Impact of Poor Nutrition on Depression, Anxiety & Addiction Recovery with Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes

This episode was pre recorded as part of a live continuing education webinar on demand. CEUs are still available for this presentation through all CEUs. Register@Allce.com Counselortoolbox you. I'd like to welcome everybody to today's presentation. We're going to be talking about malnutrition, its impact, and ways we can help intervene. I am your host, Dr. Donnelly Snipes. Now, I recognize that most of you, if not none of you, are registered dietitians. And in order to make nutritional prescriptions for clients, in order to tell them what to eat, in most states, you have to either be a registered nurse practitioner, a doctor, or a registered dietitian. So we want to make sure that we are not overstepping our scope of practice. But it is important to recognize the impact of nutrition on the entire body. And if you've been reading the news lately, you've seen a lot of studies that are coming out about the gut microbiome and gut health and mental health. And you know, we have other classes that go into that, really talking about the importance of the microbiome and the bacteria and all that kind of stuff that we need to have in our digestive system. So you can find more of that on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com or you can go to allce.com counselortoolbox but for today, we're really just going to learn a little bit about nutrition. And I've tried to make this presentation as simplified as possible. So if you want to use part of it for a group activity with your clients, you know, you're more than welcome to do that. Hmm. We're going to review the nutritional building blocks for health and wellness and examine how these nutrients, or lack of them, contribute to neurotransmitter balance or imbalance. We'll identify several nutrient dense foods that you can include in your diet. Again, we can't tell clients what to eat, but we can educate them about where to learn more about nutrition and about what healthy foods are if they choose to eat them, you know, more power to them. Nutritional changes should always be made under the supervision of a registered dietitian or your primary physician. This presentation is for general informational purposes only. Have I said that enough times? Sorry. You know, legal says I gotta say it in early recovery. And this can be from depression, anxiety, stress, trauma, grief, whatever. In early recovery, nearly every person's neurotransmitters are out of balance. As a matter of fact, some studies indicate that about 80% of Americans have less than optimal levels of Neurotransmitter balances. So it's not just people who are in early recovery. When neurotransmitters are out of balance, it can cause feelings of depression, apathy, anxiety, or exhaustion, or all of the above. It's important that we help clients understand why they feel the way they do. It's not necessarily just about changing a thought pattern. It's not necessarily just. Just about grieving a loss. And when we experience a loss, it throws us through for a loop. We can feel like we got hit in the gut. We can have a hard time sleeping, we can have a hard time breathing. We can be have no appetite at all or just be eating comfort foods. There's a lot of stuff we can do, but our body is responding. Our HPA axis is responding to that stressor, and it is altering our neurotransmitter balance in favor of protection and survival, which often means that we may feel anxious, stressed, or exhausted after a certain period of time. The next step, Once we help clients understand that a lot of their symptoms are the result of chemical balances or imbalances in their body and in their brain, then they can understand that there are a lot of steps they can start taking now to help themselves start feeling better. In order for your body to function optimally and maintain that neurotransmitter balance and your hormone balances and all that kind of stuff, it has to be a healthy working machine. Think of your body like a factory. And all of these different, all of these different neurotransmitters, if you will, and hormones are different units or departments in the factory. And if one department goes offline, it can cause problems in production in the entire rest of the organization. The human brain is composed of roughly 86 billion. That's with a B neurons. That's a lot of neurons. So, you know, we can afford to kill a few here or there maybe. But it's important to understand that those neurons have a function. We don't want to just start killing them off for no apparent reason. When we are under a lot of stress, the environment in our brain becomes what they call excitotoxic, which means too much glutamate, it's running too hot, if you will, and we start losing neurons. As I said, you know, you've got 86 billion. So if you have a stressful period, it doesn't mean that you're going to experience supercognitive decline. But we need to try to keep those neurons healthy, which means we need to feed them, we need to make sure that we keep our HPA axis regulated. When we are hypoglycemic, hyperglycemic, or malnourished, our body can perceive that as a threat, which would cause it to ramp up that HPA axis, which can cause that excitotoxic environment in our brains, which is another reason that nutrition is important. Neurotransmitters. And when I say neurotransmitters here, really what I'm talking about in general is our monoamines. Your serotonin, norepinephrine, glutamate, gaba, dopamine, acetylcholine. I'm thinking I'm forgetting one. But those are the big six. Those are the ones that we really talk about in terms of mood, but they regulate more than mood. They regulate more than whether we have good concentration or psychotic symptoms. They regulate cravings, including sugar cravings and addictions. They regulate our energy levels. Too much dopamine can cause people to feel anxious and have problems. Too little dopamine can cause people to feel really fatigued, which is