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Supporting your mental health through a pandemic
As we get closer to 24 months of living under restrictions, border closures and a complete change in our way of living, it is no surprise that mental health concerns have been at an all-time high. 1 in 5 Australians are reporting high levels of distress and there were huge increases in the use of services like Beyond Blue and Kids Helpline.
Whilst some things are out of our control, there are plenty of things we can do to support ourselves or family & friends through this difficult period.
Two neurotransmitters that most people have heard of are Serotonin & Dopamine.Serotonin helps to regulate mood and social behaviour, appetite, digestion (and bowel movements), sleep and memory. Dopamine regulates mood and muscle movement and plays a vital role in the brain's pleasure and reward systems. These two neurotransmitters are big players in anxiety & depression
About 95% of our serotonin is manufactured by our gut bacteria and around 50% of our dopamine. Therefore, diet is essential in the wellbeing of our mental health. However, instead of that common saying “you are what you eat”, I prefer the saying “you are what you absorb”, because you can eat an almost perfect diet and yet if you are not absorbing what you are eating, it is not going to be as beneficial as it could be.
How do you improve your gut health?• Chew your food – A LOT! About 20 times per mouthful or until it is almost mush! Why? Because digestion starts in the mouth, so by chewing your food you are activating the salivary enzymes to start the digestion process. • BITTER foods – Bitter foods stimulate the vagus nerve and send a chemical message to your gut to basically tell them to wake up & get to work, so foods like rocket, radicchio, dandelion greens, horseradish. • Remove or significantly reduced highly processed foods & sugars as they can feed the 'bad' bacteria and have an impact on how you feel. • Consume foods like organic, grass fed bone broth as they contain collagen and glutamine from the animal bones to help with your gut integrity. • Support gut health with prebiotic rich foods (which ‘feed’ the good bacteria) and probiotics increase the types of good bacteria. Prebiotics: garlic, asparagus, leek, dandelion root, apples, Jerusalem artichoke and onions Probiotics: yoghurt, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh & kefir. What else can I do to support my mental health?
• Reduce constant monitoring of the news and social media pages that increase your anxiety.• Spend time in nature – beach, park or the mountains. Fresh air and a disconnect from the digital world can help so much! • Sunshine!! Get 10-20min each day (particularly on the inner thighs, belly and inner arms) Low vitamin D levels are often seen in those with mood disorders like depression.• Mindfulness practices and meditation. • Increase foods high in Tryptophan – Chicken, turkey, fish, avocado, almonds pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds. • Routine – Especially if you are in lockdown, however most people do really well on structure. Waking up at the same time, a good breakfast to start the day (protein & fat to keep your blood sugar regulated and energy sustained). • Making a to-do list – daily, short & long term goals.• Cold showers! Yes, perfect as the weather heats up – Cold showers are seen to boost serotonin levels! • Exercise – Move your body, whether that is a walk, yoga, HIIT, bike riding, dancing, whatever you enjoy.• Get creative – Find something you enjoy – music, drawing/painting, pottery, knitting, building something from scratch – exploring these interests boosts our dopamine levels and makes us feel like we’ve achieved something & its pleasurable. • Spending time with family and/or friends – in person, if you can or phone/video calls to keep connected. • Use services such as a Counsellor or Psychologist or use the helplines such as Beyond Blue (1300 224 636) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
If you are feeling anxious, I also suggest things like breathing techniques – • Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds. That exhale will switch from ‘flight or fight’ to ‘rest & digest’. • Imagery – What can you see, what can you smell, what can you touch, what can you hear, what can you taste. This grounding technique can help you bring you back into the moment. Being present reduces that anxious feeling of ‘what if’ and brings you back to the here and now.
As always, specific assistance with anxiety and depression is best dealt with by a health care practitioner. Naturopathy offers some wonderful options including the use of nutritional supplementation, where deficiencies are suspected, herbal medicine, flower essences and diet & lifestyle modifications. If you are already on pharmaceutical medication, we can check interactions and prescribe accordingly.
Written by Amanda Flower, Naturopath & Nutritional Medicine.BHSc Nat.
Referenceshttps://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-australia/report-contents/covid-19-impact-on-mental-health#references https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908269/
Whilst some things are out of our control, there are plenty of things we can do to support ourselves or family & friends through this difficult period.
Two neurotransmitters that most people have heard of are Serotonin & Dopamine.Serotonin helps to regulate mood and social behaviour, appetite, digestion (and bowel movements), sleep and memory. Dopamine regulates mood and muscle movement and plays a vital role in the brain's pleasure and reward systems. These two neurotransmitters are big players in anxiety & depression
About 95% of our serotonin is manufactured by our gut bacteria and around 50% of our dopamine. Therefore, diet is essential in the wellbeing of our mental health. However, instead of that common saying “you are what you eat”, I prefer the saying “you are what you absorb”, because you can eat an almost perfect diet and yet if you are not absorbing what you are eating, it is not going to be as beneficial as it could be.
