May is Mental Health Awareness Month |
|
|
Learn how functional nutrition counseling can help you improve your mental health. As a functional medicine health coach I evaluate what might be leading to imbalance. Is it bacteria affecting the brain... Inflammation affecting the brain... Neuro-hormone imbalance affecting the brain... Impaired breathing and lack of oxygenation affecting the brain? We have to look at those support systems. |
|
|
In this issue I will cover how psychiatric medications prescribed for the epidemic of debilitating mental health issues in society can deplete vital nutrients needed for optimal brain health. I give examples of food sources, vitamins and minerals and top 10 considerations for brain health. I cover how exercise is important for brain health and I discuss the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder through a functional medicine lens. I also address the impact trauma and stress has on our physiology contributing to mental health issues and digestive issues. |
|
|
What nutrients may you be depleted in due to your prescribed mental psychiatric medications? In addition to supporting my clients to minimize crap food (carbonated drinks, refined sugars, artificial foods, processed foods), stress and toxins for better health, an important part of my work as a functional medicine health coach is to see where my clients may be experiencing nutrient deficiencies that are affecting their mental health. Many people are not aware that medications they are often prescribed have nutrient depleting consequences. Among the most common drugs linked to nutrient depletion are oral contraceptives, cholesterol lowering statins and antibiotics. But did you know that many of the medications prescribed for mental health disorders deplete nutrients? This is clearly an issue because nutrient deficiencies can be one of the main causes of mental illness. Being prescribed medication which then further depletes vitamins and minerals from your body will make mental health issues worse. Suicide is a serious public health problem and one I've sadly experienced in both my professional and personal life, which fuels my mission to bring functional nutrition to those suffering mental health issues. According to the CDC, suicide rates increased approximately 36% between 2000–2021. Suicide was responsible for 48,183 deaths in 2021, which is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. As an experienced mental health clinician, I am grateful to have more tools in my toolkit to help address the the epidemic of people struggling with poor mental health through a trauma informed and functional medicine approach. SSRI drugs, like Prozac and Zoloft prescribed for depression cause calcium, iodine and vitamin D deficiencies. They also raise the incidence of metabolic disfunction. Research points to the idea that depression is caused by inflammation. It is widely thought that vitamin D plays an important role in the modulation of the inflammation system by regulating the production of inflammatory cytokines and immune cells, which are crucial for the pathological process of many immune-related diseases. Tricyclic Antidepressants like amytriptyline, imipramine and pamelor deplete coenzyme Q10 and vitamin B2. CoQ10 is a substance found in every cell of the body. It helps convert food into energy. It is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants fight damaging particles in the body known as free radicals, which damage cell membranes, tamper with DNA, and even cause cell death. Low levels of CoQ10 can cause brain-fog, mental fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, depression and irritability. Anti convulsants medications often prescribed for mood disorders like lamictal, gabapentin, and diazepam deplete vitamin K which is needed for calcium absorption. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are a separate class from other antidepressants, treating different forms of depression and other nervous system disorders such as panic disorder, social phobia, and depression with atypical features. MAOIs deplete vitamin B6. B6 is a key nutrient that boosts mood, deepens sleep, and supports your entire nervous system. It accomplishes this by playing a key role in the production of many neurotransmitters in your brain, including serotonin, GABA and dopamine. Benzodiazepines like ativan, xanax, valium, klonipin depletes melatonin, calcium, vitamin D, and B vitamins. Xanax increases the body's metabolism of vitamin D, a key vitamin needed for proper calcium absorption. Anti-psychotic medications can deplete essential nutrients like vitamin A, C,D, K, calcium and inositol. |
|
|
Foods for Brain Health: Start with Macronutrients Essential fatty acids- food sources: fish, fish products, seeds (especially flaxseeds, chia seeds), nuts, green leafy vegetables, beans. With omega-3 fatty acids, it is less about deficiency and more about imbalance. The omega-3 fats enables communication at the neuronal level. In our brain health the omega-3s also enable your brain to make prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are a group of fat molecules that are derived enzymatically from these fatty acids and that are critical for immunity to hormone health. When it comes to the brain these prostaglandins regulate the release of neurotransmitters (and therefore low omega-3 intake can be correlated to higher rates of depression, schizophrenia and learning disorders). Say No Trans fats. They make your brain cells slow, tough and rigid. Trans fats are made synthetic by the chemical processing method called hydrogenation. But like all dietary fat, trans-fats become incorporated into the cell membranes, which