Support Mental Health and Reclaim your Life.
- Do you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a history of trauma?
- Are you experiencing depression or anxiety?
- Are you suffering from fatigue, burnout, unrestful sleep, or insomnia?
- Do you have brain fog or do you tire easily?
- Are you losing your memory and can’t concentrate?
- Have you lost your zest for life or motivation?
- Have you tried numerous doctors or treatments with no lasting benefits?
If you have answered yes to some or most of these questions, it might mean that you could support any other treatment you may be receiving by including some natural supportive measures.
Why Natural Supportive Measures May be Useful
Modern processed diets, stressful lifestyle, and environmental toxins all take their toll on the brain and the body.
Unfortunately, most of us have not yet learned how to manage our energy levels and bodies properly; we use drugs, like sugar, caffeine, and alcohol to medicate and support us through the day. These behaviours are damaging to the brain.
Refined carbohydrates, not enough good fats, inadequate intake of the right nutrients, and exposure to excitotoxins like artificial sweeteners and MSG, can also play havoc with the brain.
Poor sleep and lack of social connection do compromise the sense of mental and emotional wellbeing and increase inflammation in the brain and the body.
The key insight is that the brain is an organ that’s connected to everything else happening in the body.
Mental health symptoms are a signal that these interconnected systems in the body may be out of balance, from blood sugar to gut health to thyroid function, with inflammation generally being at the root of the problem.
Lifestyle reset also becomes essential, developing good sleep and exercise routines as well as sustainable stress management practices.
Healing the brain starts with fixing the body; optimising all the inputs and removing all the influences that are damaging.
Perhaps we do not yet connect the behaviours and choices we make every day with how we feel and the impact these have on long-term health.
Once these connections are made, we can begin to change our approach to dietary and lifestyle factors.
For many the journey to recovery, may require a gradual willingness to learn, explore, and implement the knowledge. Sometimes this can be done through trial and error!
It does not have to be a difficult process, all it requires is knowledge, and support from us, the practitioners at Your Wellness Centre, and an unwavering commitment to your health, from you.
You see, the brain is adaptable and can recover and heal when given the right conditions.
In this short article, you will learn how simple diet and lifestyle changes, as well as nutritional therapy, can profoundly impact your mental health, support the body and thus improve the quality of your life.
Don’t waste another day wondering why you are experiencing these distressing symptoms.
Learn what you can do about it with these 9 strategies.
- Eat real food. Real food means whole, organic, fresh, local, and unprocessed food, which honours the way our bodies have evolved to expect the food to look, taste, and feel. Such a diet naturally limits inflammatory foods, promotes nutrient density, and controls blood sugar balance. Plenty of studies shows, without a doubt, the adverse emotional, cognitive and inflammatory impact of the Western diet, marked by processed vegetable fats, sugar, preservatives, and other chemicals.
- Eat lots of colourful fruits and vegetables. These colourful superfoods are loaded with brain-boosting compounds like phytonutrients. The dark, deep reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and blues mean that these foods contain powerful anti-inflammatory, detoxifying antioxidants, and energy-boosting, brain-powering molecules. Enjoy an array of colourful plant foods like blueberries and dark leafy greens including kale, swiss chard, spinach, watercress, bok-choy, and rocket (organic if possible, to avoid the harmful effects of pesticides and herbicides).
- Eat good quality fat. Good quality fat is essential for the brain. In fact, 60 percent of the brain is made up of DHA – an omega-3 fat that you get from algae and fish. Embracing fat (even good saturated fats in avocados, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and MCT oil) can heal the neural pathways and push mental clarity through the roof.
- Go for slow carbs, not no carbs. Cauliflower and an ice cream fall under the “carbs” category, but you know the former is healthy and the latter isn’t. Eating whole plant foods with plenty of fiber, including small amounts of beans, non-gluten whole grains (buckwheat, rice, amaranth), nuts, and seeds, keeps toxins moving out of your body and keeps your gut bacteria replenished. A healthy gut is important for a healthy brain!
- Optimise protein. We need about 30 grams of protein per meal to build muscle and to regulate blood sugar. Eat protein at every meal, including eggs, good quality protein shakes, nut butter, lean meat, and even fish for breakfast!
- Stop poisons. Eliminate sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, food additives, and preservatives, all of which poison the brain and disrupt its biochemistry. Another big culprit is gluten. Gluten is a protein molecule found in wheat, rye, and barley. When digested, it creates compounds that can stimulate the brain and immune system in inflammatory and even mind-altering ways. With the support of a health practitioner, eliminating gluten from the diet can be easier than you think.
- Beat the stress. Chronic stress has been shown to reduce the size of the brain, particularly the region called the hippocampus, responsible for recall and memory. Stress undermines the function of the thyroid gland and dysregulates blood sugar. Stress management with yoga, meditative practices, or psychotherapy, can support the healing process. You can begin with something as simple as listening to a guided meditation for several minutes a day and working up to twenty minutes twice a day for a therapeutic effect that activates the relaxation response.
- Community. We are creatures of community. Those individuals, societies, and cultures who learn to take care of each other and nurture relationships with each other were more likely to survive than those who did not. In our culture, the idea of spending time taking care of each other and creating communities is becoming increasingly rare. With the breakdown of the social structures that used to provide us with a sense of connection and community, arose the profound sense of loneliness, isolation, alienation, and depression. When there is an understanding of these issues, there is something that can be done about it, including attending support groups or community events, counseling, massage booking, and seeking out hugs!
- Targeted nutrient support. A high-quality multivitamin, as well as magnesium, vitamin D3, omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, folic acid, B6, and B12, are all necessary for your brain to function optimally. Please consult a knowledgeable health practitioner at Your Wellness Centre to support you in choosing appropriate and therapeutically effective products.
Please reach out if you need more guidance and support in trying out these suggestions.
If you have tried all these strategies, yet still struggle with the symptoms, it is important to dig deeper.
It could be heavy metal toxicity, chronic gut inflammation, dysbiosis, insulin resistance, or thyroid dysfunction.
At Your Wellness Centre, we offer natural, cutting edge & evidence-based 1 on 1 consultations as well as online support for depression, anxiety, and trauma. This leads to greater calm, peace, connection, joy, and even resolution.
It isn’t unusual for mental health, such as depression, stress, anxiety, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue or underlying illness to cause you to feel this way. The important thing is to know that you are not alone, there are ways of getting past this and there can be ways to facilitate a better outlook on life.
Do you feel under pressure or stress more often than not? If you answered yes, then you probably need support to not only cope but to tone your nervous system so it is more resilient to the effects of stress.