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

Trudy Scott

Dr. Tom O’Bryan’s documentary “Betrayal: the autoimmune disease solution they’re not telling you”

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betrayal

My colleague and good friend, Dr. Tom O’Bryan, invites you to begin a deeply personal journey with his powerful 7-part documentary series “Betrayal: the autoimmune disease solution they’re not telling you.”

This project leaves Dr. Tom’s hands after 30 years of clinical research, patient care and relationships and it goes out to the world at large to change the face of autoimmunity.   

If you’ve heard my interviews with Dr. Tom on the Anxiety Summit (or any of the other online summits) you know this online documentary series is NOT to be missed!

Why is Autoimmunity so hard to cure or even diagnose? The truth is this:  We cannot change what we do not understand and so little is known about autoimmune disease.

Please join us if you or someone in your life is suffering with rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, celiac disease, thyroid disease such as Hashimoto’s, dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease.

I recently reviewed Dr. Tom’s bestselling new book: The Autoimmune Fix. In this book he shares 159 diseases that are on the autoimmune spectrum:

A more comprehensive list, created by the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, includes the following. I’m showing you this list in its entirety so you can see how many different diseases are actually on the autoimmune spectrum.

autoimmune-spectrum-diseases

And I’m just sharing the first 93 diseases he lists! I had no idea how far-reaching this is until I read his book and am learning from Dr. Tom alongside you!

We invite to you to watch the “Betrayal” docuseries. Register here for access to part 1 of the series.

 

The Adrenal Reset Summit – Is Adrenal Fatigue Real?

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adrenal-reset-summit-speakers

Chris Kresser addresses the question of “Is Adrenal Fatigue Real” in his fascinating interview with Dr. Christianson on the The Adrenal Reset Summit which runs from November 7-12. He shares that it’s virtually impossible to recover from any chronic illness without addressing the HPA axis and that he prefers the term HPA axis dysregulation to the term adrenal fatigue because it’s more accurate:

The endocrine society has a factsheet and downloadable PDF about adrenal fatigue and in that factsheet they say adrenal fatigue is not a real medical condition and they go on to say there are no scientific facts to support the theory that long-term mental, emotional, or physical stress drains the adrenal glands. Patients are out there searching for this information. They’re checking this stuff out and you’ve got a pretty well-known organization that is focused on hormone health saying that adrenal fatigue is not a real condition. Then you go and you search for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in PubMed and just as you said, Alan, you get 18,320 results…

Here are some other snippets from his interview, where Chris covers root causes of low cortisol:

even when we do see true low cortisol where both total and free cortisol are low then the question becomes, in that situation, is it really an autoimmune issue like Addison’s where the adrenal glands are compromised and can’t produce cortisol or is it some other kind of regulatory mechanism in the body and it’s leading to this low cortisol output.

And then, more importantly, is that a maladaptive response, meaning something, perhaps, that happened a while ago – and that can even go all the way back to fetal development, when the patient was in the womb because we know that the HPA axis is programmed in the womb and, also, early life stressors can play a big role in programming the HPA axis – or is it something that’s another pathology like SIBO or a gut infection, or a chronic infection of some kind like Lyme disease or exposure to mold or heavy metals, or biotoxins that is affecting the body in such a way that it’s downregulating cortisol production as a result. In that case, the treatment is not to give cortisol or to give things that boost cortisol, it’s to address those things that are causing the body to downregulate cortisol production in the first place.

I really love Dr. Christianson’s advice for his patients, encouraging them to take better care of themselves, to sleep more, to do less and to stress-less:

imagine a scenario in which, heaven forbid, a loved one needs your care. They need your help in the hospital. They need you there for a few hours per day. So, let’s think about all the things you do that you would just drop from your schedule to be there for them because, of course, you’d be there for them. So, they’ll write some things out and I’ll say, okay, cool! So, now, that loved one is ‘you’.

I think it’s a message we could all apply in our busy lives!

