Wellness Articles

Mental and Emotional Health News ~

Panic Attacks and Anxiety Episodes Linked to Vitamin Deficiencies

For many people, anxiety is a part of their daily routine. They deeply worry about the outcome of their actions, their relationships, their job, their life in general.

Eventually this excessive worry can lead to nervous panic, which can interfere with normal everyday life and lead to other symptoms and complications.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder are conditions that affect nearly 13 million adults in the United States and are characterized by excessive and persistent feelings of anxiety towards everyday situations and events.
Often, anxiety reduces the ability of the individual to function well within society.

One of the more common causes of these panic attacks is a low serotonin level in the body. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter responsible for regulating the feelings of wellbeing, happiness, and contentment.

Our bodies synthesize serotonin from the amino acid tryptophan, in a process that also requires vitamin B6 and iron.

Researchers found that vitamin B6 and iron levels are significantly lower in people who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks in comparison to people with healthy levels of both.
A diet that contains foods high in vitamin B6 and iron is an essential part of coping with anxiety. Whole-foods, rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds combined with a decrease in processed and packaged foods can drastically improve your mental and emotional health.

Below is a list of foods that are rich in these nutrients.

Vitamin B6:
Sweet potatoes, Spirulina, Hemp seeds, Green beans, Quinoa, Lentils, Oatmeal, Green Peas, Sunflower Seeds, Bananas, Avocado, Asparagus, Almonds, Watermelon, Cashews, Beans, Spinach, Walnuts, Pistachios, Prunes, Kale, Collards, Squash, Pumpkin, Brussel Sprouts, Hearts of Palm, Plantain, Pineapple, Chickpeas, Artichokes, Figs, Nutritional Yeast

Iron:
Chia seeds, Dill weed, Parsley, Sea vegetables, (kelp, nori, spirulina, dulse
Sea vegetables (kelp, nori, spirulina, dulse, etc.), Spinach, Green peas, Black-strap molasses, Quinoa, Almonds, Raisins, Jerusalem artichokes, Medjool dates, Chickpeas, Dandelion greens, Morel mushrooms, Pumpkin seeds, Hemp seeds

Increasing these foods will improve your mood, and may help prevent anxiety, and anxiety/panic attacks.

Gastrointestinal hormones help regulate blood sugar, fullness and weight management. According to a recent study in Nutrients, a vegan diet is best for gastrointestinal hormones and satiety.

Dr. Hana Kahleova, M.D., and other researchers, compared a calorie and macronutrient=matched vegan meal with a meal composed of meat and cheese on hormone levels and after-meal satisfaction among 60 men: 20 with obesity, 20 with type-2 diabetes and 20 who were healthy.  In each group, the vegan meal increased satiety and increased certain beneficial hormones, compared with the meat & cheese meal.

A plant-based meal increases gastrointestinal hormones and satiety more than an energy- and macronutrient-matched processed-meat meal in T2D, obese, and healthy men: a three-group randomized crossover study.

These results add to the abundance of evidence that vegan diets often help prevent type 2 diabetes.

Nutrients. 2019;11:157-167.

Klementova M, Thieme L, Haluzik M, et al.

The American Heart Association (AHA) published a study by the AHA acknowledging that a vegan diet works better than the AHA – recommended diet for heart disease prevention.

Here are the study results: Vegan Diet Reduces Inflammation More than AHA-Recommended Diet

Researchers randomized 100 participants with coronary artery disease to either a vegan diet (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, or fish) or an AHA-recommended diet (fewer servings of non-fish animal protein, more servings of fish, and only low- or no-fat dairy) for eight weeks.

The primary endpoint marker for inflammation, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, improved significantly more in the vegan group, compared with the AHA group.

The authors conclude a vegan diet should be considered to help avoid adverse outcomes among heart disease patients.

 

Shah B, Newman JD, Woolf K, et al. Anti-inflammatory effects of a vegan diet versus the American Heart Association–recommended diet in coronary artery disease trial. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7:e011367.gr

 

Red and Processed Meat Cause Breast Cancer

According to a systematic review published in the International Journal of Cancer, red and processed meat products increase the risk for breast cancer.

Looking at 18 studies, researchers evaluated the relationship between breast cancer rates and the intake of red and processed meat. Results showed increased risks for breast cancer with increased consumption of red meat by 6% and by 9% for processed meat.

Researchers attribute the increased risk to high amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol and heme iron found in these products.

Farvid MS, Stern MC, Norat T, et al. Consumption of red and processed meat and breast cancer incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Int J Cancer. Published online September 5, 2018.

 

 

Researchers reviewed 41 studies on diet and depression occurrence and found that inflammatory diets that include high amounts of processed meats and trans fats increased the incidence rates for clinical depression.

Results showed antioxidants from vegetables, nuts, and fruits help regulate emotions among other protective effects.

Researchers suspect the healthful diet of vegetables, nuts and fruits reduces inflammation, oxidative stress and insulin resistance; all of which are linked to depression.

Lassale C, Batty GD, Baghdadli A, et al. Healthy dietary indices and risk of depressive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Mol Psychiatry. Published online September 26, 2018.

 

 

Researchers in Brazil (D’Or Institute for Research & Education), in conjunction with scientists at L’Oréal, successfully differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) into peripheral sensory neurons—or the neurons that innervate our arms, legs, fingers, and toes—in the presence of skin cells. The cells were responsive to pain-causing irritants, such as capsaicin, resiniferatoxin, anandamide, bradykinin, potassium solution, and hydrogen peroxide.

This study co-cultured hiPSC cells with skin cells to provide insight into how sensory neurons play a role in skin renewal and the detection of painful stimuli. The implications of their findings are useful in studying chronic pain, predicting causes of neuroinflammation, and potentially individualized disease modeling.

The researchers of this study expressed that this technique can be applied to patient-derived hiPSCs to aid in the development of personalized in vitro disease models.

Animals used to mimic pain in humans do not depict human neural physiology, and cannot capture the progression of a disease that may vary from person to person.

 

Guimaraes MZP, De Vecchi R, Vitoria G, et al. Generation of iPSC-derived human peripheral sensory neurons releasing substance P elicited by TRPV1 agonists. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018;11:277. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2018.00277

Researchers discovered how to incorporate oligodendrocytes, an essential brain cell type, into the growth of human “miniature brains-in-a-dish” derived from stem cells. These new brain organoids can model human brain structures more accurately because the oligodendrocytes allow for the formation of myelin—the insulating coating that protect nerves—and are critical for faster relay of nerve signals.

The researchers used the organoids to test drugs that enhance myelin production and showed that the testing platform is an effective tool for predicting the safety and efficacy of such drugs. In addition, they generated organoids from patients with a rare fatal myelin genetic disorder called Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease that recapitulate features of the disease and can be used to test potential therapies.

The incorporation of oligodendrocytes allows human brain diseases to be modeled more accurately in a dish for research, especially for diseases that involve problems with myelination, such as multiple sclerosis.

 

Madhavan M, Nevin ZS, Shick HE, et. al. Induction of myelinating oligodendrocytes in human cortical spheroids. Nature Methods. 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41592-018-0081-4