Don’t Suffer From SAD … Be Glad! Ways to Cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder

The winter months are approaching fast, with little we can do to control the weather. The days are getting shorter, bleaker, and darker with each passing second. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs in a seasonal pattern, usually stirs up in individuals around late fall and winter months. While we can’t control the forecast, we can control natural remedies to help us fight SAD and have us feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally healthier.

Let There Be Light!
SAD’s cause is unknown, but the most common belief is that is occurs because of the lack of sunlight people are exposed to during the shortest days of the year. We suggest trying to surround yourself with as much natural light as you possibly can. Keep your windows and blinds open, and take walks outside when possible. Light therapy has also been proven to help those who suffer from SAD and can help with our chemical imbalances during these dark winter months.

Pump Those Arms!
Exercise has been proven to help in the treatment of depression, and this is no different. Exercising boosts your serotonin and endorphin levels, and can help you sleep better at night, which is a common symptom of SAD. If you can exercise outside with natural light, you’re killing two birds with one stone. Typically, aim for 30-60 minutes of fitness, and set up a workout routine to help keep you on track!

Replenish Your Body!
One of the most beneficial things you can do for your well-being is to replenish your body with the important nutrients it needs. “L-Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin and has been found to be an effective treatment for depression,” (Gaby 1079). Taking Vitamin D supplements has been linked to improvements in individual’s depression, and can be necessary if an individual is not receiving a healthy dose of natural light. Melatonin has also been proven to help with the treatment of depression, and also helps individuals regulate their sleeping schedules.

Seasonal Affective Disorder should not be ignored. If you or someone you know is dealing with SAD, reach out to someone and ask for help. We at Wild Women Wellness believe in the power of natural healing, and have seen it work firsthand. For more information on our services, you can visit our website or give us a call at (650)-271-9453 today!

Sources:
Gaby, Alan. Nutritional Medicine. 1st ed. Fritz Perlberg Publishing, 2011. Print.

Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed?

Healthy fats can be found in avocado, lean proteins from eggs.

With Type 2 Diabetes, your body becomes inefficient at burning sugar for energy. The hormone insulin, that shuttles sugar from your blood into your cells to be used as energy, stops working. Either your body resists the effects of insulin, or the pancreas doesn’t produce enough. It all starts at the pancreas, in the beta cells that produce insulin, something causes damage here, and insulin dysregulation begins. While many see this as a roadblock in life, we at Wild Women Wellness know you can reverse your insulin resistance.

The First Step is to Uncover the Underlying Cause:

What caused the damage to the pancreas and insulin producing cells to start with? What else contributed to blood sugar dysregulation? There are a number of causes that can trigger the onset of insulin dysregulation such as:

  • Food allergies/sensitivities
  • Dysbiosis, leaky gut and gut microbiota
  • Food additives – like aspartame or high fructose corn syrup
  • Oxidative stress – from inflammation
  • Mitochondrial dysfunction – dysfunction in the energy centres of the cells
  • Toxins- like pesticides on your veggies or plastics in from your water bottle, heavy metal in your teeth and seafood.
  • Obesity
  • Stress or adrenal fatigue
  • Lack of sleep
  • Hormone imbalances
  • Infections – such as residual viral infections
  • Nutrient deficiencies
  • Rx Drugs (Statins and DM)
  • Genetic predispositions/SNP defects
  • High sugar/carbohydrate diet

Insulin resistance and diabetes are also linked to a host of other health conditions such as PCOS, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypothyroidism, elevated liver enzymes (ALT/AST), and obesity. The insulin resistance often starts before the weight gain and lab results indicate HbA1C above 6.0. If your fasting blood sugar is above 90 or HbA1C is above 5.5, you will want to dig deeper to investigate if you are having early blood sugar dysregulation. Other clues are weight gain, arthritis, metabolic syndrome, weight around the midsection. You should know however, 60% of people at risk of diabetes are not overweight! If you feel sleepy after meals or irritable between meals this can be an indicator of blood sugar dysregulation. If you believe that you may be suffering from insulin resistance, you need to consult a functional medical or naturopathic doctor and work towards a diagnosis.