Anxiety, feelings of constant overwhelm and fatigue, plus insomnia, sugar cravings, the inability to control blood sugar, lack of mental clarity… these symptoms can be due to adrenal issues and this condition is brutally disruptive. And yes, you can suffer from all of the above at once!

adrenal-reset-summit

Here are a few of the many other excellent speakers and their topics:

  • Steph Gadreau, CHNP – Perfectionism and Adrenals
  • Aviva Romm, MD – Adrenal Adaptogens
  • Ben Lynch, ND – Adrenals and Methylation
  • Wendy Myers, FDN, CHHC – Heavy Metal Toxicity
  • Dan Kalish, DC – Adrenal Neurotransmitter Connection
  • JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS – Preventing Adrenal Burnout
  • Julia Ross, MA – Neurotransmitters and the Food Mood Connection

You can register here.

Vitamin D: anxiety, depression, sun exposure, supplements and optimal levels

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vitamin-d
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

It was Vitamin D Day on November 2nd and it was a day to recognize vitamin D deficiency as a world problem. The day is led by the Vitamin D Society, Vitamin D Council and GrassrootsHealth, non-profit organizations dedicated to spread awareness on the vitamin D deficiency pandemic. According to the Vitamin D Day site:

Researchers agree that at least one third of the world is deficient in vitamin D, and some scientists even think a greater percent of people are deficient in vitamin D.

Why are so many people deficient, you might ask? It’s simple really. We get vitamin D from sun exposure. And now, more than ever, the world’s population lives an indoor lifestyle, avoiding the sun daily.

Doctors are beginning to discover that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Furthermore, they’re discovering that vitamin D deficiency may make some diseases more severe, like respiratory diseases and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus. And they’re discovering that vitamin D can be an important piece in the treatment of some illnesses and diseases, including multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, asthma and many other diseases!

Low vitamin D is also a factor when it comes to mental health. Even though this information is not listed on the Vitamin D day site, there is much research supporting the connection:

There is a strong association between low S-25(OH)D and higher negative and depressive symptoms in psychotic disorders.

In women at risk for depression, early pregnancy low vitamin D levels are associated with higher depressive symptom scores in early and late pregnancy.

Participants with higher serum vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels were significantly less likely to report problems with depression and anxiety.

Serum vitamin D status is related to the occurrence of anxiety in post-stroke patients and may be an independent risk factor of [post-stroke anxiety] after 1 month.

Here are eight key factors to know about vitamin D for Vitamin D day:

  1. Vitamin D comes from sun exposure, not your diet.
  2. Scientists and doctors agree that at least a third of the world is deficient in vitamin D.
  3. If you don’t get frequent moderate sun exposure or take a vitamin D supplement, you’re likely deficient in vitamin D.
  4. Moderate midday sun exposure is the best for making vitamin D.
  5. You don’t need to burn to make vitamin D.
  6. Vitamin D supplements are a good option in the wintertime to get the vitamin D you need.

In the northern hemisphere, the sun starts focusing more on the southern hemisphere. The sun’s rays strike the northern hemisphere at a different angle, an angle that isn’t quite as intense as during the summer. In consequence, your body has a harder time making vitamin D in the winter compared to the summer. The further north you live, the more difficult it is to make vitamin D in the winter.

Remember you can always check to see if you’re making vitamin D by looking at your shadow. If it’s longer than you, you aren’t making much vitamin D. And in the winter, your shadow is often longer than you.

Have no fear that you can’t make vitamin D! Vitamin D supplements are a good option in the wintertime. Low-pressure sunbeds and UV light units are also options to help you make vitamin D during the winter.

  1. Vitamin D is important for many things, including your bones, heart, respiratory system, brain [and mental health], and likely cancer prevention.
  2. Consider getting tested for vitamin D, to see if you’re getting enough.

