food

HMN twitter Food Mood party: more on sugar and cravings

January 20, 2012 By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

honey sweet tooth sugar addiction

Are you looking for the next “healthy” sweetener and have a sweet tooth? If yes, then read on.

On January 10^th The Holistic Moms Network invited me to answer questions at their January 10^th Twitter party on Food and Mood. It was a great virtual “event” with really great questions.

A colleague, Mira Dessy, Certified Nutrition Educator and holistic health columnist, provided a great summary of much of the discussion. I’m doing this post to add to it and to clarify a few things…

I think this is a great statement Mira made: “The chat started with a discussion of whether or not folks noticed if there were certain foods that made them anxious or affected their mood. Answers were fairly consistent across the board with responses including sugar, caffeine, gluten, McDonalds, and processed food.” I love that gluten was a hot topic and want to add the possible issue with GMO grains.

But what I’d really like to address the whole sugar discussion. With regards to this statement on Mira’s blog: “Sugar was by far the biggest offender with many participants discussing how difficult it can be to break the sugar habit” and this recommendation which didn’t actually come from me 🙂 “choose lower process sweeteners such as sucanat, evaporated cane juice crystals, honey, molasses, maple syrup”. I believe that if you replace white sugar with equal amounts of any of the above then it’s an issue. Ideally, a moderate amount of fresh fruit should satisfy your desire for something sweet and you shouldn’t have a sweet tooth. And you should not be seeking out the next “healthy” sweetener that comes on the market! If you do, it’s a message that you need to address your diet, nutrient deficiencies, imbalanced brain chemistry or even an addiction, or candida. This may apply whether you’re craving “healthy” sweeteners, stevia or xylitol sugar, or foods with artificial sweeteners. I asked this question “why do u eat sugar – comfort, calming, energy?” and these were some of the responses: “all of the above” and “I’d need to lose both arms to stop myself from eating sugar”. It really doesn’t have to be this way! You can quit and not have to use willpower and not feel deprived!

We didn’t have time to get completely into the individual amino acids (a future Twitter party ??) but they are incredible for stopping cravings in their tracks and improving mood. For example if you eat sugary food to calm down perhaps its low GABA and you may benefit from GABA supplements. Here is a Low GABA questionnaire.

Again, thanks to Mira and read her blog to get the rest of the discussion. And thanks to HMN! Do come to the next HMN twitter party – they are a lot of fun and very informative!

Much of this information relating to anxiety and mood and food (and so much more) is covered in The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com

Food and Mood at Holistic Moms Network Twitter party

January 8, 2012 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

Join me for a virtual Q and A session on Food & Mood!

Tuesday January 10^th 7pm PST / 10 EST

I’ll be answering all your Food & Mood questions on twitter – for one whole hour. Join us and learn more about The Antianxiety Food Solution, the mood-food connection and the Holistic Moms Network.

Do you wonder why zinc is so important and what depletes our zinc levels? And the best food source of zinc? What about the importance of healthy fats and proteins? And the gluten-mood connection? Do you remember your dreams and do you know what brain nutrient helps both your dream recall and your anxiety? If you’re super-anxious are eating loads of nuts a good thing or a bad thing?

Go here to make it easy, follow along, ask your questions and comment http://tweetchat.com/room/holisticmoms

My twitter handle is @everywomanovr29 and Holistic Moms Network is @HolisticMomsNet

The hashtag is #holisticmoms (this will find all related tweets)

There will be some fun giveways! Hope you can join us!

Thanks to The Holistic Moms Network for hosting me. They have a great explanation about Twitter parties work and how to use tweetdeck.

About The Holistic Moms Network “The Holistic Moms Network is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization connecting parents who are interested in holistic health and green living. We encourage moms to trust their instincts, parent from the heart, use their innate sense of what is best for their children, live in balance with the Earth, and learn about the pros and cons of all healthcare and parenting options.

Living healthy and living green is not an endpoint, but an ongoing journey. No matter where you are on your parenting or holistic living journey, you are welcome at HMN! We are a diverse and open-minded community, a place where your choices are respected and where you can learn and become informed! Many of us are new to this journey, others more experienced. Wherever you are, you can benefit from the wisdom, support, and resources that Holistic Moms have to offer!”

[Please note this USA time, click this world time zone converter and use US/Pacific to find your date/time and join in from wherever you are, be it Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Malaysia or anywhere else – be sure to let us know where you are tweeting from!]

