How EFT May Help with PTSD

Mental illnesses such as PTSD cause tremendous suffering and loss of life for millions of people around the world. They are often difficult to treat, with a laundry list of side effects caused by conventional therapies, and to make things even worse there is often a stigma surrounding mental illnesses. But what if there was a natural way to relieve them, that didn't come with side effects and could be used by anyone?

This can be avoided in at least some cases.

There is a way, among others: emotional freedom technique, also known as EFT, tapping or "emotional acupuncture". EFT combines the elements of exposure and cognitive therapies, which have been established in the West for many years, with tapping on acupressure points. In this study, 16 veterans with clinical PTSD experienced a 53% reduction in their symptoms after ten hour-long sessions, and there were significant differences in the expression of six genes. Follow-ups found that participants maintained these gains. In a meta-analysis of seven trials mentioned by the study, EFT resulted in strong treatment effects against PTSD again. Then, in a trial of 764 active duty service members, EFT produced significant reductions in PTSD, depression and anxiety.

So why isn't EFT more widely used? There seems to be a poor level of understanding, with many people thinking there is no way that "simply" tapping on points and talking about your issues could work. However, there has been research conducted on the mechanisms behind EFT. Two studies using EEG testing, one on car crash survivors and one on claustrophobic people, found a regulation of the frequencies associated with fear. In another, fMRI testing found that acupuncture can downregulate the amygdala and limbic system's responses to fear. A triple-blinded controlled trial compared the effects of EFT on psychological symptoms to its effects on cortisol, the main stress hormone. Overall psychological symptoms dropped by more than twice as much in the EFT group, compared to a supportive interview or no treatment. There was also almost twice the drop in cortisol levels among those who received EFT. On top of all of this, EFT has demonstrated effects on the expression of genes controlling the stress response, inflammation and immunity.

If we want total and disability-free life expectancy to continue rising, it may be time to give EFT the recognition it deserves. High levels of perceived and chronic stress has been found to increase oxidative stress and the shortening of telomeres, which are protective caps on chromosomes that allow them to keep dividing. Keeping telomeres long is one way that we can fight aging and live longer. However, women with the highest levels of perceived stress have telomeres shorter to the equivalent of aging ten years, compared with women the same age who report low stress. Just because EFT doesn't look like serious therapy to everyone, doesn't mean that it can't add years to our lives and save millions of dollars in healthcare costs.

Magnesium Supplementation May Help Relieve Depression

Depression is a sadly common mental health condition that affects millions of people in Australia and around the world. To make things worse, assumptions about a person's competency if they are mentally ill in any way often stops people from being diagnosed and treated. And then there is the side effects from socially-sanctioned antidepressant drugs, prescribed after being given the even more disempowering explanation of 'you have a chemical imbalance so you need medication'. However, there are many natural therapies for depression that give you back your power, as they are more preventive in nature and help your body to heal itself. One of these, as a recent study shows, is magnesium.

Food sources of magnesium.

This study involved 126 men and women who suffered from mild to moderate depression. Sixty-two were given a supplement containing 248mg of magnesium (as magnesium chloride, not the best supplemental form) for six weeks, and then spent six weeks with no supplementation. The others first spent six weeks taking no magnesium, and then swapped with the first group for the second half. All volunteers were given questionnaires to evaluate their depression and anxiety at the start of the study and every two weeks during treatment. During supplementation, depression and anxiety scores improved significantly, and participants were less likely to suffer from headaches. During the control period, however, depression scores did not change and anxiety worsened. As their symptoms showed improvement in two weeks, magnesium could be a rapid-acting remedy for mild and moderate depression, with a wide range of side benefits. And if you are worried about negative social attitudes towards depression, magnesium is indicated for so many health complaints that a supplement implies nothing.

So, why? What does magnesium do? Magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, from energy production to the synthesis of neurotransmitters that control mood. If you are deficient, and many people are, then these chemical reactions are limited. Of course, magnesium is not the only nutrient that we need to make neurotransmitters. B vitamins, particularly B12, folate (B9), B6 and niacin (B3), are essential co-factors in neurotransmitter production. Deficiencies do not just affect mood, but overall brain function and memory. A balance of omega-3 and -6 essential fatty acids is also important, as they are a part of nerve cell membranes and play a role in communication between cells. Impaired communication affects things like mood, memory and function in general. Vitamin D deficiency is another common problem, which can contribute to depression by altering gene expression and the ability to control inflammation. Overall, the 'chemical imbalance' is more complex than conventional medicine tells you, and we have far more control over it too.

