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Food and Mood at Integrative Health in Scottsdale AZ

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Exercise is so great for a great mood! Here I am hiking Camel Back mountain when I was in Phoenix last year

Do you know that your anxiety and cravings could have a biochemical component and be related to nutritional imbalances? Have you heard about the very effective method of balancing brain chemistry with individual amino acids?  These amino acids are quite amazing! And do you know how important food is for your mood – check out my recent FOX 40 interview for a small sampling.

Join me in Scottsdale/Phoenix, AZ next week and learn more. I’ll be presenting on this and much more!

Food and Mood: 9 Steps to Calm your Anxious Mind & End Cravings!

A mini quiz will help you determine if your anxiety and cravings have a biochemical and nutritional component. You’ll learn the importance of real whole traditional food, including quality grass-fed red meat; why and how to quit sugar and control blood sugar swings; the effects of caffeine, alcohol and tobacco; the importance of optimal digestion and eliminating candida; the mood effects of gluten. You’ll learn the connection between mood and cravings and the very effective method of balancing brain chemistry with individual amino acids. You’ll also learn about correcting pyroluria with zinc and vitamin B6; the effects of other nutrients, low  vitamin D, hormones, toxins and medications; and finally simple lifestyle changes that include sleep and yoga.

Tuesday Sept 20 at 6pm
Integrative Health Clinic
9200 E. Raintree Dr., Suite 100
Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Call 480-657-0003 to sign up.

I will have copies of my new book The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood & End Cravings (June 2011, New Harbinger) available for purchase after the talk and will happily sign one for you.   Or can purchase a copy in book stores, Amazon, from my publisher via my site www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com.

You can learn more about Trudy here.

You can learn more about the Integrative Health Clinic here. I love this message they have on their home page: “Instead of masking symptoms with pills and procedures, Integrative Health discovers a purer perspective. We diagnose the true source of discomfort, then champion scientific and natural solutions. Solutions that work with your body, not against it. The only side effect? A healthier, happier you”.  I really look forward to meeting Dr Alan Christianson, co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid”.

Kirin Christianson, founder of Red Haute Mama is my friend and colleague and I was thrilled to be invited to present at her husband’s clinic.  Thanks Kirin! Kirin is quite amazing – she can literally take you from “Ordinary to Extraordinary”!  I did one of her workshops and all I can say is WOW!  She recently took part in the Mrs Arizona contest!

But back to Food and Mood … I hope to see you Tuesday Sept 20 at 6pm at Integrative Health Clinic!

8 Simple Tips for Relieving Stress

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(1) Eat real whole food and skip the junk food, processed foods and sugar. Simply go back to eating the way your grandparents ate!

(2) Eat breakfast and make sure to include protein (like eggs, meat, whey, fish) to help keep blood sugar levels even through the day and therefore reduce stress

(3) Also eat three meals and two healthy snacks to keep blood sugar levels even. Some great snack ideas: some fresh fruit, a boiled egg, grass-fed beef jerky and even a packed lunch.  Raw baby carrots and ornamental green/yellow/red peppers are crunchy and tasty, especially dipped in hummus.  Another easy snack are left-overs from dinner, such as a chicken drumstick or wing.  Cans of sardines, oysters and salmon are good for emergencies if you get stuck at an airport or arrive late when traveling.  Pumpkin seeds are a great source of tryptophan and zinc, both of which help improve mood.

(4) Pass on the coffee (yes, really!) especially if it makes you more anxious and affects your sleep – try herbal caffeine-free teas instead. Licorice herbal tea is delicious, rooibos herbal tea from South Africa is rich in antioxidants and chamomile tea is calming.  If you can’t function without coffee and use it to give you energy then you need to figure out why – low iron, burned out adrenals, low catecholamines or underactive thyroid?

(5) Get outside and do some exercise – to raise serotonin levels to help you feel less blue and worried.  You’ll also get some vitamin D which improves mood and reduces stress.

(6) Enjoy yoga regularly – yoga, tai chi and guided imagery actually raises GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) to help you feel less overwhelmed

(7) Consider using a good multivitamin, a good B complex and the amazing amino acid supplements tryptophan or GABA for short-term relief of anxiety, worry and stress

(8) Slow down, make “me-time” a priority and learn to say no. Take care of yourself!

Chef Rachel’s Review of The Antianxiety Food Solution

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Chef Rachel, The Healthy Cooking Coach, did a great review of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution and is offering a free copy of the book to her blog readers and those following her on social media.

We met a few years ago at a nutrition conference and have stayed connected. I was presenting on food and mood, and Chef Rachel did a wonderful cooking demo!

