The Diet/Mental Health Connection

I treat clients through diet for many different health conditions; arthritis, autoimmune, hormone imbalance, skin conditions, food intolerance, IBS, acid reflux etc. But one I see regularly is anxiety and depression. Though changing my clients diet we can get awesome results in curing or managing anxiety, depression and panic attacks. In fact, I have had clients who have been too anxious to even leave the house alone, who are now almost fully recovered or able to manage their symptoms and reduce or eliminate medications. So, I read some latest medical studies with interest as they seen to back up the success I, and I’m sure many other naturopaths, have had with their clients.

(Source: Biological Psychiatry, 2015; 77(7): 607)

The study suggests that a typical Western diet, which is high in saturated fats and sugars, could be responsible for depression and psychiatric disorders. Now, I know this to be true so it’s brilliant that medical studies are proving this too so patients have other options than simply being reliant on prescribed medications.

A diet high in undesirable fats, sugars and processed foods will change the bacteria in your gut (these are known as the gut micro biome). Your gut bacteria are responsible for the health of all your body as a whole – including your brain. Changes in gut bacteria can affect cognitive ability, memory and increase anxiety.

A typical Western diet is also responsible for causing persistent inflammation in the body and, you guessed it, in your brain too. So this not only leads to depression but also to more serious psychiatric disorders too.

Test subjects eating a typical Western diet appeared to show behavioural problems which included anxiety, impaired memory and repetitive actions similar to OCD. They also showed symptoms of inflammation in the body and brain as well as gut permeability – this means that the lining of the gut has been damaged to the point of letting food particles, toxins and faecal matter seep into the blood stream.

This is something I explain to clients who come to me looking for a solution to their anxiety of depression. The toxins from a leaky gut can be neurotoxins which will directly affect brain function.

Eating a more authentic diet will greatly reduce inflammation in the body, repair the gut and clean the blood. This is vital for overall heath – including mental health.

Interestingly, it’s not just adults who suffer with the mental effects of diet – I see it very commonly in children too. Symptoms include tantrums, lack of concentration, tearfulness, aggression, and slower learning in school. Physical symptoms can include persistent or regular runny nose, ear, nose and throat infections and regular virus or raised temperatures.

Health is wealth! Simple changes in your lifestyle can bring the most profound improvements in your wellbeing.

When Good Hunger Turns Baaaaaaad!

When Good Hunger Turns Baaaaaaad!

Thought I’d do a little post about false hunger as it commonly comes up with my students taking the Sugar it’s not me… It’s YOU e-course. A modern, or Western, way of eating has – over time – trained us to eat food for the way it makes us feel, instead of what we really need it for. That being sustainable energy, cell renewal, brain function, fat burning and muscle repair. Pretty basic but that’s what food is for.

Processed food, sugar, additives, too many grains, fruit juices, pastries and excess carbohydrates make us feel good – GREAT even! But its not real. It’s a chemical reaction in your brain that should not be happening. Its like an addiction.

Over time, eating these refined carbohydrates, fatty meats and sugary foods affects you – badly. It starts to lead you down the road of insulin resistance. But what does that even mean? I know you’ve heard the term many times before so I’ll try to explain how insulin resistance can cause a false hunger.

Insulin is released as a signal for your body to suck up all of that lovely energy floating around in your blood with a view to sending it off to your various cells. This process should happen over a number of hours. When all the energy is used up, you get hungry again as a signal that you need to replenish your energy stores. That’s cool – time to eat again! It should be an ongoing process. True hunger should happen at regular times – around 3 to 4 hours after you’ve eaten a main meal. If your body is healthy and utilising energy properly from food, natural whole foods will seem very appealing to you – this is your body saying “heck yeah, that makes me feel good! eat more!”

False hunger can be identified when it happens at irregular times, links in to when you’re tired, happens shortly after you’ve eaten and comes with cravings for sweet or high carb foods – these are danger signals and need to be rectified.

If your diet consists of nutrient/fibre poor foods, sugars, processed fats and refined carbohydrates then your hunger signals will begin to fail. These foods make your body release far too much insulin, in one big surge – causing all of the energy in your blood to be sucked up too quickly. Darn, no energy left – cue hunger and probably cue weight gain too. What happens to the all that energy you just asked for if you don’t use it up or burn it off? Yep, it gets stored as fat, usually around your middle because of the pressure your pancreas is under. It’s your pancreas which releases insulin. This process sets of a massively inflammatory environment in your body too, which leads onto other related illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, autoimmune disease and even cancer.

