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

Trudy Scott

“You Are Stronger Than You Think” – join me for the premiere?

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I’d love to invite you to join me for the premiere of my friend and colleague, JJ Virgin’s, movie You Are Stronger Than You Think.

It just opened, and it truly is such a powerful conversation about miracles and mindset!

JJ shares this about miracles:

The world’s leading minds debate that miracles are even possible.

But this movie has created a powerful idea to consider: not only are miracles possible, they come from you, not happen to you.

Here are some of the facts (both heart-breaking and heart-warming!)

  • JJ’s 16-year-old son was in a near-tragic hit-and-run accident and left for dead
  • He was given a VERY low chance of survival
  • This story – and what happened next – are life-altering (for her son, for JJ and now everyone she shares this powerful story with)

Click here to register for the premiere.

This movie (and the book that launched it) create a powerful invitation… that any situation can be a turning point.

This is how JJ proved what a strong, positive mindset can achieve. This story is an empowering example of what’s possible for all of us!

P.S. I know you’re going to be moved, inspired and motivated by this experience! JJ’s memoir, The Miracle Mindset launches soon, so stay tuned for my review of this (I read it cover to cover in 2 sittings – I could not put it down!) and the interview we did.

PPS. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime stories. The movie (available to watch from February 8-17) offers hope and inspiration, is uplifting and life-altering. Feel free to share this email and the invitation with your family and friends and communities. Here is the registration link again.

The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution – a new book by Dr. Aviva Romm

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Congrats to my colleague Aviva Romm, MD on the launch of her new book The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution: A Proven 4-Week Program to Rescue Your Metabolism, Hormones, Mind & Mood. This book addresses stress so well and is so needed because ….

According to the Annual Stress Survey by the American Psychological Association, 75 percent of women experience moderate to severe stress, 49 percent report sleep problems, and more than 40 percent report physical symptoms as a direct result of stress. Recent studies show that most are also experiencing chronic overwhelm and exhaustion.

She shares how common anxiety and depression are:

One in four women experiences an extended time of major depression in her life, and as many women are on an antidepressant, an antianxiety medication, or often, both, not living their lives with the joy and satisfaction we are meant to experience.

She shares that the stress and insomnia, the anxiety and depression, as well as obesity and autoimmunity has this at their root:

the fact that women are living in chronic overload emotionally and physically. We are stuck in survival mode.

It’s a brilliant book and she eloquently explains how to get out of survival mode and how to actually thrive:

  • with a big focus on finding the root causes of your adrenal and thyroid issues
  • removing food triggers and eating a “real- food, energy- boosting, fat-burning version of the Mediterranean diet”
  • tools and exercises to calm your mind
  • healing your gut, boosting immunity, supporting detoxification, and balancing your hormones

With Dr. Aviva Romm’s herbal expertise I particularly appreciate the section on nourishing your adrenals with herbal adaptogens:

Adaptogens are a category of herbal medicines that are specifically restorative to the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Used for centuries in China and India they are considered the “royalty” of herbs for helping you respond to stress, restore health, vitality, immunity, stamina and sense of well-being. Adaptogens help your body to cope more easily with the demands of everyday life, providing a sense of calm and energy at a deep level.  

She writes about these adaptogens for adrenal support for their calming effects, lowering high cortisol and to help with energy, insomnia and more: rhodiola (this is one of my favorites), schizandra, reishi mushrooms, maca, holy basil, eleuthero and shatavari.

Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) is new to me and Dr. Romm shares about this adaptogen:

Shatavari is considered the “queen of herbs” in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is beloved as a rejuvenating tonic for women. It is nourishing and calming as well as hormonally balancing, and is used for irritability and many hormonal imbalances affecting the mood.

I’m impressed by the research on shatavari and will be sharing more as I learn more and may consider this as an option for some of my anxious female clients.

Rhodiola is an adaptogen I use with the majority of clients who have adrenal issues. Dr. Romm shares her feedback on rhodiola, which she calls “the spirit calmer”:

Rhodiola is perhaps the most important adaptogen for anxiety…. While it shouldn’t be taken before bed because it’s stimulating, its mood-regulating and nervous-system-supporting effects lead to improved sleep and reduced stress, irritability, and “burn-out.”

I really like her emphasis that the use of adaptogens does not mean you can keep going “at a twenty-first century pace.” You do need to address all the aspects she covers in the book!

The thyroid chapter is also very thorough with a detailed section on testing. I just received this positive feedback from a reader on Facebook:

I’ve been slowly reading it today and I can tell you there’s a heavy emphasis on both gut issues and Hashis. Her chapter on thyroid (I skipped ahead because I have a doctor appointment tomorrow to discuss test results) helped me understand it all like no one else has.

