By: Cat Ebeling RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-seller: The Diabetes Fix

Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar, schizophrenia, behavioral problems, ADD/ADHD—the list goes on and on. Mental health issues are increasing by the day.

Pharmaceutical companies make massive amounts of money treating mental health, mood and behavioral disorders. In fact, Americans spend about $188 billion dollars a year on mental health treatments and medications. Of that, $71 billion is on depressive disorders alone. It is estimated that almost 20%, or 1 out of every 5 people in the United States have some form of mental health issue, according to the National Institute on Mental Health (2017).

Medical treatments for depression, autism, attention deficit disorder, insomnia, eating disorders, learning disabilities, drug addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, bipolar, dementia are making pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars!

And then there are things like chronic stress, brain fog, anger management, anxiety, mood swings, sleep issues, irritability, and memory loss. Mental health problems are an ‘invisible epidemic’ that affect 1.1 billion people worldwide.

Physicians have long held onto the belief that the brain and the body do not affect each other. The common belief was that what we put into our bodies did not change anything in our brain. But that is wrong.

We now know, that mood, memory, attention and behavior problems and most other brain diseases have their root cause in the body, especially the gut. Perhaps the conventional medical approach to dealing with brain disorders is totally backwards.

Doctors used to speak of the ‘blood/brain’ barrier in terms of medications, toxins, foods etc. The idea was that most of what we ate or drank did not cross that barrier to the brain. Now we know that that is totally not true.

That holds very true for many of the foods we eat. Toxins in the form of preservatives, hormones, pesticides and other chemicals affect us physically and mentally, and often the result is dementia, ADHD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, brain fog, memory loss, autism, behavior problems and more.

According to Dr. Hyman in his “UltraMind Solution” book—

“There is such an onslaught of stress and environmental chemicals in our world, and it’s no wonder that our bodies and our brains are challenged and not functioning properly. We are exposed to toxins we were never designed to deal with—and nearly all of them cause brain injury…In fact, a recent government survey found an average of 148 chemicals in our bodies. And those were only the ones they tested.”

We are finding it very clear that the brain is very much linked to the body and the gut, and that what happens in the brain affects the body and what happens in the body most definitely affects the brain.

If our health is off somewhere in our body, then the health of the brain is often off too.

While just treating the brain with pharmaceuticals may lead to drug dependence, a dulled reality, and not treat the REAL problem, treating the body’s systemic natural chemistry and gut microbiome can fix brain chemistry imbalances and lead to genuine healing in the entire physical body.

An imbalance in any of system–nutrition, hormones, immune function, digestion, gut bacteria, detoxification, or metabolism can help to explain many of the symptoms that we think of as mental health issues. Most of these imbalances start in the body and show up eventually in the brain as mood, mental health or behavioral problems.

Messed up physical systems in the body actually can clue us into explanations for the depression, anxiety, dementia, autism, and attention deficit disorder that we see today.

Conventional treatments treat only the symptoms—often with powerful drugs that cause adverse side effects and never get to the root of the problem.

The simple truth is that your body and your brain, and all of your physical systems must interact together in one smooth dynamic system. If you improve your physical body’s health, you improve the health of your brain as well.

To illustrate, think about this– does a sugary snack make you feel anxious, jittery, and sleepy, then irritable later? Do you feel groggy and mentally slow after a big meal? Ever exercise hard and then feel calm, relaxed and happy afterwards?

How well do you focus on anything when you are sick?

We know that PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) is the result of fluctuating hormones, but did you know that alcoholics can actually become ‘crazy’ with something called Wernicke’s encephalopathy that comes from vitamin B1 deficiency and simply treating with this vitamin will cure this condition? Did you know that antibiotics for strep infections can cure some children who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder? And did you know that many schizophrenics often have a gluten sensitivity?

Heal the body, heal the brain.

Changing your diet, nutrients, sleep patterns, exercise, detoxing, balancing your hormones, correcting the bacterial balance in the gut, and removing foods that cause food allergies can all radically transform your mood, behavior and brain function.

These few steps can have a huge difference in your brain function and your physical health:

1. Eat, healthy, clean foods. Avoid any foods that you are sensitive or allergic to.
2. Add in necessary supplements for brain and physical health.
3. Make a habit of exercise, relaxation, meditation, and quality sleep in your daily life.
4. Avoid toxins in your food and environment.

