Terrie Van AlstyneMental Illness Can be Reversed or Significantly Improved with Nutrition Part 3
Food Allergies may present as cold hands, red ears, perspiration and excess saliva. They may be causing a worsening of mental dysfunction so find out which foods are the problem and avoid and/or treat.
It is important to not decrease medications until 6 months on orthomolecular medicine and to slowly wean down.
Tyrosine in 5-HTP and D-L-Phenylalanine are important to balance neurotransmitters. Determine neurotransmitter levels through lab testing or a questionnaire of symptoms.
Vegetarian mothers may have ADHD children due to amino acid deficiencies.
A zinc deficiency is indicated by a lack taste in food and developing stretch marks easily.
A dairy allergy is indicated by ear infections and tubes in a child’s ears and dark circles under the eyes.
A vitamin B6 deficiency is indicated by colic as a baby, a person doesn’t dream or remember their dreams.
B3 cures pellagra (any degree of: dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia, death) and normalizes histamine making a person calmer and happier.
When your biochemicals and biochemistry is present in the right amounts, you have physical and mental health.
Just because a psychiatrist doesn’t know the cause of mental illness, doesn’t mean there is no cause. It simply means they are ignorant of the cause but you don’t have to be.
The numbers of soldiers coming home from war with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), depression, anxiety, mania, paranoia, psychosis or schizo-affective disorder, could be tested for pyrroluria, histamines, phenylalanine deficiency, niacin deficiency and treated with these nutrients to restore normal brain function, enabling them to resume a normal life.
There are greater than 100,000 drug-related deaths per year in the US when drugs are “taken as prescribed”. Drug-related deaths and drug recalls are now an” integral part” of manufacturing and selling drugs. Apparently, this is acceptable by the FDA and College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Nutritional medicine is Big Pharma’s biggest competitor and that’s why pharmaceutical companies are trying to get nutritional supplements off the market. They want to make supplements prescription only and no supplement will be given above the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) which will be too low a dose to make a difference in many conditions especially mental health.
Anxiety is deficiency of GABA, a neurotransmitter.
Psychosis shows up as elevated urinary pyrroles.
Depression and OCD shows up as elevated histamine.
Every drug on the market for chronic health issues is masking the symptoms.
Winter-time depression is a vitamin D deficiency. Your GP can test vitamin D for you.
We are a nation of physically and mentally malnourished people. It’s no coincidence the number of physical and mental problems have skyrocketed here since the end of WWII. Since then our food is more refined, colored, injected with chemicals, genetically modified, irradiated and processed beyond recognition. Our vegetables are grown in soils depleted of most vitamins and minerals for decades. Then our food is sprayed with chemicals to keep it looking fresh or food is processed so it can sit on the shelf for years.
Amino acids: tryptophan, taurine, glycine, GABA and Omega 3 oils are necessary to produce the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, GABA, etc.
L-theanine, 5-HTP, GABA, L-taurine, L-glycine can all help with ADHD.
Omega 3 oils may help calm anxiety, irritability and lower cholesterol within 7 weeks.
Carl Pfeiffer, MD, one of the founders of Orthomolecular Medicine found 29 biochemical causes of mental illness. His books: Mental and Elemental Nutrients, Nutrition and Mental Illness
“Evidence of biochemical causes for mental disturbances continues to mount. Experiments have shown that symptoms of mental illness can be switched off and on by altering vitamin levels in the body” an excerpt from The Vitamin Bible by Earl Mindell
Pyroluria / SCHIZOPHRENIA symptoms:
Irritable / sudden rage
Changes in hearing (excessively keen hearing)
At times, extremely sensitive to touch and other times very insensitive
Lack of body awareness – drop things a lot, spill food, break things
Poor attention to detail: lack fine motor skills
Picky eater, poor appetite, says food doesn’t taste good
Poor sense of time: procrastinates
Thought processes often illogical or disconnected
Apathetic or depressed
Sensitive to odours including food
Boundary problems-difficulty understanding when things belonging to others and should be touched, not understanding personal space
Visual differences – colors dull and grey or bright and mesmorizing
Unable to handle stress
Has relatives NOT parents, who are alcoholic, schizophrenic, bipolar, anxious or irritable
Unable to understand status/superior relationships child/parent, student/teacher- doesn’t show respect
Fatigue
Lithium deficiency
Lithium transports folate and vitamin B12 into the brain
Is a trace mineral salt present in the body that should be in the right amount along with all the other minerals
A hair analysis measures lithium level
Low lithium levels correspond to mental illness and social issues
Significantly lower in children with autism and their mothers
Highly purified water removes toxic chemicals and all the minerals including lithium
Pregnant mothers should have their lithium level tested to ensure optimal brain development in the baby
The switch to bottled / reverse osmosis filtered water corresponds with the surge in autism in the past 20 years
A study found that incidences of suicide, homicide and rape were significantly higher in countries whose drinking water contained little or no lithium compared to countries with higher lithium levels
Also, higher levels of robbery, burglary, theft, and arrests for illegal drugs
Schizophrenics have low levels
Blood tests at conventional labs measure high levels of lithium as prescribed by doctors. These tests are useless in measuring the very low levels associated with nutritional lithium
A provisional RDA for lithium is 14.3 mcg/kg (1kg=2.2lbs) of weight. Doses of 150-400mcg/d are nutritional not pharmacological
Regulating lithium levels in long-term drug abusers resulted in improved mood
If hair values are low or if a person only drinks reverse osmosis filtered water, they should supplement with trace minerals including lithium or 500mcg of lithium/d
B Vitamins are water soluble so the body does not store them and any symptoms they might cause (due to high doses) are temporary
B vitamins should be taken early in the day with breakfast and lunch as they boost energy and may impair sleep
B vitamins are all required so take a B-complex in addition to single Bs in required amounts for specific conditions or to treat a deficiency as found on a micronutrient panel or via symptoms
B50 or B100 complexes are available in capsule, tablet, liquid and chewable forms.
