Stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, cravings

Since many people report increased anxiety and stress with afib and additionally, we have discussed that perhaps stress was at the root of the onset of afib, I thought the following notes from a nutritional teleconference would be beneficial and of interest. This is a bit lengthy, but if you are suffering from anxiety, depression or other mood disorder, this may be helpful. I am totally impressed with the information in the book, The Mood Cure.

Jackie


Topic: Depression & Neurotransmitters
Presenter: Julia Ross, MA, Nutritional Psychologist
Her Clinic: Recovery Systems – 415-383-3611
Mill Valley, CA www.moodcure.com
Books: The Mood Cure and The Diet Cure


People all over the country are being helped with a new way out of a trap from addiction, eating disorders, cravings, carb, drug and alcohol addiction and more. There is an epidemic of depression and anxiety and these underlie most addictions – either drugs, alcohol or food. There are simple reasons for depression and anxiety and it has nothing to do with childhood trauma which may or may not have occurred. It’s really what condition their brain chemistry is in.

Anti-depressants or other pharmaceuticals can’t feed the brain what it needs to make the type of vigorous neurotransmitters that will naturally bring us back to a positive sense of ourselves in our lives. These drugs will stimulate what meager transmitters we may have but if we actually feed the brain the nutrients we know are used to make neurotransmitters in milliseconds, then we get a complete set of neurotransmitters that will give us a complete set of positive emotions that will help us tolerate the stresses and pains of life an actually experience a lot of optimism and hope and confidence, courage – all those positive emotional states we were mostly stripped of because of nutritional deficiencies based on the Standard American Diet.

Targeting 4 key Neurotransmitters and they are key to two important things:

1. Mood states – if sufficient numbers of neurotransmitters, they turn on positive moods.

2. With epidemic of diabetes and obesity and related health problems, these same neurotransmitters also regulate appetite.

Serotonin is the best-known neurotransmitter which is our natural anti-depressant and is also anti other things. If we have enough serotonin, we are no longer depressed but also not obsessive, don’t tend to panic or overly fear things, have good self-esteem, sleep well, and are not angry. Not negative; glass is always half full rather than empty.

In the afternoon when serotonin naturally drops…( it is the only neurotransmitters in this group discussed that is affected by light)…we start to get more depressed and anxious and crave substances (chocolate or other sweet/starchy carbs or alcohol or drugs) as the light diminishes.
The time of day and the time of year is an indicator of which neurotransmitter you may be low in – winter is night-time of the year; if you have winter depression, you know you are low in serotonin; you are sensitive to loss of light.

Serotonin is the #1 most deficient neurotransmitter we should all be concerned about. The 2nd most prevalent deficiency is in neurotransmitter, Catecholamine, that is our natural stimulants – like a natural cocaine. The reason we have an epidemic of Starbucks is that we are epidemically low in catecholamines. We haven’t been fueling ourselves properly, using up when dealing with too much stress, whatever the situation, when we become deficient, there is a flat, lifeless depression where we don’t have agitation and fear as with low serotonin, but we just don’t have enthusiasm. We are easily bored, life has lost its spark and a lot of people are experiencing both these kinds of depression at the same time because both of these neurotransmitters are out.

Two more neurotransmitters are also really important to target. GABA, our natural tranquilizer, natural anti-stress neurotransmitter. It neutralizes adrenaline which is always released under stress so it can keep us from burning out the adrenal glands and feeling the kind of tension that goes on and on after we experience that stress.

The 4th critically important neurotransmitter especially when talking about feeling life’s pain whether physical or emotional and closely related – dealing with life without needing comfort foods or comforting substances is the natural painkiller or comforter, Endorphin. It is truly similar to heroine and without it life is way too painful. There are always bumps in the road- every day and if low in endorphin, we feel them and they are amplified….so we reach for comfort foods to try to numb out the oversensitivity.

Women generally are naturally lower in both serotonin and endorphin than men but particularly before periods (PMS) when endorphin levels drop and we become very sensitive.

How can we tell in what we are low? We have been working with neurotransmitter fueling based on information that has been known since 1986 about neurotransmitter deficiency symptoms comparing symptoms of thousands of people seen in the clinic. There is a four-part questionnaire that allows people to spot their own deficiencies. They should keep using it in regular assessments every week while being treated to see the results. Many are evident in 24 hours. She has patients in her clinic call in daily to describe symptoms and feelings so dosages can be tweaked. She says over 100,000 people who read the book and are doing it on their own are reporting success.