If you can follow these steps for at least 6 weeks, you will see major changes your life, your outlook, and your sense of well being—literally in weeks or days!

Some of the changes you experience may happen almost immediately. If you are gluten sensitive and you stop eating gluten, your gut health and your brain can change within just a week or so. You may notice other major mental health improvements by removing dairy products, corn, and food additives.

More than 90% of the body’s serotonin lies in the gut, as well as about 50% of the body’s dopamine, so feeding the gut bacteria healthy foods, only serves to help your body make ‘happy’ brain chemicals.

Once you begin following these steps you will realize just how good you can feel—and you’ll never want to go back to feeling bad again.

Feed Your Brain the Right Foods

Your fork, you could say, can actually become one of the most powerful tools to use to change your health, your brain and your life.

There is nothing that has a bigger impact on your health. Absolutely nothing.

Here’s how to use that powerful tool:

• Eat REAL Food–Eat whole, real, fresh, organic, local and unprocessed food. If it has more than three ingredients (especially ones you do not immediately recognize), a package, or a barcode, AVOID IT.

• Get Healthy Fats for Your Head—The brain needs omega 3 fat DHA and EPA, which comes from algae, cold-water fatty fish and grass fed meats, along with saturated fats to stay its healthiest.

• Protein Power--Eat high quality, naturally sourced protein for breakfast every day, such as omega 3 eggs, salmon or grass fed meat, plain organic yogurt, or nut butters.

• Boost Your Brain Protectors–Eat piles of fruit and vegetables deeply colored with powerful phytonutrients. The deep red, yellow, orange, green, and blue in foods are a sign of powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, energy boosting, and brain-powering nutrients.

• Eat the RIGHT Kind of Carbs–Eat foods full of fiber, including raw vegetables, raw fruit, nuts, and seeds. This helps to clean out the gut, remove toxins, and grow healthy gut bacteria. A healthy gut has MUCH to do with the brain, and a healthy gut means a healthy brain!

• Remove the Poisons–Eliminate sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, coffee, alcohol, trans fats, food additives and preservatives, all of which poison your brain and disrupt your biochemistry.

If you can just follow these few steps—yes they may be big steps, but you can start instantly eliminating the brain-damaging foods and chemicals from you diet.

There is one other KEY change that is essential–That step is to eliminate the two most common causes of food allergens and hidden reactions in our diet. These come from gluten and pasteurized processed dairy.

Your brain reacts to allergens as well as your body—with increased inflammation. And when this occurs, you can get brain fog, anxiety/depression, autism, ADHD, dementia, and more. Gluten has even been proven to cause some cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

You don’t need to break out in hives or have an anaphylaxis reaction to these foods to be allergic. People often have hidden allergies to these foods and not even realize it—especially because these foods are often eaten on a daily basis, so the problem becomes chronic. Actually, that should be the FIRST thing you think of—“I am irritable today, or I feel depressed today,”…Think about WHAT you ate yesterday or the day before.

You can eat a piece of cheesecake on Monday and feel depressed on Tuesday. You eat a bag of cookies one day and the next day you are irritable. Many times, inflammatory reactions occur up to 24 to 48 hours later, but there definitely IS a connection to food sensitivities and changes in mood.

Many people just have ongoing, low-grade, delayed food sensitivities or allergies all the time. What you eat on a regular basis, may be causing a delayed allergic reaction you might not ever know it because those foods are the foods you just can’t do without.

You can get tested for food reactions from a doctor, but this method is not food proof. The best and easiest way is to remove the most common foods that cause reactions. Usually the top two are wheat and dairy.

Then pay close attention to your body and mind when you do this—the first few days may be tough, because you may actually have to break an addiction to these foods, but then you may suddenly feel great!

Remove the poisons in your diet as well including the artificial sweeteners, foods with preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats or vegetable oils, and junk food.

Try this for a minimum of two-six weeks. Then challenge those foods and see how you feel, 1 hour, 4 hours, 12 hours, 24 and 48 hours later. You may be SHOCKED!

Supplements for your brain and physical health

Even those who eat the healthiest diet will probably need some additional supplements. These are ESSENTIAL for brain health and physical health as well.

