Stress, anxiety, sleep and GABA

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Are you having difficulty with sleep or battling with stress or anxiety?

GABA deficiency might be the culprit. 

GABA or Gamma-aminobutyric acid is an amino acid produced naturally in the brain and functions as a neurotransmitter. Being one of the major neurotransmitters, it is involved in the communication among brain cells. And guess what? Your gut health and good gut bugs influence your GABA levels!
This is just another reason why I focus on building up gut health. So much of your wellbeing depends on how healthy your gut is.

So how does a GABA deficiency lead to difficulty with sleeping and increased levels of stress and anxiety?

GABA is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter–meaning, it lowers the activity of the nerve cells in your brain and in your central nervous system. In short, it calms your mind and helps your body to relax. Having enough GABA in your brain helps you get your needed sleep, reduce stress and anxiety, and create a calm mood. It also, ironically, helps with focus by suppressing things you’re not paying attention to so you don’t get overstimulated. Interesting!

Imagine GABA as your neurons’ brake. Once there is a trigger, neurons start firing electrical signals that serve as a form of communication to their neighboring cells. Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter, is responsible for the neurons’ excitability (like putting your foot on the gas pedal). GABA serves as a brake to stop the neurons from firing after their job is done. Without GABA, the brain gets overstimulated.

Did you know that GABA is also known as “Nature’s Valium”?

The feeling of happiness and relaxation is attributed in having enough GABA in your brain. In fact, it is important that all the brain chemicals are in balanced levels in order for you to experience a balanced mood. If you notice that you don’t feel balanced, are easily triggered to feel anxious, having difficulty with sleep, finding it hard to focus and relax, or having mood swings, your gut and GABA levels may need supporting.

Are you experiencing the following symptoms?

  • You’re filled with dread and have a knot in your stomach for no obvious reason.
  • You’re frequently late because you’re too disorganized to make appointments on time.
  • You’re often doing many things at once, but, at the end of the day, have little to show for your efforts.
  • Even when things are going well, you find new things to worry about.
  • You can’t relax and racing thoughts keep you up at night.
  • Your heart pounds or beats erratically for no reason.
  • You rely on high carbohydrate foods, drugs, or alcohol to relax.

If you answered yes to several of these symptoms, you may be low in GABA and may wonder why.

There are several possibilities. There are inherited disorders of GABA metabolism. However, your lifestyle plays an important role in developing GABA deficiency. Stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, too much caffeine, and gluten intolerance are cited as causes of GABA deficiency according to the Harvard Medical School researcher Datis Kharrazian, discusses in his book Why Isn’t My Brain Working?

The first step in repairing proper brain is to dial in the best diet for YOUR body (one size doesn’t fit all!) and create healthy lifestyle habits like rock solid stress management tools. This may also include some targeted gut healing. Please watch out for next week’s newsletter as I will discuss GABA supplements, the pros and cons, and what are other options to increase your GABA levels.

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. 

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

-Rebecca

Stress, anxiety, sleep and GABA

/0 Comments/in /by

Are you having difficulty with sleep or battling with stress or anxiety?

GABA deficiency might be the culprit. 

GABA or Gamma-aminobutyric acid is an amino acid produced naturally in the brain and functions as a neurotransmitter. Being one of the major neurotransmitters, it is involved in the communication among brain cells. And guess what? Your gut health and good gut bugs influence your GABA levels!
This is just another reason why I focus on building up gut health. So much of your wellbeing depends on how healthy your gut is.

So how does a GABA deficiency lead to difficulty with sleeping and increased levels of stress and anxiety?

GABA is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter–meaning, it lowers the activity of the nerve cells in your brain and in your central nervous system. In short, it calms your mind and helps your body to relax. Having enough GABA in your brain helps you get your needed sleep, reduce stress and anxiety, and create a calm mood. It also, ironically, helps with focus by suppressing things you’re not paying attention to so you don’t get overstimulated. Interesting!

Imagine GABA as your neurons’ brake. Once there is a trigger, neurons start firing electrical signals that serve as a form of communication to their neighboring cells. Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter, is responsible for the neurons’ excitability (like putting your foot on the gas pedal). GABA serves as a brake to stop the neurons from firing after their job is done. Without GABA, the brain gets overstimulated.