Purpose and Longevity

We know instinctively that meaning and purpose are necessary in order to live a fulfilling life, with those of us in a career we love often held in high regard. And regardless of how passionate you may be about your career, we all need a hobby - an interest outside of work that we truly love to do. The benefits of purpose and hobbies, however, go beyond quality of life and into quantity as well.

Purpose can light up your life!

Japanese culture has a concept called ikigai, which roughly translates to "purpose in life". Ikigai has traditionally been associated with health and longevity, so a recent study on over four thousand adults set out to determine if this theory was true. All participants were over 65, with over 1800 identified as at high risk of death, over 1200 at high risk of losing ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), and over 1100 at risk of losing their ability to perform instrumental ADLs. Data from February 2011 to November 2014 was used, which can be a long time when it comes to age-related disability. Compared to people who had both hobbies and an ikigai, having neither of these was associated with double the risk of mortality, close to triple the risk of losing ADL abilities and almost double the risk of losing IADL abilities! This was adjusted for age, gender, BMI, income, alcohol and tobacco consumption, cognitive function, depression and number of chronic illnesses. Therefore, hobbies and ikigai were linked to increased longevity and healthy life expectancy in older adults.

This was not the only study that found a link between purpose in life and longevity. An American study on 6000 adults, with a 14-year follow-up time, found that people who initially reported a strong purpose in life had a 15% lower risk of dying. In a NIH-funded study that followed people aged from 65 to 92 for 11 years, those who described clear goals and purpose lived both longer and better than those who did not. In fact, other "Blue Zone" cultures (areas with a high prevalence of centenarians) besides the Okinawans of Japan value purpose, with the Nicoyan (Costa Rica) people calling it plan de vida.

So how can you find your own ikigai, if you haven't already? A great way to start is by doing an internal inventory. Take a piece of paper, and for 20-30 minutes think of all your ideals, principles, standards and morals, then think of your physical, mental and emotional talents, strengths and abilities. It can take a while, maybe even a couple of attempts, to get an idea of what you really want, but you know you're getting close if anything brings out a strong emotional reaction. And then...put your skills into action! It's also important to build relationships with people who can help you achieve your goals. Overall, longevity is for everyone, and it turns out that some of the best ways to extend your life also improve its quality.

Dr Rucklidge on Nutrition and Mental Health

We still unfortunately live in a world where most people, including the government and media, believe that the "best" way to treat mental illness is by pharmaceutical medication with some psychological therapy on the side. But does conventional society really know what's best? As Dr Julia Rucklidge puts it, most people are just as wrong about mental health as we were about fatal infections in the 19th century, when we thought that they were caused by chance or "fate" instead of poor hygiene.

Omega-3 fats are important for mental health.

Her appearance at a TEDx event in Christchurch, New Zealand, comes after years of experience in treating patients with mental health issues (including conducting her own research). Over and over again, she has seen pharmaceutical drugs fail to improve health in the long term, and micronutrient therapy usually succeed. Two major aspects of conventional therapy's failure to treat mental illnesses are prevention and relapse. From 1991-2010, the number of people in New Zealand on disability for psychiatric disorders increased by four-fold (all research is shown on-screen in her TEDx talk). While she has seen pharmaceutical drugs be effective in acute episodes, it is clear that people are not truly healing. One example of this is a long-term study on children medicated for ADHD. In the short term, the drugs were the most effective therapy. In the long-term, their mental health was worse than in children who had never taken them. For depression? Despite our access to antidepressants, the rates of relapse and recovery are no better than 50 years ago. Children given antidepressants have triple the risk of developing bipolar disorder compared to those who go down another path. And schizophrenia? People randomised to stay on the same dose of antipsychotics, compared to those who are assisted to decrease or eliminate their use, are less likely to see a long-term recovery.