Vitamin D tests are pretty easy. You can ask your doctor to add it to your next routine blood panel, or you can order an in-home test online through the Vitamin D Council.

vitamin-d-1
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

Here are the vitamin D range guidelines from various organizations and the recommendations from the Vitamin D council:

vitamin-d-2

This blog post by the Vitamin D Council helps you to interpret your results: I tested my vitamin D level. What do my results mean?

When you get your test results you will see a number in units of ng/ml, for example, 50 ng/ml. These are the units that health professionals in the United States use. Elsewhere in the world, vitamin D blood test results are given in units of nmol/l.

  • To convert a test result measured in ng/ml to one measured in nmol/l, multiply the ng/ml number by 2.5. For example, 20 ng/ml is the same as 50 nmol/l (20 x 2.5).
  • To convert a test result measured in nmol/l to one measured in ng/ml, divide the nmol/l number by 2.5. For example, 50 nmol/l is the same as 20 ng/ml (50÷2.5).

This great Sunshine Calendar shows the amount of time needed to produce sufficient vitamin D.

vitamin-d-3
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

And this graphic shows why most of us aren’t getting enough vitamin D and why we need to supplement and get more sunshine exposure.

vitamin-d-4
(image from Vitamin D Day website http://www.vitamindday.net/)

To learn more about vitamin D, please visit Vitamin D Council, Vitamin D Society, GrassRootsHealth and the Vitamin D Day website.

Do you have your vitamin D levels tested at least once or twice a year? Are they in the 40-80ng/ml range?

And do you spend time in the sun and supplement?

Anxiety and the adrenals: low zinc and high copper

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two-girls

Anxiety, feelings of constant overwhelm and fatigue, plus insomnia, sugar cravings, the inability to control blood sugar, lack of mental clarity… these symptoms can be due to adrenal issues and this condition is brutally disruptive. And yes, you can suffer from all of the above at once!

In just a few weeks, from November 7-12, my colleague and good friend, NY Times bestselling author Dr. Alan Christianson will be hosting The Adrenal Reset Summit. It’s co-hosted by nutritionist Evan Brand.

I cover the Adrenals and Anxiety in my interview with Dr. Christianson and a few of the aspects we cover are low zinc and high copper.  

Here is a snippet from me about zinc:

zinc is very underrated as being a nutrient that is commonly deficient and certainly when it comes to anxiety, it’s a huge factor. We have the zinc-copper imbalance and when we’ve got very high copper levels and low zinc levels, we may feel more anxious. But zinc is really, really important for so many things. I just mentioned serotonin, it’s really important as a cofactor for making serotonin and the other neurotransmitters like GABA which is a calming neurotransmitter.

It’s really, really important for adrenal function as well. There was actually a really nice paper that was published in December 2015 [Effects of Physical Activity on Trace Elements and Depression Related Biomarkers in Children and Adolescents], looking at children and adolescents and found that children and adolescents with lower levels of zinc also had low serotonin, they had high copper levels, and they also had lower cortisol levels, and sometimes, they had high cortisol levels. So, it varies but they definitely have issues with their cortisol levels and that’s obviously going to be a big factor when it comes to how they’re able to handle stress, what their mood levels are going to be like, what their cognitive function is going to be like, and everything else. So, zinc is a really important thing. It’s not talked about a lot and it’s something that is definitely a big factor.

I didn’t share this specific information during the interview but here are some of the results from the above study:

Older children, especially girls, had higher levels of depression. Participants with moderate and severe depression had significantly lower physical activity, serotonin, and zinc levels, zinc/copper ratios, and significantly higher copper and cortisol levels.

Physically active boys showed significantly lower depressive scores and improvement in cortisol, serotonin, copper, and zinc concentrations compared to girls of sedentary life style.

