too little, it brings it up. It’s done through the mechanism of magnesium. But the statin drugs kill that particular enzyme! And, as well, they cause more magnesium deficiency because many of the statin drugs actually have a fluoride molecule attached, and that fluoride molecule will bind up more magnesium.

Here is one of the 2014 studies we mentioned: Effect of oral magnesium supplementation on physical performance in healthy elderly women involved in a weekly exercise program: a randomized controlled trial

Daily magnesium oxide supplementation for 12 wk seems to improve physical performance in healthy elderly women. These findings suggest a role for magnesium supplementation in preventing or delaying the age-related decline in physical performance.

Here’s the blog post: When magnesium makes me worse It also has information about magnesium RBC testing with RequestaTest.com and fluoride in medications.

This is the last study Carolyn mentioned – Magnesium deficiency induces anxiety and HPA axis dysregulation: modulation by therapeutic drug treatment.

Overall, the present findings demonstrate the robustness and validity of the Mg(2+) deficiency model as a mouse model of enhanced anxiety, showing sensitivity to treatment with anxiolytics and antidepressants. It is further suggested that dysregulations in the HPA axis may contribute to the hyper-emotionality in response to dietary induced hypomagnesaemia.

Carolyn’s gift 4 Weeks of 2 Year Wellness Program PLUS Invisible Minerals

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

Breast Cancer Awareness: don’t be driven by fear

October 13, 2014 By Trudy Scott 13 Comments

DrNalini Chilkov’s new book — Dr. Nalini Chilkov’s new book

October is Breast Cancer awareness month so here are 7 resources to keep you informed, hopeful and inspired to take charge of your overall health and breast health – for prevention and healing – and no more fear!

#1 Reduce stress in your life. Here is a blog post I wrote in 2010 with information from my colleague Ellyn Hilliard: 10 Unique Ways to Support You During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Reduce the stresses in your life. Calm the nervous system. Meditate, go on a walk…

Start to look at chemicals in your life. Find natural alternatives to cleaning products.

#2 Exercise to prevent cancer and have fun at the same time

up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided with a nutritious diet and exercise

If exercise is a chore, find something fun to do and it will be a totally different experience

#3 Be aware that a lot of pinkwashing goes on – it’s quite awful how people are being taken advantage of. And know there is so much you can do that is healing and preventative. You can read more here: Pinkwashing for the cure (ridiculous!) or green for prevention?

Pinkwasher: (pink’-wah-sher) noun. A company or organization that claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produces, manufactures and/or sells products that are linked to the disease.

Helyane Waldman’s book “The Whole-Food Guide for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Nutritional Approach to Preventing Recurrence”

Rebecca Katz’s “The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery”

#4 Ann Louise Gittleman, author of The Fat Flush Diet and Get the Sugar Out, just posted a great blog on how to become a breast health warrior

Raise your daily Vitamin D intake (D is like a hormone rather than a vitamin) to at least 1,000 – 4,000 IU to reach a level of at least 52 ng/mL. Women with serum levels at

Get the Sugar Out! Plain and simple, cancer feeds on sugar which is known to immobilize white blood cells for up to five hours.

#5 Dr Nalini Chilkov is my cancer referral source and she has a new cancer booklet called 32 Ways to OutSmart Cancer. It has beautiful back-to-basics advice about eating nourishing nutrient-dense, antioxidant- and polyphenol-rich real whole food. I especially like the section on herbs and spices and love the chapter on gratitude. Here is a yummy salmon recipe from her blog.

#6 Be hopeful and optimistic. My colleague Fran Sussman shares her journey and story of recovery from breast cancer in this article called I am a breast cancer survivor: There is hope. Fran will be offering six-week support classes for women diagnosed with breast cancer starting in December.

I’ve come through it, with great resilience and rebounding health. I feel better than ever post-breast cancer, at age 60. I am healthy; my doctors concur.

What can you do for prevention? Support your body with optimal nutrition, exercise, sleep and hydration. Use nutrition to minimize inflammation and insulin resistance.

Acknowledge and work with your fear, but don’t be driven by it.

#7 And my final piece of advice is stated so beautifully by Fran: “Acknowledge and work with your fear, but don’t be driven by it.” Anxiety and depression is very common in people who have been diagnosed with cancer. This is understandable, but I encourage you to look for and get support in this area too, so you are not driven by your fear.

You may need to address low GABA levels, keep your blood sugar stable with good quality protein at breakfast, support your adrenals, and drink calming carob instead of coffee. There is so much you can do.