Despite her education being based on the idea that only drugs and psychotherapy can treat mental illness, her interest turned to nutritional therapy. She conducted a randomised, controlled trial on the effects of a vitamin and mineral (micronutrient) combination in adults with ADHD, and found that twice as many people in the treatment group reported symptomatic improvement compared with placebo. They were more likely to report that their symptoms no longer affected their life, were more likely to experience remission in their depression and more likely to stop exhibiting ADHD symptoms at a clinical level of severity. These were high doses of 36 nutrients, using high-quality supplements, so over-the-counter self-prescribing is unlikely to give the same results. In another, children with bipolar disorder had an average reduction of their symptoms by 50%, along with a reduction in medication. And what about PTSD following natural disasters? When micronutrient therapy was given to people affected by earthquakes, incidence of the disorder was cut to a mere fraction. Even then, nutritional supplementation helps people to rebuild their lives. Overall, Dr Rucklidge has seen a 60-80% success rate with micronutrient therapy for various mental illnesses.

And what about other studies by other authors? Around the world, research has shown that nutritional supplementation can help rehabilitate dangerous criminals and fight age-related cognitive decline, as well as deal with mental illness. In one of these, adolescents at risk of developing psychosis were randomised to receive either omega-3 fatty acids through fish oil or a placebo for 12 weeks. A year later, 28% of the placebo group had unfortunately developed psychosis. And the fish oil group? Only 5%! This is an 80% reduction. Once again, however, it must be remembered that these were high-quality supplements used at therapeutic doses. While you do need to work with a qualified practitioner (such as a naturopath), all of this research shows that there is real hope for recovery from mental health issues, with side-benefits for your overall health.

What? Niacin Prevents Cannibalism?

Weird news, or news that at least looks weird at first, is everywhere. Even in the world of natural health, if you know where to look. This round of weird news that I'm talking about comes out of the Universite de Strasbourg in France, where Tissier and colleagues uncovered some shocking behavior in wild hamsters, and a simple way to prevent it.

In the study, the researchers identified wild hamsters that were eating diets mostly made up of corn and only corn, and were exhibiting siblicide (killing siblings) and maternal infanticide (mothers killing their own children). The mother hamsters eating only corn would keep their young babies with their stashes of corn, and eat them too! This and siblicide were so frequent that only 5% of the babies whose mothers were fed corn survived. In those whose mothers had varied diets, 80% survived. However, they only had to supplement the corn-only diets with niacin (vitamin B3) to prevent the cannibalism. Just one vitamin!

Corn is fine in moderation, however.
Source: Sam Fentress (CC BY-SA: 2.0)

This research also raises the question of how our knowledge of nutrition may have shaped world events. Compulsory niacin fortification began around the same time as society began to change from "let's see how many people we can kill/conquer" to "let's rebuild" and more individualistic mentalities. Before this, niacin deficiency was common even in North America, as roller mill processing left out the alkali-soaking technique, previously employed by the ancient Aztecs and Mayans, that enables niacin to be absorbed by our digestive systems. While they were far from anti-war hippies, extreme poverty and struggling for survival was a firmly-entrenched norm around the world until the 19th century. And even though the West is now seen as a paragon of wealth and freedom, niacin deficiency disease, known as pellagra, killed over 100,000 people every year in the southern USA until the vitamin was discovered and added to packaged food.

It also adds further weight to orthomolecular medicine, a concept that has been studied and practiced for decades. While this category of therapies, involving large doses of vitamins, is commonly known for high-dose vitamin C to treat infections, niacin can also be used in this way for a range of conditions. This may even include so-called "genetic" diseases. In fact, some researchers say that around 50 genetic diseases caused by defects in enzyme-producing genes could be treated by high doses of the enzyme's vitamin component, which would at least partially restore its production. Mental health issues may be some of the problems treatable by niacin too, as population studies have shown a link between high-corn (therefore, low niacin) diets and higher levels of violence. However, treating clinical mental health issues would require high-quality supplementation at therapeutic doses, and a qualified professional to prescribe it.

