You Are Not Your Diagnosis

As a mental health advocate, functional medicine practitioner, and someone who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18, there is a frequently used phrase about bipolar that makes me crazy.

When someone says, “he is bipolar” or “she is bipolar” or “she’s acting bipolar,” I’ll likely get pretty defensive pretty fast. Bipolar disorder is NOT a personality trait.

Mental health awareness is important, but current awareness and discourse sometimes comes at the expense of the over-identification of our personality with symptoms of an illness.

You don’t say “she IS diabetes” or “she IS depression” or “she IS rheumatoid arthritis.” For some reason, bipolar disorder is the only diagnosis and physical illness that becomes an identity statement and personality trait.

A lot of people who use that phrasing don’t understand that for most people with bipolar disorder, they’re not having constant mood swings. They may have one or two mood episodes a year. For example, in the past, I tended to get depressed in the late fall and winter and then I would head into hypomania/mania in the spring/summer. Some of that was triggered by trauma, diet, poor lifestyle choices, and substances. Even the wrong medication caused psychosis and hallucinations in me. (Yes, prescribed medication made my symptoms worse, which isn’t discussed enough.)

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder rooted in many physiological issues that causes fluctuating episodes of mania or hypomania (which is milder than mania) and depression. Episodes can last several days to weeks, and between episodes there may be seasons of stability. Mania and depression are broken down by the following symptoms below.

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Group Coaching: Feast 2 Fast

If you are tired of dieting gimmicks but want to upgrade your health with real, whole food – this is for you!

Feast 2 Fast is a monthlong metabolic reset that takes you through three layers of carbohydrates to help you tune into what your body needs. It’s a way to find balance between “Oh, I’m craving that treat” and “I think I need to add more nutrients to my diet.” It models the rhythms of feasting and fasting that we are all created for.

The format looks like this:

Week One: Real Food carbs
Week Two: Real Food and Whole Food carbs
Weeks Three and Four: Real Food, Whole Food, and Heck Yeah Carbs

The goal is to become more metabolically flexible and balanced in body, mind, and spirit. By stripping your diet down to the basics and gradually adding items in, it’s a great way to partner with your body and listen to its needs!

For the entire program, including the complete guide and hundreds of recipes, the cost is $179. A new group will launch through a private Facebook group on Monday, February 6. Weekly Zoom meetings will also be available for anyone who wants more accountability.

If you have been interested in health coaching, this program will give you the most bang for your buck! To sign up for this session, fill out the form here. For any questions, send me a message!

The Benefits of Carbs for Your Brain

To carb or not to carb? It seems it is always the debate in nutrition these days.

Yes, we need carbs, and carbs support our mental health.

The top benefits of carbohydrates for mental health are:

They feed good gut bugs and create a more diverse microbiome.
They help us sleep better!
They improve mood health.
They keep stress hormones in check.

Continue reading “The Benefits of Carbs for Your Brain” →

The Items I Always Include on My Grocery List

Every week, usually Thursday or Friday, my husband and I plan our meals for the following week. We choose three meals, without a specific day in mind when we’ll make them, which gives us room for leftovers or unexpected events. We are pretty flexible, loosely scheduled people – so this works for us.

While the meals vary because I can’t have the same thing every week for dinner, there are some items on our list that don’t change. Since I like to leave wiggle room for the unexpected, there are pantry and fridge stocking items that I always try to include – just in case.

What follows are the items I make sure to have present as much as possible. They’re in no particular order, but I may have saved the best for last. 🙂

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Nourishing Brain Bowls – the Non-Recipe You Need to Make Life Easier

It is hard to keep whole food nutrition in mind during stressful times. Often it seems easier to rely on takeout and pizza delivery than cooking, but I want to share my favorite method for stress-free cooking – Brain Bowls!

I could call it the “throw it in a bowl” method of cooking, but it doesn’t have quite the ring to it. I love a good acronym, so I’ve broken down the word BRAIN to help you build your own easy, nutrient-dense, brain-fueling bowl.

Easy Brain Bowls

B – base of greens or grains. I like quinoa, rice, or chickpea pasta. When I don’t want the heavier carb load, I use kale or arugula. Spinach is a great option for those who can tolerate it as well!