A little later in the interview Dr. Christianson shares what happened to him when he was inadvertently exposed to high levels of copper:

This is a brief insight I won’t go too far into but there was a period of time I was studying with a Vedic practitioner and there were these various rituals that I had to do. One of them was involving putting liquids in these containers and drinking and doing [some of these] meditations. The historical vessels [that] were used were copper-based and I got pretty toxic at one point. I had these horrible leg cramps. I really lost my capacity for exercise. It was very dramatic. I had a hard time climbing stairs and odd mood changes and odd twitches and what not. I finally realized that was the culprit and yeah, I did mega doses of zinc which I normally would not have tolerated well but I did fine with during that time and recovered from that. So, those are a real thing! (laughs)

adrenal-reset-summit

I hope you can join us for the summit! The line-up is excellent. Here are a few of the many excellent speakers and their topics:

  • Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac – Is Adrenal Fatigue Real?
  • Steph Gadreau, CHNP – Perfectionism and Adrenals
  • Aviva Romm, MD – Adrenal Adaptogens
  • Ben Lynch, ND – Adrenals and Methylation
  • Wendy Myers, FDN, CHHC – Heavy Metal Toxicity
  • Dan Kalish, DC – Adrenal Neurotransmitter Connection
  • JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS – Preventing Adrenal Burnout
  • Julia Ross, MA – Neurotransmitters and the Food Mood Connection

You can register here https://uo178.isrefer.com/go/arsScott/trudyscottcn/

Breast cancer: DCIS, thermography, estrogen, toxins, glutathione and anxiety

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breast-exam

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month so I’ve gathered some wonderful information and resources for you about DCIS, thermography, prevention by addressing estrogen dominance, avoiding endocrine disruptors and environmental pollutants and finally how to boost glutathione for detoxification support.  

Ductal carcinoma in situ/DCIS: many don’t even consider this cancer

My good friend and fellow nutritionist Robin Nielsen recently posted about this on Facebook and because it was so beautifully said, I asked if I could share it:    

A neighbor just told me this morning that she had a double mastectomy in early August due to cancer, stage 0. And then she told me it was “Ductal carcinoma in situ”. I know many women who have reversed this by changing their diet and lifestyle. This is a touchy subject for many, but it breaks my heart to see women removing their breasts when there’s a chance they don’t have to.

If you are in the thick of this right now, trying to decide what to do, do your research. Get lots of opinions from integrative practitioners. Many don’t even consider this cancer.

And if you’ve had this done yourself, you made the right choice. Because whatever we decide for ourselves is right. Sending love out to all women who have had to make this decision.

I asked Robin to share one of her articles and here it is: What You Need to Know About Your Beautiful Breasts and Breast Cancer. These factors have a big impact on our beautiful breasts:

  • The food you eat: inflammatory vs. anti-inflammatory
  • The quality and quantity of sleep
  • The toxins you’re exposed to: environmental, body care and household products, poor quality foods, toxic people, toxic habits and more
  • Your perception of stress and our ability to manage the stress in our lives
  • Your thoughts
  • And other lifestyle factors like exercise, relationships, your sense of community, etc.
  • How you deal with your emotions – your ability to express yourself
  • Your body’s nutrient status – especially Vitamin D3
  • Your ability to restore, nourish and love yourself, i.e. learning how to receive
  • The bras you wear – studies have shown that wearing a bra that’s too tight can restrict vital blood flow and can contribute to toxin build-up in your lymphatic system

Thermography for early detection and accurate test results

A thermogram image (from http://earlybreastscreen.com/)

Here are The Best Breast Cancer Screening Tests – 6 Reasons Why I Recommend Thermography from Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D.’s blog:

  1. Good for young, dense breasts and implants. Younger breasts tend to be denser. Thermography doesn’t identify fibrocystic tissue, breast implants, or scars as needing further investigation.
  2.  Detect cell changes in arm pit area. The arm pit area is an area that mammography isn’t always good at screening.
  3.  Great additional test. Thermography can be used as an additional test to help women and their care teams make more informed treatment decisions.
  4.  It Doesn’t Hurt. The pressure of a mammogram machine is equivalent to putting a 50-pound weight on your breast, which can be quite painful for most women.
  5.  No radiation. Another reason the United States Preventative Services Task Force reversed its aggressive mammogram guidelines was because of the exposure to radiation. It’s well known that excessive doses of radiation can increase your risk of cancer. It’s ironic that the test women are using for prevention may be causing the very problem they’re trying to avoid in the first place! And this doesn’t even touch on the harm done to the body from unnecessary biopsies, lumpectomies, mastectomies, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and so forth.
  6. Thermography is very safe. Thermography is even safe for pregnant and nursing women! It’s merely an image of the heat of your body.