How do you improve your gut health?• Chew your food – A LOT! About 20 times per mouthful or until it is almost mush! Why? Because digestion starts in the mouth, so by chewing your food you are activating the salivary enzymes to start the digestion process. • BITTER foods – Bitter foods stimulate the vagus nerve and send a chemical message to your gut to basically tell them to wake up & get to work, so foods like rocket, radicchio, dandelion greens, horseradish. • Remove or significantly reduced highly processed foods & sugars as they can feed the 'bad' bacteria and have an impact on how you feel. • Consume foods like organic, grass fed bone broth as they contain collagen and glutamine from the animal bones to help with your gut integrity. • Support gut health with prebiotic rich foods (which ‘feed’ the good bacteria) and probiotics increase the types of good bacteria. Prebiotics: garlic, asparagus, leek, dandelion root, apples, Jerusalem artichoke and onions Probiotics: yoghurt, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh & kefir. What else can I do to support my mental health?
• Reduce constant monitoring of the news and social media pages that increase your anxiety.• Spend time in nature – beach, park or the mountains. Fresh air and a disconnect from the digital world can help so much! • Sunshine!! Get 10-20min each day (particularly on the inner thighs, belly and inner arms) Low vitamin D levels are often seen in those with mood disorders like depression.• Mindfulness practices and meditation. • Increase foods high in Tryptophan – Chicken, turkey, fish, avocado, almonds pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds. • Routine – Especially if you are in lockdown, however most people do really well on structure. Waking up at the same time, a good breakfast to start the day (protein & fat to keep your blood sugar regulated and energy sustained). • Making a to-do list – daily, short & long term goals.• Cold showers! Yes, perfect as the weather heats up – Cold showers are seen to boost serotonin levels! • Exercise – Move your body, whether that is a walk, yoga, HIIT, bike riding, dancing, whatever you enjoy.• Get creative – Find something you enjoy – music, drawing/painting, pottery, knitting, building something from scratch – exploring these interests boosts our dopamine levels and makes us feel like we’ve achieved something & its pleasurable. • Spending time with family and/or friends – in person, if you can or phone/video calls to keep connected. • Use services such as a Counsellor or Psychologist or use the helplines such as Beyond Blue (1300 224 636) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
If you are feeling anxious, I also suggest things like breathing techniques – • Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds. That exhale will switch from ‘flight or fight’ to ‘rest & digest’. • Imagery – What can you see, what can you smell, what can you touch, what can you hear, what can you taste. This grounding technique can help you bring you back into the moment. Being present reduces that anxious feeling of ‘what if’ and brings you back to the here and now.
As always, specific assistance with anxiety and depression is best dealt with by a health care practitioner. Naturopathy offers some wonderful options including the use of nutritional supplementation, where deficiencies are suspected, herbal medicine, flower essences and diet & lifestyle modifications. If you are already on pharmaceutical medication, we can check interactions and prescribe accordingly.
Written by Amanda Flower, Naturopath & Nutritional Medicine.BHSc Nat.
Referenceshttps://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-australia/report-contents/covid-19-impact-on-mental-health#references https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908269/
Hacks to help you in the kitchen
When we have busy lives, we can often struggle to find the time to cook. But I wanted to give you a few of my tips on ways to make it easier for you. By the way, good food doesn’t need to take very long either!
Whilst the thought of prepping meals and cutting veg might not sound like a half day well spent for some people, think of the time that can save you after a day at work! It gives you extra time to exercise, relax or spend with loved ones. By planning your week it also takes the stress out of what to cook!
- Meal plan for the week - that way you know what you’re having each night and what ingredients you’re going to need when you do the groceries - If you have older kids, get them to choose a meal that they can make for the family!
- Think about meals you can make in bulk like Bolognese, curry, quiche, stew, lasagne, soup or even roasted veggies - that way you can portion it out and fridge/freeze for easy reheating or for emergencies when you’re short on time.
- Spend half a day prepping meals, chopping up veggies that you’ll use through the week, that way you can just grab out what you want, saving you time.
- Pre-cook protein that you might use like chicken and freeze it into portions so its easy to add to your dish and saves you time. Hard boil some eggs so you’ve got easy to grab snacks!
- If you’ve got lemons/limes to use squeeze them into ice trays so you can grab a cube of juice when you need and don’t forget that delicious zest! Great to add with chicken, potato or in a cake!