How do we raise neurotransmitter levels? We know there are very specific nutrients or fuels that feed each specific neurotransmitter.

How to fuel Serotonin?
Serotonin is made of an amino acid. Can’t be made of a fat, a vitamin, a starch or any type of carb or mineral. Has to be made of a specific amino acid, one of the 22 amino acids – and it’s the one called Tryptophan. There are a lot of reasons why we are epidemically low in this country in serotonin and one is because we aren’t eating much protein anymore because we’ve all become carb addicted and protein sources have become stripped of tryptophan content over the years as we have fed the animals grains which are very low in tryptophan as opposed to grasses.

Food sources: Any high-protein source particularly animal – poultry, beef, fish but these also are also rich in other competing amino acids and so when carb eaters switch to high protein, they may not get benefit to the mood and is why supplementation is so critical. You have to have protein 3 times a day as a foundation for the future. The supplements are a jump start. But, it’s critical to jump start those who are anxious, depressed, craving food, drugs or alcohol because they just can’t wait. So food alone usually can’t do it. People on Atkins feel better but still have cravings so always failed on the diet for this reason.

Do you need insulin to get tryptophan across the blood brain barrier? Yes, but very little. There is a myth that you need a lot of carbs to get tryptophan into the brain and it’s just not true but it is the reason so many people are carb addicted because they are trying to get serotonin built up by getting a little extra tryptophan in the brain. If you just increase the amount of tryptophan getting into the brain or, easier, just use 5HTP which is the breakdown between tryptophan and serotonin. 5 HTP goes directly into serotonin and then you go around the tendency to use carbs indirectly and very briefly to raise serotonin by raising insulin levels.

We have a generation of diabetics partly because they are low in serotonin and carbs are a very short-term solution – maybe half an hour or an hour of serotonin release, whereas when use high protein diet and 5 HTP, you have the benefits at least as quickly as after a candy bar and hours and hours or days if you use 5 HTP every day and you have an unending supply of serotonin that will, at some point, saturate your need. So after a few months, people don’t need 5 HTP if eating plenty of protein because they have saturated the need – the brain is satisfied, full, producing at capacity and at that point mood and cravings will be a thing of the past even if you go off 5 HTP.

Moderate exercise will also raise serotonin but without tryptophan it’s a very, very brief thing – just like carbs do. With carbs, they trigger a release of insulin which pulls everything out of the blood stream, pretty much, except for tryptophan so it gets into the brain very easily. What little tryptophan there is at that moment and raises serotonin levels for a bit. How does this work? Exercise creates demand by the muscles for most of the amino acids that are in the blood stream for muscle repair and that means again tryptophan is left with no competition to get into the brain. You need only to exercise for 20 minutes to get that benefit – don’t have to exercise for hours.

Raise Serotonin: High protein diet, 5 HTP, sunlight, mild exercise.

Diabetics are especially low in tryptophan (and therefore serotonin) and have a hard time staying on a diet. The solution is to put them on 5 HTP.

For those who look to carbs and caffeine for a lift of energy and to lift that apathetic, lethargic depression and to get energy up to exercise, fueling catecholamine with the amino acid, Tyrosine, is almost an instant success. Those who are low in catecholamine can feel the results from tyrosine in the first day. Use in office to test people out and they feel it in 5 – 10 minutes. We see people who may have been slouching in their chair and looking down more than up, their eyes will sparkle, will track, sit upright and alert in posture and verbally - talking more. So Tyrosine is our natural stimulant and without it, we’re dull. We see dullness fate out and natural vitality comes back. Easy to gauge; have taken hundreds of people off caffeine very easily by loading with tyrosine – put at bedside to be taken first thing in the morning. Always start with lowest dose of everything - 500 mg. Tyrosine and go up as needed. 500 is usually not enough for a caffeine addict – usually need 2 or 3; a crack addict may require 4 – 3-4 times a day… or 2,000 mg. 3 – 4 times a day. (If you don’t need Tyrosine, you will feel anxious after taking it.)