one of the reasons when people are on antipsychotics, that decreases their dopamine levels and they feel extremely fatigued. You can start seeing the impact of these things in other parts of the body. Our libido is directly influenced by norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. If those are out of whack, our libido is going to be out of whack. Our neurotransmitters also affect the balance of our gonadal hormones, which are testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, sleep. Serotonin is broken down to make melatonin, which helps us drift off to sleep. If we don't have enough serotonin or that system is not working well, then we may not get enough sleep. We need to make sure serotonin is happy. Likewise, if we've got too much norepinephrine, too much glutamate, too much of the other stuff, the excitatory neurotransmitters, we may not be able to wind down to get to sleep. Attention and concentration, that is norepinephrine, dopamine, for the most part, but you've got a little bit of everything in there. Serotonin is kind of your moderator that says, all right, let's, let's chill out and just look at what we got here. Serotonin is important for concentration as well, memory and pain sensitivity. Serotonin goes down, pain tolerance goes down, serotonin goes up, our pain threshold goes up. So there's a lot of different things that are going on and this doesn't even begin to cover all the rest of them. Serotonin, for example, is also involved in heart rhythm and some other things. The take home message. Neurotransmitters. There are these chemicals in our body that keep our body functioning. They do a lot of stuff. So if they're out of whack, we, we are not going to function effectively. About 86% of Americans have suboptimal neurotransmitter levels, our unhealthy modern lifestyles being largely to blame. We talked about that last week. I think the fact that sleep deprivation, poor nutrition and chronic stress can all lead to glucocorticoid resistance, which is also called hypocortisolism, which has a lot of symptoms of depressive disorder or anxiety. Chronic stress, poor diet, environmental toxins, drugs, both prescription and recreational alcohol, nicotine and caffeine can all cause neurotransmitter imbalances. So think about it. How do you feel when you're not getting enough oxygen? One of the things that people are often surprised about is the fact that we generally yawn not because we're tired, but because we're not getting enough oxygen in our system. So when we're not getting enough oxygen, we can feel fatigued, we can feel lethargic. And one of the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia is feeling fatigued. And when you're anemic, that means your blood is not circulating oxygen as effectively. What effect might a low carb diet have on mood? A lot of people are on low carb or no carb diets right now, and far be it from me to tell somebody what's going to make them feel their best. Some people think they feel fabulous on a no carb diet. And okay, you know, that's between you and your physician and whomever. However, it's really important that, that people who don't eat from every food group make sure they're getting the full array of vitamins and minerals in order to make sure that their body can make the neurotransmitters low protein. Some people also go low protein. Most non vegan Americans get plenty of protein, so that's not an issue. But if you're working with vegans in particular, vegetarians still eat milk, cheese and eggs. So they oftentimes, in addition to legumes and other things, they often get plenty of protein. People who are strict vegans may have more difficulty if they're not adequately supplementing their nutrition with complete proteins. We'll talk about that in a minute. Why do doctors test for vitamin D levels in patients with depressive symptoms? Well, because we know that low levels of vitamin D are associated with depression. Now, they're not exactly sure how. They still don't know how that connection happens. But they do know that there are a lot of vitamin D receptors in the mood control parts of our brain. And they do know that there's a strong correlation between low vitamin D and high levels of depression, which is why we have seasonal affective disorder. Effective nutrition on brain functioning. Early life malnutrition, and this is, you know, teenage years and younger, is highly correlated with neurodevelopment and adulthood neuropsychiatric disorders. Now, typically, when we talk about early life malnutrition, we're talking about, you know, zero to five. But the brain is still developing until the age of 24. So if we don't have adequate nutrition during that time, we may be hampering our brain's ability to develop the way it needs to. Improvements in nutrition are known to bring tangible effects, and many diseases and conditions can be prevented, modulated, or even ameliorated by good nutrition. Iodine, for example, is necessary for energy metabolism in the brain cells. Well, you think nobody has an iodine deficiency anymore? Actually, that's not true, since so many people have switched over to using sea salt as opposed to iodized table salt. There's actually a significant enough proportion of Americans who are not getting enough iodine in their diet. Now, you can get iodine from other sources besides iodized salt. But it is important to recognize that one of our current nutritional fads, if you will, is potentially putting some people at risk of iodine deficiency and associated problems. B1 is necessary for the utilization of blood sugar in the brain. Our brain uses a lot of blood sugar, which is one of the reasons that after you sit through a class for an entire day, you know, you feel exhausted and you're like, I didn't do anything. Why do I feel so wiped? Because your brain was actively using blood glucose and processing that information. You were taking in vitamins B6 and B12, among others, are directly involved in the creation of neurotransmitters. Nerve endings contain the highest concentrations of