1. Multivitamin–A high-quality, high-potency, multivitamin.
2. B vitamins that include methylfolate and methylcobalamin. These are forms of B vitamins necessary for brain health, nerve function, energy, and fat metabolism. A deficiency will cause anxiety, depression, loss of energy.
3. Vitamin C 500-1000 mg, take 1000 mg a day. Vitamin C reduces inflammation in the body and brain as well as protecting the immune system.
4. Omega 3 fatty acids with high levels of EPA and DHA.
5. Magnesium Glycinate or Magnesium Theonate to promote calm and overall better health.
6. An all-purpose digestive enzyme.

And be sure to incorporate these lifestyle changes into your life—exercise, relaxation and good sleep. Exercise naturally eases stress, releases ‘feel-good’ hormones, balances your gut bacteria, increases blood flow and helps balance blood sugar. Good sleep helps to ‘rewire’ the brain, eases stress and reboots the brain.

You should have the privilege to live a life that is alert, awake, engaged, present, focused, joyful and balanced. Making these changes in your diet and lifestyle, while healing your body will most definitely help heal your brain as well. You cannot have a truly healthy body without a healthy brain too.

Your body, your brain, your gut, and your health. All are one. Nourish your body and your mind will be nourished as well.

We have been told for many years to eat your five a day to keep a healthy body, but this one fruit is revolutionary in brain health…

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If your memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be… this may be why.

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References
Report on brain aging at the National Institute on Aging:
Elias, M., 2005. “Want a Sharp Mind for Your Golden Years? Start Now,” USA Today, Aug 17, 2005. [accessed April 20, 2007] http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-08-17-save-your-brain_x.htm.

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By: Cat Ebeling, BSN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Kale used to show up on people’s plates as a barely edible garnish, but in the last several years, it suddenly skyrocketed to fame as health fanatics everywhere discovered its many nutritious attributes.

Kale now takes center stage as a salad ingredient, a smoothie standby, chips, food additive, or main dish ingredient. Unfortunately however, kale has fallen from grace as the superstar superfood, to one of the “Dirty Dozen”, as one of the most herbicide/pesticide-contaminated vegetables in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Working Group (EWG) that rates produce for their herbicide/pesticide content.

This year, kale ranks third, just behind strawberries and spinach. According to the EWG, the average kale sample contains over five different types of herbicides or pesticides, in spite of being thoroughly washed. One of the more contaminated samples actually contained up to 18 different pesticide residues.

Do these pesticides outweigh the value of the nutrients in kale? Well, studies have shown pesticides to be linked to cancer, diabetes, autism, ADD/ADHD, and other serious health issues.

One of the primary pesticides showing up in kale is an herbicide called DCPA, or Dacthal. Dacthal has been used as a weed-killer for strawberries, many other vegetables, beans and cotton. But in 2005, Dacthal use was curtailed because of concerns that it was leaching into groundwater and was toxic. While the European Union prohibited all uses of this herbicide, the United States still uses Dacthal on sweet potatoes, eggplant, turnips and, of course, kale.

The problem with Dacthal, however, is that even the EPA has found evidence that Dacthal can cause cancer. The organization has listed the herbicide as a possible carcinogen based on a two-year study that linked DCPA to thyroid and liver tumors in rats, and while the effects on humans haven’t been tested, it’s a safe bet to believe it’s not healthy for us, either.

The EWG analysis also found that 30% of the kale samples contained bifenthrin and cypermethrin, two other pesticides that have been classified by the EPA as possible human carcinogens based on studies in mice. Exposure to these chemicals could cause nausea, headaches, and neurological issues, such as tingling and numbness.

The biggest problem with kale and these toxic pesticides is that kale is a leaf, so it will absorb these toxic sprays. There is no peel you can remove to help reduce the exposure and washing the kale does not help. These pesticides permeate the kale through and through.

Kale and Your Thyroid

For some people, the thought process goes like this–if a little bit is healthy, then a lot should be REALLY healthy. Unfortunately, for many things, including kale, this is not true. Kale in larger quantities, especially in the form of juicing, can actually be harmful to healthy thyroid function.