I was able to take my latest results, read the section on thyroid, actually understand what it all meant and compare my numbers with her charts. Now I feel more equipped to discuss with my own doctor.

Dr. Aviva Romm is a Yale-trained, board-certified family physician with a specialty in women’s health and obstetrics; certified professional midwife; and herbalist. Referred to as “the face of natural medicine in the 21st century” by Prevention Magazine, she is a member of the Yale Integrative Medicine Program’s Advisory Board, and currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

She has been one of my favorite authors for a long time – long before I had the pleasure of meeting her in person. I’m really excited to be celebrating her book launch and sharing it here with you!

We’re planning a video interview so please let me know if you have questions for her.

If you’ve used shatavari personally or with clients/patients please share what you think. If you have questions about this adaptogen now is the time to ask them!

Be sure to check out her Adrenal Thyroid Revolution community here.

Check out the book and get your copy here on Amazon.

If you’ve already picked up the book and read it please do share areas that were highlights for you.

Paleovalley’s 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks: my favorite antianxiety clean protein snack

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I’ve got something great to share with you today… Paleovalley’s 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks!

Have you ever been stuck somewhere without a nutrient-dense healthy snack option: in traffic? At an airport? In a work meeting? At your child’s baseball game? At a conference? At the gym?

A healthy snack, gluten-free, quality protein and helps with blood sugar stability

When life gets busy, if we’re not prepared with healthy snacks it’s not very pretty – we can feel irritable and cranky, our focus and energy can take a dip and we can very often feel more anxious. These are all signs of low blood sugar. Low blood sugar can even trigger a panic attack and cause depression!

In fact, for many of my clients these are some of the main ways to keep anxiety and panic attacks at bay:

  • Avoiding gluten
  • Keeping blood sugar steady
  • Eating quality animal protein

Unfortunately, as you know, doing all this is often far harder in the real world than doing this in the comfort of your own kitchen. This is why having high quality snacks on hand are incredibly important. And if you’re like me and are always prepared and take healthy snacks with you, having something that is delicious and healthy is a top priority!  

I have finally found a healthy snack I approve of and so, of course, I want to share them with you!

They are Paleovalley’s 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks!

Grass-fed, grass-finished, organic spices, free of dyes, GMOs and gluten

These are not your average beef sticks. These beef sticks:

  • Are made from 100% grass-fed AND grass-finished beef (which is very rare!)
  • Contain all organic spices
  • Are free of all dyes (most casings contain artificial dyes)
  • Are also GMO-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, carb-free, and contain 0 grams of sugar

AND they also help with blood sugar stability!

They are also fermented and free of trans fats!

But the main reason I really want to share these beef sticks with you (other than the yum-factor!) is because they are FERMENTED just like vegetables. Each beef stick contains 1 billion naturally-occurring, gut-healing probiotics! And we know how important good bacteria and the microbiome is when it comes to anxiety and depression.

Chas and Autumn, the founders of Paleovalley, shared this with me:

Most (if not all) other beef stick companies on the market utilize GMO corn and hydrogenated oils (trans fats) to preserve their sticks. It’s often labeled as “encapsulated citric acid” but can also be deceptively labeled as just “citric acid” or “lactic acid.” When the beef sticks are heated, the encapsulated oil coating melts into the beef stick and the citric acid is released for preservation purposes. Which means you’re getting an unhealthy dose of GMOs and hydrogenated oils with every bite.

Instead of using this process, Paleovalley uses natural fermentation to make their beef sticks shelf stable. From what they tell me, the reason that other companies don’t also use fermentation is that it takes about 4-5 times longer and isn’t as profitable.

So, these Paleovalley 100% Grass Fed Beef Sticks are not only free of questionable additives and GMOs, but they’re also nutrient dense AND support gut and brain health due to the fermentation process.

According to the research, high quality, grass fed red meat is strongly correlated with good mental health!

Another reason I love these beef sticks is that Dr. Felice Jacka, nutritional psychiatry researcher and founder of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research, has found that grass-fed red meat lowers the risk of anxiety and depression. In fact, Dr. Jacka went into her research thesis hypothesizing that red meat would be unhealthy, but was surprised to find the opposite. I interviewed Dr. Jacka in season 1 of the Anxiety Summit and she shared this about her research:

In our study, out of every single dietary food grouping that I looked at including vegetables, fruits, salads, beans, etc., the strongest correlate of mental health was red meat intake [grass-fed quality red meat of course]

Dr. Felice Jacka_2

You may also recall my wonderful interview with Autumn on season 4 of the Anxiety Summit. She actually wrote her master’s thesis on dietary strategies for anxiety and shared this (and much more):

I am extremely passionate about mental health and nutrition and have set out to create food products that make it easy for people to eat well on-the-go. Because Dr. Jacka found that grass-fed beef was the most anxiolytic food, we crafted a 100% grass-fed beef stick!