vitamin C in the human body. If we want our nerve endings to be healthy, whether it's in our brain or in the rest of our body, we need to have adequate vitamin C. A lot of people get that through fruits and vegetables and things like that. However, you've got Some people who are very picky eaters and some children who are very picky eaters who don't want to eat anything but chicken nuggets or something, and they are going to potentially be deficient in vitamin C. Vitamin E is necessary for effective transmission of neurological signals. Vitamin E is one of those fat soluble, fat soluble vitamins. So if somebody's not eating enough fat in their diet. I know, you know, that is a scary word for a lot of people to think that they have to eat fat in their diet. And I'm not being sarcastic. It terrifies some people to think that they need a certain amount of fat in order for their body to process the fat soluble vitamins. But if they don't, then they're not able to utilize things like vitamin A and vitamin E. Eating foods with a low glycemic index improves the quality and duration of intellectual performance. Low glycemic index means it goes into your body and instead of producing a spike of blood sugar like white bread or candy, it produces a gradual increase in blood sugar and a gradual reduction. You can go to glycemicindex.com to learn about different low glycemic foods. This is especially helpful for children with ADHD and or who are gifted because their brains work so fast. Sometimes it's helpful for them to make sure that they maintain their blood glucose levels, especially their brain glucose, which means they need to have those long duration carbohydrates in their body. Dietary proteins contribute to good brain function. Tryptophan, which is an amino acid, is necessary for the creation of serotonin and melatonin. Now, most people get enough tryptophan. Most people who are getting enough protein are getting enough of the essential amino acids. However, you know, it's important to recognize that some people cut certain foods completely out of their diet. And we want to make sure they understand that they're necessary, not necessarily those foods, but those nutrients are often necessary for healthy bodily function. So they need to talk with their doctor or a nutritionist about ways to supplement their meals. And as a side note, if you do group therapy, or even if you do one on one therapy, if you want to help your clients improve their nutrition and you're not a registered dietitian, one thing you can do is contract with an RD to come in and do a seminar for your clients maybe once a month or once a quarter. So all of your individual clients can come to this one seminar if they have an interest in this that, you know, saves them money. You know, they can Even pay for it as a group, or you can pay for it, or however you want to do it. But that also gets that expert in there who can help them get a little bit more information. Anyhow, brain cell functioning requires omega 3 fatty acids. As Americans, we get a lot of omega 6s but not enough omega 3s. And eating foods like walnuts and pepitas, which are pumpkin seeds and fatty fish, if you're willing to eat fish, are good sources of omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3s have also been found to help prevent and or treat mood disorders, particularly depression. There are, and there's a list of resources at the end of this presentation. There are actually studies out there that have treated, used as the treatment condition, omega 3s only, no antidepressants. And they found a significant improvement in some patients. Now, if you've got a patient who has depressive symptoms and is already getting enough omega 3s in their diet, well, then that probably not the problem. But we do want to look at some of these biological causes, too. Iron is necessary to ensure oxygenation and for the synthesis of neurotransmitters. If you eat red meat or, or if you eat green leafy vegetables, you're probably getting enough iron. And a lot of your legumes also have a lot of iron in them. But if people use an app like SparkPeople, which is a free app, they can get on their phone, they can figure out which nutrients they're getting enough of and not enough of. Effects of nutrition on the person, reduced libido, which is generally not good for people's mood, but it's also not good for relationships and other things. So we want to help them with that. Low energy, impaired relationships, impaired concentration and attention, and sleep disturbances. All of this can affect a person's self esteem, their sense of self efficacy, their effectiveness at work. You know, a lot of their future goals can be impacted if their body is not functioning well. So let's talk about amino acids really quick. And these are the protein building blocks. Proteins are these big molecules. Amino acids make up proteins. Tryptophan is converted to 5HTP, and you've probably heard of 5HTP. You can buy it in a little pill in the grocery store if you want to. And some people supplement with that as opposed to taking prescription antidepressants. Now, one of the challenges. Well, let me 5 HTP is broken down to make serotonin. We know serotonin is one of the targets of our common antidepressants, serotonin. If you have too much of it, can cause something called serotonin syndrome which can be deadly. And you know, I'm not just exaggerating here. Serotonin syndrome can be deadly and people who take over the counter supplements that mess with serotonin levels can be at risk of creating serotonin syndrome in their self especially if they're also taking any other things that affect serotonin like opioids or antidepressants. So I strongly, strongly discourage people from trying to self medicate their depression. And this is true with five HTP with Sammy and oh, what's the other one that I can't think of right now? There's one other one that people try to use if they're going to use those instead of prescription antidepressants. Y' all know I'm not a huge fan of those either. They need to