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Whole Mind Health - Anastasia Smith, Nutritionist

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Whole Mind Health - Anastasia Smith, Nutritionist

Registered Nutritionist and Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner

Nutritional therapist and holistic mental health coach on a mission to help people recover from depression and anxiety

09/09/2024

Protein, protein, PROTEIN!!!

It’s the number one thing I talk about and coach clients with. 99% of people I talk to are not eating enough protein.

It’s not just about muscle building and strength, it’s SO MUCH MORE.

It’s your immunity. Your antibodies are made from amino acids.

It’s your digestive health. Your tissues (intestinal wall) need amino acids to rebuild, your pancreatic enzymes are built on amino acids.

It’s your liver health. Your liver enzymes that help you detox everyday toxins are built on amino acids.

It’s your brain health and mental well-being. Your neurotransmitters are made from amino acids.

It’s how you make energy. You make ATP from branched chain amino acids, AS WELL AS, carbohydrates and fats.

It’s your hormone balance. Your hormones need amino acids to be created.

Hope the above helps a little.

What’s your biggest struggle in getting protein in your diet everyday?

30/07/2024

⛽️ Breastfeeding eats… ⛽️

❤️ When my mum said to me a few months ago that breastfeeding is a labour of love, it has made me reflect on how much that is true. And for me, as a nutritionist, how I fuel myself is one of the ways I make sure I am not providing fuel/love for my baby from an empty cup.

🏋️‍♂️ 🍼 For me, breastfeeding is akin to athleticism. Here are some simple facts to prove that:

🥙Calorie needs increase by 400-500 a day

🥩 Protein requirements increase to roughly 1.5g per kg of healthy weight

🍤 The fats that you eat in your diet do transfer to breast milk, so making sure you’re eating plenty essential fatty acids (omega 3, GLA, ALA) is paramount for baby’s brain health

🧀 Minerals such as calcium in breast milk won’t be impacted by maternal intake, however, it’s important mama is eating enough to prevent depletion for herself

💧Adding an extra litre of water a day is extremely important for the extra hydration demands in breastfeeding, this means normally around 2.5-3.5 litres of water a day

👶🏼 I’m coming up to almost a year of exclusive breastfeeding and Noah is still very much relying on my for his nutrition and growth, since food is still not much of an interest to him.

🥙 Here are some examples of how I have been fuelling breastfeeding. I understand not everyone is into eating meat, and there are definitely some ways of getting round it, but I would say that eating red meat for me is medicinal and so nourishing especially during these times.

26/07/2024

Many take fish oil to help address inflammation (broadly speaking) in the body. Its two main components - EPA and DHA - are able to convert into compounds (PRMs) that literally stop inflammatory cascades in their tracks to resolve inflammation in the body.

🔥 However, when inflammation is so severe, this conversion process is inhibited. Instead, it may be necessary to supplement with the actual end products - pro resolving lipid mediators - in addition to other compounds that inhibit aggressive inflammation, such as:

🧡Curcuminoids
🍇 Resveratrol
🥦 Sulforaphane
🌞 Vitamin D3

Once inflammation has calmed down enough, fish oil may begin to convert to PRMs on its own.

20/05/2024

Losing stubborn belly fat is often intrinsically linked to a vicious cycle of stress promoting increased blood sugar and cortisol, which in turn encourage increased central adiposity (belly fat).

♻️ This is an adaptation to stress, because abdominal fat tissue helps to clear cortisol quicker from the body, but paradoxically abdominal fat is also related to higher inflammation, which triggers the stress response - increased cortisol.

🤝 Stubborn belly fat requires stress management practices, as well as dietary changes. The two must come hand in hand for sustainable changes.

13/05/2024

There are some clear patterns that we tend to see in the development of autoimmunity, regardless of the diagnosis.

🧬 HLA-B variant carriers are increase someone’s likelihood of developing autoimmunity. The HLA complex helps the immune system distinguish the body’s own proteins from proteins made by foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria.

🦠 However, genes are only what load the gun, ultimately it’s other factors, such as intestinal barrier dysfunction and an environmental input, which pull the autoimmune trigger.