Three Herbs and Spices That May Relieve Anxiety and Depression

Mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are sadly common, affecting about 18% of the American population. The mainstream perspective is that anyone with one or more of these disorders has a "chemical imbalance" in their brains, and therefore they must take pharmaceutical drugs to manage it. However, these drugs are often ineffective or come with side effects that may be worse than the actual illness. Then, there is also the question of what exactly this "chemical imbalance" is, and where it came from. These causes can actually be the quite preventable problems of nutrient deficiencies, inflammation or hormone imbalances, and thankfully there are natural medicines that can help without being so debilitating.

Botanical illustration of saffron.

Once again, one of these is turmeric, more specifically, curcumin, its main "active ingredient". In a study of 60 people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), everyone was assigned to either fluoxetine, 1000mg of curcumin, or both for six weeks. After the six weeks, it turned out that all three interventions were roughly equal in effectiveness. This ranged from about a 62-78% response rate, but the differences were not seen as significant. The average improvements in the HAM-D17 depression scores were also similar. These results mean that the choice between natural, pharmaceutical or integrative treatment can be entirely up to the individual, based on their beliefs and values, in at least some cases. In another study on 108 Chinese men, adding curcumin to their usual antidepressant use resulted in significant benefits to their depression scores. Levels of salivary cortisol (the primary stress hormone), as well as some inflammatory immune chemicals, also fell significantly.

Another of these is rosemary, a common staple of kitchen gardens. While we know the herb as an ancient memory aid, one much more recent study tested its effects with lavender on nursing students about to sit an exam. Use of these two oils together resulted in improved anxiety scores, which were backed up by personal statements and pulse measurements. Research on mice has also found anti-anxiety effects of rosemary, possibly by reducing cholinesterase enzymes, some of the enzymes that break down neurotransmitters.

On the more expensive side is saffron, a spice that is essentially part of a flower's tiny reproductive area. A meta-analysis of 2 placebo-controlled trials and 3 antidepressant-controlled trials studied what effects it may have on major depressive disorder, a condition where the expense is likely worth it for a safe, effective natural therapy. It was found that saffron performed significantly better than placebos, and had similar efficacy to antidepressant pharmaceuticals. The average Jadad score was 5, meaning that these were high-quality trials. Overall, there are effective natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals for depression and anxiety, we just have to keep our minds open, and enlist the help of qualified practitioners.

Is Longevity Worth It?

If you've taken an interest in longevity and antiaging as I have, eventually you will have someone say to you that they don't want to live longer as they believe that the world is only getting worse, if you haven't already. One or more of the following will be mentioned: war, the economy, climate change, freedom, or something else. But is this really true? Do we really have to pity the younger generations and wait to die?

It's not that bad.

Actually, no we don't, but that doesn't mean that sources like Our World in Data and Human Progress don't have to fight to prove that optimism is in fact the evidence-based worldview. The mainstream media throws tragedy after disaster after more death at us, without a balanced perspective. But this is some of what you don't see: global extreme poverty has fallen from about 95% in 1820 to just under 10% today; largely because of this, the under-5 mortality rate fell from 43% in 1820 to 4% today; and although almost nobody lived in a democracy in 1820, 56% do today. Partly driving these is the increase in literacy and basic education, which rose from 12% and 17% in 1820 to 85% and 86% today. On average, around 130,000 people escape from extreme poverty every day, and the number of children under 5 dying worldwide falls by 455. But this is too normal and too nice for the mainstream media, who seem to prefer showing dead children than children who are healthy because their family just gained access to sanitation. And longer lives don't mean overpopulation: global fertility has more than halved since 1960, a far cry from the situation that inspired Soylent Green and Logan's Run among others. Human Progress also shows other improvements in gender equality, such as a shrinking wage gap, less violence against women (and its acceptance) and more women in leadership roles. However, a major reason why we don't see these improvements is because more recently, so much of it has been outside the West. Extreme poverty is no longer the norm in East Asia, South Asia and even Africa, while it was as late as the 1980s (its no surprise then, that everyone wanted to become culturally Western).

