Welcome to another edition of Common Ground Online. Here's what's in this week's edition:
- Truehope Conference Call on Thursday July 5th
- Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Illness
- Series on Getting a Better Sleep Continues
TOPIC: The Link Between Poor Nutrition and Mental Illness
In this month's conference call, Truehope co-founders Anthony Stephan and David Hardy will discuss in depth the link that's been discovered between mental illness and poor nutrition.
For more than 11 years, Truehope has seen thousands of individuals resolve their symptoms of mental illness with the balanced essential nutrients in EMPowerplus. And now with the research that's been uncovered establishing a link between nutrition and mental illness, it all makes perfect sense.
Take some time this month to listen to Tony and David share this this new and exciting information. Register for the call by following the link below.
In this week's Common Ground, we're focusing on new and exciting research that further establishes the link between poor nutrition and illness. This information and more will also be discussed in this month's conference call.
What causes mental illness? You’ve heard it before: no one knows. But science is closer than ever before to unraveling this mystery, and nutrition research is giving us vital clues.
Below, you’ll find out how these clues match up with the leading theories of mental illness – how nutrients maintain chemical balance in the brain, overcome genetic risks, and increase brain growth factor levels. You’ll also learn about clinical nutrition research that offers new hope to those who suffer with mood disorders.
 Chemical imbalance in the brain is the most common explanation for mental disorders. Nutrients are chemicals that the brain requires in order to work correctly. For example, nutrients such as zinc, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are needed to make and regulate neurotransmitters, which are essential in sending brain signals (1-4). Lack of these nutrients may cause the chemical imbalances of mental illness.
Genetics. Dr. Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes, speculated that some people have higher genetic requirements for vitamins and minerals, and that much mental disease may be due to lack of these nutrients in the brain. Pauling stated that “significant improvement in the mental health of many persons might be achieved by the provision of the optimum molecular concentrations of substances normally present in the human body” (5).
 Research is showing that Dr. Pauling was right. Dr. Bruce Ames at the University of California, Berkeley, has shown that genetic mutations often result in increased requirements for nutrients, and that higher nutrient intake can overcome many effects of these mutated genes (6).
Dr. Ames has shown that deficiencies in iron, zinc, folic acid, niacin, and vitamins B12, B6, C, and E cause mutations in the same way that radiation does, leading to cancer, premature aging, and possibly neuron decay, cognitive dysfunction, mental illnesses, and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s (7,8). Half of the U.S. population may be deficient in one or more of these nutrients (9). For folic acid alone, ten percent are deficient at levels known to cause breaks in human DNA (10).
Lack of brain growth factors. Growth factors are essential for brain cell branching and survival. They help to keep neurons in the brain connected so the proper signals can be sent. Antidepressants increase brain growth factor levels (11), but nutrients likely do a better job (12-15). Lack of these nutrients, and subsequent lack of brain growth factors, leads to brain cell shrinkage and death (16,17). These effects may interfere with proper brain signals, leading to symptoms of mental illness.
Human Nutrition Research
Poor diet has been associated with mental illness (18), and people who have poor intestinal absorption of nutrients have a much greater risk of developing a mental illness (19,20).
In the past, research has used only one vitamin or mineral at a time as a treatment for mood disorders. But results using this approach have been mixed. Why? It’s this simple: if the brain needs more than one chemical to restore balance, giving just one will not suffice. Newer research using multiple nutrients is showing encouraging results (21-24).
Truehope’s Involvement
Truehope Nutritional Support Ltd. is a non-profit company that offers education, advocacy, and support to those who suffer from mental illnesses. Research to date using EMPowerplus®, Truehope’s 36-ingredient chelated micronutrient supplement, supports Truehope’s decade-long observations that nutrition helps people overcome mental illness (25-29). A multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using EMPowerplus® for adults with bipolar disorder is now underway in Canada and the United States (30). Four other universities are currently using EMPowerplus® in mental illness research.
Truehope’s goal is to help all who suffer with devastating mental illnesses to find the hope, healing and health they are seeking by promoting independent research that can introduce safer, more effective treatments into standard psychiatric care.