Liquid or powdered B vitamins don’t taste good but can be hidden in protein shakes, juice, peanut butter, etc. for children who can’t swallow pills
B vitamins need to be taken with food (after a substantial meal) or they will cause nausea
Brewer’s yeast in powdered form (40% higher in nutrients vs. flaked) is full of B vitamins and does not feed Candida or fungus. It tastes like cheese and is excellent on popcorn
Bee pollen is another natural / bioavailable (body-ready) form of B vitamins
Some cannot tolerate B vitamins which may be because most are synthetically produced so the food versions are a great alternative for the complex
Vitamin B3 / Niacin / Niacinamide
The niacin form can cause a facial flush which may be uncomfortable but with repeated doses the body adapts and the flushing stops
Start with a low dose of 100 mg after a substantial meal and gradually increase the dose to optimal prescribed
To avoid the flush combining Niacin with Inositol removes the flushing risk or take Niacinamide which is non-flushing. Inositol will aggravate bipolar patients with low histamine
Niacin, not niacinamide lowers high cholesterol and prevents Alzheimer’s and Dementia along with many other conditions
The Ness Foundation in Great Britain is developing a Niacin skin patch which tests Niacin levels in the body
Unlike most of the population, Schizophrenics do not flush at all or very little when taking Niacin
3g Niacin for most mental disorders: pellagra, sub-clinical pellagra, psychosis, schizoid disorder and schizophrenia
B6 / Pyridoxine comes in tablets or capsules and therapeutic dose is 100-750mg/d
B6 in high dose causes tingling in the hands and feet which subsides when dose is lowered
Helps with allergic symptoms
With enough B6 people remember their dreams
Its helpful to give B6 with magnesium especially if taking it later in the day to prevent insomnia
Too much magnesium causes loose stools, however Magnesium glycinate stays in the tissues longer and less of an effect on the stool
B6 Deficiency Symptoms:
1. Pins and needles felling in feet
2. Carpal tunnel (repetitive motion of wrists, pregnancy)
3. Kidney stones
4. Slow physical growth as a child
5. Poor, no dream recall
6. Low resistance to infections
7. Anxiety which is caused by lack of the biochemicals (B3 & B6) needed to deal with the adversity
8. Depression
9. Chronic chapped lips and bleeding in the corners of the mouth – B2 may also be deficient so take a B-Complex as well
10. Baby holding breath until they turn blue
11. Hyperactivity
12. Acrodynia – extreme irritability alternating with apathy, lack of appetite, pink itching feet, profuse sweating, rapid heart beat, hypertension, flaking skin on feet – often labelled bipolar with psychosis
Magnesium & vitamin B6
Sometimes convulsions are caused by a double deficiency of B6 and Magnesium – often labelled epilepsy
Both are necessary to stop seizures
Epileptic children and adults should be taking both
Magnesium is a very common deficiency and required for hundreds of reactions in the body
Epsom salts contain magnesium
Folic Acid
Dr. Pfeiffer prescribes folic acid for those with low histamine
If histamine is too high folic acid should be avoided as it can lead to depression
Sometimes the folic acid in a B Complex is too much for histadelics
B12 Deficiency
Chronic headaches are caused by this deficiency
A deficiency can cause psychosis or schizophrenia – vegetarians must be careful as B12 is found in animal products not plants
Some do not produce intrinsic factor a protein in the stomach necessary for B12 absorption. In these cases, intramuscular B Complex injections with B12 are used
Deficiency vs. Dependency
Some people are not just deficient in a nutrient, they ae dependent on it due to their genetics
Orthomolecular research has shown that a dependency does not usually go away. It is a part of that person’s biochemical makeup and they will have this need all their life
Supplementing will cause the disorder to disappear, only to reappear when the supplements are stopped
Compare this to the fact that eating food will cure hunger, when the food is digested, the hunger returns also true of diabetes and insulin. The diabetic is dependent upon insulin for their physical health
Schizophrenia is due to a dependency on B3
A deficiency in B vitamins in addition to the lack in a schizophrenic’s diet and a possible genetic allergy to B vitamins may be behind the condition
Being treated with NAET or Bio-SET for food allergies first, then supplementing with B vitamins will enhance their absorption and rebalance the body energetically
Folic acid, best form is methylfolate- in pregnancy for a high histamine woman will potentially cause depression.
Even the amount of folate in green leafy vegetables may be too much for this group
A low histamine person will need higher amounts of folic acid
B1 (thiamine) deficiency causes irritability among other symptoms
B5 (pantothenic acid) supports the adrenal glands as does plenty of vitamin
If you are on a psychoactive drug check with your pharmacist to see if it raises or lowers histamine
Human biochemistry is very complex and we are still learning about the potential causes of why: some process metals improperly, some have higher or lower histamines, some amino acids are low despite adequate protein, how does fungi affect mental illness?