Can Nutrient Imbalances Impact Mental Health?
There was a major breakthrough in the world of physical + mental health back in the 1950's that is often neglected today due to the rise in pharmaceuticals + current medical paradigm.
This breakthrough shows that nutrient deficiencies can play a role in mental health disorders. In this article, we will take a closer look at this concept.
It was the discovery of Biochemical Individuality, which is a term coined by Roger Williams in the 1950's. His work shined light on the fact that people are born with unique metabolic blueprints + micronutrient needs, and as a result, can be prone to certain deficiencies or nutrient imbalances that play a role on brain chemistry + mental health.
Our biochemistry + metabolic blueprint is impacted by our ancestors, which is helpful to know because we can look back into our family history and the patterns of diseases that developed and begin getting curious....
For example, do these patterns run in your family?
Anxiety + depression
Insomnia
Allergies
Migraines
Addictions + Substance abuse
ADD/ADHD
If these are common in your family line, the pattern associated with this could be under methylation + Pyroluria or pyrrole disorder.
Under methylation can make you prone to certain nutrient deficiencies and can be worsened lifestyle factors.
Pyrrole is a naturally occurring organic compound produced by our bodies. It plays a crucial role in the formation of heme, which is the main component of hemoglobin. Pyrroles are an integral part of our biochemical processes and are eventually expelled through urine...
But in excess, pyrroles can cause chronically low vitamin b6 + zinc levels, which can lead to a downstream effect on the systems in the body because of how many roles zinc + b6 have on the body. Both are crucial for the methylation cycle.
Under methylation may lead to low dopamine, serotonin, + elevated glutamate, which worsens mental health conditions. But here is the thing: simply attempting to medicate the low serotonin or dopamine, is silencing the messenger that is telling us there are nutrient deficiencies at play...
And very often popular prescription drugs often create more deficiencies in the long run.
That is not to say they are “evil” or “wrong” but it is worth getting curious about.
Here are some examples of nutrients needed for optimal mental health:
Serotonin is reliant on optimal amounts the amino acid tryptophan + vitamin B6.
Dopamine is reliant on optimal levels of copper, iron + folate.
Zinc + Vitamin B6 help synthesize GABA in your brain, which is a calming molecule.
A deficiency in these can fuel mental health conditions and are chronically missed, keeping many people stuck + feeling helpless.
Thanks to epigenetics, we also know our biochemistry + metabolic blueprint + methylation can be impacted positively or negatively by environmental factors like chronic stress, toxin exposure, and gut health. Meaning, our lifestyle choices + habits + access to nutrient dense food matters.
Supplements cannot be the only change. It also requires getting curious about your entire environment, light exposure, temperature exposure, attachment style + coping strategies, over supplementation or over medicating, stomach acid production + gut health, nutrition + dietary habits.
Perhaps a key to making America healthy again, is not to keep asking, “what new drug can we develop for the high amounts of mental health conditions?” But instead: “what environmental factors are influencing the rise in the amount of mental heath conditions?”
Sources:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772032/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4728667/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10255717/
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/science/epigenetics
https://www.dhalab.com/shop/kryptopyrrole-quantitative/
https://www.anapsid.org/aboutmk/biochem.html#:~:text=Williams%20contributed%20to%20the%20evolution,individual%20responses%20to%20the%20environment.
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