Estrogen dominance as a cause of breast cancer and how to prevent it by eating for hormonal balance

breast-cancer-prevention

Magdalena Wszelaki, founder of Hormones Balance, shares some signs of estrogen dominance as the leading cause of breast cancer: Breast Lumps? Thyroid Nodules? Horrendous PMS? Endometriosis? In her wonderful article: The Breast Cancer and Estrogen Link | 15 Ways to Prevent and Manage Breast Cancer Naturally, she covers how to move from fear to empowerment and prevention by eating for hormonal balance. The article covers estrogen dominance in detail addressing:

  • Most Breast Cancers are not Genetic
  • How Breast Cancer Forms and Multiplies
  • How Estrogen Feeds Cancer
  • Signs of Estrogen Dominance (ED)
  • Not All Estrogens Are Bad

But the big takeaway is that as Magdalena says:

You have more power over your risk of breast cancer than you think. There are many steps you can take to protect yourself. Each one of them has other positive domino effects for your hormonal balance and overall health.

She shares how to rotate seeds into your diet to balance hormone levels, how to increase cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and how to love your liver. Here are some of Magdalena’s tips for supporting your liver which she calls the “Estrogen Detox Ally”:

A sluggish liver does not carry out its important job of filtering toxins, chemical byproducts and hormonal metabolites from your body. This can leave you with high circulating levels of the dangerous estrogen metabolites. For Breast Protection:

  • Add bitters in the form of dandelion leaves and root, burdock, chicory root, parsley, radicchio or bitters in tincture form. They stimulate bile production which then helps “flush out” estrogen and other steroid hormones.
  • Add fiber, my favorite being 2 tablespoons of freshly ground golden flax seed. Fiber promotes good bowel movement which is essential in carrying out the toxic estrogens. Chronic constipation can contribute to the re-absorption of antagonistic estrogens back to the blood stream.
  • Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or half a lemon to a glass of warm water and drink it before breakfast in the morning. This helps stimulate the gallbladder to release the bile which is instrumental in “flushing out” estrogen.

Be sure to read the entire article here to read more about gut health, red meat, wine, toxins, inflammation, exercise, smoking, the birth control pill (I also covered this and FAM in a recent blog on the connection to subsequent SSRI use), sleep and finally stress and cuddling!

If you want to learn more I encourage you to check out Magdalena’s no-cost “How to Use Food To Rebalance Your Hormones” Online Workshop.

cooking-for-balance

Avoiding endocrine disruptors and environmental pollutants

My friend and colleague Dr. Heather Paulson is the author of the soon to be released Textbook of Naturopathic Oncology. She is board certified in naturopathic oncology providing expert cancer care while creating a plan that restores health. She integrates her specialization in cancer and her love of nutrition, herbs, homeopathy, counseling, traditional healing, and current research to support you during your cancer journey and for cancer prevention. Dr. Paulson shares this about avoiding endocrine disruptors and environmental pollutants:

Endocrine disruptors are things in our environment that influence our hormonal system. You have probably heard about how plastics have been causing young boys to have feminine breasts. This plastic phenomenon is due to plastic disrupting the endocrine (or hormonal) system in boys. But the endocrine effects of environmental pollutants impacts both men and women. Some of the most common endocrine disruptors you are coming on contact with include plastic, pesticides, fragrances, beauty products, and cleaning products. Eliminating these from your personal environment is a critical piece of cancer prevention that is often missed.

