Why I No Longer Subscribe to the Culture of Intuitive Eating (especially from a mental health perspective)

It is physiologically impossible to intuitively eat food that has been designed to hijack your brain chemicals.

It’s not your fault that you can’t stop eating processed foods like chips, gummy candy, cereal, cookies, and frozen treats. These foods have been chemically altered to have the perfect combination of sugar, salt, and fat to tease your flavor palate but never truly satisfy you.

Studies show that adults and children will choose highly processed foods even when satiated. Children who have regular access to highly processed foods experience an increased willingness to gain access to these foods for positive reinforcement (that drug-like, addicting effect).

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Getting to the Root of Anxiety with Trudy Scott

Trudy Scott is a Food-Mood Expert and Certified Nutritionist who educates anxious individuals about nutritional solutions for anxiety. She is the author of The Antianxiety Food Solution and host of The Anxiety Summit, an online educational platform for both consumers and health professionals.

The Anxiety Summit 6: Toxins, Meds and Infections is airing November 2-8, 2020 and you can register for free here.

In this episode, we dive into the root causes of anxiety. It will challenge you to rethink the common everyday items in your life and how they are contributing to your mental function. As Trudy says, “A lot of people think of anxiety as only being a psychological thing… but there are underlying factors that trigger anxiety.”

Key topics include:

Fluoride’s impact on mental health and GABA levels
The health foods that hurt us
Common medications and infections that trigger anxiety
Which amino acids benefit mental health symptoms and how to use them
How hormones impact neurotransmitters – The negative impacts of Accutane and Miralax
What pthalates are and how they affect anxiety
How “fragrance is the new smoking”
Other supportive tools for healing anxiety

Learn more about Trudy Scott at her website: http://www.everywomanover29.com

Her Facebook page is called Trudy Scott Antianxiety Food Solution.

This episode is sponsored by Swanson Health. Use the code Whole20 to receive 20% off supplements sitewide at swanson.com.

How Food is Mood – Interview with Ali Miller, RD

Ali Miller is a registered dietitian, integrative functional medicine practitioner, and author of Naturally Nourished, The Anti-Anxiety Diet, and The Anti-Anxiety Diet Cookbook.

In this episode we discuss the concept of food as mood, how neurotransmitters play a role in gut health, and how your stress response affects your overall health – from mental wellness to reproductive function to immune health.

She explains the 6 approaches she takes to restoring our bodies to their rightful state, how to biohack our bodies and create metabolic flexibility – and simple tools to reducing panic and anxiety during times of stress.

Key topics covered in this episode:

Blood sugar regulation is key to balancing mood.
The imbalance of our stress response in the HPA axis and how “the body has to feel safe to do well.”
Reduce inflammation, reset the microbiome, repair the gut lining, restore micronutrients, rebound the adrenal glands, and rebalance neurotransmitters.
What excessive screen time does for our dopamine.
How 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut and why probiotics can be nature’s Prozac.
Breath is the most powerful way to harness the HPA axis and how to use mantras.
How she uses a strategic ketogenic approach with her clients and the reasons it has been beneficial for so many of them.

To download and listen to the full episode, click here. For the link to iTunes, click here.

To learn more about Ali and her work, head to http://www.alimillerrd.com or check out her podcast at http://www.naturallynourishedrd.com.

Why Diets Never Worked For Me

Diets. I hate the D word. They started in high school. I went on my first antidepressant my sophomore year and gained 30 pounds in under two years. It was devastating and embarrassing. I used food to cope with unhealthy emotions. Once I could drive, I hopped in my 1990 baby blue Chevy Caprice and hit up Sonic happy hour for cheddar peppers and slushes. I stocked up on sour watermelon candy at Target and late night Whataburger taquitos. I never felt full, but I loved the dopamine high the food would give me. I knew food had a pull on me I couldn’t escape.

So I tried South Beach, the Zone, and finally, Atkins. The latter helped me lose the “Zoloft weight” and gave me new confidence. But restriction made me bitter. I developed PTSD from salads. I made the act of eating a moral decision – there are good foods and bad foods. Fattening and non. Healthy or not. And I let the shame of indulgence give me value, just as I allowed my size or the number on the tag of my jeans give me value. Continue reading “Why Diets Never Worked For Me” →