Did you know that GABA is also known as “Nature’s Valium”?

The feeling of happiness and relaxation is attributed in having enough GABA in your brain. In fact, it is important that all the brain chemicals are in balanced levels in order for you to experience a balanced mood. If you notice that you don’t feel balanced, are easily triggered to feel anxious, having difficulty with sleep, finding it hard to focus and relax, or having mood swings, your gut and GABA levels may need supporting.

Are you experiencing the following symptoms?

  • You’re filled with dread and have a knot in your stomach for no obvious reason.
  • You’re frequently late because you’re too disorganized to make appointments on time.
  • You’re often doing many things at once, but, at the end of the day, have little to show for your efforts.
  • Even when things are going well, you find new things to worry about.
  • You can’t relax and racing thoughts keep you up at night.
  • Your heart pounds or beats erratically for no reason.
  • You rely on high carbohydrate foods, drugs, or alcohol to relax.

If you answered yes to several of these symptoms, you may be low in GABA and may wonder why.

There are several possibilities. There are inherited disorders of GABA metabolism. However, your lifestyle plays an important role in developing GABA deficiency. Stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, too much caffeine, and gluten intolerance are cited as causes of GABA deficiency according to the Harvard Medical School researcher Datis Kharrazian, discusses in his book Why Isn’t My Brain Working?

The first step in repairing proper brain is to dial in the best diet for YOUR body (one size doesn’t fit all!) and create healthy lifestyle habits like rock solid stress management tools. This may also include some targeted gut healing. Please watch out for next week’s newsletter as I will discuss GABA supplements, the pros and cons, and what are other options to increase your GABA levels.

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. 

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

-Rebecca

Gut symptoms & your gallbladder

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This week, we are going to explore how important your gallbladder is to digestion AND looking and feeling your best! I’ll also share what signs you can watch out for that could signify gallbladder problems.

Do you frequently experience headaches without any particular reason? Have irregular bowel movements? Are nauseous or feeling uncomfortably full after meals? Your gallbladder health may need some TLC!

Why?

Let’s start with the basics.

The Biliary System

The biliary system is made of your liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts. This system works together to produce, store, and secrete bile.

Bile is the greenish-yellow substance that is continuously produced by the liver and stored and concentrated in this little pouch called the gallbladder. Bile is composed mainly of bile salts, phospholipids, cholesterol, conjugated bilirubin, electrolytes, and water. Bile acids and bile salts are a major component of bile (bile salts are formed when bile acids are produced by your liver and joined together with the amino acids glycine or taurine).

Why Bile is SUPER important

Bile is very important for 2 main reasons:

1) Bile facilitates lipid (fat) digestion and absorption.

When you eat, the cells in your small intestine release a hormone called cholecystokinin (CKK). This hormone triggers your gallbladder to contract, pushing the bile through the duct system into your small intestine. Once in your small intestine, the bile acids break down the large lipid (fat) droplets into smaller ones. This makes it easy for your digestive enzyme lipase to effectively digest longer-chain fats into smaller chains that can be easily absorbed by your small intestine.

This fat breakdown is necessary any time you eat fat-containing foods such as avocados, nuts, olives, seeds, and animal products such as eggs, most meat and seafood, butter, etc. Fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and other oils also need bile to be digested and absorbed.

Did you know that these foods are abundant in fat-soluble vitamins?

Fat-soluble vitamins, as the name indicates, are vitamins that are dissolved by fats.

Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins, and they support all sorts of important functions in your body like maintaining healthy bones, cell repair, and a properly functioning immune system. Without bile to help you digest and absorb fat-soluble vitamins, your body can’t properly support these functions.

If you’re getting these fat-soluble vitamins from supplements, you can increase their absorption when you take them with foods rich in healthy fats. 

2) Bile Eliminates Waste Products from the Body

Cholesterol is eliminated through its conversion into bile acids, helping your body maintain balanced cholesterol levels. Bilirubin, an orange-yellow pigment formed in your liver through the breakdown of hemoglobin, is also secreted through the bile. It is, in fact, responsible for the dark pigments of feces.

