Timeout Studio Blog

Food, Amino Acids and Brain Chemicals

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I'm hoping you're beginning to understand the huge role brain chemicals play in how you feel. If you're not feeling GREAT all or most of the time, it's a sign that your brain is not getting what it needs. And, yes, you should and can expect to feel good most all the time. You get brain support from your diet, the right exercise, light, sleep and supplements. Toxins, poor quality or lack of food, lack of sleep, food allergies, digestive problems, lack of light and exercise (or the wrong kind of exercise for you) and certain food substances rob your body of the brain chemicals you need to feel good.

You've been reading "Female Brain Gone Insane" pages 113-135 about Food and Supplements to the Rescue.

Let's recap this chapter: 

"A malfunctioning brain expresses itself with symptoms reflected in your emotions, moods, thoughts and behaviors." "Inadequate supplies of amino acids leads to deficits and imbalances in neurotransmitters, causing emotional breakdowns and uncontrolled behavior".

• When your brain is fed properly, you feel vibrant and happy. The ideal is to get the fuel from food. If you're depleted, you'll need help with individual amino acid supplements for a few months, possibly longer.
• You're depleted if you feel depressed, lethargic, anxious, racing thoughts, unhappy, can't sleep, can't focus, teary, lack of drive, flat, attention deficit, cravings for sugar, starch or alcohol, stressed and burned out, crave comfort food, overly sensitive, PMS, winter blues, fibromyalgia, phobias, panic, irritability, rage, intolerance, obsessive thoughts, low self esteem, or unable to relax.
• Women are especially prone to brain chemical depletion due to dieting, calorie restriction and stress.
• Dieting (low calorie, low fat, skipping meals, etc) results in deficiencies in amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, all essential for the creation of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters).
• Diet must provide protein, carbs and fat at every meal.
• Protein is the building block for amino acids. get it at every meal including breakfast. Plan for 20g protein per meal.
• Carbs provide energy for your brain. 60% of the glucose you eat is used by your brain to aid thinking, memory and sleep. Low carb diets rob your brain. Carbs should be whole foods, not processed. Eat beans, nuts, veggies, fruits, whole grains. Avoid simple sugars: honey, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, agave syrup, rice syrup, corn syrup, milk, fruit juice, processed grains.
• Fats: 2/3 of your brain is made of essential fatty acids (EFAs). Get these from nuts, olives, avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, butter. Fish have EFAs, be careful and aware of high mercury levels in fish. If you take fish oil supplements, be sure the bottle indicates the product is free of mercury and other heavy metals. 
• Do not eat protein alone or carbs alone. Your brain needs them together, along with good fat.
• Foods to avoid and how they affect your brain: Alcohol: Has a depressant effect on your brain, leading to a lack of motivation and flat mood over the long term. Artificial colors: can cause hyperactive behavior, difficulty focusing, and lack of impulse control. Artificial sweeteners: can cause disruption of neurotransmitters resulting in headaches, depression, ADD, rages, joint pain, muscle spasm and can mimic MS, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Sugar: Shifts in blood sugar level lead to decreased focus, concentration and memory. Can raise adrenaline levels causing insomnia and anxiety. High sugar diet increases insulin levels, blocking hormone receptors, resulting in hormonal deficiency syndromes. Hydrogenated (trans) fats: they replace the healthy fat in your brain and impair the brain cell-to-cell communication. White flour: Adds nothing positive to your brain chemistry. Is especially detrimental if your are gluten sensitive, leading to brain fog and other symptoms. Empty calories that don't fuel your brain and contributes to blood sugar spikes.
• Healthy eating habits should have a dramatic positive impact on your mood
  
  Use the chart below to help you identify aminos based on your symptoms. Chart from The Diet Cure by Julia Ross. More good information on aminos headed your way in a future blog.

Spring Body Blitz Week 2

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Week 2 starts today.