If you’re looking for more great resources for your healing journey, I invite you to join us on The Anxiety Summit, Nov 3-16, and learn more about nutritional and natural solutions for anxiety. The topics our expert address will also lead to improved overall health, improved heart health and will help with cancer prevention too.

Woman with Anxiety at ADAA 2012 conference: food is the answer

April 10, 2012 By Trudy Scott 2 Comments

I’m heading to the 32nd Annual Conference of Anxiety Disorders Association of America . It’s on from April 12 – 15, 2012 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Virginia.

The theme is: Integrating Mind-Body Connections: Advancing Science, Informing Practice for Anxiety and Related Disorders and you can find conference details here

I’m thrilled that I’ve been accepted to do a poster presentation on food/nutrients and anxiety – Food and Mood: Case Study of Woman with Anxiety. It will cover real whole food, including grass-fed red meat; neurotransmitters and amino acids GABA and 5-HTP; the mineral zinc; the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; vitamin D; the mood impacts of gluten and more. All supporting research will be provided.

The amazing thing is that this woman, a client of mine, was able to completely eliminate her anxiety and panic attacks, PMS and carb cravings using dietary and lifestyle changes only.

I look forward to sharing this information and my book The Antianxiety Food Solution with attendees.

One of the newest food mood studies I’ll be sharing is one by Davison and Kaplan, titled Nutrient Intakes Are Correlated With Overall Psychiatric Functioning in Adults With Mood Disorders. It was recently published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

They looked at Canadian adults with mood disorders. Intake of carbs, fiber, total fat, linoleic acid, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin B6, B12, pantothenic acid, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc were measured and higher levels of nutrients equated to better mental health.

Dr Kaplan, PhD was quoted as saying: “Doctors should consider counseling their patients to eat unprocessed, natural, healthy foods and refer them to a nutrition professional if specialized dietary consultation is needed.”

Here are some other interesting poster sessions I plan to visit:

Evaluation of Oral Zinc Sulfate Effect on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A
Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
Dietary Supplements for Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review

There are also some very interesting sessions that I look forward to attending:

Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine Into the Treatment of Anxiety and Related Disorders

Exercise for Mood and Anxiety
Adding Biofeedback to a Mental Health Practice
The Ethics of Psychology in the Media: Print, Internet, and TV
Anxiety and Gastrointestinal Distress Across the Lifespan
Benzodiazepine Use

All in all it should be a great three days of sharing, learning and networking at the ADAA 2012 conference and then a day of leisure in Washington DC before I head to Wisconsin for 3 days of Food-mood-anxiety workshops . I’m going to need that day of leisure!

I’ll be sharing what I learn on future blog posts and have plans to share my new beautiful 3ft x 5 ft poster too (created by my wonderful assistant Mika Howard) . And of course, I’ll take plenty of photos too.

Natural remedies for a cold, flu and sore throat

March 30, 2012 By Trudy Scott 21 Comments

On my recent food-mood trip to Boston, I was able to keep going for three days despite the fact that I had picked up a bug or two! I had a slight sore throat before leaving and the long flight and time change didn’t help. It was also a pretty demanding 3 days of all-day presenting on Food and Mood: 9 Steps to Calm the Anxious Mind, Improve Mood & End Cravings. Each day I lectured for about 7 hours and had about an hour of Q&A time answering questions. I really thought I might lose my voice by the end of day two but these natural remedies for colds, flu and sore throats really saved the day!

Vitamin D (5000IU), which has important antimicrobial properties
Vitamin C (1000mg 4 x day) and Zinc (30mg), both of which help with the common cold
Boiron Cold Calm, a homeopathic product that is amazing for cold symptoms
Boiron Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic product that is amazing for flu symptoms
Boiron Roxalia, a homeopathic product for hoarseness/voice strain. I love Boiron Cold Calm and Oscillococcinum and always have some on hand, especially when travelling. The Roxalia product was new to me but worked wonders for all the talking and I think should be a standard for speakers and singers! You can check out all the Boiron products here. Another favorite is the Arnica cream which I used on my aching feet (all that standing!)
I drank warm herbal tea all day. I had a jug of hot water up near the podium and enjoyed sipping on Throat Coat!
I also gargled twice a day with a few drops of tea tree oil diluted in warm water
And another new one for me was Manuka lozenges – lozenges made from pure manuka New Zealand honey, very soothing on the throat and with great anti-bacterial properties. This is a keeper too!

I did of course also make sure to eat well, drink plenty of filtered water and get a good night’s sleep. I hope you can benefit from some of these wonderful natural remedies too.