For all categories, we need the handmaidens – the nutrients that help convert the amino acids into neurotransmitters so we need plenty of B vitamins – particularly B6; plenty of C and a full complement of minerals so a good multi vitamin and a good multi mineral for starters.

The other thing we like to do for catecholamine raising is fish oil. Omega 3 fats are particularly helpful. They affect all of the neurotransmitters because they normalize the brain cell walls but they can raise catecholamine levels as much as 40%. Some people when loading with fish oil will start waking up regularly at 4 am bright and chipper. Not unusual. Studies w/Omega 3’s and manic depression show the fish oils can trigger mania, so they are stimulating. Some people notice the stimulation; others just note a general sense of well being but a lot of people note they are more energized.

Fuels found most helpful for people coping with stress by raising levels of GABA -- that is very simple – the amino acid GABA arrives in the brain and is used – as is. Doesn’t need to be transformed – that amino becomes a neurotransmitter as soon as it arrives in the brain. Start low 100-200 mg. and then increase to 500 mg. We haven’t liked the 750 mg. products.

When you give someone GABA highly stressed; very tense – shoulders around their ears – we just hear a wonderful sigh of relief. Everyone needs it and we’re in an excessive stress epidemic and GABA is our champion.

Many clients are excessively stressed for many years. Test adrenals and help restore with adrenal support to normal functioning using adequate protein and fat and whole carb diet with probably snacks even at bedtime. We use specific nutrients to support cortisol. But what to do about the fact their lives may continue to be excessively stressful? Some alter their entire lifestyle – feel terrible because of the damage done but no longer adding to the damage. Younger people who continue to be exposed to high stress – and have no choice – have to neutralize the adrenaline to reduce the continued damage, so as soon as you’re stressed the adrenaline level goes up and that triggers the cortisol release, but if you get GABA in there either before a stressor or just on a regular basis, so you’ll always have adequate GABA even though it may become depleted by using it up, you can neutralize the adrenaline really quickly so it doesn’t trigger the whole exhausting adrenal stress response.

Keep your GABA on hand – close by. Travel with it. Use throughout the day. High stress people need it in their pocket at all times. And people can tell the difference. So you can build up the adrenals – otherwise they have to go away for a month (ideal) but with GABA, there is a prayer of surviving and building themselves up at the same time. It is always important to test adrenal function and build up when as indicated.

The last neurotransmitter is Endorphin. How build up? This job requires the most dietary protein and this is why – serotonin, catecholamine and GABA only require a single amino acid each. Easy to supplement, a breeze to build them up – by adding adequate protein at three meals and supplementing, you’ve got something solid and quick and a permanent solution, but with endorphin – of the 22 amino acids you need 19 to make endorphin. A very difficult complex molecule so it is terribly important to get enough protein and we typically add supplements with an additional free form of amino acid blend.

What’s high protein? 20 – 30 grams/meal if not athletic; if lots of exercise, you’ll have to go up in protein depending on exercise and type of calorie burner may have to go up quite a bit. Most people coming to the clinic aren’t able to exercise so levels are lower – 20-30 grams/meal at least and then the amino acid blend capsules 3x/day helps especially if their digestion is impaired and not digesting protein very well at the moment or someone who has been an alcoholic as alcohol impairs ability to tear down proteins into constituent amino acids, and a lot of people, especially Type As are low in hydrochloric acid (HCl) so they don’t tear down protein. Important to supplement with HCl and digestive enzymes.

That’s not all – in addition to getting your 19 amino acids at every meal, there is an amino acid that is very unusual that will slow down the brain’s tendency to destroy endorphin.

Serotonin:
Describe a patient low in serotonin: Most common in women, naturally lower, diet mentality, afraid of fat, avoiding protein because it is combined with fat so cut protein and raise carbs…so now we have depressed, diabetic women. Not only depressed – also agitated, can’t sleep, obsessive, thinking about what’s wrong all the time, particularly about what’s wrong with themselves and focuses on their bodies even if there isn’t that much wrong with their body. Low self-esteem, irritability, obsessiveness, and various levels of fear – from shyness to panic attacks. All and more are possible when serotonin is low.

