Mental health – Nita Naturale

Enhance your mood with tricolor smoothie

Nita — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 06:05:58 +0000

Fruit and vegetables are abundant sources of essential vitamins and minerals. Studies found that increased intake of fruit and vegetable could increase psychological wellbeing and reduce depression.

What is the connection between brain health and nutritional deficiency?

Feed your brain with a proper nutritional combination of essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals for a good start to your day. Specific micronutrients deficiencies like vitamin C and carotenoids negatively impact mental function and might be one of the hidden reasons for depression, fatigue, and irritability. A study showed that scurvy patients became more irritated than normal individuals. The study findings concluded that vitamin C deficiency could be an essential nutrient for mental health.

Many individuals with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, or highly stressed have started taking supplementations of multivitamin and mineral formulas to improve or stabilize their moods. Even apparently many healthy individuals are also improving their mood by taking supplements with micronutrient-loaded formulations. Thus, it is expected that nutrient inadequacy can be a cause of low mood. [1]

How can we resolve brain health nutritional deficiency in an easier way?

Smoothie is a non-fire recipe that can prepare by any health conscious adult without giving much effort. Different fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, probiotics, and prebiotics can easily blend in a blending jar within a few minutes to prepare a smoothie. The fiber contents present in smoothie preparations give satiety and no feeling of hunger for a prolonged time.

In this blog NitaNaturale shares a tricolor, tasty and healthy breakfast smoothie recipe prepare with kiwi, banana, and grapefruit that can boost and stabilize your mood throughout the day.

Why tricolor combination selected for the brain-healthy smoothie recipe?

A combination of green, white, and orange color fruits contains all the essential brain-healthy nutrients.

Kiwifruit

Kiwi is a vitamin C-loaded fruit with multiple other essential micronutrients like B, E, and K vitamins, carotenoids, and copper and magnesium minerals. Kiwi has mood-enhancing properties due to many of the micronutrients present in kiwi can improve emotional wellbeing. Vitamin C acts as a neuromodulator by up-surging happy hormone, dopamine and excitatory neurotransmitter through glutamate-mediated neurotransmission. Vitamin C present in kiwi is potentially beneficial against depression. Vitamin C also depletes depressive symptoms by activating other neurotransmitters like noradrenaline and tyrosine enzyme. Vitamin C also takes part in the release of oxytocin which has mood-enhancing effects. A combination of vitamin C and vitamin E present in Kiwi fruits prevents central nervous system damage.

Iron absorption from dietary sources in our gut is also enhanced by kiwifruit ingestion. Iron plays a vital role in blood circulation which is essential for good mood and effective brain functioning. Sufficient kiwi ingestion daily can also enhance circulatory 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level. Vitamin D level has a direct relation with mood and depression.

However, the benefit is dose-dependent means how much quantity of kiwi you add to your daily diet is an important consideration to achieve psychological wellbeing. The study result has shown that two kiwis per day could give effective results compared with half a kiwi per day. [1]

Banana

High antioxidant properties with different brain active compounds like dopamine, N-acetyl serotonin, and polyphenols are accumulated in bananas. [2] Banana also contains very high levels of antioxidants, viz. vitamin-A, vitamin-C, vitamin E, carotenoids, catechins, flavonoids, niacin, sterols, threonine, thiamine, tryptamine, and tryptophan.

Banana contains hypoglycemic agents such as sterylacyl glycoside (sitoindosides I and II) and diacylglycerols in addition to several other bioactive compounds. [2] Some research experts expected that banana has hypoglycemic activity, acid neutralizing capacity, and a diuretic effect.

Memory impairment often has a correlation with the reduction of brain and plasma antioxidants due to the scarcity of antioxidant enzyme activities. Bananas can significantly reduce oxidative stress due to their antioxidant activity. Acute stress significantly reduces acetylcholinesterase activity. Acetylcholinesterase activity and memory function are also interlinked.