So these nutrient dense 100% grass fed beef sticks not only allow you to avoid substances that are problematic for mental health like gluten, dairy, soy, trans fats, GMOs and sugar but also help you with blood sugar stability (such a big factor when it comes to anxiety). They also provide important key nutrients for mental health such as amino acids, B vitamins, iron and zinc – all needed to make calming neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin.

Moist, tender, convenient and delicious!

They are moist, tender and have a little snap to them? They are also shelf stable for up to 4 months (much longer if refrigerated or frozen). They are so convenient AND oh so delicious!

And these beef sticks were actually voted #2 best paleo snack of 2014 by Paleo Magazine!

I bumped into Chas and Autumn at a recent conference and they kindly offered to give my community 30% off for a limited time. You’ll also be given first dibs on their brand new, really delicious Garlic Summer Sausage & Summer Sausage flavors (just like healthy, mini hickory smoked sausages)!

Click here to get your fermented, 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks for 30% off!… and taste the gut-friendly, fermented, grass-fed goodness for yourself.

Grab some today so that you can stay calm, cool and collected no matter what life throws your way.

ps. Right now these are only available in the USA but I’m looking into options for similar products in Australia, Canada and the UK.  I’ll share once I have sourced something. If you happen to have a great resource please share in the comments.

 

Seriphos Original Formula is back: the best product for anxiety and insomnia caused by high cortisol

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Seriphos “Original Formula” with a red triangle on the left side of the bottle (Photo credit: Drew Todd)

Interplexus changed its proprietary formula for Seriphos, a phosphorylated serine product, sometime March/April 2016. It was changed to a form which no longer worked for many people with the anxiety and insomnia that is associated with high levels of cortisol at night.

Thanks to feedback from folks in my community I investigated and blogged about this here: Seriphos has been reformulated – what do I use to lower high cortisol?, sharing information about labeling confusion and many possible alternatives.  I also looked into Relora, a standardized/patented Magnolia bark extract and Phellodendron bark extract, as a very viable alternative.

But I was hoping, as were many of you, that they’d hear all the requests and complaints from their loyal users and practitioners like myself and bring back the original formula.

This week a number of people in my community notified me that the original Seriphos is back so I reached out to Interplexus again. I had been watching their site and had not seen any announcement just a banner stating it’ll be ready Dec 2016 (which is still on the site as of this writing). So I emailed Interplexus earlier this week:

Just checking to see if you have a status update on this please?  When will it be ready and when can we expect to see it in online stores? Can it be purchased from Interplexus directly? Can you also please share how we’ll know it’s the new formulation and are you able to guarantee it’s the exact same formula as before?

And the response from Interplexus:

Seriphos has been in stock for about 3 weeks now and is widely available online, we are suggesting retail customers search the product online and purchase from the most convenient retailer because at this time we [Interplexus] are wholesale only. However we will be venturing into retail in the future.

The label now has a red triangle on the left side that states “Original Formula.” To avoid confusion we are asking that customers purchase from online stores that have the updated label. We can assure you that it is the exact same formula as before.

The Original Formula of Seriphos is now back! And we’re thrilled! Thank you Interplexus!

(Photo credit: Julie Matthews)

This is what the old bottle looked like before it was reformulated. The label reads: Proprietary Blend 1000mg Phosphorylated Serine/Ethanolamine.

(Photo credit: Drew Todd)

This is the label from the “Original Formula” – the new Seriphos just reintroduced

As you can see the new “Original Formula” has the red triangle on the front and the back also reads: Proprietary Blend 1000mg Phosphorylated Serine/Ethanolamine.

I’m sharing all this and the images for a few reasons:

  • There was some confusion with the labels when it was reformulated earlier in 2016 (you can see what I mean here)
  • If you need it I want to make sure you get the correct one and
  • In the last week I’ve had three reports from people who have the “Original Formula” and feel it’s not working as before.

I’m going to stay optimistic and hope they’ll see results after another week of use (maybe 2 weeks tops), although in the past I have had many clients say they notice a difference in a few days.

