Welcome

[Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych), P]

The idea behind this forum is to help people with mood disorders by psychonutritional means. Conventional treatment of mood disorders is usually based on the assumption that mood disorders are caused by "psychological" factors such as childhood experiences, past traumatic experiences, illogical thought processes, inappropriate attitudes, or habits of thoughts, that can be "treated" by convincing a person to THINK differently or by prescribing psychotropic drugs. These are then expected to alter the presence of absence of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.
The problem is with this approach that studies have shown that the majority of patients do not overcome their mood disorders or usually become dependent on these drugs without doing anything to cure the root causes of mood disorders. See references.

Psychonutritional Therapy is based on the fact that most feel good neurotransmitters are derived from nutrients in food and that therefore most forms of mood disorders can be treated by nutritional means. As an example I suggest you read:

Depression is a Nutritional Disorder

[Kelly Hillard]

Hello, I am very excited to see what you are teaching about. I have suffered from anxieties and worry for most of my life. At the same time for most of my life, I have suffered greatly with unstable blood sugar. In the last 6 years I have come to realize that my diet affects my anxieties in a positive way. I do not eat sugar, caffeine, dairy, or wheat, no alcohol. I eat gluten free. I am very strict with it, and have been for 6 years. What I don't understand is that I still have major hunger crashes daily. I cannot go without eating for more than 2.5 hours, and I feel weak most of the time. When I read about hypoglycemia, it says that it can be controlled by eating this diet and most symptoms go away. This has not happened for me even being religious about my diet. My system is hyper sensitive to any stress. I work hard to watch my thoughts and work on being positive, although it is very hard. It seems like I have no food reserves in my body at all. If I were kidnapped or held somewhere without food, it would be extremely dangerous for me. Why can't I get my body regulated?

Thank you so much for any help...

[dave1307]

Hey Kelly glad you are here. That is interesting how you say you have those symptoms like the hunger crashes and feeling weak. I can relate to your diet, I basically have the same diet as you with all the restrictions you mentioned. I've been doing it almost a year now. Have you consulted a naturopathic or similar type of doctor? If you find a good one, they can really help to provide insights and helpful diagnoses to address your imbalances. Also, do you do vegetable/fruit juicing?

[kelly]

Hi Dave, Nice to hear from you. Yes I have a kinesiologist/chiropractor and nutritionist. We have tried everything. I have tested my adrenals, done all the blood testing for hypoglycemia, although only the two hour test, but my endocronologist says I'm reactive hypoglycemia. I was on a full pharmaceutical grade vitamin B, and all the supplements mentioned on the Hypoglycemic Health website. I eat mostly all organic meats and veggies. My diet consists of eggs, fish, lean meats, chicken, brown rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat, almonds, walnuts, goat or sheepsmilk cheese, herbs, and all veggies, that is it. I can barely eat fruit as it makes me crash. This is it. No sweetener substitutes, no starchy veggies like potatoes or corn, no white rice, as it also makes me crash. I only drink filtered water, nothing else. This is how I've eaten for 6 years, yet I still feel weak and have hunger crashes. Those are my only symptoms.
What I am wondering is if this is really hypoglycemia, or something different. I have researched and researched for other people with just these symptoms and find nothing. This diet should keep hypoglycemia at bay. This must be something else. My body cannot keep energy. The only energy I get is from my food, and it only lasts for 2 hours then I start to crash. It is so frustrating because I cannot be spontaneous in my life at all. I have to pack food even if I'm going to be out for one meal. And going on a trip I have to pack all meals and put them in a separate suitcase with coolers. It just seems like a crazy way to live yet I have no alternative. Going off my diet makes me absolutely ravenous and weak and miserable. My doctor and nutritionist are some of the best in the country, and we can't figure this out. I'm not sure what to do now. My endocronoligist was absolutely no help. She didn't even know what millet is. I'm just not sure where to turn. I read some of Jurriaan's posts on the Hypoglycemic Health forum and thought that maybe he could help direct me somewhere...

Thanks Dave. And no, veggie or fruit juicing would break down to quickly in my system and make me crash, surprise surprise. It's so frustrating.

Take care....

[dave1307]

Would it make sense to see a naturopathic doctor? At least they are available in the U.S. A good naturopath might have some good ideas to find out more about what's wrong, and any imbalances.

[kelly]

Dave! Even eating a piece of completely healthy whole or multigrain full of nuts and seeds wheat bread will make me crash! I don't get it! Help me!

[kelly]

My kinesioligist is a naturopath..

[dave1307]

Jul 27, 2011 0:58:12 GMT 10 kelly said:

Dave! Even eating a piece of completely healthy whole or multigrain full of nuts and seeds wheat bread will make me crash! I don't get it! Help me!

Hey, I'm not a doctor so I can only speculate on my limited knowledge. Anyway, have you tested for food sensitivities?

[kelly]

I know, I'm just trying to keep a sense of humor about it! I haven't tested for those things. But sadly I have absolutely no money left to see any more doctors for a while. For now that is really going to hold me back. I'm not sure what else to do....

Thanks for your help though...

[dave1307]

Imo, a good naturopathic doctor first tries the heal the gut, aka the small intestine. That is their main priority. People can get leaky gut syndrome for various reasons. ND's basically work on fixing up the whole digestive system, addressing bacteria dysbiosis, yeast overgrowth, stomach acid (usually levels are too low), and other digestive processes. If people experience tiredness and similar feelings after eating, then ND's often recommend a blood sensitivity test. This tests for food that is causing your gut problems, particularly in terms of increased gut permeability. So it's initially important to not eat foods that you are sensitive too, so that your body doesn't have to produce so many antibodies just to get that food out of your system, and avoiding those foods will help to reduce such an extensive immune response. This gives your body more energy to work on other problems. After the digestive system seems to be pretty good, then if a person still has symptoms, or maybe now different symptoms, then it is easier to diagnose what other biochemical issues and bodily processes might be out of balance. Such as liver function; genetic weaknesses can cause faulty and sluggish liver functions which can make people feel the effects of toxins. Heavy metal intoxication can cause lots of problems, and chelation is one good way to detox the metals. Other toxic substances like fluoride or halide substances can cause problems. All I'm saying is that there is a lot to rule out here, and I think it starts with the gut and then you can look to other areas if that is in good order.

[kelly]

Dave, thank you. That does sound different than what I've been working on with my doc.
It really sounds like more of what I need. I really appreciate your help. I'm going to look into it right now, and hope that my insurance will cover a bit of it. I will let you know how it goes...

Thanks so much for your time!

[dave1307]

No problem, I find all this stuff interesting anyway.

[kelly]

I was just wondering if Jurriaan had any advice on this as well?

[studentofthegame]

hi Jur, great to see this forum.

[Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych), P]

What I don't understand is that I still have major hunger crashes daily. I cannot go without eating for more than 2.5 hours, and I feel weak most of the time

When you are hypoglycemic you SHOULD eat small meals every 2.5 hours to prevent the cravings.
See also:

Sugar Craving

If you have time also look up in the INDEX at our web site for GLYCERINE.

Lots of people take glycerine to beat sugar cravings. Have a go at it and see how you do.. Also look up

silent diseases for any other possible clues.