Read on for the review and see below for details of the book giveaway…

“Most people take food for granted. They don’t realize the profound affect it can have on their physical, mental, and emotional health. Our culture doesn’t teach us about this. We’re taught to think of what we eat as somehow separate from the workings of our minds and bodies. We’re taught to take prescription drugs when something goes awry.

But, the drugs have side effects, many of them as bad or worse than the conditions they are supposed to treat. “After decades of studies and billions of dollars of pharmaceutical industry funding, the best research findings suggest that conventional prescription medications are only marginally superior—if not equivalent—to placebos for the treatment of psychiatric disorders,” says James Lake, MD., President of the International Network of Integrative Mental Health.

“Physicians often advise their patients about reasonable dietary changes for the prevention and treatment of medical illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes; however, mental health professionals often overlook the importance of nutrition for both maintaining good mental health and treating specific mental health problems” says Lake.

I believe the reason is that few doctors have studied nutrition in depth and fewer still understand the intimate connection between what we eat and how we feel and function. They somehow miss the fact that what we eat is supposed to provide the building blocks for all of our cells, tissues, and organs. In many cases the food we eat is not only lacking what we need but also supplying extraneous substances that contribute to further imbalances in our brains and body chemistry.

You can read the rest of Chef Rachel’s great review here.

And if you’d like to win a copy of my book go here and follow the instructions to be entered into the drawing!

You can learn more about my book here and by searching for “anxiety” on my blog.

New Book Offers Insights on Anxiety & Mental Health: Insights that Patrick Kennedy’s “Moonshot” Research Team Will Find Compelling

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patrick kennedy moonshot

The first book by local Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, Trudy Scott, is released this month: The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood & End Cravings. This release is hot on the heels of the CNN interview “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Patrick Kennedy – Coming Clean,” where Patrick Kennedy discusses his own battles with mental health and addictions, his mission to help remove the stigma of mental health, as well as create a “moonshot” medical research effort to find solutions to all brain diseases.

This is all taken from a press release when my book launched. I commend Patrick Kennedy for openly discussing his challenges with mood and addictions, and for being a leader in the field of mental health research! For more information on Kennedy’s Moonshot research go here http://www.moonshot.org/ and for a review of the CCN interview go here.

And continuing with the press release….

Foreword writer and author of Textbook of Integrative Mental Health Care, Dr. James Lake MD, feels that Scott’s book  “marks an important contribution to the public dialogue on the appropriate role of nutrition in mental health care in general and anxiety disorders in particular” and he strongly endorses this unique resource.

Scott’s book offers four different antianxiety food solutions, all of which emphasize the importance of real whole traditional food, but address each person’s biochemical uniqueness. Other chapters cover: why and how to quit sugar and control blood sugar swings; the effects of caffeine; the importance of optimal digestion; the bad-mood effects of gluten; balancing brain chemistry with individual amino acids; correcting pyroluria with zinc and vitamin B6; low vitamin D, hormone imbalances, toxins and medications; and finally simple lifestyle changes that include sleep, exercise and yoga.

An editorial by Dr. Marlene Freeman MD, in the American Journal of Psychiatry offered a very powerful comment on the recent food-mood studies, all of which are included in this heavily referenced book: “It is both compelling and daunting to consider that dietary intervention at an individual or population level could reduce rates of psychiatric disorders. There are exciting implications for clinical care, public health, and research.”

Scott, who has a nutrition practice with a focus on Food, Mood and Women’s Health and is President of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals comments: “I truly don’t believe dietary intervention is daunting and I am living proof it does work. I have been able to overcome my own anxiety and eliminate my panic attacks using the very same methods I cover in my book. And I see the same success with my clients every single day. Food and nutrients are very powerful!”

Edmund Bourne PhD, author of highly successful The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook says that Scott’s book “provides clear, helpful guidelines for utilizing nutrition to overcome anxiety” and Dr Katherine Falk MD, feels Scott’s book “provides important adjunctive help in the treatment anxiety, depression, and serious mental illness.”  All this provides a compelling resource for Kennedy’s research team and for Kennedy himself, who said in his interview that he was looking to live a full life and not just survive.

The Antianxiety Food Solution is now available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com.

You can find the official press release document here https://www.everywomanover29.com/media.html

WHO study ranks USA second in depression prevalence: NAMI speaker Trudy Scott shares the powerful positive effects of food on mood

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Depression affects 121 million people around the world and a significant number of these people are in the United States. New research published in BMC Medicine reports the prevalence in 18 countries around the world and found affluent countries tend to have higher rates of depression, with an average of 14.6% of their populations likely to get depression over their lifetime.  The United States, with the proportion at 19% of the population likely to get depression, ranks second overall, after France at 21%.