Yes, long-term statistics show improvement, but what about during the last few years? The world has continued to improve overall, including in the case of the environment. Many species of animals, such as the humpback whale, had been taken off the endangered species list last year. Over three million square kilometres of ocean had been declared as marine sanctuaries. In 2015, half a million solar panels were installed every day, and in recent years emissions have stopped increasing. War zones are shrinking, now confined to an arc between Nigeria and Pakistan.

I know I have just bombarded you with numbers, but the size of them shows that overall, the world has gotten better, although there is still much more work to do. Life is worth living and longevity is worthwhile.

What is EFT?

If you have been interested in holistic health for a while now, you have probably heard of EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique. Also known as Meridian Tapping, it has been around in its current form since the 1980s, although the foundational principles are much older. It is based on the meridian channels first proposed by Traditional Chinese Medicine centuries ago, but some EFT practitioners relate it more to quantum physics. In TCM, physical, mental and emotional issues occur when meridian channels are somehow blocked. This is also the case for EFT, which focuses on specific tapping points associated with emotions and thought patterns on the subconscious level.

Ancient origins. Source: Wellcome Images

Understandably, as most people are unfamiliar with any form of energy medicine, skepticism is common. But despite EFT sounding like "nonsense" to many, there actually are clinical studies showing that it works. For example, a trial on 59 veterans with PTSD compared the standard-of-care alone and with EFT. After six sessions, an astounding 90% of the EFT group no longer met the clinical criteria for PTSD, while this was only the case for 4% of the control group. Then, the control group received EFT. After three sessions, 60% of them also no longer met the criteria for PTSD, and after six sessions it increased to 86%. The authors wrote that these results were consistent with other reports showing that EFT is effective in relieving PTSD, so this is not the only evidence.

EFT may also be effective in fibromyalgia, which has, until recently, commonly seen as "all in their heads". In one study, 86 women with fibromyalgia were assigned to either a wait-listed group or an EFT group, where they received an eight-week program. After these eight weeks, there was a significant improvement in the treated group over the control women, although the dropout rate was high enough that only 26 finished the EFT program and 36 stayed in the control group. There were improvements in pain, anxiety, depression, vitality, social function, general mental health, work and other activity performance, and stress. Pain catastrophising measures, such as magnification, helplessness and rumination also improved, and so did activity level. However, EFT was delivered with an "acceptance" angle, aiming to get the volunteers to accept their situation, instead of empowering them to change it.

It seems as though many people could use EFT, not just those with PTSD or fibromyalgia. An APA survey showed that 22% of Americans report extreme levels of stress (8-10 on a 10-point scale), although average stress levels dipped slightly, from 5.4 in 2010 to 5.2. To add to this problem, chronic stress is linked to various chronic illnesses, such as depression, obesity and the issues stemming from them. Overall, EFT is not "hocus-pocus" or a scam; research is revealing it to be a legitimate therapy.

Equal Rights Save Lives!

Mental health, particularly the mental health of teenagers, whose brains are still developing, is a very serious issue. With thousands of people attempting or committing suicide every year, health professionals are scrambling to find ways to prevent these deaths - all tragic results of our fundamental drive to live giving out. Despite the insistence of the pharmaceutical industry, true mental health isn't found in a packet of pills, and so often all one needs is freedom and respect.

Laws on same-sex relationships worldwide. Source: Silje.

Of course, this is just as true for lesbian, gay and bisexual people as it is for those born heterosexual. Having your freedoms restricted, anywhere from being unable to legally marry to feigning heterosexuality so you can avoid being killed, takes a toll on your mental health, and so does being valued less by society. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 15-24 in the USA, with a 2015 study showing that 6% of "straight" students had attempted suicide in the last year. For lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) students, the figure was 29%. The rapid development of adult capabilities, with your life changing by the year or even month, while still legally being a child, is stressful and disempowering enough. Having less power over your life because of the way you were born, and always will be, is just too much. Suicide not only causes decades of life to be lost, but also reflects tremendous suffering leading up to it, and has damaging effects on the mental health of communities.

