I hope you find these tips are accessible, affordable and most of all, helpful!
[Next post: Rituals + lifestyle for optimal sanity and zen. Stay tuned! ]
[Next post: Rituals + lifestyle for optimal sanity and zen. Stay tuned! ]
If you supplement B vitamins, take them in a complex which will include all of the B vitamins so they don't compete for absorption, and cause further imbalances.
It's important to incorporate food sources of B vitamins as well, which will just require that you eat a diverse, whole foods diet.
Leafy green vegetables, brewer's yeast, dates, eggs, legumes, whole grains and nuts will be your richest sources, but they can be found in an array of vegetables, fruits and even fish.
Omega-3 Fatty Acid : While omega-6 is required for brain health, we all typically receive enough through our diet. EPA and DHA are the two omega-3 fatty acids that you should look for in your supplement. Fish oil, krill oil -- or algae oil if you're vegan, are most recommended. For my vegan friends taking flax oil or any other plant based oil, I'm sorry to say that the conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA in the body is insignificant at best. They will still offer health benefits, but not enough for significant brain health improvement.
Wild salmon, mackerel and albacore tuna are the fish with the highest omega-3 content, so incorporate these as much as three times a week. Ensuring these are from reliable, wild sources is important so that mercury content is low and healthy fat content is high. Organic eggs with dark yolks are also a great source, as well as various other seafoods and their roe.
Avocados, nuts & seeds (flax, chia) will offer the plant based omega-3 fatty acids and will still offer great health benefits!
Vitamin D3 : North American's face what some call an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. This vitamin acts more like a hormone than anything, and is incredibly critical for immune function, brain and nervous system, bone health, sleep regulation and so much more.
Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, dementia, insomnia, depression, autism and many more neurological and brain disorders are being studied in correlation to Vitamin D deficiency - how incredible is that!? We cannot get vitamin D in adequate or absorbable forms through diet alone. Healthy amounts of sun exposure are the best way to receive vitamin D, but that is difficult to achieve in Canada without the use of a tanning bed (use these at your own discretion!)
Cod liver oil, eggs, butter, fish and some sun-exposed mushrooms are good sources but we need SO MUCH MORE than the government recommended minimum amount in previous years. More recently, researchers have adjusted the amount needed of vitamin D3 to 5,000 IUs-8,000 IUs a day! Please take your vitamin D3 in liquid form and please do not take vitamin D2, it has no benefit to your health. It is then important to get your serum levels tested and it is ideal to have 50-100 ng/ml to know you have fixed your deficiency!
Zinc : When I was in school for nutrition, I remember thinking how crazy it is that zinc is essentially for basically every function in our bodies and it is rarely mentioned as being so important in mainstream health magazines or programs. For mental health in particular, zinc competes with copper in the brain. Copper toxicity from food and birth control can look like anxiety, mood swings, depression, panic attacks and many other mental health issues.
The highest concentration of zinc in the body is in the brain! A deficiency can lead to or worsen depression, anxiety, eating disorders (acts as appetite stimulant & improved body image perceptions in those with BDD), ADHD symptoms, dementia/memory, violent tendencies or aggression and learning difficulties. While zinc is a mineral, it acts as a cofactor and anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory.
While under major stress, you excrete zinc in your urine like crazy - so it is important to supplement this mineral at a dose of around 15 mg a day.
Food sources include oysters, meat/poultry/fish as well as nuts, legumes and grains - soaking those last three prior to consumption will get rid of some of the phytates that prevent your body from absorbing the plant's zinc content.
Magnesium : The anti-stress mineral! Similar to zinc, it is involved in over 300 functions in the body. It is a calming mineral that acts to reduce stress response symptoms, depression, insomnia/restlessness and anxiety. Without magnesium, calcium imbalance can actually lead to toxicity in the brain (much like the relationship between zinc and copper). Again, like zinc, stress causes the body to majorly excrete magnesium in the urine so supplement this bad boy daily!
Some researchers spectulate that anxiety and depression are so rampant in modern times because our soil is almost completely devoid of magnesium, so we are simply not getting it through food! We must be supplementing about 200 mg of magnesium bisglycinate daily, preferably before bed.
Raw cacao, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, beans, tofu and bananas are good dietary sources, and should be incorporated into your diet, but not depended upon!
Probiotics : We all have less than optimal gut health in this day and age, because we ravage our intestines with constant stress, fast food, sugar and alcohol. When we adopt a more whole foods diet, rich in fibre, probiotics, fermented food cultures and low in processed sugar, we give our guts the opportunity to heal and function optimally.
The gut is the SECOND BRAIN - you product 70% of your serotonin in your gut! So, let's make sure it's happy. Cycling on and off of taking a broad spectrum 100 billion active cell probiotic supplement daily is amazing for gut health, and taking a break allows your body to take over and do what it's supposed to naturally. Switching brands is also helpful so you get a diverse culture population. Eating sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, nut cheese (etc.) will also encourage a healthy gut population!
Hippocrates said all disease originates in the gut, and I believe he's abolsutely right. It's where everything that enters your body is filtered and absorbed. Unfortunately, we eat some not so nice things that cause inflammation/leaky gut and cause allergies, brain inflammation, yeast over growths (which can simulate anxiety and irritability). Take care of your tummy! 💗 Incorporate onion, garlic, activated charcoal, oregano, parsley, broccoli sprouts -- these act as anti fungals in the intestines and can help detoxify some unpleasant growths that kill your healthy gut flora.
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