R – rainbow of veggies. Sauté, roast, air fry… throw on some avocado oil, your favorite seasonings, and cook them to your preferred texture. It can be a mix of raw or cooked veggies. I always aim for a minimum of three different colors or types. Frequent flyers are bell peppers, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, white potatoes and sweet potatoes.

A – add your protein. Quality is important here to maximize nutrients. I love grass-fed ground beef, organic, pasture-raised chicken or eggs, or wild caught salmon or other fish.

I – include your favorite sauces, dressing, or spices. Stay away from any sauce/dressing that is made with vegetable, canola, or soybean oil. Those oxidize under high heat temps (like your digestive system), which sends free radical damage through your body – something your brain doesn’t need. I love Primal, Siete, Tessemae’s, and New Primal brands.

N – nuts or seeds for some crunch! I love throwing on pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, slivered almonds, chia seeds, etc. Get creative!

The best part of this recipe is that you don’t need to be a chef or even follow a recipe. The more comfortable you are with throwing things together, the more you’ll sustain it – and the more you’ll get more creative as you go!

Want more food support? Registration is open for Feast 2 Fast Back-to-School Reboot, starting August 16. Feast 2 Fast is my four-week online coaching program that enables you to tune in to the needs of your body and learn to incorporate a wide variety of foods into your diet to optimize your metabolic health. No counting, tracking, or starving. Click here to learn more information and sign up.

Tips for Kids’ Back-to-School Anxiety

It’s back to school time – which means a time of heightened anxiety for some kids.

There are so many supportive tools to help with a “brain that is always awake” (to quote one of my children, when explaining his overactive, sensitive mind).

Because our calming neurotransmitters are formed in the gut, optimizing nutrition makes a huge impact on brain health, so it’s a bottom-up approach as well as top-down. Remember – if your child isn’t getting or digesting protein well, he or she may not be making the neurotransmitters they need for calming/stress relief. So sometimes a little support can help, but nutrition is key!

There are so many safe, evidence-based tools to help our children thrive during times of anxiety.

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My Top 5 Mood-Boosting Foods

I take eating for my mental health seriously. I don’t prescribe to a specific diet or style of eating, but there are numerous studies out there showing that food IS mood. For those of us who fight a mood disorder of any kind, the way we eat can impact brain health.

Because our gut microbiome produces necessary neurotransmitters like dopamine and GABA, plus 90% of our mood neurotransmitter serotonin, what we digest in our gut matters. What we feed our gut impacts what our brain receives.

Not all things will be digested equally by all people. Every BODY is unique, just like every brain is unique. But generally speaking, the foods I list here can be a wonderful addition to any body and brain!

Here are 5 of my favorite mood-boosters that I always try to add to my day:

Continue reading “My Top 5 Mood-Boosting Foods” →

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.

Fatty Coffee

Why in the world would I load my coffee up with fat? Does that sound weird and backwards to you?

Well, I’ve been doing it for almost two years now and it has changed my health in many ways. Here are some benefits I’ve noticed:

Less “hanger,” more blood sugar control
Decreased sugar cravings
More alert mentally
Able to practice intermittent fasting, which increases my BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor)
It gives my brain the right kind of healthy fat it NEEDS for optimal function

Also, it tastes really really good. Like my own homemade foamy latte.

When I start my day with a processed refined grain like cereal or a bagel or English muffin, which I did for many years, I would be hungry within a couple hours and my brain would be mush.

Starting my day with fat-fueled coffee (also known as “bulletproof coffee”) fills me up so I can prolong my brain-boosting fast, it provides butyrate and MCT oil for brain health, and it keeps my blood sugar from going crazy because I don’t need to sweeten it! I have energy throughout the day and I have a clear head to make more brain-nourishing nutritional choices.

Here’s the thing that throws people off – this IS intended to replace a meal. But listen to your body. If you are hungry right after, EAT! Fuel yourself with high quality animal protein, a healthy fat, and colorful fruits and veggies. Sometimes I prolong my fast by drinking my coffee this way, sometimes I’m ready to eat not long after. Every day is different, depending on the activity level.

This coffee is not intended to be a starvation/weight loss tool. It is just another option for those who are already drinking coffee and loading up on artificial flavors with creamers and sweeteners. Those will fail your blood sugar, every time.

This is an alternative that will make you feel good and provide health benefits. For so many, coffee provides the highest amount of polyphenols they will consume in a day. So let’s make it even better!

Here’s how I do mine: Continue reading “Fatty Coffee” →