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Welcome
to another edition of Common Ground Online. Here's what's in this week's
edition:
- Truehope Conference Call on
Thursday July 5th
- Unraveling the Mystery of
Mental Illness
- Series on Getting a Better
Sleep Continues
TOPIC:
The Link Between Poor Nutrition and Mental Illness
In this
month's conference call, Truehope co-founders
Anthony Stephan and David Hardy will discuss in depth the link that's been
discovered between mental illness and poor nutrition.
For more
than 11 years, Truehope has seen thousands of
individuals resolve their symptoms of mental illness with the balanced
essential nutrients in EMPowerplus. And now with
the research that's been uncovered establishing a link between nutrition
and mental illness, it all makes perfect sense.
Take
some time this month to listen to Tony and David share this this new and exciting information. Register for the
call by following the link below.
In this
week's Common Ground, we're focusing on new and exciting research that
further establishes the link between poor nutrition and illness. This information
and more will also be discussed in this month's conference call.
What
causes mental illness? You’ve heard it before: no one
knows. But science is closer than ever before to unraveling this mystery,
and nutrition research is giving us vital clues.
Below,
you’ll find out how these clues match up with the leading theories of
mental illness – how nutrients maintain chemical balance in the brain,
overcome genetic risks, and increase brain
growth factor levels. You’ll also learn about clinical nutrition
research that offers new hope to those who suffer with mood disorders.
Nutrition
and mental illness theories
 Chemical imbalance in the brain is
the most common explanation for mental disorders. Nutrients are chemicals
that the brain requires in order to work correctly. For example, nutrients
such as zinc, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are needed to make and regulate
neurotransmitters, which are essential in sending brain signals (1-4). Lack of these nutrients may cause the chemical
imbalances of mental illness.
Genetics. Dr. Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes, speculated
that some people have higher genetic requirements for vitamins and
minerals, and that much mental disease may be due to lack of these
nutrients in the brain. Pauling stated that “significant improvement
in the mental health of many persons might be achieved by the provision of
the optimum molecular concentrations of substances normally present in the
human body” (5).
 Research is showing that Dr. Pauling was
right. Dr. Bruce Ames at the University
of California, Berkeley, has shown that genetic
mutations often result in increased requirements for nutrients, and that
higher nutrient intake can overcome many effects of these mutated genes (6).
Dr. Ames
has shown that deficiencies in iron, zinc, folic acid, niacin, and vitamins
B12, B6, C, and E cause mutations in the same way that radiation does,
leading to cancer, premature aging, and possibly neuron decay, cognitive
dysfunction, mental illnesses, and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s
(7,8). Half of the U.S.
population may be deficient in one or more of these nutrients (9). For folic acid alone,
ten percent are deficient at levels known to cause breaks in human DNA (10).
Lack
of brain growth factors. Growth factors are essential for brain
cell branching and survival. They help to keep neurons in the brain
connected so the proper signals can be sent. Antidepressants increase brain
growth factor levels (11), but nutrients likely do
a better job (12-15).
Lack of these nutrients, and subsequent lack of brain growth factors, leads
to brain cell shrinkage and death (16,17).
These effects may interfere with proper brain signals, leading to symptoms
of mental illness.
Human
nutrition research
Poor
diet has been associated with mental illness (18), and people who have poor intestinal absorption of
nutrients have a much greater risk of developing a mental illness (19,20).
In the
past, research has used only one vitamin or mineral at a time as a
treatment for mood disorders. But results using this approach have been
mixed. Why? It’s this simple: if the brain needs more than one
chemical to restore balance, giving just one will not suffice. Newer
research using multiple nutrients is showing encouraging results (21-24).