So when someone comes in w/all this negative brain function – they are not pleasant to be around, not happy, because they tend to be obsessive, they can’t relax – over-focused, don’t have a sense of humor – so we give them 5 HTP or tryptophan and within 5 – 10 minutes, we will have someone who is smiling, who is noticeably eased in whole demeanor, much more pleasant to be around – we ask them after they’ve been there a while with it in their system to think about their size and they laugh instead of crying – what they crave in the afternoon as low serotonin creates afternoon cravings – and they typically say a Snickers bar. If in the afternoon, ask if they are thinking about Snickers bar and they’ll say no – don’t need; it doesn’t call to me.

That’s the other life-saver; not only saving ourselves from misery of low neurotransmitters, negative emotions but we are also protecting ourselves from these really terminal foods and overwhelming cravings for poison.

There are great studies indicating people on SSRIs - Say you have 10 molecules of serotonin going – take an SSRI – and instead of 5 being active and 5 being in the storage area of the cell, suddenly all 10 are active and it makes it seem like you have twice as much serotonin, but you actually have the same number of molecules. So you can have the illusion of better mood, but you never get normal mood, you never get up to what you would be if you had 100 molecules of serotonin and filled the cells to capacity up there.

So f someone comes in on SSRI --and they wouldn’t come in if they weren’t frustrated in some way, mostly unhappy, no libido – now what to do? First find out how many SSRIs taking since it’s becoming more fashionable to prescribe more than one because the first doesn’t always make much difference. So if taking two that affect serotonin, we don’t want to another serotonin-affecting substance in your body even though it’s natural because using would run the risk of triggering serotonin syndrome which is very uncomfortable and potentially fatal. List of symptoms in The Mood Cure. (One is rapid heart beat).

People should be aware of Serotonin Syndrome if they intend to experiment with amino acids (5 HTP or tryptophan) while they are on SSRIs – while rare – their clinic has seen maybe five cases.

Other countries, especially the UK routinely add tryptophan to SSRIs that aren’t working and there are marvelous results So we want to duplicate that and we ask them to tell their prescribing physician they want to try 5 HTP along with the SSRI – no go off the SSRI…and say if I feel much better, I’ll be in to talk about tapering down on SSRI while I stay on the 5 HTP. Typically, take in afternoon and at bedtime. If in the morning, can become drowsy. Start low 50 mg. afternoon and 50 mg. at bedtime. The next day 100 mg. at each time if no improvement – or could go to 150-150. Almost never see anyone who needs more than that and typically feel ten times better than on SSRI alone. Try for a few weeks and arrange to taper down on meds.

The Mood Cure has a whole chapter devoted to weaning off SSRIs. Only one psychiatrist questioned it but eventually agreed and it did work well.

Q &A - Urinary assessment? Does not correlate well – better results with blood platelet testing for neurotransmitters. Vitamin Diagnostic has a test and they find it correlates about 98% to cerebral spinal fluid and neurotransmitter levels. That’s what you want in a test.

Caution with Nursing and Pregnant women – they must be tested – try tryptophan as it is closer to a food source. Symptoms respond quickly. Must be tested and must be done with supervision
.
Endorphin can’t be measured; not accurate by blood. GABA urine test is unreliable, but it’s so easy to give just the capsule and watch the results so a test isn’t really required. Serotonin test is only $60 for blood platelet.

With 5 HTP and Tryptophan - Most people have same effects with both most of the time - each converts quickly to serotonin, but 10% do better on one than the other. If they have insomnia, Tryptophan is consistently better in promoting sleep. Also converts into niacin which 5HTP doesn’t do and a number of other enzymes. So – one in 10 people may not work; try the other one.

There are a few more side effects with 5 HTP than Tryptophan but both are remarkably side-effect free in general.

On the Internet, there has been an article circulating since 2000 written for Life Extension warning people about the potential, possible dangers of 5 HTP which have never shown up. Has been researched since the 70’s, based on actual experience and years of research, has not shown up in all that time, but still the article continues to live on.


Take the Mood Cure Questionnaire:
[www.moodcure.com]

Hi Jackie,

Thanks so much for posting this. If you remember, I was taking ssri's. Took them for about 6 months, but quit because I wasn't getting the benefit anymore. My doc wanted me to increase the dose, which I did, but after a couple of weeks I quit because of feeling gittery & nausious, plus it just didn't feel right.

