476 The Schizophrenias [18 June 2018]

In his book Nutrient Power – Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain, William J. Walsh refines Carl Pfeiffer’s biotypes of schizophrenia, and describes each in some detail as to symptoms, chemistry, and their nutrient therapy.

Walsh’s schizophrenia biotypes are (with % of occurrence):
• Overmethylation (42%)
• Undermethylation (28%)
• Pyrrole disorder (20%)
• Gluten intolerance (4%) – see Grain & Our Brain [#240 Oct 2013]
• Other (6%) – porphyria, cerebral allergy, polydipsia, thyroid deficiency; homocysteinuria and drug-induced.

The overmethylated biotype is the most common. It is characterized by auditory hallucinations, severe anxiety, paranoia, hyperactivity and depression, and is often diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia. Signs include elevated serum copper, low blood histamine, and low basophil count; with high dopamine and norepinephrine activity. Patients often have an adverse reaction to SSRI drugs or SAMe, but improve with benzodiazepines and lithium. Biochemical therapy includes zinc, manganese and vitamins B10 (folic acid), B3 (niacin), B6, B12, C and E.

The undermethylated biotype is characterized by delusions, OCD, high anxiety, and catatonic behavior, and is usually diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder or delusional disorder. Signs include low methyl/folate ratio, high histamine (subject to seasonal allergies), high basophil count, and low SAMe/SAH ratio; with low activity of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Patients respond well to SSRIs and antihistamines but not to benzodiazepines or folic acid. Biochemical therapy includes SAMe, methionine, calcium, magnesium, zinc, serine and vitamins A, B6, C, D and E.

The pyrrole disorder biotype (also called “Mauve” from the purple color of urine) is characterized by extreme mood swings, severe anxiety, low tolerance to stress, light or noise, and a combination of delusions and auditory hallucinations. A common diagnosis is rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Signs include very high pyrroles in the urine, severe deficiencies of zinc and B6, deficiencies of biotin and arachidonic acid, and depleted glutathione. Patients exhibit severe oxidative stress and low activity of glutamate and GABA. Biochemical therapy includes zinc, B6, and evening primrose oil.

Biochemical therapy involves high doses of certain minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients, and is different for each biotype. Diagnosis and treatment should only be undertaken by an experienced professional.

Next week – biochemical classification of depression.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner. Find this article on my website for links to sources and further reading.

317 Nutritional Psychiatry [4 May 2015]

Nutritional psychiatry (NP) is a branch of science that uses nutrients to treat psychiatric symptoms and mood and anxiety disorders. Bonnie Kaplan is a professor at the U. of Calgary and a researcher in nutritional psychiatry. A recent interview with Kaplan for the Economic Times was published online March 20, 2015, as “Nutritional psychiatry can be an effective treatment”.

In the interview, Kaplan made these six points:

1. NP is a new science, less than 15 years old. Kaplan is researching the use of a broad spectrum nutrient formula to treat psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders.

2. NP is effective because normal brain function requires micronutrients. Mental illness can result if any nutrients are in insufficient supply. In one case study a young boy with bipolar disorder who was regressing (getting worse) during six years of conventional treatment, was completely cured after 14 months with nutritional treatment.

3. Many psychiatrists are opposed to nutritional psychiatry. They are trained in drug therapy and are uninterested in normal brain metabolism. Government funding is difficult to obtain because of the lack of support by conventional medicine.

4. Pharmaceutical companies are not interested in NP because it is less profitable. In another case study, a young boy suffering from severe psychosis had been treated conventionally with no improvement, then successfully treated with nutritional therapy at less than 1% of the cost.

5. NP cannot always totally replace drugs; in some cases it complements drug therapy. Kaplan believes the ideal situation would be for nutrition to be the primary therapy and medication play a supportive role when needed.

6. NP is not just about supplementation but includes a diet of high quality nutritious food for its vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content.

To learn more about nutritional psychiatry and the broad spectrum nutrient formula visit www.truehope.com or phone 888-878-3467.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner. See this article on my website for links to sources and further reading.

300 Medicate or Nutrate? [5 Jan 2015)

For my 300th article (and the first for 2015) I’m going to follow up on #297 from Dec 8 on mental health.