do it under the supervision of their doctor so they don't cause serotonin syndrome. Alright, off my soapbox. Tyrazine is another amino acid. It is broken down to form L dopa, which is broken down to form dopamine. And we all know that dopamine is one of those chemicals we want to have. Dopamine gives us drive. Dopamine is our. Let's do that again neurochemical. Norepinephrine is made from dopamine. Who knew? Norepinephrine is your motivation and your focus chemical. If you've got low norepinephrine you're going to have difficulty with concentration and you're not going to be super excited. Excited. And epinephrine, which we all know is a stimulant is made from norepinephrine. If you don't have tryptophan or tyrosine, you're not going to be able to make four out of your six big neurotransmitters. Essential amino acids have to be acquired from your diet. Your body can't just spontaneously make them. Valine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methylionine, phenylphenylalanine, 3 on 9. Threonine, I don't know. And tryptophan. Okay, you don't need to know all those. You know, those are if you're, if the person's eating, you know, meat, animal products of any sort, they're getting these and you know, don't worry about it too much. Tryptophan, Tryptophan I have as bolded because that's the one that you need to make serotonin and melatonin. You notice tyrosine is not on here. Your body actually can make tyrosine. Now, phenylalanine is different than the phenylalanine that they use to make NutraSweet. And so you don't want to. Some people will look at the side of diet sodas and say, well, you know, this says it has phenylalanine in it. That's not. It's different. So it's important that they recognize that the phenylalanine in diet soda is associated with affecting mood. But generally its effect is when people aren't getting enough after their body's gotten used to it, they experience depressive symptoms and headaches. So that's just another one of those interesting facts. Complete proteins are those things that you eat that contain all of the essential amino acids. You don't have to worry about missing one of them. Meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, quinoa, buckwheat, chia seed, and spirulina. Now, in my opinion, spirulina is nasty. I've never figured out a way to make it taste good, but it is super healthy for you. Chia seeds, there's lots of things that you can do with those. Quinoa, same thing. I've never personally used buckwheat, but my point in highlighting those is the fact that even your vegetarians and even your vegans have available sources of complete proteins they need to be aware of. These incomplete proteins are those that don't have all nine essential amino acids. So you've got to combine them. Like putting vegetables with grains. That's combining. So you're getting some of your amino acids from the vegetables and some of your different amino acids from the grains to create a complete protein. There is some debate in the academic community about whether you have to eat them concurrently in the same meal, or if you can have grains, you can have oatmeal for breakfast, and then you can have a salad for lunch, and everything just meets in the middle. So that would be a question for the dietitian who's probably more up to date on that research. Last I checked, they didn't know. Tryptophan, that essential amino acid that makes serotonin and melatonin. You get it from egg whites, chia seeds, sesame seeds, wheat germ, and turkey. It needs iron, magnesium, B6 and vitamin C in order to do anything with it. So you have tryptophan. It's great if you eat it, but if you don't have those other nutrients, then the body can't do anything with it. It's kind of like having a bag of dry concrete but not having any water to mix with it. You can't do much with a bag of dry concrete. It's more readily absorbed when it's eaten with high carbohydrate meals, which is one of the reasons why at Thanksgiving we get sleepy when we eat. When we eat turkey, because a lot of times we're also eating a lot of carbohydrates. Another interesting factor since we're getting ready to have Thanksgiving is they suspect that the reason we get sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner is more because of the amount of food we eat and because of the carbohydrates and the sugar crash than due to tryptophan. Because chicken actually has more available tryptophan in it than turkey. And most of us, when we eat chicken, don't get sleepy. But, you know, that's a side note. And tryptophan is the only precursor to serotonin. So if somebody has serotonin problems and they're not eating tryptophan, they need to talk with their physician. Brief little graph, just so you can kind of see graphically what's going on. Tryptophan needs iron, magnesium, calcium, B6 and folic acid to make 5 HTP. The next step in the process requires vitamin C, B6, zinc, and magnesium in order to make it into serotonin. So 5 HTP is a precursor to serotonin. If you don't have enough serotonin, you can have fibromyalgia, other pain conditions, carbohydrate, alcohol, drug cravings, sleep problems, and gut and heart problems, or digestive system and heart problems. So none of those are good. We want to make sure that our serotonin system stays happy. In order to make melatonin, we've got to have enough serotonin. So, you know, we just want to help people recognize and make sure that they're trying to get a relatively healthy diet. Non essential amino acids. Arginine helps with insomnia. And again, I am not recommending anybody go out and get supplements and start just pounding back. Supplements like, oh, I've got insomnia, Let me take an arginine pill. No, the body needs amino acids and vitamins and minerals in very special proportions. And the way we get them in vitamins or even in enriched foods is not in that proportion. So our body doesn't make use, efficient use of those nutrients. A lot of your, like, fortified cereals, they just take a bran flake or corn flake or whatever it is, and it goes down an