If you can’t make it use the hashtag #holisticmoms later to find the tweets. Of course, much of what we discuss about anxiety and mood and food (and so much more) is covered in much detail in The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com

New Year resolutions for a great mood all year

January 7, 2012 By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

veggie garden trudy scott

It’s a new year and I wish you all the very best with abundant health and happiness, zero stress and anxiety and much success in all areas of your life. Here are my resolutions for you so you can have a great mood all year long.

Whatever your health goals are, make it all about getting healthy – the end result will be better quality of life and a better mood. Weight loss may be at the top of the list for many of you. If you want to lose weight, don’t go for quick fad diets but rather eat real whole food and address nutritional deficiencies and biochemical imbalances. Just one example: burned out adrenals can lead to weight loss resistance as well as sleep problems and an inability to handle stress, leading to increased anxiety.

Always, eat real whole food – make some changes, fine-tune things, try something new each week or a new recipe (like this delicious cabbage caraway recipe). Find an Asian or Indian market and explore and have fun – I found fresh guavas one time!
Plant a garden – flowers give you joy and pleasure, veggies give you joy and pleasure and real whole food, and herbs do the same. If you don’t have space for a garden, grow something on your balcony or kitchen window sill or find a community garden
Laugh a lot! Watch comedy shows and movies, take up a new fun hobby, get out and ride a bike, play with the kids (or nieces and nephews). A few years ago we learned to windsurf and we have such fun and laugh so much doing it!
Get out in nature! We were recently in Yosemite and as usual, the grandeur and beauty of being in nature just takes your breath away and just leaves you feeling so relaxed, calm and totally inspired and ready for anything and everything!
Exercise for the joy of it and not because you feel you have to! Take up windsurfing, play tennis, ride a bike, get back into dancing – whatever grabs you, do it!
Don’t tolerate how you feel and don’t tolerate unpleasant things in your life – you deserve a wonderful and happy life. Get help if you need it – work with a nutritionist, holistic health professional, life coach or business coach.
Educate yourself about healthy living and be a savvy consumer. Read books, attend workshops, follower bloggers and follow legislation. The Alliance for Natural Health is a great resource.
Value the love and support of your family, friends and community

Happy new year to you! I hope our paths cross and I’d love to hear some of your resolutions for 2012.

Folic acid for anxiety, depression & preventing birth defects

January 7, 2012 By Trudy Scott 9 Comments

January 8 through 14th is National Folic Acid Awareness Week and I would like to bring awareness to how important folic acid is for our mood.

Of course, we also need to raise awareness that adequate folic acid intake is important for the prevention of birth defects and this is well covered here http://folicacidinfo.org/.

Back to mood…folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ are B vitamins that are important for depression, and given the links between anxiety and depression, they may also be helpful for anxiety. They also support heart health, which is important if you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, which stress the heart.

A 2009 study found that supplementing with 800 mcg of folic acid, 500 mcg of vitamin B₁₂ (cyanocobalamin), and only 3mg of vitamin B₆ daily for six months improved the general well-being of people with celiac disease, while also helping with anxiety and depression. I have found this to be true for those with gluten intolerance too.

You also need to watch your alcohol consumption. Many of the nutrients depleted by alcohol are important for preventing anxiety: zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, fatty acids, antioxidants, and the stress-busting B vitamins, such as B₆ (pyridoxine), B₁ (thiamine), and folic acid.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke also result in nutrient depletions: vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and vitamin B_{1 .}

There are a number of foods that are a great source of folic acid: leafy green vegetables such as spinach and turnip greens, legumes and eggs. I’m not a big fan of the grain products that are fortified with folic acid because they are typically processed foods and because of the gluten mood connection.

Liver is another excellent source of folic acid, and vitamin A, vitamin B₁₂, and other B vitamins, and, of course, iron and protein. Nutrient dense and very healing, organ meats and have been considered a valuable food by many cultures for centuries. If you have unfond memories of beef liver, try liver pate, chicken or lamb liver. You can also freeze liver, then grate it and add it to dishes like meat loaf.

Whenever I do a workshop, I ask folks to raise their hands if they ate liver as a child and most of the time, the majority raise their hands. Then I ask who still eats liver and I usually have one to four people raise their hands! Grandma and mom did know what they were doing! I encourage you to try some liver this week!