My colleague and friend, Food Mood Expert Trudy Scott, is the author of “The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings” and she is truly on a mission to share the amazing healing powers of food and nutrients for anxiety and mood issues.
I caught up with Trudy this week and she highlighted just a few of the key discussion points found in her book. Here are some quick tips to help you feel better right now.
“80-90% of my clients do better off gluten,” Trudy said.
- Amino acid supplements (like GABA and tryptophan) help you break the gluten addiction/craving.
- Low serotonin causes anxiety, sadness, excessive worry in the head, depression, afternoon and evening cravings, PMS, winter blues and sleep problems
- Tryptophan (500mg is the starting dose) midafternoon and evening raises serotonin so you’ll feel calmer, hopeful and optimistic
- 5-HTP can be helpful to raise serotonin but it can also raise cortisol levels
Too much of the amino acids can have a reverse effect – use what you need. You may need less than the starting dose just to see what you notice.
The amino acids are a short-term approach – you also need to be addressing diet and low blood sugar.
- Low GABA causes physical tension and anxiety
- Caffeine can a problem for many people with anxiety – give it up! If it doesn’t make you anxious make sure it’s organic.
- Zinc and vitamin B6 are important for making GABA and serotonin; the starting dose for vitamin B6 is 100mg
Zinc and B6 are essential nutrients for building happy brain chemistry. A good source of zinc and B6 is red meat. It’s also a good source of iron and omega-3s (as much omega3-s as salmon!). Of course it does need to be grass-fed.