A lesser known function of bile is that it acts as a natural antibacterial agent, supporting a healthy amount of bacteria in your small intestine. As you can imagine, this is REALLY important! If you have been diagnosed with SIBO (or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), a lack of bile may be a root cause of it.

Bile Health and Gallbladder Symptoms

Your stool can also tell you if you’re digesting fats well. Is it bulky or difficult to flush? Does it appear oily, pale, or foul-smelling? These are clues that your body finds it difficult to digest and absorb fats.

If you are experiencing the following symptoms, consider supporting your biliary system:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • SIBO
  • Feeling full after a small meal
  • Right-sided heaviness at the base of your rib cage
  • Right shoulder tightness
  • Right-sided mid-back tightness or pain by your scapula (shoulder blade)
  • Diarrhea when eating too much fat
  • White or gray colored stools
  • Intolerance to eating any type of fat
  • Yellowish coating on your tongue

Avoiding fats and oils isn’t the answer. That just throws a band-aid on the symptom, but doesn’t actually address the root cause. Let’s dig into what you can do to support this important bilary system!


Bile Formation and Bile Flow

Bile formation and bile flow are equally important. Even when you have adequate formation of bile, you need that bile to flow. When your gallbladder or the duct system is blocked or doesn’t function fully, bile cannot exit and builds up. It’s like your gallbladder gets constipated! This is potentially dangerous because built-up bile can form into crystals that, over time, can become gallstones (very painful and can lead to serious health complications). Bile that cannot leave the gallbladder also causes irritation and infection. Over time, your gallbladder will function more and more poorly. This often leads to its surgical removal, which is permanent. As you’ve learned, it’s in your best interest to support your gallbladder and restore its function if you can.

So you need to make enough bile and you need it to flow.

To help with bile flow, bitter foods are helpful. Examples are:

  • Arugula
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Bitter Melon
  • Broccoli Rabe
  • Chicory or Chicory Tea
  • Chocolate (like cacao nibs or 70% or more cacao)
  • Coffee
  • Dandelion Greens
  • Dandelion Tea
  • Endive

A healthy liver, a diet and lifestyle low in toxins, plenty of sleep, clean water and adequate hydration, spacing out your meals and not snacking all the time, quality dietary fats and cholesterol, and sufficient stomach acid are all key ingredients to healthy bile production. You can also take supplements, like Dr. Ben Lynch’s Gallbladder Nutrients formula, to support both bile formation and flow.

If you are experiencing gallbladder symptoms, it is best to have yourself checked by a licensed medical professional right away. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Your gallbladder is very important to the health of your entire system.

There’s a lot that you can do with diet and lifestyle to get to the root of your symptoms! And if you’ve already had your gallbladder removed, your liver is still making bile and you still need bile to digest and absorb your fats! There’s still important ways that you can support this system.

In either case, it is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. I hope that today’s suggestions are helpful to you.

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

-Rebecca

5 Foods to Avoid for a Healthy Gut, Thyroid, & Brain

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As we all know, diet plays a major role in your health. Today, I’d like to talk about 5 foods that are linked to leaky gut, and inflammation in your brain and thyroid gland (master gland for your entire metabolism).
If you want to feel great and enjoy your life as fully as possible, then listen up!

Gluten

I know, I know. Gluten certainly isn’t a new dietary villain, but do you know why that is?

Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale–a cross between wheat and rye. The main function of gluten is to help foods maintain their shape and texture, like a sort of glue that holds food together. It can be found in many different foods because it’s added to them or due to cross contamination. In fact, most processed foods in the grocery store contain gluten; like cereals, noodles, crackers, baked goods, etc. You can check out more sources of gluten here.

Gluten has long been famous for causing leaky gut. When a patient consumes gluten, it triggers an increased release of zonulin, a protein produced by your gut cells and is responsible for increased intestinal permeability. Just imagine your intestinal lining as a cheesecloth; it only allows the tiniest particles to pass through. Zonulin makes the holes of the cheesecloth bigger and that makes it possible for large particles to pass through. Because of this, larger food particles, bacteria, toxic digestive metabolites, bacterial toxins, and small molecules leak into the bloodstream (say hello to inflammation and symptoms!!).

