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mercury

The Anxiety Summit – Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety part 1

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Kris Homme

Kris Homme, MPH retired engineer turned science writer was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Your hidden mercury burden: A likely root cause of the other root causes of anxiety – part 1

  • chronic mercury poisoning effects at the molecular level: blocks enzymes, displaces minerals
  • chronic mercury poisoning effects the cellular and organ level: mineral transport, destroys barriers like gut and brain, mitochondrial dysfunction
  • effects on hormone imbalance, blood sugar regulation, food sensitivities, GABA/serotonin levels, autoimmunity
  • why mercury toxicity is complicated and hard to test for
  • subjective signs of chronic mercury poisoning

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Mercury inhibits methylation, which is the biochemical process that affects the production of many hormones and neurotransmitters. It also causes a selective loss of Purkinje neurons in the brain which produce GABA.

Mercury is known to concentrate in glands, including the thyroid and blocks the enzyme that converts T4 to T3. Also, your mercury burden is a chronic stressor that seems to provoke symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Erethism: It’s the mercury personality, and that involves excessive timidity, diffidence, shyness, conflict avoidance, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive, a pathological fear of ridicule and explosive loss of temper when criticized. There are different versions of this definition and they’re all fun and they really resonated with me, so that can be interesting to look that up on the internet.

Here is the link to Kris Homme’s publication in Biometals, published earlier this year: New science challenges old notion that mercury dental amalgam is safe

Kris has gathered some additional information into this document – Chronic mercury poisoning: A brief summary of the science

It was lovely to recently meet Kris. After enjoying a nice cup of herbal tea with her, she shared a few things about mercury toxicity in her pretty back garden. Here is one of the videos we did – enjoy!

Here is a link to part 2 of this discussion- what to do and additional resources.

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com

The Anxiety Summit – seafood: the ultimate brain and mood food

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Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert, is the host the Anxiety Summit, and author of The Antianxiety Food Solution and she interviews Randy Hartnell, fisherman, owner of Vital Choice. Our topic: “What you need to know about seafood—the ultimate brain and mood food”

  • Purity and contaminants such as mercury and radiation (Fukushima)
  • Research showing the health benefits: anxiety, depression
  • What if you are mercury-toxic and sensitive
  • Farmed vs wild salmon (and other species)
  • What about that fish-y smell
  • The health benefits of fish roe
  • Omega-3s and fish as ‘Brain Food”
  • Omega3-6 balance and testing fatty acid levels

Here you have Randy talking about why fish is the ultimate brain and mood food

Here is one of the Ralston selenium studies: Dietary selenium’s protective effects against methylmercury toxicity.

This is the 2013 PLoS One study we discussed: Dietary patterns, n-3 fatty acids intake from seafood and high levels of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

The present study provides evidence of a relationship between dietary patterns, fish intake or n-3 PUFA intake from seafood and symptoms of anxiety in pregnancy, and suggests that dietary interventions could be used to reduce high anxiety symptoms during pregnancy.

This 2013 paper in the British Journal of Nutrition called Dietary intake of fish and PUFA, and clinical depressive and anxiety disorders in women states

These are the first observational data to indicate a role for DHA in anxiety disorders

In this 2014 animal study, Fish oil improves anxiety-like, depressive-like and cognitive behaviors in olfactory bulbectomised rats study

fish oil supplementation during critical periods of brain development attenuated anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors and cognitive dysfunction”

Here is some of our discussion on weighing the concerns of mercury toxicity versus the health benefits (since it’s a topic that comes up a lot).  This is what Randy shared:

Fish has a whole sort of micronutrient spectrum. They’re swimming around out in this rich soup of minerals – vitamins, minerals, micronutrients – and you know, life evolved in the sea. And life has evolved amid background mercury levels forever, right? Because as much as half of it, if not more, comes from underwater volcanic activity and erosion of the land into the ocean. And mercury’s a naturally occurring element. Of course, the problem with a lot of it now is that it comes from fossil fuel burning.

But it’s always been there, and so life has evolved a capacity to deal with a certain amount of it. And you know, I always acknowledge that people are different, and some people process things differently than other people. But really, when you think about it, common sense tells you that life evolved in the sea. Mercury’s always been there, and I know there are studies of Alaskan natives from thousands of years ago, that they’ve recovered hair samples from these Alaskan natives, and there’s mercury in their hair. So it’s not like it’s something new that people are dealing with.

The message I hope people will take away is you’ve got to assess the risk versus the benefit. And virtually every study, or every major study, comes down on the side that benefits vastly outweigh the risks.

Here you have Randy sharing about the quality of fish they source and offer
– I love that he talks about the “golden rule”

During the interviews on mercury (part 1) with Kris Homme, and part 2, she shares her concerns saying that she believes that if you have major mercury exposure because of amalgams, then you might want to reduce fish consumption and especially avoid the bigger fish. She certainly does.

Vital Choice is  very kindly offering us some nice discounts on their products:

15% discount on VitalChoice (wild fish) purchases (use MOODFOOD at checkout – expires 12/31/14)

50% discount on fatty acid testing (use MOODFOODTESTKIT at checkout – expires 12/31/14)

The above discounts have expired but you can check out Vital Choice products here.

I hope you’ll join us on the Anxiety Summit season 2. It runs from Nov 3-16, 2014 and you’ll learn about this and many other nutritional and natural solutions for anxiety, panic attacks, OCD and social anxiety. This is one of many great topics we’ll be sharing.