Dr. Julia Rucklidge in her TEDx talk suggested we reconsider our current treatment approach to mental illness – psychiatric medication first, followed by psychological therapies, with nutrition as an afterthought (if considered at all). Instead she proposes the first priority be lifestyle factors (healthy eating, exercise, supplements) and when necessary psychological treatment, and save medications for when these approaches prove insufficient.

Anthony Stephan, founder of TrueHope, argues that it’s better to nutrate our brains than to medicate them. He prefers to call mental illness “nutritional deficiency mood disorders” and believes that given sufficient nutrients the body can heal itself.

Putting nutrition first makes sense to me. The brain makes up 2% of body mass but consumes 20% of our energy and uses a disproportionately high amount of our daily intake of nutrients. How can we expect it to function properly if our diets are depleted in essential nutrients? Kaplan & Rucklidge in their December 9, 2014 madinamerica.com article “Nutrient Boosting of Medications” put it more technically:

...psychiatric symptoms may be the result of inborn metabolic dysfunction associated with slowed metabolic activity caused by insufficient vitamin and mineral cofactors.

Note that nutrient dosages much higher than the RDA are usually required to compensate for these metabolic dysfunctions.

Research on micro-nutrition and mental illness (25 published studies to date) shows positive often dramatic improvements with a broad spectrum high dose nutrient supplementation on a variety of conditions: depression, bi-polar disorder, autism, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, stress, anxiety, mood & behavior, and addiction. Over the last 16 years TrueHope and its micronutrient supplement has helped tens of thousands of people with mental illness return to a normal life and either reduce or eliminate their psychiatric medications. Shouldn’t this be our primary treatment for mental illness: nutrate rather than medicate?

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

297 Mental Health Revolution [8 Dec 2014]

The discovery of the first anti-depressant in the 1950s ushered in a revolution in mental health. This and the families of anti-depressant, anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic drugs that followed not only provided results not possible before but did much to remove the stigma of mental illness. They showed that mental illness is a chemical imbalance, not a character flaw, and not the fault of the person experiencing it.

Unfortunately, recent research is finding that while these drugs have good short term results, the long term can be a different story. Dr. Julia Rucklidge, a clinical psychologist in New Zealand, expanded on this topic in a recent TEDx Talk. She reported huge rates of increases over the past few years in ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric illnesses in New Zealand and internationally, and then discussed the long term shortcomings of conventional treatments.

Rucklidge has spent the last ten years researching the effects of micro-nutrition on mental health. She and other researchers around the world, have found that the broad spectrum high dose supplement she works with consistently provides superior, often dramatic, results in the short term, without the long term side effects of conventional treatments, for many different conditions including: stress, anxiety, addictions, depression, ADHD, OCD, autism, and Bipolar Disorder. Links to these studies can be found on the TrueHope website. She explains that eating well is essential for mental health but for some people it is not sufficient to turn around a serious mental condition. She also cautioned that the number of nutrients (36) and the dosage used by the researchers are far higher than you would find in a regular multivitamin.

I first wrote about this program in January 2010 "A Discovery of Truehope". Listen to an interview with Truehope founder Anthony Stephan talking about the program and how it came to be.

Rucklidge sums it up this way:

“Poor nutrition is a significant and modifiable risk factor for the development of mental illness… Optimizing nutrition is a safe and viable way to avoid, treat or lessen mental illness.”

I think it’s time for the next revolution in mental health.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

167 Zesty or Tranquil? [28 May 2012]

Two weeks ago I mentioned that one of the functions of amino acids is to act as precursors to neuropeptides (NPs) and neurotransmitters (NTs). Neuropeptides are short chains of amino acids found in neurons (nerve cells) that control many body functions including pain. One called Substance P transmits pain from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system; other NPs called endorphins block this transmission. Opiate drugs like morphine are similar to and work like endorphins.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit signals between nerve cells. They control our mood and certain physiological effects such as appetite, sleep, heart rate and temperature. NTs are divided into two classes depending on their effect on our mood – excitatory and inhibitory.

