Episode 5: Amino Acids Continued – GABA for when you are stressed out to the max and nearing the burnt-out stage
I started this podcast, mainly to share the notion that there are ideas and thoughts and practices and procedures “out there” that would help everyone, but especially women over the age of 50 – to live happy, healthy lives – if not like before, but even, way better than before we turned 50! I want to discover it for you, I want to present it to you in a manner that is easy to understand and grasp, and hopefully, inspire you to look further into these ideas or practices or procedures and consider the thoughts put forth, to improve your state of being, mentally, physically and emotionally! And hopefully you will be so inspired to help improve the life of someone near and dear, that you care about, by sharing too… In the end we will improve ourselves, our family, our tribe, our communities with our new mindsets and our energetic bodies that will lovingly contribute to all around us…
When I discovered the idea that amino acids could help with my energy and my moods, it helped me immensely. I shared it with my nearest and dearest and it helped them! What I realized quickly though, that “new” knowledge was not readily adopted into mainstream medical practices or any kind of practices, for that matter. In fact, newest scientific discoveries take a dozen years to go from the “aha” discovery moment to retail treatment centres. Let me give you a very pedestrian example, for instance, common warts. I found out via an article in the local newspaper about an “aha” experiment that said you could kill warts (all kinds even planter variety – the kind that dig very deep into the foot and are so painful you need surgery to remove). My whole family struggled with them. My husband had to have surgery to remove his plantars warts. I schlepped to a clinic in the next town to see a skin specialist who “burned” them off with dry ice every two weeks for months. With no real effect since they seemed to grow back in the two weeks between visits. Then I tried what the article suggested – DUCT TAPE. Yup, duct tape. Of course it made sense. Warts are a virus that needs air to survive. You cut off the air supply and it ….. dies. All it took was 2 weeks of applying a fresh piece of gray duct tape daily. Even the deep, painful plantar version that my athlete son had, went away after one month – no surgery required. How many other things are we getting surgery for that we don’t have to?
This is the third in a four part series about the magic of amino acids to help cure bad moods! It is based on a protocol used by psychologist Dr Julia Ross. She used the work of the neuroscientist Dr. Kenneth Blum from North Texas University who was studying the effects of nutrition for drug and other additions and found that you could extract the essential nutrients the did most of the mood leveling work – namely certain amino acids, These nutraceuticals have the ability to give the brain what it need to produce the mood modulators or chemicals that make us feel good!
There are chemical reactions that are happening constantly in response to all our experiences in the world 24/7. Some of the these responses are reasonable. I like to say they are ”Helping Responses” – versus “Hindering Responses”. Helping responses will alert us to a danger and generate the resources the body needs to flee that danger; helping responses are things like crying and grieving that help heal emotional wounds and generate closure.
The other extreme are “Hindering Responses”. These hinger our everyday goals and our long term goals for our life: for self care, for family relationships, for work, for happiness, for peace, for success. Dr. Ross refers to these as True Emotions (the Helping or good for you to feel this emotions) and False Emotions (the Hindering or bad for you) emotion. When you are feeling it, in my opinion, it is not false, it is NOT the optimal or desired feeling or emotion that you would wish to have or want to have, to be the person or personality you want to be, or to get where you want to go, even if you have never felt that good or been in that wonderful happy, peaceful place, ever before!
In Part 1 (episode 3 of The Wise Woman’s Way) we talked about serotonin that helps remove the dark cloud of depressive feeling. Then in Part 2 (or episode 4) we discussed dopamine and the other cathecholamines that give you the get up and go and ability to focus on what you need to attend to (sort of like spinach was to Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon in our youth – yup, that magically effective that we could probably write a cartoon about it!)…
Today we will be discussing the chapter in Dr. Julia Ross’s book “The Mood Cure “ (2004, Penguin Books) entitled “All Stressed Out – How to Recover from Adrenal Overload” and the amino acid GABA and what it does for you to help you stay calm and happy.