are primarily made up of fats. The biggest problem with the trans-fats when it comes to the health of your nerve cells is that they shove the healthier fats out of the picture. Even if you take fish oil, eat flax and hemp and chia, if you’re still eating trans-fats they are taking up space in the cell membranes. Quality protein with a variety of amino acids for neurotransmitters and hormones- food sources: grass fed animal proteins such as meat, eggs, and poultry. However, some plant foods, such as the soy products edamame and tofu, contain all nine essential amino acids. This means they are “complete” sources of protein Prebiotic fibers- food sources: Soluble fibers like fruits, oat, barley, legumes, peas, and beans, vegetables such as broccoli and carrots, most root vegetables; Insoluble fibers: Skins of plants Carbohydrates Consderations: Goals and Guidelines: No added sugars or high-glycemic, processed foods (cakes, cookies, candy, refined products) Foods high in fibers (from a variety of plant-based sources): aim for 30 grams daily of a variety of different fibers Fermented foods for their prebiotic and/or probiotic content (krauts, kefirs, miso, sourdough)
|
|
|
Vitamins and nutrients for Brain Health: The vitamins that help with blood flow include the B vitamins, as well as vitamins C, D and E (D&E are fat soluble vitamins and the brain is made of so much fat). We can get plenty from our whole foods and only need to supplement if the situation demands it. These vitamins are powerful brain tonics. When it comes to the flow of oxygen, there is increasing research showing the effects and benefits of the nutrient choline — which is a B vitamin that helps with that delivery. Choline is a precursor to acetylcholine — and the most effective cholinergic to readily crosses the blood-brain barrier. Acetylcholine facilitates memory, focus, concentration and higher thought processes like innovation and abstract thinking. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter utilized by the entire nervous system. Increasing the amount of substances (called cholinergics) that affect acetylcholine production, enhance these functions whereas overstimulation of this production can have the opposite effect. Lecithin is a good source of choline and therefore a precursor of acetylcholine — a cholinergic. The best source is eggs. Another good source is non-GMO soy lecithin (which does not contain soy protein) or sunflower lecithin. Eat in whichever form you can tolerate for the improvement of the flow of oxygen to your brain! Acetyl-l-carnitine is also a good cholinergic substance. And some of the ADD/ADHD drugs are cholinergic. Magnesium is a cofactor for the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin, that help us maintain healthy mood, behavior, appetite, cognitive function, sleep patterns and stress responses. Magnesium is so important for our brain health. When bound to an organic molecule, such as citrate, gluconate or glycine, magnesium is easily absorbed. Absorption is particularly efficient if the body’s levels are low. Magnesium glycinate is often the one preferred by patients with digestive sensitivities. Additional ways to maximize Magnesium bioavailability include: Taking with meals containing carbohydrates Ensuring adequate intake of vitamin D3 and vitamin B6 Avoiding excessive phosphorus intake. When taken daily on a continual basis, supplementation with any of the forms of magnesium mentioned can provide powerful support for mood, relaxation, cognitive performance, healthy stress management and sleep quality. According to Functional Medicine Doctor Mark Hyman RDA for magnesium is 300 mg a day. Most people get 200 mg per day. Most people benefit from 400-1,000mg per day. Start at 100mg and build up. Functional nutrition teaches the ART of the practice. Assess, Recommend, Track. Every person is unique and will respond to supplementation differently.
|
|
|
Top 10 Nutritional Considerations for Brain Health 1) The gut is referred to as the second brain. To heal the brain, heal the gut. (look to balance gut bacteria) A recent human probiotic study shows that eating yogurt can result in measurable changes in brain activity. Results of this compelling study suggest that eating probiotics daily can reduce anxiety and stress and may also reduce pain, by modulating activity in areas of the brain that regulate those feelings. 2) Include your omega-3s. There’s debate over whether you can get enough of the omega-3s that your brain needs through plant sources. We certainly can get some omega-3s, particularly the ALAs (alpha-linolenic acid) from our greens, our flax, our chia, our hemp, our walnuts and their oils, but we can’t get DHA (docosohexanoic acid) from plants — maybe some from algae, but not quite that much. 3) We also want to consider the balance of omega 3s to omega 6s. So if you’re eating or have eaten a lot of omega-6s in your lifetime, you likely need to lay off and really go for the omega-3s; that is all except GLA, a top chain omega 6 needed by your brain. (evening primrose oil or borage oil). See my last month's newsletter on my website for more information on essential fatty acids. 4) Balance blood sugar for your brain. High blood sugars set off an inflammatory cascade that can negatively influence brain function. Ways to increase beta-endorphins: Include lots low glycemic foods like blueberries. Ways to increase dopamine: Eating tyrosine rich foods stimulates dopamine production. Enjoy almonds, avocados, bananas, lima beans, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. Vitamins A and D work together to support the production of dopamine. High quality fermented cod liver oil delivers the perfect blend.
