Author: Hammersmith Health Books

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Eat to beat depression

Eat to beat depression for World Health Day

Tackling depression naturally for World Health Day

Nutrition-related health issues seem to take an age to become part of accepted medical practice. The medical establishment requires comprehensive scientific evaluation, randomised trials and peer review before a new drug can be licensed, for instance. The pharmaceutical company has to weigh up the costs of research and development versus the potential profit to be made from launching a successful product that can earn a good return on their investment. (When you add in the factor that 80 per cent of their budget goes on marketing, it is clear the stakes are high indeed.) As real food is simply real food and can’t be licensed, branded or patented, there is little impetus for the medical community to fund costly research.

Medical research over the last couple of decades has, nevertheless, highlighted how an unhealthy gut can contribute to many physical diseases and these findings are becoming more accepted in mainstream medicine. Clinicians increasingly agree that the gut-brain axis also plays a crucial part in emotional wellbeing, including the development of conditions as diverse as chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and autism.

The Gut-Brain Axis

The gut-brain axis is a way of describing the interrelationship between gut health and brain health. The various aspects of digestion are controlled via the vagus nerves by a complex set of neurons embedded in the oesophagus, stomach, intestines, colon and rectum. The brain sends messages to all the nerves in your body, including the neurons that control digestion. All work efficiently enough until a person is anxious or stressed on an ongoing basis. You perhaps know for yourself that if you are feeling nervous your stomach can feel upset and queasy. The reason for this is that strong negative emotions, stress and anxiety increase cortisol and adrenaline, which then stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and shut down the parasympathetic system, which includes control of the gut. This causes a physical chain reaction:

* Reduction in pancreatic enzyme production

* Reduction in gall bladder function

* Reduction in the production of stomach acid

* Slowing down of peristalsis – the involuntary muscle movements essential for moving food efficiently through intestines for the absorption of nutrients

* Reduction in blood flow to the intestines

* Suppression of the intestinal immune system

In the short term, this allows the body to focus its resources on ‘fight or flight’ – a good survival mechanism. However, with ongoing stress and anxiety, this cumulative slowing down and suppression of the digestive process can, over a prolonged period, lead to a condition called ‘small intestinal bacterial overgrowth’ (SIBO). As the digestive process is compromised by stress and anxiety, the lack of stomach acid allows the stomach and small intestine – which should both be pretty much microbe free – to be colonised by unhealthy bacteria, and yeasts, causing foods to be fermented rather than digested. In addition to gas and bloating, compromised digestion leads to declining absorption of nutrients, which contributes to the loss of the co-factors needed for good digestion, and consequently further gut problems.

Now consider this situation lasting for extended periods of time. The integrity of the gut lining may be compromised, contributing to gut permeability (‘leaky gut’) that may be sufficient to produce chronic low-grade inflammation.

Chronic Inflammation

The inflammatory process includes the production of cytokines, chemical signals of inflammation that are carried by the blood to the brain. The cytokines can activate cells – so that the inflammation originating in the gut thereby causes widespread inflammation in the rest of the body, including the brain.

The impact of brain inflammation is that the brain has reduced nerve conductance which – guess what – shows up as depression, anxiety and stress.

This vicious circle can self-perpetuate and requires long-term changes to heal the gut, which in turn will help to heal the brain. This is done through changes in behaviour and improving levels of nutrition through changes to food choices. To improve your natural resilience to stress it is important to increase the amount of healthy polyunsaturated omega-3 oils in your diet, so look for oily fish, grass-fed meats and butter made from the milk of grass-fed dairy herds. Good plant sources include hemp seeds, linseeds, chia and some nuts and nut oils (macadamia, almond).

If you consider yourself to be depressed it will be helpful for your recovery to manage your stress levels, improve your sleep patterns and add nutritious and gut-healing foods into your regular eating plan.

Do bear in mind, however, that you may also need professional help if you have been suffering from this debilitating psychological disorder for some time. Please make sure you are accessing all the medical and psychological support you need. Try hard not to add isolation to an already challenging situation.

This blog has been taken from How to Feel Differently About Food by Sally Baker & Liz Hogon.

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The Science of Stress Hormones

Stress Awareness Month

Exploring the role of hormones for Stress Awareness Month

There are two main hormones governing the stress reaction: cortisol and adrenaline. They work together to exert the ‘fear, fight or flight’ response that was first described in the scientific literature as long as 1936. This response gives a temporary increase in energy production, at the expense of processes that are not required for immediate survival. The resulting biochemical and hormonal imbalances should ideally resolve as soon as the danger is over, due to a hormonally driven negative feedback loop. The following is a typical example of how the stress response is supposed to operate as a survival mechanism:

* An individual is faced with a stressor

* A complex hormonal cascade ensures, and the adrenals secrete cortisol

* Cortisol prepares the body for a fight-or-flight response by flooding it with glucose, supplying an immediate energy source to large muscles

* Cortisol inhibits insulin production in an attempt to prevent glucose from being stored, favouring its immediate use

* Cortisol narrows the arteries whilst adrenaline increases heart rate, increasing the blood pressure and delivering more oxygen rich blood to the tissues

* The individual addresses and resolves the situation

* Hormone levels return to normal

Unfortunately, with our over-stressed, fast paced lifestyle, our bodies are pumping out cortisol almost constantly, which wreaks havoc on our health. In times of high stress the body will break down amino acids to form glucose through the process of gluconeogenesis (a physiological process via which proteins and amino acids are utilised, instead of glucose), to produce energy. Cortisol is the major stress hormone that promotes this process. Collagen, being a structural tissue made from protein, is one of the target areas for spare amino acids; the muscles are another. Chronically elevated stress levels increase collagen breakdown. Since collagen is the matrix upon which our bones are built, anything that is likely to break it down will have potentially serious consequences for the strength and integrity of the bones.

Cortisol primarily acts on the outer layer of the bone, known as the periosteum. Research has shown that elevated cortisol levels interfere with the formation of osteoblasts and cell proliferation. This dramatically decreases bone building and lowers bone density. Without adequate rest and repair, bone mineralisation and collagen formation will be reduced for the duration of the elevated stress.  The absorption of vitamin D is also adversely affected by high cortisol levels. This gives a double whammy in favour of bone loss.

Stress can rot your bones faster than a can of fizzy drink. Stress and the negative emotions that accompany it have been shown to have a chemical structure in our bodies. And guess what? That chemical structure is acidic! With all the emphasis I place on ensuring appropriate intake of alkaline minerals in earlier chapters, and the fact that increased acidity causes increased urinary calcium excretion, is it any wonder that for prevention and reversal of osteoporosis we absolutely have to take stress reduction seriously?

The power of exercise

My favourite way of combating the stress that often accompanies a bad day at work is to get out and go for a run, or go to a karate class. Both are also excellent ways of not only de-stressing the body but also improving bone strength. Exercise is a surefire way to de-fuse. It boosts the level of endorphins in the brain, morphine-like ‘happy hormones’ which are often depleted by our daily lives. Relaxation classes and guided meditation are well worth doing, as is a meditation based on love and compassion. Thoughts of love and compassion stimulate the production of a hormone called oxytocin, whose effects in the body work in the opposite way to those of cortisol. Oxytocin lowers the blood pressure and relaxes the walls of the arteries.

This blog is taken from Love Your Bones: The essential guide to ending osteoporosis and building a healthy skeleton by Max Tuck.