assembly line and it's sprayed with a multivitamin. That's how it's enriched. Don't think that you're getting some special thing. All you're doing is getting, you know, liquefied multivitamins. Glutamine is an amino acid. It's broken down to make glutamate, our main excitatory neurotransmitter. And glutamate is broken down to make gaba, which is our main calming neurotransmitter. GABA is the internal volume, if you will. This is another one that just about everybody gets plenty of, glutamine. Not anything you need to be worried about, but interesting to know. Theanine is an amino acid that increases GABA and serotonin levels and is the chemical constituent of green tea that everybody raves about. Remember, green tea does have caffeine in it, but it also has theanine, which tends to take the jitters the caffeine, if you will. There's a lot of antioxidant effects to green tea and stuff too, but theanine has been and found to be helpful when you're drinking decaf. As a side note, most of the theanine as well as the caffeine is gone when the decaf after the decaffeination process takes place place. You're not getting, you're not even getting like 1/20 of the theanine that you get in caffeinated or undecaffeinated green tea. So if you're drinking it in order to get the theanine, in order to get that effect, you know, drink it at least six to eight hours before bed. And in order to compensate for that, for the caffeine and probably look towards using the caffeinated version. Tyrosine is used to make dopamine, norepinephrine and your thyroid hormones. So it's a really important chemical for energy, focus and drive. You can get tyrosine from eating Parmesan, mozzarella, Swiss cheese. Those are my three favorites. So they made the top of the list. Lean beef, pork or salmon, tuna or mackerel, chicken breast, pork, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, dairy and beans. For your vegans out there, you've got the pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sunflower seeds and beans. And I will keep highlighting that for the vegans because so many people say you can't eat healthfully if you're a vegan. And that's not true. It just takes a little bit more planning. Low levels of B vitamins may be linked to depression. Vitamin B3, also known as niacin. Found in poultry, fish, meat, whole grains and fortified cereals. The foods that you see bolded in the presentation are foods that have, that provide multiple different essential nutrients to the body. So you know, vitamin B3 helps with digestion and changing food into energy. Always good to be able to use what you're eating and helps the body conserve tryptophan and convert it into serotonin. So, so not only does it help in the conversion process, but it also helps in the conservation process so that tryptophan doesn't go to anything else. Vitamin B3 says no, I need all that over here at my station. Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid is found in beef, mushroom, eggs, vegetables, legumes, nuts, pork, saltwater fish, whole rye flour and whole wheat. It helps control the secretion of cortisol. Cortisol is our main stress chemical. It goes up when our HPA axis is activated. Theoretically, eating vitamin, ingesting enough vitamin B5 can help regulate those cortisol levels a little. It's not going to be the panacea. It has been shown to help with migraines and chronic fatigue syndrome. But supplementation in very high doses can increase panic attacks. There are sublingual B complex things that people can take out there. Again, we're taking it in the not natural ratio to other nutrients that we're getting. So it can sort of freak the body out if you get it in very high doses. Vitamin B6 is found in fortified cereals. Remember the spray on fortified soy based meat substitutes. Again in spray on baked potatoes with skin. Some people freak out about eating the skin on baked potatoes. If you get organically grown baked potatoes, you're probably going to be fine. That skin has a lot of fiber and nutrients in it. Bananas, light meat, poultry, eggs, peas and spinach. B6 supports your nervous system by helping the body break down proteins and including breaking down that tryptophan to make serotonin B9 or folate. That's the one that we're told we need to eat so much of when we're pregnant. May reduce depression when taken in conjunction with vitamin B12 at the right ratios. Food sources include spinach, kale, lentils, asparagus, black eyed peas, broccoli, avocado and interestingly enough, French bread. Not any other kind of bread, just French bread. You see spinach is popping up again. Spinach is a super nutritious food. Food sources for vitamin B12 include beef, eggs, shellfish, salmon, poultry, soybeans, yogurt, tuna and fortified fish B12 is the one that a lot of people take when they're feeling fatigued. You'll get that sublingual B12 and theoretically you're supposed to have this rush of energy may or may not. It helps with cell division and helps make red blood cells. Deficiency can lead to mood problems, including depression, anxiety, poor memory and difficulty concentrating. If you eat these foods, you know, animal based products and fortified foods, you know, most of us eat fortified foods in American culture. You're probably getting enough of your B vitamins. However, you know, that's always something you can look at. Vitamin C can be found in citrus, berries, tomatoes, potatoes. Interestingly, potatoes actually have a lot of vitamin C in them, especially if they're not cooked to a complete mush. Broccoli, the fresher the raw, the better. Vitamin C does not like heat. Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, cabbage and spinach. Again, a lot of these, your B vitamins and vitamin C do not like heat. So if you can get them out of raw food sources, that's great. If you can't, you know, they're still present in the cooked version, just not in as high of a concentration. Vitamin C promotes a healthy immune system. It helps make collagen. So as we age, we want to make sure we're getting vitamin C still. It's also needed to regulate norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. All three of those stay in a balance with one another. And vitamin C has been associated with significant reductions in anxiety in people with a vitamin C deficiency. If you've already got enough vitamin C and you've still got high levels of anxiety, megadoses generally don't help. Vitamin D3 is called your sunlight vitamin. You can get supplements that have vitamin D3. A lot of doctors recommend supplements for people who live in areas where seasonal affective disorder is prominent. But your body does not process it or utilize it anywhere near as effectively as the vitamin D that it makes naturally from sunlight. And you don't need that much sunlight. Five to ten minutes three times a week is really all you need. You don't have to bask in the sun for an hour a day. However, you can also get it from food sources, including fortified milk, cheese and cereals, egg yolks, salmon and cod liver oil. The oranger orangier, the darker the yolk, the more vitamins it has in it. You know, I'm a proponent, we have our own chickens, so I'm kind of spoiled. However, recognizing that you can get vitamin D in Other sources. Vitamin D maintains bone health and helps the body process calcium. So without vitamin D, the body has difficulty using calcium. And calcium is important for nerve functioning as well as heart rhythm, bones and teeth and all that stuff. It's important for immune system functioning. And it's related to a reduction in depression as it affects the amount of chemicals, the neurotransmitters like serotonin and how they work in the brain. Calcium is found in dairy products. We all knew that. Broccoli and dark leafy greens like spinach and fortified dairy grains and juices, ideally get it from a natural source. Your body is more bioavailable. Calcium helps build and maintain strong bones and teeth. It helps muscles work and supports cell communication deficiency, can cause nerve sensitivity, heart palpitations, irritability, anxiety, depression and insomnia. So think about your clients who have depression or anxiety symptoms. You know, what's their calcium level? A lot of adults in American society actually don't get enough calcium because they don't eat a lot of dairy. You know, I know a lot of friends of mine that just swore off milk as soon as they quit being teenagers. And they're not big fans of broccoli or dark leafy greens. That's just the way we are in society. Sometimes it's worth checking. It's worth having people chart to see if they're getting enough calcium. Excess calcium, so you can have too much too, can cause depression and difficulty concentrating. Calcium also regulates a lot of other functions in the body, so having too much calcium can be just as detrimental as too little chromium. Food sources include cereals, beef, turkey and fish, broccoli and grape juice. Interestingly, chromium is one of those minerals that helps maintain a normal blood sugar and influences the release of norepinephrine and serotonin. At Duke University, they found that a daily dose of 600 micrograms of chromium led to a significant decrease in symptoms among those with atypical depression, especially in their tendency to overeat. Now, they didn't really define what atypical depression was, but the take home message is for people who tend to eat in response to dysphoric mood states, chromium in some cases may help. It's not uncommon to see chromium deficiencies. Copper is found in seafood, cashews, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, whole grain products, avocado and cocoa products. I love my cocoa products. And that can be chocolate, which is really high in fat and calories, or even cocoa powder, your dark chocolate, cocoa powder, copper Helps break down iron, make red blood cells, produce energy for the cells, and maintain bones, connective tissue and blood vessels. But again, too much is not a good thing. High copper and low zinc can contribute to depression, and they kind of work against each other. It's important to have the right balance of copper and zinc. A lot of people are not averse to eating cashews, sunflower seeds, or whole grain products. Iodine, as we talked about earlier, can be found in iodized salt, some seafood, kelp and seaweed. It works to help make the thyroid hormones. We see a lot of hypothyroid in American culture. We do want to look in that. One of the first things we want to look at is if this person is presenting with depressive symptoms. You know, number one, do they have hypothyroid? Number two, are they getting enough iodine? That's something the doctor is going to look at. But it is one of those things, you know, it's one of those questions you can ask, do you use iodized salt or take a multivitamin? Or are you using sea salt and not eating a lot of fortified foods? It's interesting, I found every time I teach this class, I find I go home and I pay more attention to nutrition labels to see what vitamins and minerals are actually allegedly included in those foods. Deficiency of iodine can lead to weight gain, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and depression because you're not making efficiently making the thyroid hormones. Iron is found in leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale, beans, shellfish, red meat, eggs, poultry, soy foods, and some fortified foods. They found that some people were actually getting too much iron, especially children. Children are at risk of getting too much iron, especially if they eat a lot of fortified cereals. You know, I remember when I was a kid, if you left me unattended with a box of cereal, look out. So a lot of foods have quit adding iron into the mix. And there are a lot of multivitamins that people take, especially multivitamins for children that do not contain iron. Important to talk with the doctor or your pediatrician about how much each individual person needs. Iron carries oxygen to all parts of the body through the red blood cells and helps in the synthesis of neurotransmitters. All of