A little sweet treat (free of refined sugar) goes a long way! Just a taste of sweetness on your tongue stimulates the release of opiates in the brain which increase dopamine. Ways to increase serotonin: Maintain balanced blood sugar to ensure enough tryptophan is able to cross the blood brain barrier. Include tryptophan rich foods in your diet like turkey, shrimp, tamari, mushrooms, fish, mustard greens, spinach, chicken, lamb, liver, and pumpkins seeds. Magnesium and B6 helps convert tryptophan to serotonin. Get them both in fish, seeds, spinach, and bananas. Research shows that repetitive movements like chewing gum (xylitol-sweetened) increases serotonin.
5) Ditch the trans fats. Hard fat impedes the cell’s ability to make energy, receive good nutrients and communicate with other cells. They make you age more quickly. They slow you down. They are associated with increased risk of depression and dementia. They impede the “plasticity” of these cells. 6) Eat lots of antioxidant rich foods to fight free-radical damage and deliver more oxygen to the brain through good blood flow. 7) Minerals are also key for brain health. This doesn’t necessarily mean supplementation depending on dietary intake. Key brain minerals include: a) Magnesium b) Zinc c) Chromium d) Selenium e) Potassium 9) There are a host of mitochondrial nutrients that support the brain at the cellular level. These include: a) Vitamin E b) CoQ10 (which, by the way, is available in pretty good quantity in the tocotrienols) c) Vitamin C d) Zinc, magnesium and selenium again e) And alpha-Lipoic acid 10) Of prime importance are your B-vitamins — your methyl donors. These also keep those homocysteine levels in check. B vitamins are the #1 nutrient to add for brain health. |
|
|
Why Exercise is Important for Brain Health: It helps us to get blood flowing to the brain. It reduces stress and the release of stress hormones that affect the health of our brain cells. It helps to save your brain from the risks of: ● cardiovascular conditions that can cause stroke (and therefore lack of oxygen to the brain) ● cognitive failure and neuro-degeneration Physical activity also boosts: ● neuronal growth; it allows us to regenerate and make new neurons. ● it helps with the speed of information processing and reaction times. ● it enables a better firing of our feel-good neuro-chemicals and so exercise helps to keep us happy and maintain emotional resilience. The term BDNF stands for “brain-derived neurotrophic factor.” According to Harvard psychiatrist John Ratey, author of the book 'Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain', BDNF is “a crucial biological link between thought, emotions and movement.” BDNF binds to receptors in the synapses between neurons, increasing voltage and improving signal strength. Inside the cells, it activates genes that increase production of more BDNF and even more serotonin. Low levels of BDNF have been associated with depression and even suicide. BDNF improves the function of neurons, encourages new neurons to grow and protects them from stress and cell death. You get your BDNF through exercise. Daily aerobic exercise is best but including intervals of sprints are even better.