The main excitatory NTs are epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine. Released during high stress they prepare our bodies for “fight or flight”. The amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine are precursors to dopamine, another excitatory NT. In the right balance excitatory NTs elevate our mood, improve our memory and ability to focus, and increase energy and sex drive; they could be called the “Zesty Neurotransmitters”.

The main inhibitory NTs are GABA and serotonin. The amino acid taurine is a precursor to GABA, and L-theanine, an amino acid abundant in green tea, promotes the production of GABA. The amino acid tryptophan is converted in our bodies to 5HTP which in turn is a precursor to serotonin. The inhibitory NTs reduce tension and anxiety, calm and relax our mood, improve sleep, and enable us to handle stress; they could be called the “Tranquil Neurotransmitters”.

Optimum emotional health requires a balance of the “zesty” and “tranquil” NTs. Which do you need more of in your life? Caution: people with serious mood disorders (bipolar, severe depression) should not experiment with supplemental neurotransmitters without medical supervision.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

147 The Brain – Gut Connection [9 January 2012]

A neurologist trained in Russia, now practicing in the UK, has developed a program to heal the digestive tract, which has greatly benefited her patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders ranging from autism to schizophrenia. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride believes that brain dysfuction is usually connected to problems in the digestive system. She calls her program “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” (or GAPS) and has written a book titled “Gut and Psychology Syndrome – Natural Treatment for Autism, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Depression and Schizophrenia”.

Dr. McBride became interested in nutrition when her son was diagnosed with autism. Her research resulted in her obtaining a master’s degree in human nutrition – and in the full recovery of her son who is now symptom free. In her book McBride explains how the digestive system affects many other areas of our health including the nervous system.

There are three parts to the GAPS program:
1. A special diet to support the regeneration of the enterocytes which line the digestive tract
2. Probiotics and fermented foods to establish healthy bacteria in the gut
3. Gentle detoxification

We produce important neurotransmitters in the gut, including serotonin. This may partially explain the connection between an unhealthy gut and neurological disorders. A healthy gut lining also prevents toxins, microbes and partially digested proteins from entering the bloodstream where they can trigger a wide range of health problems throughout the body including the brain. This situation, called “Leaky Gut Syndrome” would be a good topic for a future column.

You can learn more about Dr. McBride and the GAPS program at www.doctor-natasha.com and www.GAPS.me. On the latter website there is a list of practitioners trained to lead you through the program – the closest are three in Alberta.

This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

094 Lecithin and Phosphatidylcholine [20 December 2010]

Lecithin is a nutrient first isolated from egg yoke in 1850. Other food sources are soy, liver, fish, brewer’s yeast, grains and legumes. In the late 1950s lecithin was found to effectively lower cholesterol and prevent or reverse atherosclerosis. It works as an emulsifier, breaking down fats and cholesterol into tiny particles during the digestion process to make them less “sticky”.

Lecithin is composed of several phospholipids (a fatty acid–phosphate compound) of which phosphatidylcholine (PC) is the most important. PC is an essential component of cellular membranes and is synthesized in every cell of the body. The synthesis of PC and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (AC) requires an adequate level of choline in the blood and PC is the best and safest dietary source of choline. Food sources such as egg yolks and soy do not contain enough and would require large amounts of these foods in the diet. Researchers at MIT recently found PC to be more effective at raising serum choline levels than the previously used choline chloride. Lecithin may contain as little as 10-20% PC so would require a much higher dosage than a concentrated PC supplement.

PC is an important nutrient for liver support. Decades of clinical trials show that PC protects the liver from damage from viruses, alcoholism, pharmaceuticals and other toxins. Even more significant are the effects of PC on the nervous system. Bipolar disorder is associated with low levels of choline in the brain and may benefit from PC supplementation (but large doses can exacerbate unipolar depression). Acetylcholine (synthesized from PC) is a very important neurotransmitter in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. AC deficiencies are associated with several neurological disorders including tardive dyskinesia, Huntington’s chorea, myasthenia gravis, and Alzheimer’s disease. While studies of PC supplementation on humans are limited, one study on mice bred for dementia, showed that acetylcholine levels and memory improved when given PC.

This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.