Banana enhances antioxidant enzyme activity and increases the acetylcholinesterase activity to regulate brain neurotransmitter levels. Phenolic phytochemicals in banana can reduce neurotoxicity and increase learning and memory ability. Researchers expected that bananas containing phenolic phytochemicals could be promising nutraceuticals against Alzheimer’s disease. Banana is a natural remedy to enable the individual ability to deal with daily exposure to stress. [3] Researchers also found that banana fruit has potent anti-depressant properties. [4]

Low blood sugar level often causes irritability and mood swings. Ingestion of banana allows stabilizing blood sugar level that controls better mood. One large banana gives you 16 grams of sugar and 3.5 grams of fiber. The risk of sudden upsurge of blood sugar after banana ingestion cannot take place because sugar present in bananas can release slowly due to the presence of fiber content in it.

Vitamin B6 present in bananas also helps in synthesizing feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Beside these,

the banana feeds gut-friendly bacteria because of its outstanding source of prebiotics. A healthy gut microbiome is responsible for the reduction of mood disorders. [5]

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is also a rich source of healthy bioactive compounds like vitamins, carotenoids, fiber, and phenolic compounds. Citrus flavonoids present in Grapefruit may exert neuroprotective effects. Grapefruit containing citrus flavonoids can modulate neuronal activities and brain plasticity. This entire biological phenomenon has a direct connection with mental health by improving behavior, mood, depression, and cognition.

Hesperidin and naringin are brain-healthy phytonutrients present in grapefruit. Hesperidin can protect neurons against many neurodegenerative diseases. Naringin is a potent anti-inflammatory action and exerts neuroprotective activity on the dopaminergic neurons. Preclinical studies showed that naringin can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. [6]

It is necessary to mention that grapefruits may not be a good option for individuals under certain medications like specific kinds of statins, antihistamines, calcium channel blockers, pain medications, and immunosuppressants due to the drug-food interaction risk. In such cases, replace grapefruit with orange.

Natural phytochemicals present in these three fruits are an effective remedy against low mood and keep you energetic throughout the day without causing side effects.

How to prepare a tricolor smoothie?

Ingredients

Kiwi fruits – 2
Banana – 1 (large)
Grapefruit – 1 whole
Chia seeds – 1tsp
Flaxseed – 1tsp
Honey – 1tsp (optional)
Blueberry – 1

Preparation

Peeled off Kiwi fruits and cut into pieces. Add the kiwifruit pieces into a blender with chia seeds and flax seeds. Blend together and pour into a glass. After that you clean the blender jar. Put banana pieces and a few ice cubes to blend them properly. Gradually pour the white layer over a green layer. Subsequently repeat the step with grapefruit slices with some ice cubes and honey to mask the tangy taste. Pour slowly over the white layer. Decorate the drink with a blueberry.

Enjoy this healthy, tasty tricolor smoothie every morning and celebrate the freedom from melancholy and other stress-related issues. This particular recipe can solve deficiency of the essential brain healthy nutrients to uplift the mood of individuals with low daily fruit and vegetable intakes.

Do you want to manage your stress through hormonal management, gut health strategies, and complete detoxification so that happy hormonal flow helps to transform you to achieve a happy and productive life? Let’s jump on a call to understand if I can be of help

References

Stress management with superfood MCT oil

Nita — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 07:44:49 +0000

Stress is an unavoidable condition in our daily life. Our body and mind react to the situation depending upon level of stress. We need to relieve our day-to-day stress levels. Otherwise, it will be pilling up and cause distressing conditions. MCT oil acts as a stress-reliever. [1] You can use natural MCT oil from organic sources as a stress-relieve supplement to manage your stress level.

Table of Content

1. Why should we take care of our day-to-day stress?

2. Evidential support for stress relieving the effect of MCT oil

2.1 MCT oil treatment could prevent depression

2.2 MCT oil treatment balances oxidation and antioxidant enzyme

2.3 MCT-rich coconut oil can prevent the rise of blood sugar levels and blood cholesterol levels

Why should we take care of our day-to-day stress?

Long-term stress level is harmful to our health. Stress can cause sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal disorders that suppress our immune system, and reproductive issues. Reluctant attitude to the initial stress build up can be a caused of chronic health problem. [2]

Although we are human beings, our physiological conditions and mental status differ from each other. Every individual reacts differently to a stressed condition. Their physiological response also varies. You may have digestion issues, and others may complain of sleep disturbance. However, an irritable mood is a common symptom of a stressed person.