What situations would put us into a super stressed out, at my wits end state? Maybe ready to jump off a cliff or just crawl into bed and stay there, for a month! So much of our modern Western lifestyles put undue stress on us. Approximately 25% of North American households are maintained by single parents – that is millions and millions and 70% or more of those are women (too little time, too little support and usually too little money). Work deadlines. Too much debt. A bitter divorce. Death of a loved one. Physical stressors like punishing diets or exercise regimes. We figure if we just push harder, it’ll fix it…. Perhaps you are sidelined by an illness. A poor diet of cheap empty calories. Chemical pollution (all of our soaps and shampoos and things that tough our skin).
Then there are those who are just constantly feeling driven and pressured to be perfect and achieve, achieve, achieve. They are uptight, frightened and worried about not doing enough, not being enough. Their gut is always in a knot, they don’t know how to relax and they have trouble sleeping due to all the inner tension
So what. What possible effect could those situations have? What are the specific symptoms to watch out for?
Well the most obvious, you feel that you do not have the capacity to deal with even the most simple of stresses – so much so that you are overwhelmed by the sound of the notification on your phone telling you that you have one more work email…
Fear of anxiety, irritability, exhaustion
You feel worse after exercising
A lack of mental alertness
You experience dizziness upon standing from a sit down or laying down position
You have dark circles under the eyes
You feel tired all the time
Need for caffeine to get you going in the morning
Feeling of being weak and shaky
Salt or sugar cravings
Low blood sugar symptoms
Heart palpitations
You are often resorting to alcohol, chocolate, sweets or carbs to cope
You get some relief from depression or moodiness by eating
You have a low tolerance for loud noises or strong odours
Any of these symptoms sound familiar?
What is happening in the body? Basically, the adrenal glands are being pushed to the limit to keep producing all these excitatory chemicals to keep you running ahead of the charging boogey monster/stressors in your life, then it gets burned out. Kaput. We need lots of ANTI EXCITATORY neurotransmitters like GABA specifically, to calm the adrenal glands down, to quiet the noise, to act as a buffer, or like a rosy-glasses-filter on world, so the adrenals can get healthier, stronger and catch up to the adequate production levels of the excitatory chemicals/aminos/hormones that the body needs for basic functioning. Hopefully, with some more support – optimal functioning!
The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys in the lower back area. Adrenals are responsible for producing hormones that regulate the immune system, blood pressure, metabolism and the stress response. At the first sign of stress, the adrenals start a 2 step protocol immediately. It first releases adrenaline which alerts you to the imminent danger and prepares you to fight or flee… How often have we really had to do that lately? Actually fight or flee? But our body is busting out this adrenaline all day long for imaginery fight or flight scenarios…. Then Step 2, the adrenals create cortisol. The cortisol helps subdue the adrenaline rush and initiates a chemical reaction whereby you gain strength and stamina. This is a longer acting stage during which the cortisol goes through the body and scavenges essential nutrients required for emergency “survival” – The cortisol is rushing around pulling nutrients and chemicals it needs to conquer AND create a sense of well being, from muscles, bones, the liver and fat tissues. All this scavenging puts “knicks” in the body’s armour. This can lead to heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity, dampened immune function and Alzheimer’s disease. Prolonged or chronic stress wears out the adrenals resulting in insufficient/deficient amounts of cortisol that you desperately need in order to have the emotional and physical courage to deal with the stressors in your life.
Another one of the your adrenal glands important jobs if to regulate your bodies reaction to sweet and starchy carbohydrates. So a common North American diet of high sugar and low protein can trigger a stress response, without you even knowing it is going on inside you. Sugars, starches, white flours – they all raise blood sugar levels in minutes. The adrenaline bells go off and insulin is sent out to scoop up all that alarming excess blood sugar and store it as fat. All of a sudden, there is no more glucose in the blood stream because the organs are over reactive – they are producing too much insulin. Without glucose in the blood to distribute to keep the body function properly – the body calls in cortisol to salvage some of the precious stored nutrients from the muscles, liver etc. to use as emergency fuel. This constant process that is thrust upon this hard working gland so many times a day, weakens the adrenal gland, leaving it much less able to protect you from serious stressors, like getting fired at work, a sick parent or child or a body infection. And just as stressful for some people, is skipping meals and extreme diets. If your body has to fight infection or illness, it needs to use cortisol to do it. But if you are wasting your cortisol production, and your body only produces about 20 milligrams per day, there isn’t much to fight the illness or infection with. AND sugar is the #1 fuel for cancer cells. Sugar fuels cancer cells, and sugar wastes your cortisol so you have less to fight your cancer cells with… that would be a good reason to get off of sugar, as much as possible!