I've tried 5HTP with no effect, but not in combo with tyrosine & GABA. I've taken GABA, but never throughout the day. So think I'll try all this. I'll let you know what, if anything happens.

Reminds me of the days when I was looking for the right combo to stop the dreaded beast.

Thanks again Jackie...............

Jim

Hi Jim - nice to hear from you. I do remember and I hope the information points to something specific to help you. I'd recommend buying the book; I got mine from Overstock.com for about $10 and it's a keeper. Much more info than was covered in the teleconference.

I hope you are well and your heart is still in NSR.

Best regards,

Jackie

Jackie,

Thank you for more great information. You are a proverbial "gold mine."

I am going to buy the book, but this looks like it isn't a do-it-yourself proposition.

If one doesn't live in California, where her clinic is, how can one find a nutritional psychologist who understands and follows this approach?

Thanks again.

Carol

Carol - she says that over 100,000 people have purchased the book and tried it themselves without going to her clinic. She says go to Amazon.com and read the reader reviews. She also says she has people come to the clinic from all parts of the country and the world for help.

She's very unique in her approach. I doubt many others are out there with her knowledge and experience. She's been doing this for 20 years and has gathered all this clinical data to back up her protocols in the book.

I think for those taking an SSRI or several, it isn't smart to tinker on your own without some medical background, but otherwise, if you buy the book, complete the questionnaire and then apply the results to the appropriate chapters, I do think it is something you can try on your own.
That's the way she designed the book.

Hope you enjoy the book as much as I have. I rely on L-theanine, but I have taken 5 HTP in the past for fibromyalgia and after reading this, I'm going to start with it again, at least at night to see what happens. I also purchased some GABA to have with me at all times in case I get stressed, but quite honestly, with the use of L-theanine (which she doesn't mention), I'm pretty darn calm these days!

Healthy regards,

Jackie

Jackie,

Allergy Research Group has a product called 200mg of Zen:

GABA-550mg
L-Theanine-200mg

Thanks Jim - I know that but I'd prefer to have smaller doses that I can control more easily and ramp up from low to higher if needed.... experiement of one here. : )

Jackie

Jackie,

I bought the book yesterday and can't stop reading it! It makes so much sense.

The only problem that I see is the recommendation to eat so much acid producing protein when my stomach is so fragile.

Thank you for bringing the book to our attention. (I hope that other "Forumites" didn't miss your very important post.)

Carol

Carol - it was mentioned in the teleconference and the post as well that people who aren't used to eating much protein or who have digestive issues should be taking a digestive enzyme and HCl as well. You can get the betaine HCl. I like the one called betaine HCl with pepsin. That should help you digest the protein. I like Essential Enzymes from Source Naturals but you have to add HCl separately. If I have a meal with only minor protein (rarely), I'll skip the HCl and just use the Essential Enzymes.

Glad you like the book.

Jackie

Great Post Jackie, I'm sure it will help many if they read it. My sister comes to mind as someone who would benefit greatly from balancing her neurotransmitters. She is overweight, overstressed,and pre-diabetic.

I should just buy her the book. It sounds like it is written in an easier to understand way than "The Edge Effect" by Eric Braverman.

Thanks kindly

Adrian

Adrian - Definitely buy her the book. It's very understandable and Julia Ross speaks specifically to the symptoms you describe.

Of course, she has to want to read and then act on the knowledge..... but I think many people become very frustrated over time as nothing they do seems to work - the best thing she could do would be to go on the Paleo diet and use the appropriate neurotransmitters one she determines which from the questionnaire and then the subsequent related chapters. She may be ready to give this a try because it just makes so much sense.

Best to you, Jackie

"I think many people become very frustrated over time as nothing they do seems to work"

Absolutely, She has all good intentions but Its a tough cycle to break. She has complications from a car accident that has limited her mobility and also ostio-arthritus. I'm sure Paleo would help her. I've tried too get her to go that way but she won't listen to me. You can lead a horse to water..............

I copied your post and sent it too her with a request for her thoughts on the subject. I hope she replies.

Thanks and good Health

Adrian

Adrian -You are a good person to try. That's all you can do.... create the awareness factor and then wait to see what happens. It's like fishing, not all fish are interested in the bait.
I hope for her sake, something resonates with her that prompts some interest and action. She has everything to gain in benefits.

Be well,

Jackie