On the other hand, a study just published this year has found that legalisation of same-sex marriage is associated with a drop in suicide attempts among high school students. At first, the states studied showed a suicide attempt rate of 8.6% for straight students, and 28.5% for LGB students. However, subsequent equal marriage rights was linked with a 0.6-percentage point decrease in attempts, which is a 7% relative reduction. Among LGB students, it was 4 percentage points and a 14% relative reduction, as they experienced most of the benefit. This persisted for at least two years after legalisation, meaning that any backlash against LGB rights did not result in a net loss to mental health. It is also possible that some of the benefits were indeed overshadowed by backlash against LGB rights, for example teenagers who otherwise would have seen their mental health improve still worsening because of their families' reactions. Why is the "ball and chain" (a silly term for marriage) so important? Even if you don't want to marry, the right to do so shows that your sexuality is respected and valued. If you do, whether or not you want to live together, your partner becomes family, giving you rights that you otherwise would not have. It is theorised that equal rights also drive social change, allowing people freedom to be themselves. Ellen Khan of the Human Rights Campaign also says: "When LGBTQ young people don’t feel safe, protected, or valued in their own community, when they don’t feel they can be fully out and authentic – that adds an emotional burden to bear”.

Today, more than 20 countries around the world allow same-sex marriage, with many others allowing civil unions, recognition of foreign marriages and unregistered cohabitation, at least in some of their regions. With the rights of sexual minorities on an upward trend, it's great to know that this is improving health and longevity too.

Does Drumming Improve Parkinson's Disease Symptoms?

You probably only know of Parkinson's disease as a shambling, unstoppable monster slowly destroying the health of family or friends if you're unlucky, or celebrities like Michael J Fox if your fortunes are better. So it sounds unbelievable that something as...not-medical...as drumming could improve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, right? Actually, that's what a new study is suggesting, as interest in natural alternatives continues to grow because of the frequent failures and toxicities of pharmaceutical drugs.

A djembe.

The study, published in mid-2016, involved 10 patients assigned to twice-weekly West African drumming classes, and 10 matched controls who also had Parkinson's disease. Both groups completed the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and motor and cognitive tests by someone who didn't know which patient was assigned to what group. After the first six weeks of the twelve-week study, drummers had significantly improved PDQ-39 scores, with an average improvement of 5.8 points. The drummers also improved their walking ability, but this was not seen as "significant". The "P-value", which measures the likelihood that the intervention had an effect on the patients' health, was 0.069; "statistically significant" improvements need a P-value of less than 0.05. However, a value of 0.069 still means that there was a 93.1% chance that the drumming was responsible for the improvements to their health! Considering that they have nothing to lose by drumming, it may be considered as good enough by many. The PDQ-39 test asks 39 questions to do with physical abilities such as walking and writing, as well as a few on mental state and social life. As drumming could easily reduce scores by 5-6 points by solely improving the mental state and social factors, it is also important to see the improvements in walking.

But...why drumming? It turns out that drumming has extremely ancient origins, for several reasons. Even certain species of insects, some of the first animals to live on land, use drumming for communication. In some cases, antennal drumming can even alter the development of larvae, determining whether they end up as workers or reproductive females! It is theorised that drumming, by its rhythmic vibration/sound, could affect epigenetic expression. Studies on humans have also found other health benefits. In one trial, both older and younger drummers showed a drop in stress and anxiety from taking djembe lessons, and in the older participants systolic blood pressure dropped. In another, active participation in music, whether it be singing, dancing or drumming, resulted in a higher pain tolerance through increased endorphin levels. Simply listening to music had no effect. Others have found some quite shocking improvements with drumming lessons. Huntington's disease is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder considered to be fatal and irreversible. However, two months of drumming lessons caused improvements in executive function and improvements to white matter structure, especially in the tissue that connects both hemispheres of the brain. Drumming could also boost immunity: a trial on 111 people found that it increased DHEA-cortisol ratios and improved immune cell activity. Despite being a fun hobby and not a medical intervention, drumming has actually been shown to improve multiple aspects of physical and mental health, though more research should be done to determine any specific benefits from specific styles, frequencies or rhythms.

Vitamin O - Outside!

Did you know that, before pharmaceutical medicine, spending time in and near the ocean was considered a treatment for many ailments? It works for me in the case of skin and respiratory health, but it isn't outdated nonsense in the eyes of science either. Spending time outside has been shown in research to have health benefits!