You may know that the central nervous system (CNS) controls most of the physiological and psychological functioning. CNS acts differently due to altering the functioning of neurotransmitters, biochemical changes, and oxidative status modifications during stress generation and continuing the situation. [1]

Stomach ache and anorexia due to delayed gastric emptying are common gastrointestinal symptoms. Sometimes diarrhea may also be associated with the stressed condition.

Some individuals activate hunger. Overeating during stressed moments causes obesity.

Frequent incidence of cold and infection are common in people who have suppressed immune functioning due to chronic stressed conditions.

Depression, anxiety, insomnia, impaired memory, confusion, difficulty in decision making, and mental clouding are certain nervous system-related issues associated with excessive stress conditions.

Blood pressure fluctuation, cholesterol level, and blood glucose level due to stress build-up increase the risk of heart disease. [3]

Evidential support for stress relieving the effect of MCT oil

There are multiple research findings that support the stress-relieving effect of MCT.

MCT oil treatment prevents depression

Stressed-induced depression leads to fatigue and immobility. Affected individuals do their work through forceful action. A forced swim test model result reported that MCT oil treatment could prevent depression and associated immobility compared with the untreated condition or treated with diazepam. [1]

Figure 1 A: This graphical representation showed that treatment with MCT oil product (VCO) requires much less immobility time.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4247320/

In 2013, a published article in the Journal of Functional Food reported that dietary intake of MCT oil-containing products has a significant preventive effect against stress-induced depression. [4]

MCT oil treatment balances oxidation and antioxidant enzyme

Neurological problems are associated with chronic stress conditions. Chronic stress condition causes an imbalance between oxidation and antioxidant enzyme functioning. Prolonged untreated imbalance can cause free radicals burden in different tissues, including the brain. MCT oil treatment balances oxidation and antioxidant enzyme functioning by reducing lipid peroxidation and increasing antioxidant enzyme functioning. Thus MCT oil prevents neurological damage by maintaining antioxidant levels in the brain. [1]

Figure 1B: This graphical representation showed that treatment with MCT oil product (VCO) able to create a balance between oxidation (MDA) and antioxidant enzyme (SOD).

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4247320/

MCT-rich coconut oil can prevent the rise of blood sugar levels and blood cholesterol levels

Another research article reported that MCT-rich coconut oil can re-establish the 5-HT levels in the brain. It also restores serum biochemical profiles and helps to prevent the rise of blood sugar levels and blood cholesterol levels. Restoring 5-HT in the brain also controls psychological balance. [1]

Read more mental health related blogs

Understanding the connection of body, mind, and spirit can relieve anxiety

How to deal with screen addiction during Covid19 lockdown to bring back family happiness?

Don’t ignore sleep problem during COVID-19 lockdown

References

Understanding the connection of body, mind, and spirit can relieve anxiety

Nita — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 10:40:43 +0000

We most often become anxious to know the reason behind our sudden anxious behaviors. Anxiety is a fruit of existence which habitually ripe with our age. This reminds me of the famous quote from T.S Eliot, who said “anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity”.

Know about anxiety

Let us know the origin of such an unexplainable feeling, which haunts many of us at least once in a lifetime. “Anxietas” is a Latin word from which anxiety term is derived. The literal meaning of anxiety is throttle/choke or upset or trouble that is omnipresent in almost every human being. Mental health science describes anxiety as a situational emotional behavior and occurs in a range of disorders. The intensity of anxiety disorders can vary from mild to severe and negatively affect mental health and cognitive responses. Mild to moderate anxiety is common in every individual in a stressful condition to adapt to the situation and provides a trigger to face the challenge. Hence, it is proved that you can be a victim of it at any point in time.

Anxiety disorders are associated with a wide range of psychological conditions, like panic disorder that may or may not associate with agoraphobia, panic, social anxiety, phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, acute stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and non-specified anxiety disorder. [1]

How physical health illness raises anxiety level?

Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings. Good health can help us to get an anxiety-free life. To maintain physical health we must follow some common tips to avoid an unnecessary load of ailments.

Individuals suffering from ill-health often have irritated mental condition, which build-up stress and causes anxiety. For example, how anxious do you become when you see sudden rashes in your skin? You must be surprised to know that allergy and anxiety have some correlation. Nutritionists found that anxiety symptoms worsen during food allergen attacks. Excessive anxiety even turns to depression. [2] Childhood anxiety has a direct link with food allergies. [3] Not only food allergy but aeroallergen trigger allergic rhinitis. Attack of asthma also directly impacts mental health by releasing stress-related hormones and alter immune system functioning.

But anxiety is not a solution. Allergy testing is the only way to identify the particular allergen for an individual. Depending upon the test result, avoidance of particular food and exposure to aeroallergens can reduce the onset of allergy and associated stress burden and anxiety. [2]

The Body, Mind, and Spirit are interconnected

The body, mind, and spirit can help to explain human beings in their entirety. The body is the materialistic part that dies. The mind helps the body to live, think and show emotions. Whereas the spirit remains an integral part of body and mind. According to the philosophers and religious beliefs, the spirit has no boundary. It can stay alive after the end of the body and mind.

Body, mind, and spirit have a connection with the personal peace and general wellness of an individual. General well-being maintains in collaboration with physical, psychological, and spiritual health and may all of us understand the overall homeostasis between physical and psychological parameters.

Let us find out what science says all about them. The clinical researchers explain personal world has a significant impact on the thought process of an individual about the outer world. Researchers also believe that our mental setup towards the surroundings influences the personal perception of the outer world. Besides personal thought processes, the environment of a particular surrounding plays a vital role in the mental status of any individual.

Emotional and cognitive well-beings are related to mental health. A healthy mental condition has the ability for the utmost utilization of emotional and cognitive functioning. Understanding reality along with attentiveness, memory power, and processing speed are vital to brain functioning. All these mental abilities have a direct relationship with physical health. [4] Moreover, psychoneuroimmunology researchers also discovered stressful emotions can modify white blood cell functioning.

On a lighter note, stress is bad and cannot burn calories to keep you toned. Let us find out what all the bad things that stress can do to you. Stress reduces the responsiveness of white blood cells against viral infection and invasion of cancer. Vaccination cannot work efficiently in stressed people. The delayed wound healing is a significant health issue in overstressed conditions. An even overstressed condition that is more common in anxiety-affected individuals can trigger some autoimmune disease condition. [5]

How is your health? This easiest question denotes an overall health condition of the external and internal body, rather than only the physical fitness. A strong intuition arises from our awareness which has an intricate association with physical health that creates a health concern when something goes wrong in our internal system. The strong association of neuroendocrine and central nervous systems plays a vital role in the organ functioning of the body. However, physiological functioning, such as immune functioning automatic physical process and does not depend upon our consciousness. For instance, a microorganism invades our physical health immediately antibody production starts. But the rate of production may depend upon mental health conditions. You may experience that your physical exercise training program restores a sense of personal control. All these examples indicate the relationship between physical and mental health.

Spirituality is much broader than this. It is a rational understanding of the inner and outer world. Spirituality creates a tendency to develop a meaningful sense of relatedness to every aspect of life. Spirit empowers our strength and prevents us from devaluing. Do not always relate spirituality to religious connections. Our family, friends, community, and even social involvement influence spirituality. Spirituality has a direct impact on mental as well as physical health. There are symbolic expressions present in the dance ceremonies of different traditions which can help to bypass the mind and directly link to the inner spirit. In cognitive behavior therapy, practicing meditation establishes the connection of spiritual peace, inner power, and recognition of situations. Thus, the mind, body, and spirit jointly help us to regain the sense of personal power and wholeness.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146193/
https://www.cchrflorida.org/can-anxiety-attack-symptoms-be-caused-by-food-allergies/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/
http://alfredadler.edu/sites/default/files/Stoffel%20MP%202013.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5263188_The_mind-body_connection_not_just_a_theory_anymore