The second shipment of the book Female Brain Gone Insane should be in tomorrow. You'll have a bit of extra reading this week if you're just now getting the book. It will still be doable. I've heard people tell me they can't put the book down. It's easy to read and understand.

I went to Santa Barbara and met with Mia Lundin, the author of the book, last Wednesday. She was very kind to come in and see me on her day off. My daughter Maddi (19 years old) has an initial appointment with her. She took 2 hours with us that day and we left feeling confident we were headed in the right direction with Maddi's health. I told Mia what we're doing here in the studio and how many of you are involved. She was extremely happy to hear we're putting her book to use. She's a very kind and compassionate person. She told me her mission was to write an easy to understand book people could use to help themselves. Maybe she'll pop in on the blog and leave us some comments or words of wisdom! 

Here's a recap of what we've learned up to page 44:

• There IS hope and you're learning you can take charge and move forward.
• Your brain chemistry makes you feel the way you do.
• Hormones and neurotransmitters are chemical messengers relaying vital instructions throughout your body.
• Inhibitory neurotransmitters (serotonin and GABA) calm the mind and body and induce sleep.
• Excitatory neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine) provide energy, motivation, mental cognition and other activities that require brain/body activity.
• Serotonin imbalance is one of the most common contributors to mood problems.
• Depression can occur because of low serotonin in combination with fluctuating estrogen levels, common during postpartum, premenstrual and menopausal times.
• 95% of serotonin is housed in the gut. Very important if you have digestive issues, food allergies, leaky gut, irritable bowel, etc.
• Estrogen serves as a brain booster, an antidepressant and mood stabilizer. Estrogen affects serotonin functioning. Estrogen drop results in serotonin drop.
• Too much estrogen can cause irritability and anxiety.
• Progesterone has a tranquilizing effect and increases GABA in the brain. Too much progesterone can cause sedation.

Why do We Have Neurotransmitter Imbalance?

• Chronic stress
• Hormone fluctuation and depletion
• Poor dietary habits (lack of amino acids, vitamins and minerals needed to make neurotransmitters).
• Lack of omega 3 fatty acids to stabilize the brain cell membranes. Low fat diets don't provide this.
• Poor digestion. If you're not absorbing your nutrients you can't effectively make neurotransmitters.
• Neurotoxins such as heavy metals, drug and alcohol abuse, pesticides can cause permanent damage to nerve cells that make neurotransmitters.
• Genetics
• Ongoing neurotransmitter support (from amino acids and other supplementation over and above food) will be necessary if the cause is neurotoxins or genetics. If the cause is poor diet and stress, once addressed and corrected, you may not need ongoing supplementation.

This is great news because it gives us a reason for why we feel the way we do. Our task will be to understand how diet, sleep, exercise, supplemental amino acids and hormones, lifestyle and stress affects the way we feel...and link it to our brain chemistry.

We'll need to become experts on ourselves and pay close attention to how we feel so we can make the best decisions on what to eat, what kind of exercise is best for us, when to go to bed and when to get up. We'll need to seriously look at our stress level and determine if we're living in a chronic stress situation and make changes if necessary.

Action Steps for week 2:

1. Use the monthly symptom tracker on page 13,14 to see how your monthly cycle of hormones affects your feelings and moods. You will start to get clues about how your hormone levels affect your neurotransmitters, mood, appetite, and much more.

2. Start on Mia's basic supplement program on page 17. Vitamins and minerals are needed to make neurotransmitters. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are critical in the making of serotonin. Vitamin B12 should be taken sublingually or via injection. It's not absorbed well orally. Try to get the vitamin A in your multivite as beta carotene.

3. Pay close attention to how the food you eat affects how you feel. Do you feel energized, foggy, sad, bloated, tired or anxious after eating or drinking? Notice the content of your food in terms of protein, carbs and fat. Notice how you feel when you don't eat or skip meals. Get to be an expert on knowing how food affects you. This information will help you once you start using amino acids to balance your neurotransmitters. Soon you'll be able to see how food affects you the same way. Notice also how your exercise affects you. Notice if you feel energized or tired after exercise. Notice how different types of exercise make you feel different. This info will be useful when we learn about adrenal function later.