Kale is considered a goitrogenic food, meaning that it contains substances called goitrogens that can block proper thyroid function. Cruciferous vegetables, like kale, are considered goitrogenic. Other goitrogenic vegetables include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, mustard greens, turnips, and watercress.

These veggies contain a substance called thiocyanate, which in larger amounts, can interfere with our bodies’ ability to utilize iodine, a key nutrient for production of thyroid hormones. Exposure to high amounts of thiocyanate can interfere with the normal thyroid function and cause hypothyroidism, or low thyroid. This creates symptoms like weight gain, depression, slow hair growth, lowered immune status, and more.

The health benefits of eating kale and other cruciferous veggies generally outweighs any issues with thyroid function, but eating larger amounts of cruciferous vegetables like kale, can definitely interfere. The biggest problem with kale and thyroid function is when it is juiced. Juicing requires large amounts of the vegetable to create a small amount of juice. But juicing creates a very concentrated product with larger than normal amounts of thyroid-interfering goitrogens, among other things.

The risks of lowered thyroid function may be exacerbated in those who are already iodine deficient, especially vegetarians and vegans—often just the folks who are juicing and drinking large volumes of veggie juices with kale.

Other Toxins in Kale

Several years ago, research conducted in California by a molecular biologist by the name of Ernie Hubbard connected complaints of fatigue, brain fogginess, nausea and other symptoms in patients at a health clinic to high kale consumption.

Hubbard found higher than normal levels of the toxic mineral thallium in locally grown kale, as well as in the patients’ urine. Hubbard also found traces of other heavy metals including cesium, cadmium, aluminum and arsenic in other cruciferous vegetables. And it seems that the organically grown kale accumulates more of this heavy metal than conventionally grown kale.

While the source of the thallium was not determined from the soil or the vegetable, it was determined that the complaints from patients, combined with their reported kale consumption, urine test results, and the thallium levels found in the kale and soil suggested low-level thallium poisoning.

Other studies have found similar results. A study by Czech Republic agricultural researchers in 2006 investigated kale’s uptake of thallium from soils with a naturally high amount of the element, and concluded it could seriously endanger the food chain. This Chilean study published in 2009 examines the presence of thallium in potatoes grown in the northern region of the country, and finds an “important risk.” And this Canadian review in 2004 by researchers at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, noted thallium “can be transferred from soils to crops readily and accrues in fuel crops.”

Unfortunately, when it comes to thallium, even low-level exposures can cause symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, hair loss, and peripheral neuropathy. This means that people who eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables, including kale, may be exposing themselves to high levels of thallium.

How Much Kale Can You Safely Eat?

If you are an occasional kale eater, you shouldn’t worry too much about interfering with your thyroid function, or thallium. The most important though, is to choose organic kale.

Kale is jam-packed with nutrients. A single cup of raw chopped kale gives you more than 200% of your daily allowance of vitamin A and almost 700% of vitamin K. It’s also full of vitamins like B6, calcium, vitamin C, and potassium.

Plenty of research also suggests that cruciferous vegetables like kale can protect against certain types of cancer. Kale is also high in antioxidants including beta carotene and vitamin C, along with various flavanoids, and polyphenols.

Kale also contains the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol, which are found in relatively large amounts in kale. These substances in kale have been studied thoroughly and have powerful heart-protective, blood pressure-lowering, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-depressant and anti-cancer effects, to name a few.

Bottom Line

Kale is a very healthy superfood. Just don’t overdo and eat tons of kale on a daily basis, or you may be ingesting large amounts of pesticides, herbicides, thallium, and goitrogens that will have a negative effect on your health and your thyroid gland. Be especially careful of drinking kale juice. It takes a large quantity of kale to make juice, and you end up drinking concentrated amounts of the above toxins. Instead, enjoy a wide variety of superfoods on a daily basis.

References
https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/hypothyroidism/news-update-can-kale-cause-hypothyroidism
https://www.sciencealert.com/kale-is-now-one-of-the-most-pesticide-contaminated-vegetables-and-the-dangers-go-beyond-eating-salad?fbclid=IwAR2rA8S0nP76V0fAFPE6Gvp0Qyvh_T_5qkT35oDawZAPSLupY30gv_rQNco
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-kale#section9
https://craftsmanship.net/sidebar/information-research-thallium-gathered-hubbard-dr-rosenblum-click-tap/

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