Whilst the thought of prepping meals and cutting veg might not sound like a half day well spent for some people, think of the time that can save you after a day at work! It gives you extra time to exercise, relax or spend with loved ones. By planning your week it also takes the stress out of what to cook!
Dieting..a day by day approach
Dieting to me is about finding ways to adjust your current lifestyle by making small changes every day, so they become a habit.It isn’t a 4 week shake plan or intense exercising twice a day, 6 days a week. Extreme dieting programmes are unsustainable over time and we end up regaining the weight we lost. Guaranteed.
When we give ourselves a time frame to lose 'x' amount of weight we put pressure on ourselves and stress is not a good start to weight loss. When we restrict ourselves of REAL food, or exercise excessively, we put our bodies into a state of stress and this creates more inflammation.
What about a cleanse? Yes we can do a 'cleanse' every now and then, but our body naturally detoxes itself everyday. Sweating, urinating and passing a bowel motion are 3 ways we excrete toxins, so the more water, fibre & beneficial nutrients we consume, the more nasties we can clean out of our body.
Assisting that process along looks like;
1. Drinking more water (roughly 2L of filtered water per day - more if hotter weather or exercising). Less alcohol, soft drinks, sugar filled drinks - flavoured milks, syrups in coffee etc
2. Increasing fibre (variety of fruits and vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains)
3. Increasing cruciferous vegetables e.g. broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower (which assists our phase 2 detoxification pathway in the liver)
4. Moving our bodies to increase circulation & make you sweat!
Find a routine that suits you and your lifestyle. It is not a one-size-fits-all situation here. We cannot all be doing the same thing, because it won’t work for everyone equally.
What can you change in your routine? Drink more water, move your body everyday (swim, walk, bike ride, gym class, yoga, dance, stretch, throw the frisbee), cut the sugar and processed foods, eat more veggies, meditate, get some sunshine, chew your food and...eat more veggies!
Another aspect that isn't often discussed is the emotional component of weight gain & loss. Anxieties, social pressures and a perceived need to 'look a certain way' can trigger a lot for us psychologically. Consider journaling or talking to a Psychologist and addressing why you gained/lost weight in the first place. Did you know that neurotransmitters like Dopamine & Serotonin - which are responsible for reward pathways, moods, sleep and much more, are made in the gut (50% & 90% respectively), therefore what we eat will have huge impact on how we feel! When we start to feed ourself nutrient dense food, it can help us with not only energy, but motivation to keep doing it. Food for thought.. ;)
There are also other reasons why you may not be able to shift weight - thyroid condition, excessive cortisol, hormonal imbalances, low stomach acid (which inhibits the breakdown of your food and therefore nutrient absorption is reduced), or your prescription medications, so speak to a health care practitioner to see what could be going on for you.
If you have any questions or would like to come in and have a chat about ways to help you get back on track; email me at hello@amandaflower.com.au or you can book an appointment with me here.
Sauerkraut for a happy tummy
How beautiful is this cabbage!Sauerkraut - fermented cabbage is an amazing staple that needs to get some more attention. Cabbage is actually naturally high in glutamine which can be beneficial for stomach (peptic) ulcers, as well as stabilising intestinal permeability and improving white blood cell activity at the site of injury (just to name a few benefits).Kraut, is a lacto-fermented vegetable and is super easy to make at home - thinly sliced cabbage, salt and a 10min rub, pop it in a jar (with all the air out) and let it ferment for 5-14 days.During the fermentation process, ‘live bacteria’ are produced, supporting gut health. Kraut also contains dietary fibre, Vitamins C, K, potassium, phosphorus & calcium.If you can get it on your plate a few times a week, your tummy will thank you!
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Holiday tips...
With holidays upon us and Christmas just days away, your health is often forgotten about, but I've come up with some tips to help you feel a little bit fresher after those big nights ;)
Hydration, finding balance in-between the festivities and keeping your immune system happy are key to bringing in 2020 without feeling like you need another month to recover.
You can read more here...
Skin conditions
From acne, to psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis and just pesky dry skin, it can affect us not just physically, but emotionally too.
Alongside the obvious physical signs of a skin complaint, you can also experience digestive symptoms, brain fog, irritability, itching and the list goes on.
A naturopathic approach isn't just about giving you a cream so it looks like it's gone, we really dig deep to find the underlying cause, so we can address the real issue!
You can read more here...
Sleep
How good does it feel to have a solid sleep where you wake up feeling refreshed How often do you actually feel like that? Do you struggle to get to sleep, stay asleep or feel like you're constantly tossing & turning?
There are some really good tips to try that can help you get to sleep & stay asleep.
You can read more here...