She created this quiz How Toxic Is Your Home to help you see how well you are doing with endocrine disruptors. You can also find several checklists on her website to help you eliminate the necessary chemicals from your kitchen, yard, bedroom, and bathroom.

Boost glutathione levels to support the body’s detoxification channels

green-asparagus

 

And finally, my friend and colleague (and fellow South African) Kirsten Nussgruber shares the importance of reducing the toxic burden. When faced with the biggest challenge of her life – being diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer twice within a short three year period – Kirsten was forced to completely reevaluate what she believed was already a healthy lifestyle and now advocate for:

  • Eating clean and real food
  • Applying clean cosmetics and skin care products
  • And supporting the body’s detoxification channels

Kirsten shares the role of glutathione and ways to support body’s detoxification channels by boosting glutathione levels, often called your master detoxifier.

In its role as detoxifier it plays a crucial role in helping the body bind and get rid of many environmental toxins such as herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, solvents, dyes, plastics, detergents and nitrosamines often found in processed foods.

Glutathione is also known to be cancer-preventing and has been found deficient in cancer patients. It can strengthen natural killer cells, a part of your immune system you want to have ready for action at all times!

In her blog post, she covers glutathione supplementation and shares a list of whole foods that boost glutathione production:
asparagus, acornsquash, avocados, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, garlic, grapefruit, leeks, okra, onions, oranges, peaches, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, walnuts, watermelon, and zucchini.

Don’t be driven by fear and anxiety

As I said in my 2013 Breast Cancer Awareness blog: don’t be driven by fear and anxiety, instead use these wonderful resources as tools so you can be proactive and prevent breast cancer.

If you do get to a place where the anxiety and fear becomes overwhelming, don’t forget about the targeted individual amino acids like GABA and tryptophan for eliminating the anxiety and worry, obsessive thinking, negative self-talk, insomnia and overwhelm.

Here’s to beautiful healthy breasts for you and every woman!

Zonulin and leaky gut on the Thyroid Connection Summit

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thyroid-connection-zonulin

One of the speakers on the Thyroid Connection Summit is Alessio Fasano, MD and a leading Harvard scientist. He addresses the “Latest Research on Leaky Gut” and shares about zonulin. Dr. Fasano and his team actually discovered zonulin.

Dr. Myers asks him to share the role that zonulin plays in leaky gut:

zonulin-and-leaky-gut

This is one of many topics being covered on the summit. A few of my other favorites are:

  • Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, MT: Predictive Antibodies, Leaky Gut and Toxins
  • Raphael Kellman, MD: Your Microbiome and Thyroid
  • David Perlmutter, MD: The Gut-Brain-Thyroid Connection
  • Izabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP: Infections As a Root Cause of Your Thyroid Dysfunction
  • Sydney Baker, MD: How Parasites Can Rebalance Your Immune System (yes, you read that correctly – his discussion on helminth therapy or “little dudes” is fascinating!)
  • Ritchie Shoemaker, MD: Toxic Mold and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS)

Tune into this online event if you have Graves’, Hashimoto’s, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, cancer, nodules, cysts, are post-I-131 radiation or are post-thyroidectomy, or if your doctor says your labs are normal, yet you still have symptoms.

thyroid-connection-hrz

Tens of millions worldwide have some form of thyroid dysfunction, and 60% don’t know they have it or how it occurred. Dr. Amy Myers has identified 5 environmental factors that are the root cause of all thyroid dysfunction: diet, leaky gut, toxins, infections, and stress.

Congrats to Dr. Myers on the release of her new book The Thyroid Connection, which is a companion to the summit content

You can register for the summit here: https://qt247.isrefer.com/go/THY16reg/trudyscottcn/

And purchase at the summit special price here: https://qt247.isrefer.com/go/THY16order/trudyscottcn/

I’m not a speaker on this summit but I’m sharing this resource because thyroid health is so key when it comes to anxiety and depression. And many of the topics on this summit have relevance for anxiety: like genetics, gut health, toxins, stress and more.  Enjoy!