|
|
|
Bipolar Disorder Through a Functional Medicine Lens A functional medicine minded clinician understands Bipolar Disorder as having at play the imbalances in gaba-glutamate function in our nervous systems. Gaba is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter and glutamate is the primary stimulatory. They both affect ones' overall neurotransmission. (Billions of neurotransmitter molecules constantly work to keep our brains functioning, managing everything from breathing to heartbeat to learning and concentration levels. They can also affect various psychological functions such as fear, mood, pleasure, and joy).This can leave one vulnerable to severe swings (highs and low moods and energetics often seen in those diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. By working on gut health in addition to life circumstances like the impact of trauma can have tremendous healing capabilities. A functional medicine approach to mental health issues assesses for enhanced intestinal permeability via a few different dynamics because if that is the case then there can be an enhanced blood brain barrier permiabilty. If we have increased permiability in the brain this is in particular where inflammatory molecules can strongly stimulate NDMA receptors that are going to create more glutamate activity. This can create more hyper-vigilance (someone with trauma maybe stuck in a sympathetic hyper-vigilant state, have more anxiety and more Bipolar like symptoms). And because everything in the body is connected, Check out this video from Dr. Izabella Wentz, an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and licensed pharmacist, who has dedicated her career to addressing the root cause of thyroid dysfunction after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2009. | | |
|
|
How trauma combined with adult stressors affects us physiologically manifesting in digestive distress Strong earlier life stress and trauma may prime an overactive amygdala which triggers the hypothalamus to upregulate the HPATG axis to promote a sympathetic dominant nervous system state. This can lead towards hyper-vigilant stress-promoting thought patterns. Sympathetic nervous system dominance deprioritizes physiological function that is unessential for immediate survival and, thus, may impair digestive secretions. The cascade of interconnectedness described here is known as the gut brain axis which I frequently discuss because everything in the body and mind is connected. If there is unmanaged stress in a person's life, elevated cortisol/adrenaline levels purposefully increase blood sugar (in preparation for fight/flight) and may also encourage stress-induced emotional eating (high carb/sugar diet), both of which may precipitate adaptive higher insulin secretion from the pancreas (protecting tissues from oxidative damage risk of elevated blood sugar). Hyperinsulinemia may cause hypoglycemic episodes which can lead to feeling tired, achy and have brain fog. Chemical imbalances and physiological sources of stress may culminate with emotional and mental stressors that persistently increase cortisol levels and trigger survival responses (e.g. to store fat, to deprioritize digestive secretions required for nutrient availability). Magnesium insufficiency may result from higher demands (it is a cofactor for adrenaline-metabolizing COMT enzymes and 300 other biochemical reactions) and increased excretion (stress and sugar encourages magnesium loss in urine) and may impair other magnesium biochemical cofactor needs such as vitamin D metabolism, gaba synthesis (worsening gaba/glutamate imbalance), and as a mediator for muscle relaxation/contraction during peristalsis (constipation, bloating). The parasympathetic state is designed to be our natural state. No wonder there is an epidemic of chronic illness in our go, go, go, maximum speed 5G modern lifestyle. If you're interested in healing any chronic condition, whether it be an autoimmune, digestive issue or mental health issue naturally, you need to slow down and access the para-sympathetic state. This can be achieved by activating and toning the vagus nerve. People with dissociative disorders may need to modify para-sympathetic activation. Unexpected responses to healing always need to be acknowledged. Listening to your body and it's feedback is crucial. Everyone is unique and may have different experiences. Healing is not a cookie cutter approach. For these reasons adequately addressing both trauma, and stress, (both internal and external) is key to healing chronic conditions, whether they be digestive, or corresponding mental health difficulties. |
|
|
If your mental health condition is not getting better despite years of being prescribed psychiatric medications, and you are curious about how working with a functional medicine health coach, who is also a highly trained mental health counselor, can support you to improve your mental health, please contact me. I work with clients on personalized plans of diet and lifestyle modification that will lower system wide inflammation, address your specific nutrient deficiencies, help uncover mindset issues of anxiety and rumination that stem from childhood adversity, trauma and general conditioning, help enhance your microbial diversity needed for optimal mental health and provide actionable steps to address being stuck in a sympathetic overdrive state that inhibits healing. I have been a mental health clinician for most of my adult life. The functional nutrition lens helps me to work with clients to strip away the stigma of "mental illness" and instead see a diagnosis like Bipolar with its conventional neurological, cognitive and psychological framework as more of a physiological process that's origins can be addressed back to the gut. Many people I have worked with throughout my career were dually diagnosed with mental health and substance use related disorders. Again, the functional medicine lens helps me understand the desire people have to medicate away from a hyper-vigilance, anxiety, anger and strong emotional feeling states in more of a physiological way. This information is crucial to counter the shame and stigma those diagnosed with co-occurring disorders often feel in our society as they attempt to self medicate due to their mental health symptoms. I want prospective clients to know there is a natural approach to healing their mental health issues that their doctors may not be telling them about and that lies in healing the gut and addressing potential nutrient deficiencies impacted by diet and medication use. I'd love to connect about how my health coaching services provide a holistic approach not found in conventional mental health and addiction treatment modalities. As both a highly experienced mental health counselor and certified functional nutrition counselor, I provide a paradigm shift in thinking how to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression by focusing on gut health and other lifestyle factors. I provide a therapeutic partnership of non judgmental care enabling you to feel safe and secure to work on improving your mental health naturally in between medical appointments with your mental health providers. | | |
|
|
|
|