Over time, your pancreas is going to become pretty pooped as it’s being constantly over worked. Not only that, but you become resistant to the insulin being secreted – this means that no matter how much insulin you release, your body doesn’t suck up the energy from your blood. So you eat more, but the energy never gets used – even though you’re eating a lot, you’re always hungry because you aren’t converting that food to energy properly. So lots of food input, not enough energy uptake. Of course its a lot more in-depth than that but those are the basics.

Luckily this process can be reversed. For those suffering with initial sugar cravings then it can be done in about 2 weeks. For those suffering with diagnosed insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes then of course it will take longer as the condition has progressed. But in the grand scheme of things you could be well in a relatively short period of time through a really quite simple dietary and lifestyle change.

If you’d like to talk to me further about reversing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes or any other health condition please message me for a chat. Always happy to help x http://www.tonichealacademy.com

Buddha Bowl Challenge Success!

Look at my clever Revolutionaries! The Buddha Bowl Challenge was awesome and very creative! Loads of fun. Come on over my awesome community hub. Come meet the Tonic family here >>

The Arms Have it. Food Intolerance Experiment…

Ok everyone! Who’s for a little experiment?
Roll up your sleeves and feel the skin on your upper arms – back and front. Do you have raised bumps or “chicken skin”?

If the answer is yes then you most likely have a food intolerance or internal imbalance. This raised, bumpy skin is called Keratosis Pilaris.

Like all skin conditions, the root cause of Keratosis Pilaris is likely the result of an internal imbalance. All skin conditions indicate that the internal organs are not properly processing nutrients and/or toxins.

Any toxins that build up in excess are pushed outward to the skin as a last resort for elimination, because the other elimination organs are not able to process the toxic load. Some skin conditions can also be caused by a lack of essential nutrients.

Take a quiet moment and try to reconnect with your body (oh come on now, lets get our hippy on!). How are you feeling? Do you have any other symptoms of ill health? Fatigue, headaches, digestive issues, dizzy spells, persistent cough or cold…? Just feeling…meh?

If so….sort it out. When you have food intolerance, no matter how mild, you will not be absorbing enough nutrients from your food and your body will be under constant stress. What seems mild now could manifest into something more serious, or harder to live with as time goes on.

We’re here for a good time, not a long time so at least let yourself feel good enough to enjoy this crazy life! To. The. Max.

Ok, More Cow’s Milk Bashing. Totes Deserves it Though…

Forget the Vegan reference, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. The point I’m trying to make is, regardless of your lifestyle choice, cows milk is meant for cows. End of.

When stopped, most people notice a level of health the weren’t aware was being suppressed. They lose a little weight. Health conditions get a bit better. Mucus production eases (chesty or throaty cough anyone? Asthma? Throat or ear infections?)

The body fights you when you consume dairy in ways you’re probably not tuned into or connected with. Ditch all dairy for 14 days and see what happens. It’s worth it.

A Little Selection of Awesomeness…Just for you xoxo

If you’re new to Tonic Nutrition and associated awesome groups you’ll soon see that we’re smoothie cray-cray here! There is no better addition to your diet to immediately give you a massive and useful boost of fibre (essential for keeping blood sugar and cravings in check), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Your health will improve, energy levels increase and your skin will glow.

Want to make positive changes?
Step 1. Smoothie time. Here are a few of my favourites. Give them a try!

From top left, clockwise:

✔ Tropical banana, mango and papaya. Blend 1 papaya, 2 ripe bananas and 1 mango with water and a little almond milk (or any dairy free milk). The amount of liquid you use will depend on how thick or thin you prefer your smoothies.
✔ Chocolate Madness.
2 large ripe bananas, 3 teaspoons organic dark chocolate powder (I use Green & Blacks), or you can use raw cacao too. Blend with soy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and water.
✔ Pop Art Berries. 1 avocado, 1 cup frozen cherries, 1 teaspoon camu camu, 1 cup strawberries. Blend with water.
✔ Pitaya Perfection. Pitaya is another name for dragon fruit. This smoothie is 1 dragon fruit, 1 cup of frozen raspberries and one banana. Blend with 2 tbsp soy yogurt and a little water.

A smoothie a day….keeps you awesome. Enjoy!