Enter amino acid GABA or Gaba-amino butyric acid. A neurotransmitter in the brain. This neurotransmitter is an inhibitory one meaning it turns OFF certain kinds of brain reactions, specifically, the “excitatory” chemicals like adrenaline that can become so overwhelming when you are under stress. Nature’s “Valium” that instantly calms you down…
While your body is being ravaged by stress, boost your calming GABA production by nutraceutical supplementation, drinking tea (tea has L-theanine, an amino acid that alleviates anxiety and helps in the manufacture of GABA), eat complex carbs versus simple carbs and add more of the following good mood foods:
Whole grains
Broccoli
Bananas
Almonds
Spinach
Rice brain
Lentils
Beef liver
Halibut
Walnuts
Tree nuts
Oranges and other citrus fruits
Oats
Do you know what else messes with our levels of GABA? PMS (pre menstral syndrome) and menopause – when our sex hormones are in play (or out to lunch – like not around to help out). Progesterone controls the release of this most relaxing chemical in the brain – GABA. And if you drop too low in progesterone during PMS and every day as a menopausal woman…. If you feel unusually stressed as part of PMS (or always have) then your progesterone and thereby, GABA levels are LOW! This may not apply to you, but you may recognize this negative, everything is a reason for a meltdown, period (pardon the pun) of the month in someone near and dear to you. Give them some encouragement to go have their hormone levels checked out! You will relieve them of years of suffering.
The body and all its magical workings are all interconnected like a huge net. So many body reactions are affected if you “tug” on one side of that net or break a link between two joints, it affects so many other pieces of the net… Hence another reason to find a good functional medical team to help you understand how you can function optimally – now and for another 50 years!!!
In her book “The Mood Cure”, Dr. Julia Ross has an example on page 89. A woman who was always full of vitality and life become overwhelmed after her husband fell ill. She was thrust in to the role of care giver for him, their two children and had to run a large business single handedly. By the time she came to see Dr. Ross, she was so tense. She was working in constant fight or flight mode, with adrenaline pumping out of control for over a year. She was given a 100 milligram GABA tablet that she took sublingually (under the tongue). This method of takin nutrients works very quickly since it bypasses the stomach and goes directly through the bloodstream and into the brain. Within 5 minutes, the client felt calm and grounded. The woman could not escape her circumstances, but she could alter the REACTION to them by calming the agitated brain chemistry. This supplement plus a change in eating habits, kept her excessive stress reactions permanently under control. Julia recommends starting with 100 miligram tablets 1 to 3 times per day. But the does may have to be up to 500 milligrams. Take a first does at home when you don’t need to go anywhere in case it makes you too tired or relaxed to be operating a vehicle or navigating awkward terrain.
An even more shocking correction of a “Hindering Mood” or chemical personality, is another patient of Dr. Julia’s (p 92 The Mood Cure). A banker. This man was so anxious as a child that he had panic attacks every time he arrived at the front door to his elementary school. As an adult, he had anxiety when he had to speak in front of people in meetings. So he had stress from life circumstances and other brain chemistry “Hindering responses” or as Dr. Ross calls them, “False Moods”. His brain chemistry was not working for him, it was working against him and what he needed to be happy and succeed. He spent a lot of time feeling anxious. Then, had to rely on alcohol for relief from the anxious thoughts that otherwise kept him awake at night. According to the case study in the book, this anxious banker, who had been anxious and obsessive his whole life, was permanently freed of his anxiety, his sleeplessness and his need for alcohol, soon after he began using GABA plus 5HTP (see Episode 3), good mood foods and some basic nutrient supplements. So not all may be helped, but consider, a lifelong predisposition to anxiety and other issues, DOES NOT HAVE TO BE YOUR ANCHOR GOING FORWARD - so for the next 50 years or so…. Why not relieve yourself of those debilitating or “Hindering Response” chemical reactions that you were unfortunately given at birth? If a car comes out of the plant with a malfunctions part – that part can be fixed or replaced to make the car work better. Why shouldn’t we do that for ourselves? And just because you have “learned to live with” the debilitating response – why would you choose not to “fix” it? Some time and money and your reward will be greater life satisfaction and probably, even more life to live, more years to make a difference. Make an impact. Help your family. Help your tribe. Your community. Take the time and invest in yourself!!!