4. Read pages 45-112. You''l learn about bioidentical hormones, you'll identify your hormonal phase and discover your emotional type. 

Welcome to the 2010 Spring 6 Week Body Blitz!

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You are now entering into a 6 week journey for better health. You can do as much or as little as you like. Even making one tiny change in your lifestyle can make a huge difference. Don't get overwhelmed by all the information. If it's too much, put it away and concentrate on one thing only. Some of you are ready to dive in and change your entire life. Others aren't ready or are not interested in that. Do what works for you, in this stage of your life.

If you're not in the Body Blitz, you too are welcome to participate in this blog and get all the information you can. If it fits for you, try it.

Let's make this 6 weeks an interactive time to learn from each other. Share resources if you have them, and share your experience if you think it would be helpful for others. Ask questions.

Most everyone wishes or thinks they should be doing something differently for their health....."I know I shouldn't drink 3 sodas per day, I know I should be exercising more, I wish I didn't have these chocolate cravings, I know I should eat more fresh fruits and veggies, etc."

If we know what we should be doing for better health, why don't we do it? I'm learning that it's often because our brains are not in the position to support us. I don't mean your thoughts, I mean your physical brain and the chemicals that affect it......the neurotransmitters seratonin, acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA, and others.

To simplify, your brain has receptor sites that need to be filled for you to feel well. They're meant to be filled with the neurotransmitters.....at that point everything in your world feels right.

When your body is out of balance and the neurotransmitters are not there, sugar, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, chocolate and a host of other substances take the place of the neurotransmitters and fill those receptor sites and satisfy you. You use those substances because they make you feel better. For some people skipping meals or starving, lack of sleep, excessive exercise and a highly busy and stressful life create chemicals that make you feel better. After years of that, your body breaks down. 

Once you get the proper neurotransmitters to fill those receptor sites in your brain, you lose the desire for those substances. It's not about willpower. 

If your brain is not supported and functioning optimally, it's nearly impossible to make the choices you need and want for a healthy life.  

Lifestyle, sleep, stress, nutrition, hormones, toxins, supplements all affect our brain chemicals.

Come with me for 6 weeks. Plan to carve out time each day for your education. You'll be reading, watching videos and/or reading this blog. You may be writing, you may be visiting your doctor, you may be getting labs done. You might be spending extra time cooking and grocery shopping. Maybe shopping for supplements. Maybe attending classes and workshops. Maybe meditating.

Whatever you choose, it WILL take time in your day, so plan it in right now whether it's 5 extra minutes or 2 hours.

Step # 1
Get the book "Female Brain Gone Insane" by Mia Lundin. Read up to page 44. You'll learn about the symptoms of brain chemistry imbalance (you may recognize yourself...or someone close to you), the causes of brain chemistry imbalance and how your hormones and brain chemistry interact together. Get your own copy and mark it up. It's a book you'll return to often and you'll need the charts in the book. Men will appreciate this book as well. Brain chemistry applies to you too.

We have a shipment of books coming to the studio in a few days. Get one at the studio or get one online or at a bookstore.

Page 17 lists Mia's Basic Supplement Program. Get yourself started on these basic supplements if you're not doing it already. The first step is to get your basic nutrition in order. Just doing that will alter your brain chemistry if you've been deficient.

Make a copy of the chart on page 13 and start tracking your symptoms. Your symptoms vary depending on your cycle and will change as you alter your exercise, sleep, supplements, diet, hormones, etc. Your symptom chart will help you see what's making a difference.

If you're not ready to read the book and put the time in, do this. Every time you eat, pay close attention to how you feel. What you eat affects your brain. Do you feel energized, foggy, tired, bloated, satisfied, etc. Make a connection with what and how much you eat to how you feel. As you learn how food affects you, make changes to eat meals that improve your brain functioning.