For your convenience, this article can also be downloaded and printed by following this link:  Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Illness (PDF 242KB)
References:
1. Frederickson CJ, Suh SW, Silva D, Frederickson CJ, Thompson RB. Importance of zinc in the central nervous system: the zinc-containing neuron. J Nutr. 2000 May;130(5S Suppl):1471S-83S. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
2. Takeda A. Movement of zinc and its functional significance in the brain. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000 Dec;34(3):137-48. PubMed
3. Hutto BR. Folate and cobalamin in psychiatric illness. Compr Psychiatry. 1997 Nov-Dec;38(6):305-14. PubMed
4. Baldewicz TT, Goodkin K, Blaney NT, Shor-Posner G, Kumar M, Wilkie FL, Baum MK, Eisdorfer C. Cobalamin level is related to self-reported and clinically rated mood and to syndromal depression in bereaved HIV-1(+) and HIV-1(-) homosexual men. J Psychosom Res. 2000 Feb;48(2):177-85. PubMed
5. Pauling L. Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease. Science. 1968 Apr 19;160(825):265-71. PubMed
6. Ames BN, Elson-Schwab I, Silver EA. High-dose vitamin therapy stimulates variant enzymes with decreased coenzyme binding affinity (increased K(m)): relevance to genetic disease and polymorphisms. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Apr;75(4):616-58. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
7. Ames BN. The metabolic tune-up: metabolic harmony and disease prevention. J Nutr. 2003 May;133(5 Suppl 1):1544S-8S. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
8. Ames BN, Atamna H, Killilea DW. Mineral and vitamin deficiencies can accelerate the mitochondrial decay of aging. Mol Aspects Med. 2005 Aug-Oct;26(4-5):363-78. PubMed
9. Ames BN. Supplements and tuning up metabolism. J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3164S-3168S. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
10. Ames BN. DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer. Mutat Res. 2001 Apr 18;475(1-2):7-20. PubMed
11. Castren E. Is mood chemistry? Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005 Mar;6(3):241-6. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
12. Nowak G, Legutko B, Szewczyk B, Papp M, Sanak M, Pilc A. Zinc treatment induces cortical brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene expression. Eur J Pharmacol. 2004 May 10;492(1):57-9. PubMed
13. Dijkhuizen PA, Ghosh A. Regulation of dendritic growth by calcium and neurotrophin signaling. Prog Brain Res. 2005;147:17-27. PubMed
14. Finkbeiner S. Calcium regulation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2000 Mar;57(3):394-401. PubMed PDF
15. Clagett-Dame M, McNeill EM, Muley PD. Role of all-trans retinoic acid in neurite outgrowth and axonal elongation. J Neurobiol. 2006 Jun;66(7):739-56. PubMed
16. Tatton WG, Chalmers-Redman RM, Tatton NA. Apoptosis and anti-apoptosis signalling in glaucomatous retinopathy. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2001 Jul-Sep;11 Suppl 2:S12-22. PubMed
17. Wang X, Wang B, Fan Z, Shi X, Ke ZJ, Luo J. Thiamine deficiency induces endoplasmic reticulum stress in neurons. Neuroscience. 2007 Feb 9;144(3):1045-56. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
18. Liu J, Raine A, Venables PH, Mednick SA. Malnutrition at age 3 years and externalizing behavior problems at ages 8, 11, and 17 years. Am J Psychiatry. 2004 Nov;161(11):2005-13. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
19. Mayer EA, Craske M, Naliboff BD. Depression, anxiety, and the gastrointestinal system. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001;62 Suppl 8:28-36. PubMed
20. Whitehead WE, Palsson O, Jones KR. Systematic review of the comorbidity of irritable bowel syndrome with other disorders: what are the causes and implications? Gastroenterology. 2002 Apr;122(4):1140-56. PubMed
21. Carroll, D., Ring, C., Suter, M., & Willemsen, G. (2000). The effects of an oral multivitamin combination with calcium, magnesium, and zinc on psychological well-being in healthy young male volunteers: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 150(2), 220-225. PubMed
22. Schlebusch L, Bosch BA, Polglase G, Kleinschmidt I, Pillay BJ, Cassimjee MH. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, double-centre study of the effects of an oral multivitamin-mineral combination on stress. S Afr Med J. 2000 Dec;90(12):1216-23. PubMed
23. Schoenthaler SJ, Bier ID. The effect of vitamin-mineral supplementation on juvenile delinquency among American schoolchildren: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2000 Feb;6(1):7-17. PubMed
24. Gesch CB, Hammond SM, Hampson SE, Eves A, Crowder MJ. Influence of supplementary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids on the antisocial behaviour of young adult prisoners. Randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2002 Jul;181:22-8. PubMed Full Text + Links PDF
25. Popper CW. Do vitamins or minerals (apart from lithium) have mood-stabilizing effects? J Clin Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;62(12):933-5. PubMed
26. Kaplan BJ, Simpson JS, Ferre RC, Gorman CP, McMullen DM, Crawford SG. Effective mood stabilization with a chelated mineral supplement: an open-label trial in bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;62(12):936-44. PubMed
27. Kaplan BJ, Crawford SG, Gardner B, Farrelly G. Treatment of mood lability and explosive rage with minerals and vitamins: two case studies in children. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2002 Fall;12(3):205-19. PubMed
28. Simmons M. Nutritional approach to bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003 Mar;64(3):338; author reply 338-9. PubMed
29. Kaplan BJ, Fisher JE, Crawford SG, Field CJ, Kolb B. Improved mood and behavior during treatment with a mineral-vitamin supplement: an open-label case series of children. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2004 Spring;14(1):115-22. PubMed
30. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00109577.
This week we have two simple but effective tips for getting a better sleep and improving your health. First, avoid eating foods and snacks that can spike your blood sugar and force those afternoon naps. Eat healthier foods and save the sleep for bedtime. Second, eliminate that pesky electronic equipment in the bedroom that disrupts the darkness by flashing ghostly green and blue lights. Yes, we're talking about the television. If you're serious about getting a better sleep, leave it off at bedtime.
Visit our email archive page below if you've missed one of our previous articles on improving your sleep and stay tuned for more tips in two weeks!
Have you missed an edition of Common Ground Online? Are you new to the Truehope Program? Visit our email archive page for a directory of all previous Common Ground newsletters. These emails are loaded with useful information that can help you succeed on EMPowerplus and the Truehope Program.
Help us to serve you better. Send your questions or comments about the Truehope Program, EMPowerplus, or our support resources to feedback@truehope.com or call 1-888-878-3467 to speak to a Truehope Support Specialist.
We want to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date program information so that you can continue to make informed decisions regarding your health. Our hope is that you will find hope, healing, and health through education and continued support.
Yours in health,
The Truehope Support Staff
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