If you have new “Original Formula” and have started using it again and have observed it’s not working as before here are a few things to consider:

  • Give it a week or two to see if it’s going to work for you
  • Keep a food mood sleep log to make sure nothing else is affecting your anxiety and sleep (like accidental gluten exposure, caffeine, high FODMAPs food if you have SIBO
  • Your cortisol high may have shifted in the time you weren’t taking the old Seriphos pre-April 2016 and you may need to retest your salivary cortisol levels and adjust the timing accordingly
  • Think back to try and figure out if anything else may have change between then and now (a new medication started, a medication stopped, new supplements, dietary changes etc)

If this is the first time you’re reading about Seriphos here is some additional information: If you have high nighttime cortisol (as measured by an adrenal saliva test) it can cause insomnia and anxiety. Using 1-3 x Seriphos about 1-3 hours before the high cortisol is the best way I know for lowering the high cortisol and providing relief.

Here is some feedback from someone who commented on the blog:

I have been tested for cortisol and I have extremely high levels day and night. The old Seriphos [pre-April 2016] was working for me to reduce the internal jitters which would wake me several times a night with heart pounding and adrenalin rushing. I do not have a problem turning my brain off going to sleep – just problems waking several hours later (sometimes several times a night) – sometimes not being able to get back to sleep because I am wide awake.

And feedback from Julie Matthews, Certified Nutrition Consultant, Author of Nourishing Hope for Autism and founder of Bioindividual Nutrition Institute:

Seriphos is the best thing I found to combat high cortisol levels in the evening. I don’t need to take it every day, but if there is an event that gets my cortisol up such as: travel, speaking at a conference, or doing taiko too late at night, I could be awake for hours from high cortisol. When I take Seriphos, I can literally feel my system dramatically ratcheting down moment by moment and within an hour or less I am easily able to go to bed and sleep. I have tried other supplements and none of them work nearly as well as Seriphos for me. I’m so glad the “Original Formula” is back.

If you do have the new “Original Formula” and used the old Seriphos pre-April 2016, have you started using it again? We’d love to hear how you’re doing and how it compares to the Seriphos pre-April 2016?

If you’re a practitioner and have used the old Seriphos pre-April 2016 with success for helping clients/patients lower high cortisol we’d love to hear your feedback on the new “Original Formula.”

Thanks for the initial alert about the reformulation, thanks if you shared pictures with me, thanks if have been asking questions and sharing feedback here on the blog, and thanks if you contacted Interplexus! I love the community we are creating here!

UPDATE 3/7/2020: The new “Original Formula” of Seriphos is the same as the old Seriphos pre-April 2016 and is working as it always did, helping to lower high cortisol levels in order to ease anxiety that is due to high cortisol and improve sleep issues that are caused by high night-time or early morning cortisol. (I’ve been replying to comments to this effect but forgot to come back and update the blog.)

Share your diet-depression success story: SMILES study looking for your input

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Professor Felice Jacka, nutritional psychiatry researcher and founder of ISNPR/International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research posted this exciting news and important request on the ISNPR facebook page:

The SMILES RCT, which is the first randomised controlled trial to test whether dietary improvement can actually treat depression, has now been accepted for publication in BMC Medicine (publication date 31st January).

As part of the media campaign, we will be needing to identify people who are willing to be interviewed. If there is anyone who has personally experienced a benefit from improving their diet, would you please volunteer for this purpose?

It’s a very important role, as the media coverage for SMILES will be limited if we can’t provide personal, first-person experiences to journalists. Clearly – for the sake of the field – it will be important to generate extensive media in order for clinicians and the general public to understand the implications and possibilities that arise from the RCT. Your help is enormously appreciated!

You can read more about this SMILES RCT here and the Anxiety Summit interview with Felice Jacka here: The Research – Food to prevent and treat anxiety and depression?.

Although anxiety was looked at in the study, Felice shared this regarding the type of interviewees they are looking for:

  • We really need to keep a focus on the topic of the RCT, which is depression
  • And to also keep it to those who improved the quality of their diet i.e. moving from a processed food diet, to one high in plant foods and healthy fats and healthy proteins
  • Not a particular type of diet (e.g. not paleo, not gluten free).

If you’ve personally benefited from changing your diet in this way and you’d like to help by sharing your story with the media please comment on the blog (or send an email to support [at] everywomanover29.com) with details of your story and willingness to be interviewed, plus your location. Be sure to let us know how best to contact you.

Right now we’ll just be calling on those who meet the above criteria for the media interviews.

BUT if you’ve benefited from any other changes to your diet – for either anxiety or depression – feel free to share anyway, so we can inspire others to do the same.