🏥 From a functional medicine perspective, this means that there are other solutions to autoimmunity, other than immune suppressants, such as steroids.

❤️‍🩹 We work on nourishing the gut mucosal barrier and the microbiome, as well as supporting an overactive immune system through herbal compounds and important nutrients to help dampen inflammation.

🧘‍♀️ We also work on the emotional component of autoimmunity, the influence of stress and trauma and how to regulate your the nervous system through evidence based lifestyle measures.

29/03/2024

Humid acid is still very much in the early stages of research, but animal models are showing promising properties for restoring gut health.

🏭🌎 In today’s world, sadly most of us have been over treated with antibiotics and exposed to environmental toxins, such as pesticides, heavy metals, PFAS, pthalates and microplastics - all of which wreak havoc in the gut by triggering gut barrier dysfunction (leaky gut), negatively influence the composition of our gut microbiome, and increased inflammation.

🦠 The process of re-wilding the gut is essential for improving all aspects of health, and this is where treatment using compounds like humic acids, as well as probiotics and probiotics may come in handy.

26/03/2024

In a recent study that looked into the association between the gut microbiome and response to SSRIs in patients with depression, researchers found that there were significant differences in the gut microbiome composition between SSRI responses and non-responders.

🦠 The three genera - Blautia, Bifidobacterium, and Coprococcus - were associated with increased response to SSRIs.

❓Why could this be the case?

🧠 We know that these bacteria are major producers of SCFAs, such as butyrate, which is well researched in its therapeutic potential for neurological diseases.

🧬 Butyrate has been shown to improve histone acetylation, which improves the expression of proregenerative and proplasticity genes - this translates to the prevention of neuronal cell death and lower oxidative stress levels in the brain, also increased levels of neurotrophic factors, such as BDNF.

PMID: 36871910

18/03/2024

Just a reminder that correcting mineral deficiencies like magnesium can take A LONG TIME. Don’t expect to see results overnight, stick to it and you will see over time a difference.

➡️ Magnesium deficiency is associated to just about every chronic pathology and those who are at most risk of deficiency are elderly patients, women who are pregnant and breastfeeding, as well as those with inflammatory bowel conditions.

PMID: 29036357

26/02/2024

A little summary of some research based impacts of the keto diet on the brain. There are still no gold standard human RCTs on therapeutic intervention for bipolar, but there are some preliminary studies and case studies that are showing some promising insights.

⚠️ There are a few caveats though - I would highly recommend working with a practitioner to guide you through a keto diet if it is new to you. This is because going on a keto diet can initially lead to not so pleasant symptoms, such as constipation, headaches, brain fog and fatigue. It may not also be appropriate as a first line dietary intervention, especially if you’re eating a diet that’s high in glycemic load.

🤝 Lastly, if you’re on meds, the keto diet may enhance them, which is why it’s important to be under the care of a psychiatrist and nutritionist that are working together.

19/02/2024

Until not so long ago, the term ‘leaky gut’ was poo-poo’d by conventional researchers and doctors, and alternative practitioners that purported the idea that leaky gut was a major contributing factor in the development of autoimmunity were continuously scoffed at.

👏🏻 It’s safe to say that they’re now eating their words…

➡️ It has been repeatedly shown in well designed studies that the integrity of the intestinal barrier is a significant driver of autoimmunity

📚 PMID: 22109896

08/02/2024

It’s probably not all in your head - the bloating, discomfort, pain, as well as other seemingly unrelated symptoms, such as brain fog, joint aches and low energy, are common symptoms related to gluten reactivity.

❓It is important to understand which type of reactivity you may have, however. Symptoms between all four may overlap considerably and diagnoses of quite serious conditions like celiac disease can take a long time to identify for this reason.

🧪 There are tests you can do to identify these types of reactions, apart from non-celiac gluten reactivity, which is mainly identified through an elimination diet.

06/02/2024

💁🏼‍♀️🤰Fun fact of the day. We women are literally amazing. We basically turn into endurance athletes during pregnancy.

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