that works together to fight fatigue and brain fog. Magnesium, whole grains, leafy green vegetables. There's your spinach, Almonds, Brazil nuts, soybeans, halibut, peanuts, hazelnuts, lima beans, black eyed peas, avocados, bananas, and cocoa. This is the second time cocoa's come up. Second time bananas have come up. Brazil nuts are unique. You'll find out that they are one of the few sources of selenium as well. But I digress. If you're working with someone who is in a low carb diet. You know, looking at this list, there's very little on here that is low carb besides your almonds and your Brazil nuts. So by cutting out carbs, a lot of people set themselves up unless they're eating a lot of leafy green vegetables, which, you know, they may, but. But. Magnesium helps muscles and nerves work, optimizes thyroid function, steadies the heart rhythm, maintains bone strength, and helps the body create energy. Omega 3 fatty acids can be found in walnuts, chia seeds, 2/3 of a cup of mackerel, tuna, or salmon fish oil. And I have these numbers on here because or measurements because most of these foods are pretty calorie dense. However, you don't have to have a whole bunch of them in order to get your daily dose of omega 3 fatty acids. Other ways to increase it include using canola, olive or flaxseed oil. But remember that flaxseeds aren't nearly as efficient at producing positive effects because the ALA in the flaxseed needs to be converted to the Omega 3 EPA and DHA in order to be useful. So there's another process your body has to go through. However, if that is all your person is willing to eat, you know, okay, you know, the body can make do. Omega 3s help your body transmit nerve signals, maintain serotonin balance, and reduce inflammation. Omega 3s have been found to be really important at reducing systemic inflammation, which, if you remember, systemic inflammation is highly correlated to depressive symptoms as well as autoimmune disorders. Omega 3s can help combat all three inflammation, autoimmune, and depression. Potentially the ideal ratio is 1 to 1 or 2 to 1. Omega 6 to Omega 3s. The American diet has been flooded with Omega 6s, mostly in the form of vegetable oils such as corn oil and safflower oil. So if we start cutting some of those oils out and replacing them with healthier oils, it'll help us out a lot. Lycopene is an antioxidant that prevents brain degradation with age. It's found in your red foods, watermelons, pink grapefruits, apricots, and tomatoes. One of the few foods that is actually more nutritious cooked than it is raw are tomatoes, specifically tomato skins. But the whole tomato is really, really good for you. In order to get the lycopene the vitamin C, gets degraded a little bit with heat, but the lycopene becomes so much more available. Potassium is found in broccoli and potatoes. You know, those two foods keep coming up. Potatoes with the skin, by the way, Prune juice, orange juice, dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, bananas, raisins and tomatoes. Sounds like I'm repeating a lot of the same foods again, which is, you know, kind of cool, because that means people can have a lot of other variety out there if they have a few basic staple foods in their diet. Potassium is required to activate neurons and helps maintain a healthy balance of water. People who have potassium imbalances tend to have more cramps, and they can also have cardiac problems. Without the electrical charge sparked by potassium, neurotransmitters like serotonin cannot be used to make us feel better. One of the deficiencies or problems we see in people with eating disorders is a potassium imbalance, which can lead to cardiac dysfunction. Selenium, as I said, is found in Brazil nuts. It's one of the richest sources of selenium out there. Brown rice, turkey, chicken, spinach, and sunflower seeds. If you don't like spinach, you know, sunflower seeds have a lot of other. A lot of the nutrient, the same nutrients in them. Selenium is an antioxidant, so it helps fight off the bad things, regulates thyroid hormones and helps us regulate our circadian rhythms, which we've talked about before is more than just sleep. It regulates our cortisol secretions. It helps regulate our sleep as well as our hunger and satiation, hormones and other things. So circadian rhythm is really important. We want to make sure it's regulated. Toxicity is easy, though. Upper limits are only 55 to 60 micrograms for adult females, which is basically one Brazil nut. I always wondered why, when you get the mixed nuts, Brazil nuts are the ones that kind of look like bananas. In the little tiny brown bananas in the mixed nuts that you get. I always wondered why they only had, like four or five in a can. Well, that's probably one of the reasons why, because you can develop toxicity. Is it going to kill you? Probably not. But when people get too much selenium, if they, you know, binge eat a bunch of Brazil nuts, they typically get really nauseous. Zinc is found in red meat, fortified cereals, oysters, almonds, peanuts, chickpeas, soy foods, and dairy products. Remember I said the magnesium zinc balance and the copper zinc balance have to be all in alignment so you don't Want too much or too little Zinc supports immune, reproductive and nervous system functioning and it balances with copper. Too little zinc can cause symptoms of anxiety. Zinc is a little bit harder to get because it's not in the plethora of foods that a lot of the other nutrients are in. Especially if someone doesn't eat meat products. They're really almonds and peanuts are really the most common things there for your clients who may be vegan. Helpful notes. When you get nutrients from real foods, there's much less danger of toxicity. With the exception of those Brazil nuts and even those if you ate to your heart's content, the worst that would happen is you would probably get violently nauseous or, you know, throw up. But other than that, spinach, you're probably not going to be able to eat enough spinach to get any nutrient to a toxic level. And