Here is my story:

For me it was anxiety and panic attacks that resolved when I made dietary and other nutritional and lifestyle changes.   I had been eating a vegetarian diet for a few years and I suspect the non-organic/GMO processed soy products (soy milk, soy yogurt, soy “butter” etc) were a big issue for me and damaged my gut.  When I added back quality animal protein (grass-fed red meat, wild fish, pastured eggs and chicken), switched to organic produce, added healthy fats and removed gluten my mood improved dramatically.  Now I eat a combination of a Paleo/SCD /low FODMAPS/low oxalate diet. 

During the severe anxiety and panic attacks I also needed additional support in the way of the targeted amino acids GABA (this was a life-saver and stopped the panic attacks in a few days) and tryptophan, plus zinc, vitamin B6, evening primrose oil, a good multi and B complex and adrenal support.  I still continue with some of these basic nutrients today.

My health issues have been complex as I’ve also had to deal with heavy metals, poor gut health and much more so I had what I call “a perfect storm” and yet diet has had such a huge impact for me!

Thanks for sharing your story! I’ll be sharing more as soon as the paper is actually published. Stay tuned for an interview with Felice too! 

And  big congrats to Felice and her team on this ground-breaking research!

UPDATE January 30, 2017: Here is the link to the research – A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the ‘SMILES’ trial)

 

GABA takes some of the anxiety edge away and now I want to add tryptophan: how do I do this?

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GABA and tryptophan are both calming amino acids with GABA helping more with physical anxiety, tension-in-the-body type of anxiety and tryptophan with anxiety-in-the-head, worrying and ruminations. Many of my clients do really well with both but I like to have them use one at a time to really make sure they are seeing all the benefits before adding the next one.

I recently received this excellent question on one of the blogs about serotonin support: she’s doing better on the GABA and now wants to add tryptophan:        

I have started with Source Naturals Gaba Calm 125 mg, 2 on awakening and two in mid afternoon, and 2 Gaba Relaxer at bedtime. It has taken some anxiety edge away from me, but I still feel some anxiety on and off, not so severe as before. I used to feel very anxious on awakening. I want to improve more. to-day, I ordered Lidtke L-trytophan 500mg and am expecting to receive it in a week. I plan to take 2 Gaba Calm on awakening and 2 in mid afternoon, then add one 500mg trytophan mid afternoon and one 500 mg trytophan at bed time. Is this a good plan? or shall I have 2 Gaba Calm on awakening, 2 trytophan mid afternoon and 2 trytophan bedtime?

I love getting questions on the blog and make sure each one gets answered. However I can’t ever offer specific advice via the blog – you have to be a client for me to be able to do that. But because this is an excellent question I’d like to share some of what I shared with her in the hope it will help you (or your patients/clients) too.

First off I am so pleased to hear the Source Naturals GABA Calm and Country Life GABA Relaxer (a very nice combination of GABA, glycine, taurine, inositol, niacinamide and vitamin B6) has taken some of the anxiety edge away for her!

Here is my answer for her – about what I’d do next if I was working with her one-on-one:

There is also no specific formula to be followed because each person is different and when I’m working with someone we’re figuring out what is working and why and adjusting accordingly. If something is working we continue with that until no more benefits are seen.

I would say this – ask yourself what low GABA anxiety symptoms (this is the physical anxiety) have improved with the GABA and how much (rate each one before – out of 10; and what are they now – out of 10). From your question it sounds like they could improve more – so if we were working together I’d continue to increase GABA before adding something new.

Then once that has been done and we have the ideal amount I’d then check what low serotonin symptoms my client has (these are the busy mind, ruminations type or worry anxiety). If she does have some of these symptoms, pick or two and do a trial with 1 x 500mg tryptophan opened on to the tongue (or less if she’s super sensitive). She rates the symptoms out of 10 before the tryptophan trial and then after the trial. Depending on how she responds on the trial, we’ll decide if she needs 1 or 2 each time. The bedtime dose also depends on how bad the insomnia is. We continue to increase as needed based on symptoms.

All the while we are starting to make other changes – like diet, eating for blood sugar balance, no caffeine, no sugar, looking for high cortisol, no gluten, looking at gut health and for other nutritional deficiencies.

I hope this helps you and makes sense. In summary these are the guidelines I use:

  • It’s best to do one amino acid at a time when starting out
  • Make sure you’ve increased an amino acid so you can experience it’s full benefits before adding another one
  • Start all amino acids based on your unique needs – the best way to determine this is to do a trial first
  • Adjust accordingly while keeping a log of symptoms (with before and after ratings) and supplement amounts

Here are some links to additional resources related to the above:

I’d love to hear your feedback on your low GABA and/or low serotonin symptoms and the before rating (from 1 to 10) and the after rating (from 1 to 10) once you’re taking the related amino acid.

And please let me know if it’s helpful to read a real life question and my response.