For the stressed out, burnt out, I can’t handle one more thing….
Level One - The Magic Fix
Take GABA, an amino acid. It is considered brain’s natural valium. It not only can turn off stress reactions AFTER and upset, it can help prevent a stressful response when taken PRIOR TO an expected ordeal.
- Check with your health care practitioner but Dr. Julia Ross recommends 100-500 milligrams of GABA three times per day. An excess of it will make you sleepy and tired, versus feeling relaxed. Subligual form works instantly.
An alternate to GABA is Taurine – it turns off the brain “seizures” or GLYCINE – which relaxes muscles. Sometimes you get a formulation that would contain all three.
Stop skipping meals or extreme food deprivation diets immediately.
Stop extreme exercise regimes that are stressing your body too much.
Level Two - Support the Magic Fix
Start to cut out excess sugary foods and starches that over work your adrenal glands and use up too much cortisol!
Eat healthier including protein at every meal (20-30 grams) and good fats. You could notice a difference in as little as two days.
Take basic supplements (vitamins etc.).
Stabilize blood sugar with support like taking GLUTAMINE (500 – 1500 mg in the morning, mid morning, mid afternoon) or CHROMIUM (200 mcg, three times a day with meals and bedtime).
Level Three - Keep the Magic Going on Forever
Learn to cry. Crying actually releases ACTH – a hormone that actually sets off the stress response. As with most things, it all starts with brain chemicals. There is one called adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and it plays a crucial part in triggering cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress. When you get emotionally agitated, ACTH builds up, which in turn leads to more and more stress. Which makes you easier to agitate. It’s a vicious cycle to which there is no escape. So why don’t we all just choke to death on stress buildup every time we see a sad story in the newspaper? Because sometimes, your brain just flat out declares that it has had enough of this stuff and blasts a bunch of ACTH out of your body. Through your tear ducts. So crying is just the body’s way of stabilizing its chemical levels by literally squirting excess stress chemicals out through the tear ducts like optic blasts made of tiny frowns. That’s the reason most people feel better after crying — all that stuff that used to make you sad has literally been removed.
You may have to have your Adrenal glands checked for extreme imbalances if the GABA and other nutraceutical recommendations in the book are not helping immediately. A good functional health care practitioner is needed to assist.
Fix your gut health if you are having trouble digesting the good food you are putting into your system.
Reduce stressful situations – change your job, reduce exposure to stressful people
Get lots of sleep.
I like to remind everyone that MOST PEOPLE can only, effectively, fight one battle/war at a time. If you are stressed to the max, for instance, an extreme diet and exercise plan should not be another battle you should be attempting at the same time. Have grace with yourself. Give yourself time, space and resources to deal with one issue at a time…. Remember you will be living to 100 or maybe even 120, so there is time for it all!
Take the time to find a good functional medical professional to help you with this journey, or call Jr. Julia Ross’s clinic for virtual appointment. The mood assessment questionnaire is on the clinic website and is a great place to start. I’ll leave the URL in the show notes on our website:
https://www.thewisewomansway.com or short version http://www.annerad.com will redirect you to it.
Dr. Julia Ross’s Website. Find access to her clinic and her questionnaire to determine what your “false moods” are and how to start fixing them!
https://www.juliarosscures.com/
Basic Vitamin Supplement Suggestions The Mood Cure, 2004 Dr. Julia Ross