This study was done in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative.  Furthermore, the World Health Organization predicts depression will be one of the largest health problems worldwide by 2020, so now is the time for countries, organizations and the people to take action.

This is all taken from a press release for the NAMI California 2011 conference.  And I’m thrilled that it resulted in a call from NPR for an interview by Jeffrey Callison on Insight – to talk about my new book as well as my upcoming talk at the conference.

Date: Thursday, August 18th, 2011 between 10 and 11am PST
Topic: Depression and Food
Host: Jeffrey Callison
Insight: http://www.capradio.org/insight
On the dial: 90.9 FM KXJZ Sacramento; 90.5 FM KKTO Tahoe City/Reno; 91.3 FM KUOP Stockton/Modesto; 88.1 FM KQNC Quincy

And continuing with the press release….

An editorial by Dr. Marlene Freeman, MD, in the American Journal of Psychiatry offered a very powerful comment on 2009 and 2010 food-mood studies. “It is both compelling and daunting to consider that dietary intervention at an individual or population level could reduce rates of psychiatric disorders. There are exciting implications for clinical care, public health, and research.”

Trudy Scott, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood & End Cravings, and President of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals comments: “While I agree that dietary intervention is compelling, I don’t feel it is daunting. We simply need to teach people how to eat real food again. And the great thing is that these changes, in addition to reducing depression and anxiety, will also reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, arthritis and many other health conditions.”

Scott, who is a Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, will be one of many excellent plenary speakers at NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) California’s 2011 Annual conference. NAMI California works to provide help, hope and healing for those affected by serious mental illness and the conference theme is “Creating Change through Vision and Action”. Scott’s topic will be Food and Mood: The science behind the effects of food on mental health and she is endorsed by Dr. Lawrence E. Cormier, MD, as a “leader in the field of food and mental health”.  Scott will also provide practical how-to information in a hands-on nutrition workshop later in the day. The conference is in Sacramento, California on August 19 & 20.  For details and to register: www.namicalifornia.org

The Antianxiety Food Solution is now available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com.

You can find the official press release document here https://www.everywomanover29.com/media.html

Charlize Theron, Piers Morgan, inositol for OCD & Africa Outreach

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charlize theron
Photo credit: John Harrison

I’m a big fan of the amazing beautiful and talented actress Charlize Theron.  I am so proud that a fellow South African has wowed Hollywood and even won an Oscar. She won her Oscar for Monster – brilliant performance, so real and quite disturbing. I also really enjoyed her in The Italian Job!  She’s been in so many movies and you can find out more here http://www.charlizetheron.com/

Piers Morgan interviewed Charlize recently and she spoke about her childhood and marriage. You can see some of the interview here. I’m really enjoying the Piers interviews – he seems to ask really interesting questions and his guests appear to have a lot of fun! “Brilliant performance!” – doesn’t that just sound like Piers and don’t you love his British accent!?

For me, it’s quite strange hearing her talk with an American accent – she said she had to change it in order to be successful in Hollywood.  And she says he doesn’t like the sound of her voice! She did speak a few sentences of Afrikaans right at the beginning of the interview – Afrikaans is her first language and my second language, so I could understand her of course.  I look forward to her one day playing a South African and talking like a South African – I think she’ll do an excellent job!

During her interview with Piers she also jokingly shared that she has OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and can’t handle messy closets. If OCD really is an issue that causes distress and affects day-to-day functioning, it’s worth trying many of the same nutrients that help with anxiety issues: GABA, tryptophan or 5-HTP. They often help with OCD too.  However, one particular nutrient called inositol is particularly helpful with obsessive behaviors and ruminating thoughts.   Of course, these nutrients and others, are covered in my book The Antianxiety Food Solution.   I think I should send a copy to Charlize!

Charlize also talked about her foundation (created in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation) where she gives back to South Africa. It called the Africa Outreach Project which is committed to reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among African youth by supporting and collaborating with organizations that provide preventive education.  I loved it when Charlize emphasized education and the goal of teaching the youth that violence is not ok, and prevention of HIV/AIDS – very smart!  Much of the work is done in KwaZulu Natal, close to where I grew up. This makes me pretty homesick but also proud of what she is achieving on so many levels! You can learn more and make a donation here http://www.charlizeafricaoutreach.org/

My message to Charlize: “Baie dankie [thanks very much in Afrikaans]. You go girl! And check out some of these amazing nutrients for OCD and anxiety – you SO deserve to feel on top of the world in every way!”