Diagnose Appropriately

In order to be diagnosed appropriately, I suggest an initial laboratory evaluation, which can include:

  • Adiponectin
  • Pro-insulin, C-Peptide
  • Glucose tolerance test
  • HbA1C
  • NMR lipoprotein profile
  • Fasting Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
  • GGTP
  • Uric acid
  • Methane breath test
  • Comprehensive stool test looking at the microbiome/flora

Choose Individualized Treatment Plan

Where we see the most success in treatment plans are changing dietary habits. The Westernized Standard American Diet is high in saturated and trans fats, salt, refined grains, and sugars, which can cause imbalances in our bodies and more specifically our gut microbiota. Implementing whole food, which is fresh, unprocessed, organic, colorful, and high in fiber will help work towards decreasing insulin release, modifying the gut microbiota, and increasing your cellular responsiveness to insulin. If it doesn’t look like a plant or piece of meat, then don’t eat it!

Foods to Avoid:

  • Fruit juice and dried fruit
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Gluten
  • Refined foods – pasta, bread, cereal, baked goods, pastries, packaged food
  • White foods – white rice, white bread, white potatoes, white sugar

Foods to Enjoy:

  • All vegetables (except white potatoes)
  • Free range chicken, fish- salmon, grass fed lean meats 1-3x week, eggs.
  • Fresh or frozen Berries, bananas, apples.
  • Good fats: olives, olive oil, avocados, coconut, nuts and seeds, nut butters like almond butter.
  • Fermented foods- like Kimchi

Meal Structure:

  • Make breakfast and lunch your largest meal
  • Keep dinner light
  • Intermittent fasting: 12-16hrs of fasting in 5 days per week, this can be done by not eating after dinner, and keeping dinner 12hrs before breakfast.
  • Avoid snacking
  • Eat protein and good fat with every meal

A structured sleep schedule is very beneficial in your treatment plan. Get your sleep, with a regular bedtime and wake time. Ideally to bed before midnight and getting 8hrs/night. Your body repairs itself in your sleep, so it’s important to make sleep a priority to help maintain your health.

Come work with us at Wild Women Wellness and we will help you establish a healthy foundation through your diet, address the underlying cause, set you up with a targeted supplement program and rebalance your microbiota so you can rely less on medications, feel better, and prevent serious complications down the road.

Take charge of your health, book your free 15 minute phone consultation here or give us a call at (650)-271-9453

Anti-Anxiety Secrets of Natural Medicine: GABA & Phenibut

Phenibut

Suffering with anxiety can be lonely and difficult. Utilizing traditional treatments can create even more apprehension as patients are left with a host of side effects from prescription medications. Naturopathy utilizes nature to help restore balance and a sense of calm. Neurotransmitter GABA and a derivative of GABA called phenibut can have a significant effect on mood based on how high or low their levels are in the body.

GABA & Phenibut in the Body

Low levels of the neurotransmitter GABA have been associated with panic and anxiety disorders, depression, alcoholism and bipolar disorders. GABA is not directly absorbed into the brain, taking GABA is not the best way to restore levels. Phenibut combined with activated B6 can be taken orally and has been shown to provide relief within an hour. Phenibut, which can cross the blood-brain barrier, will bind to GABA B receptors and have an anxiolytic effects. Phenibut is valuable as it is able to lower stress levels without adversely affecting an individual’s performance.

Yoga: The Secret Weapon

Physical activity is a great all-natural way to help the brain produce the feel good endorphins. Even a short exercise session of 20 minutes can help create a sense of calm and improve overall mood and outlook.  While all exercise can increase GABA, yoga, in particular, can act as a powerful catalyst to increased GABA levels.

There is substantial evidence that supports the correlation between yoga practices and GABA levels in the brain. A study was performed with 8 yoga practitioners and 11 control subjects. The yoga practitioners did 60 minutes of yoga posturing and breathing while the control group read quietly for an hour. Following the experiment, MRIs showed 27% increase in GABA compared to the control group. A second study compared 19 yoga practitioners with 15 walkers. The participants did yoga or walked for an hour three times a week for 12 weeks. In the end, Yoga practitioners had improved mood and anxiety compared to those who walked, and MRI results showed increased GABA in the thalamus.

Visit Wild Woman Wellness for Guidance & Support

Dr. Tanya Escobedo of Wild Woman Wellness is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor in Redwood City, California. She uses special testing to safely evaluate neurotransmitter imbalance, and uses natural treatments to restore balance by addressing the root cause – without using drugs or causing adverse side effects.  Contact her today for your complimentary 15 minute phone consult.