when you eat it in the foods, the way it comes in naturally in foods, it's more bioavailable to the body. Nature is all about balance. Increases in one vitamin or mineral is likely going to cause others to decrease or not be able to be utilized. When you look for vitamin for healthy foods, encourage people to buy or grow organic fruits and vegetables to maximize nutrient value. I just started a little experiment at my house. We're using hydroponics and it's something called the Kratky method to grow greens inside over the winter when it's too cold to grow anything outside because I don't have a greenhouse. The Kratky method doesn't require bubblers or any of those fancy systems. It's really simple. You can go on YouTube and find out about it. But basically you take make a Styrofoam raft if you will, and float it in a 4 inch trough of water and that's it. You know, you put the little plants in there and they grow. So I'm looking forward to seeing how well that does compared to growing stuff outside. Download an app like SparkPeople or MyFitnessPal to track your nutrition so you know what you're getting on a regular basis. Remember to encourage people to make small changes because those tend to be much longer lasting. Try to add more of one type of food that has multiple vitamins instead of saying, okay, I'm not going to eat processed foods at all anymore. Most people have a difficult time adhering to that, especially in American culture. Small changes. Start drinking more water. Start looking to have a green vegetable at two of three meals. You know, things that people can actually reasonably accomplish. Deficiencies of nutrients like calcium, magnesium, zinc, omega 3s. Vitamins A, B complex, C, D3, and E are common, especially if you eat refined foods. A lot of our clients may have these deficiencies. You notice your B vitamins aren't up there, because if they're eating even the refined foods, a lot of them have all the nutrition stripped out of them. And then when it goes through the processing plan, it's sprayed back on. So they're still getting the nutrients. Maybe not in the most bioavailable format. There are a variety of different vitamins and minerals involved in addiction and mental health disorders. We are just now starting to tap into the field of nutritional psychology. It's not always about increasing a vitamin or mineral. Sometimes you need to decrease it. Too much of a lot of these things, either by themselves can cause mood symptoms, or because of the way they affect other nutrients, can cause mood symptoms. The human brain tries to maintain homeostasis or balance. And too much or too little of anything can be bad. We want to have it at this really nice ratio. And I always make the analogy of a good marinara sauce. You know, if all of those spices are just right, it tastes perfect. But when you get a little too much garlic or a little too much salt or whatever it is, it can really negatively impact the flavor. A balanced diet will provide the brain the necessary nutrients in synergistic combinations. And there's this little chart at the end. Remember I said some foods provide a lot of different nutrients. And you can see that bananas, for example, are important for dopamine, norepinephrine, and GABA vitamin C production. They provide vitamin C and B complex. Your lima beans are another big winner here. Interestingly, a lot of these foods help support GABA production. Not so many with serotonin production, but it's one of those things. It's an easy to look at chart that clients can go, yeah, I like that. No, I don't. Another trick is to eat colorfully. And that's something that a dietitian friend of mine told me, use a salad plate instead of a big plate because that tends to cut your portion sizes down to something manageable. But try to have three colors on your plate at every meal. At breakfast, you know, maybe you don't want a green vegetable, you know, so if you can get kiwi in there, great, you know, it's green. But try to have three different colors on your plate at every meal. If you do that, you're likely going to have a well enough rounded diet that you're getting all of your nutrients Other resources you can look at are listed here. They're beyond the scope of this course. Are there any questions? I appreciate everybody being here on a Monday. I wanted to make sure that you had an opportunity to get your hours in before the holiday. This week. I found that a lot of clients are open to the idea of learning more about nutrition. And that is all I ask them to do. Like I said, I am not a registered dietitian, so I am not going to make dietary prescriptions. I am going. And when I do groups with clients about nutrition, I am very clear when I own my own opinions that I would not recommend doing this. But that's between you and your doctor. But it's important for them to recognize that, you know, junk in produces junk out and good foods in helps out. Do you all remember? And this, this may date me a little bit. Schoolhouse Rock I hanker for a hunk of cheese. If you go to YouTube and Google that, you'll have that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. But when I was little, that little guy used to be on and basically it's a whole little song of encouraging kids to eat healthy snacks in order to support their support their body's functioning as well as deal with their hunger cravings. Alrighty, everybody. Have a fabulous rest of your day and I will see you tomorrow when we're going to talk about relationship insecurities. So it was a cool class to put together for y'. All. I tried to make it a little bit new and a little bit timely so it's not such a drudgery or whatever when I know everybody's looking forward to the holiday. So I will see you tomorrow, same time, same station. Between writing notes, filing insurance claims and scheduling with clients, it can be hard to stay organized. That's why I recommend TherapyNotes. Their easy to use platform lets you manage your practice securely and efficiently. 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