Truehope’s involvement
Truehope Nutritional Support Ltd. is a non-profit
company that offers education, advocacy, and support to those who suffer
from mental illnesses. Research to date using EMPowerplus®,
Truehope’s 36-ingredient chelated micronutrient supplement, supports Truehope’s decade-long observations that
nutrition helps people overcome mental illness (25-29). A multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled
trial using EMPowerplus® for adults with bipolar
disorder is now underway in Canada and the United States (30). Four other universities
are currently using EMPowerplus® in mental
illness research.
Truehope’s goal is to help all who suffer with
devastating mental illnesses to find the hope, healing and health they are
seeking by promoting independent research that can introduce safer, more
effective treatments into standard psychiatric care.
For your
convenience, this article can also be downloaded and printed by following
this link:  Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Illness (PDF 242KB)
References:
1. Frederickson CJ, Suh SW, Silva
D, Frederickson CJ, Thompson RB. Importance of zinc in the central
nervous system: the zinc-containing neuron. J Nutr.
2000 May;130(5S Suppl):1471S-83S.
PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
2. Takeda A. Movement of zinc and its functional
significance in the brain. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000 Dec;34(3):137-48. PubMed
3. Hutto BR. Folate
and cobalamin in psychiatric illness. Compr Psychiatry. 1997 Nov-Dec;38(6):305-14.
PubMed
4. Baldewicz TT, Goodkin K, Blaney NT, Shor-Posner G, Kumar M, Wilkie
FL, Baum MK, Eisdorfer C. Cobalamin
level is related to self-reported and clinically rated mood and to syndromal depression in bereaved HIV-1(+) and HIV-1(-)
homosexual men. J Psychosom Res. 2000 Feb;48(2):177-85. PubMed
5. Pauling L. Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the
concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control
mental disease. Science. 1968 Apr 19;160(825):265-71.
PubMed
6. Ames
BN, Elson-Schwab I, Silver EA. High-dose vitamin therapy stimulates variant
enzymes with decreased coenzyme binding affinity (increased K(m)): relevance to genetic disease and polymorphisms.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2002
Apr;75(4):616-58. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
7. Ames BN. The metabolic tune-up: metabolic harmony and
disease prevention. J Nutr. 2003 May;133(5 Suppl
1):1544S-8S. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
8. Ames
BN, Atamna H, Killilea
DW. Mineral and vitamin deficiencies can accelerate the mitochondrial
decay of aging. Mol Aspects Med. 2005 Aug-Oct;26(4-5):363-78.
PubMed
9. Ames BN. Supplements and tuning up metabolism. J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3164S-3168S.
PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
10. Ames BN. DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is
likely to be a major cause of cancer. Mutat Res.
2001 Apr 18;475(1-2):7-20. PubMed
11. Castren E. Is mood chemistry?
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005 Mar;6(3):241-6.
PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
12. Nowak G, Legutko B, Szewczyk B, Papp M, Sanak M, Pilc A. Zinc treatment induces cortical brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene expression. Eur J Pharmacol. 2004 May 10;492(1):57-9. PubMed
13. Dijkhuizen PA, Ghosh A. Regulation of dendritic
growth by calcium and neurotrophin signaling. Prog Brain Res. 2005;147:17-27.
PubMed
14. Finkbeiner S. Calcium
regulation of the brain-derived neurotrophic
factor gene. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2000 Mar;57(3):394-401. PubMed PDF
15. Clagett-Dame M, McNeill EM, Muley PD. Role of all-trans retinoic acid in neurite outgrowth and axonal elongation. J Neurobiol. 2006 Jun;66(7):739-56.
PubMed
16. Tatton WG, Chalmers-Redman RM,
Tatton NA. Apoptosis and anti-apoptosis signalling in glaucomatous retinopathy. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2001
Jul-Sep;11 Suppl
2:S12-22. PubMed
17. Wang X, Wang B, Fan Z, Shi X, Ke
ZJ, Luo J. Thiamine deficiency induces
endoplasmic reticulum stress in neurons. Neuroscience. 2007 Feb 9;144(3):1045-56. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
18. Liu J, Raine A, Venables PH, Mednick
SA. Malnutrition at age 3 years and externalizing behavior problems
at ages 8, 11, and 17 years. Am J Psychiatry. 2004 Nov;161(11):2005-13.
PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
19. Mayer EA, Craske M, Naliboff BD. Depression, anxiety, and the
gastrointestinal system. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001;62 Suppl 8:28-36. PubMed
20. Whitehead WE, Palsson O, Jones
KR. Systematic review of the comorbidity of
irritable bowel syndrome with other disorders: what are the causes and
implications? Gastroenterology. 2002 Apr;122(4):1140-56.
PubMed
21. Carroll, D., Ring, C., Suter,
M., & Willemsen, G. (2000). The effects of an
oral multivitamin combination with calcium, magnesium, and zinc on
psychological well-being in healthy young male volunteers: a
double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 150(2), 220-225. PubMed
22. Schlebusch L, Bosch BA, Polglase G, Kleinschmidt I, Pillay BJ, Cassimjee MH. A
double-blind, placebo-controlled, double-centre study of the effects of an
oral multivitamin-mineral combination on stress. S Afr Med J. 2000 Dec;90(12):1216-23.
PubMed
23. Schoenthaler SJ, Bier ID. The
effect of vitamin-mineral supplementation on juvenile delinquency among
American schoolchildren: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled
trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2000 Feb;6(1):7-17. PubMed
24. Gesch CB, Hammond SM, Hampson SE, Eves A, Crowder MJ. Influence of
supplementary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids on the
antisocial behaviour of young adult prisoners. Randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry.
2002 Jul;181:22-8. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
25. Popper CW. Do vitamins or minerals (apart from lithium)
have mood-stabilizing effects? J Clin Psychiatry.
2001 Dec;62(12):933-5. PubMed
26. Kaplan BJ, Simpson JS, Ferre
RC, Gorman CP, McMullen DM, Crawford SG. Effective mood stabilization with
a chelated mineral supplement: an open-label
trial in bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry.
2001 Dec;62(12):936-44. PubMed
27. Kaplan BJ, Crawford SG, Gardner B, Farrelly
G. Treatment of mood lability and explosive rage
with minerals and vitamins: two case studies in children. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2002
Fall;12(3):205-19. PubMed
28. Simmons M. Nutritional approach to bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003 Mar;64(3):338;
author reply 338-9. PubMed
29. Kaplan BJ, Fisher JE, Crawford SG, Field CJ, Kolb B.
Improved mood and behavior during treatment with a mineral-vitamin
supplement: an open-label case series of children. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2004
Spring;14(1):115-22. PubMed
30. ClinicalTrials.gov
identifier: NCT00109577.
This
week we have two simple but effective tips for getting a better sleep and
improving your health. First, avoid eating foods and snacks that can spike
your blood sugar and force those afternoon naps. Eat healthier foods
and save the sleep for bedtime. Second, eliminate that pesky electronic
equipment in the bedroom that disrupts the darkness by flashing ghostly
green and blue lights. Yes, we're talking about the television. If
you're serious about getting a better sleep, leave it off at bedtime.
Visit
our email archive page below if you've missed one of our previous articles
on improving your sleep and stay tuned for more tips in two weeks!
Common Ground Email Archives
Have you
missed an edition of Common Ground Online? Are you new to the Truehope Program? Visit our email archive page for a directory of all
previous Common Ground newsletters. These emails are loaded with useful
information that can help you succeed on EMPowerplus
and the Truehope Program.
Help us
to serve you better. Send your questions or comments about the Truehope Program, EMPowerplus,
or our support resources to feedback@truehope.com or call
1-888-878-3467 to speak to a Truehope Support
Specialist.
We want
to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date program information so
that you can continue to make informed decisions regarding your health. Our
hope is that you will find hope, healing, and health through education and
continued support.
Yours in
health,
The Truehope Support Staff
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