Unfortunately, leaky gut can cause an autoimmune response within your body as 70% of your immune cells are stored in your gut tissues. These immune cells attack and produce antibodies against foreign substances like bacteria and viruses. Since the substances that leak through the intestinal lining don’t belong outside the gut, the immune system attacks them. In short, the body wages war against itself.

During this autoimmune response, it is highly possible that the thyroid can be attacked. Gluten molecules are structurally very similar to that of your thyroid gland. This means that when your body gets overwhelmed and turns against its own tissues and organs, your thyroid is more vulnerable. 

Dairy

Dairy allergy and sensitivity is extremely common, though there are certainly people who tolerate it just fine. IF you have a dairy allergy or sensitivity or suspect that you do, I recommend that you avoid it (or test and confirm if it is a problem for you). If you’re sensitive to dairy, it can cause leaky gut problems and lead to the leading to your body attacking your thyroid as in the gluten example.

In addition to leaky gut, dairy products can also cause a condition known as leaky brain. This happens when the blood-brain barrier (BBB) becomes compromised and allows bacteria and toxins to leak to the brain itself.

Removing dairy products from your diet can help with issues of leaky gut and leaky brain. Consider dairy-free substitutions. For example, regular milk can be substituted with almond milk, cashew milk, or coconut milk and yogurt can be coconut yogurt or hemp yogurt. Same for cheese, believe it or not! Kite Hill is a popular and well liked brand.

Soy

Soy is a phytoestrogen, which means it mimics the function of estrogen in your body. This can cause trouble to people dealing with hormonal imbalance.

Soy is also a goitrogenic food which means that it blocks the function of thyroid peroxidase (TPO), an enzyme necessary for your thyroid to produce T3 and T4 hormones. To compensate for this decrease in thyroid hormone production, the thyroid increases its size, and this enlargement of the thyroid gland is known as goiter.

If you have Hashimoto’s or hypothyroidism, you must be cautious about soy products. 41% of people with Hashimoto’s disease are sensitive to soy and 60% of them have reported gut symptoms such as abdominal pain, loose stools, etc.

If you do choose to eat soy, choose non-GMO whenever possible.

Alcohol

Did you know that alcohol is the world’s third-largest risk factor for disease and disability? It causes at least 60 types of diseases and contributes to 200 others!

It is a psychoactive substance, and consuming alcohol regularly causes the brain to inflame, altering the normal function of the brain and causing it to send different messages throughout your body. It has multiple effects on the thyroid gland resulting in the worsening of your symptoms.

Alcohol also disrupts the digestive system and can cause leaky gut. As we have discussed earlier, leaky gut results in inflammation and an autoimmune response which may attack your thyroid.

So easy on the alcohol, especially while you are recuperating.

Sugar

Sugar is a contributor to inflammation in your body. Eating foods rich in added sugar frequently predisposes you to chronic low-grade inflammation that leads to serious health problems. It’s not good for your gut, brain or thyroid!

Sugar and artificial sweeteners may be linked to the development of Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, according to a report presented at the 2015 International Thyroid Congress.

Since your thyroid controls metabolism, it impacts your blood sugar level. If your gut and thyroid aren’t functioning well, this can lead to imbalanced blood sugar and increase your risk of developing diabetes.

It works both ways. A problem with your sugar level could also contribute to a problem in the thyroid. Those with hypothyroidism have more difficulty managing blood sugar levels.

I encourage you to cut out or cut back on the added sugar to save yourself all these added health risks. I’ve got some great recipes using alternatives on my website. There are also more brands using monk fruit, erythritol, and stevia as sweeteners so look for those instead of sugar on food labels.

If you are struggling with gut symptoms, thyroid issues, or brain fog, these are some great foundations that you can start to lay. 

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. I hope that today’s suggestions are helpful to you.

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

-Rebecca

Thyroid Health & You Part 2: Top 5 Thyroid Boosting Foods

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Last week we discussed what your thyroid gland does and why it is so important for feeling your best. In case you missed it, you can check it out here. Today we’re going to dig into how your food can help you do just that!

Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Well, I couldn’t agree more! Like I always say, you are what you eat (and absorb).

That’s why the health of your gut is SO important. If you can’t properly break down and absorb what you eat, then you miss out on the healing properties of that food. And because your thyroid influences your entire digestive system, making sure that you are eating foods that support your thyroid gland is very powerful.

So I made a list of 5 thyroid-boosting foods that are supported by current research. BUT, you know that one-size doesn’t fit all!  Some of these foods may not agree with you for numerous reasons (because you’re already struggling with your digestion, you have food sensitivities, they throw your biochemistry off, etc). I encourage you to listen to your body whenever you are trying out anyone’s suggestions no matter how much research backs it up!. I want you to help you discover where your best health has been hiding and keep you there. To do that, it’s really important that you listen to your body.

5 Thyroid Boosting Foods

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables

Leafy greens are packed with nutrients that people with thyroid problems can especially benefit from them.

Dark green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of fiber, folate, carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin K, and minerals such as iron, calcium, and magnesium. All these nutrients are good for your thyroid gland (and the rest of your body). But of all these mentioned nutrients, magnesium stands out.

Let me explain why.

Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4) are the hormones produced by the thyroid gland and are responsible for the metabolic process in the body–that is converting food into energy. T4 is inactive and needs to be converted into the active T3 in order to act on your body cells, and this is where magnesium comes in. It helps in the conversion of T4 into its active T3 form!

Brazilian Nuts

Selenium is another trace mineral that has important function in thyroid hormone production and metabolism. Brazilian nuts are high in fiber and selenium. In fact, only 2 Brazilian nuts a day provides 100% of the daily amount of recommended selenium for an adult.

Seafood and Sea Vegetables

Your thyroid gland uses iodine to make your thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Seafood such as fish, shrimp, and seaweed is a great source of iodine. Low iodine in the diet can lead to reduced thyroid function (hypothyroidism). Eating seafood can help balance the iodine levels in your body and support your thyroid. Also, good quality sea salt has some iodine in it (as well as other minerals).

However, while we consider iodine to be essential for thyroid health, those with hyperthyroidism need to check with their health practitioner before consuming iodine-rich food. In hyperthyroidism, the thyroid produces excessive amounts of T3 and T4 and lead to overstimulation. See how one-size doesn’t fit all?

Collagen Powder

Most of the foods that are to be avoided when you have a thyroid problem are foods that cause leaky gut–gluten, sugar, alcohol, and sometimes dairy, soy, corn, and eggs. As we have learned previously, when intestinal contents leak through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, it triggers inflammation, which can flare your thyroid condition and even cause other chronic diseases. You can help heal your gut by using collagen powder.

Collagen powder is a formulation made from animal bone, skin, connective tissue, etc. to supplement your body’s needs for collagen (high in protein building blocks that repair damaged tissue in your body). You can incorporate it into your smoothie, soup, or other beverages. Here are some great options for collagen and gut healing.

Onions and Garlic

It might be common knowledge that the liver is our body’s detoxification organ, but did you know that a healthy liver also supports thyroid health?

Thyroid hormone conversion happens in the liver. It is, in fact, responsible for converting inactive T4 thyroid hormones into the active form T3 that activates the thyroid receptors in your cells and makes them work. If your liver is not functioning well, T4 won’t convert into T3 in time.  This leads to hypothyroidism because there is a shortage of the active T3 that your cells need.

Onions and garlic provide the sulfur your body needs to support your liver. You might consider adding a bulb of roasted garlic in your diet every week or caramelized sliced onions in some meals. I recommend introducing these foods gradually to avoid disrupting your gut (sometimes a little goes a long way!). 

Eggs and meats are also a great source of sulfur, so if onions and garlic don’t agree with you, you’ve got other options. I had a massive food sensitivity to both onions and garlic for years! It was such a bummer because I love the taste, but they really didn’t make my tummy feel well. Thankfully after healing my gut, I am able to enjoy them once again.

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms–like low energy, gut/digestive issues, excess weight, mood imbalance, chronic infections, and skin & sleep problems–are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. I hope that these thyroid boosting foods are helpful to you.


Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

-Rebecca