What is this talking about? One example of this is a 2009 study from the Netherlands. It showed that living within one kilometre of a green space was linked with a lower incidence of 15 diseases, the strongest associations being for anxiety and depression. Asthma, migraines and diabetes were some of the other conditions where going outside had a protective effect. Some of the benefits come from the production of vitamin D when you are exposed to sunlight, which aids absorption of calcium, iron and zinc. It also helps to balance the immune system and strengthen muscles; actually, all tissue types have receptors for vitamin D and therefore need it for healthy functioning. Additionally, some swear by the benefits of exposure to negative ions, which are said to be in higher concentrations in environments such as the beach or countryside. A book by Professor Robert E Thayer cited research showing that negative ion exposure "increased energetic feelings as well as improved reaction time". Natural light is also known to lift people's moods. Compared with exercising inside, physical activity in natural environments is linked with better self-esteem and increased energy. Poor natural light is linked with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which may be caused by a drop in serotonin and melatonin associated with darkness.

In the Netherlands study, a total of 345,143 people from 195 general practitioners' medical records were involved, making it nothing to sneeze at. Both green space within 3 kilometres and 1 kilometre of a person's residence were analysed in relation to disease prevalence. For those living within 3 kilometres of a significant amount of green space, there was a reduced incidence of anxiety, digestive infections and Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS). Although a "significant" reduction in disease prevalence was only 2-5%, these conditions are very common. The mechanisms behind these benefits may be due to more physical activity (such as in diabetes, musculoskeletal pain and heart disease), better air quality (asthma, COPD and respiratory infections) and the mental health benefits of a natural environment (depression and anxiety).

Robert E Thayer's 1990 book, The Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal, discusses many studies which show a benefit of negative ions and natural light. One study by Cunningham (1979) showed that hours of daily sunshine was positively linked with people's willingness to help out with weather readings. He then found that sunshine and warm weather was correlated with waitresses earning more tips. Negative ions, which he said are concentrated around natural bodies of water, have also been linked to better mood. One 1981 study showed increased tension and irritability around positive ions, and another showed faster reaction times and improved energy around negative ions. Buckalew and Rizzuto (1982) found increases in positive mood and decreases in negative mood with exposure to negative ions. Baron, Russell and Arms (1985) also found that negative ions improved the moods of volunteers. Overall, spending time outside is good for you!

Arianna Huffington and the Self-Care Revolution

When it comes to self-care, including sleep, we are often caught between two lines of thinking. Doctors, naturopaths and other health professionals recognise a good night's sleep as essential to health, for reasons such as the fact that sleep is when your immune system is restored. On the other hand, the dominant cultural norm is currently that sleep deprivation is a pre-requisite to achievement and success, especially if you are an entrepreneur. This is something that Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, used to believe, especially in university. After graduation, she continued on this inadvertently self-destructive path, and tried to get by on just three or four hours of sleep a night until she collapsed from "sleep deprivation, exhaustion and burnout" in 2007. While she had learnt her lesson, she saw that others had not, and so was inspired to write The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time. In an interview with Life Extension, Arianna explains the importance of healthy sleep, and the dangers of pharmaceutical sleep aids.

Source: Kemal ATLI (CC:2.0)

How dangerous is sleep deprivation? Well, Arianna starts with the statistic that less than six hours of sleep a night has been linked with a 15% greater chance of dying. Seven to nine hours a night is the ideal range, but less than six hours is associated with a greater risk of obesity as it increases levels of appetite-stimulating hormones. In other research, healthy adults were found to have higher blood pressure after only being allowed to sleep four hours a night instead of eight. These factors could raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases, one of the world's biggest killers. In fact, a recent study found that men with sleep disorders had 2-2.6 times the risk of heart attack, and 1.5-4 times greater risk of stroke over the 14-year study period. Those who associate death with sleep in an attempt to make it sound less awful really have it the wrong way around.

Sleep deprivation can also endanger the lives of others, as found in a study of around 3,000 first-year medical residents (reference in book). While their working week is "capped" at a massive 80 hours, individual shifts can last as long as 24 hours. In months where interns had at least five 24-hour shifts, patients deaths increased by 300% and fatigue-related adverse events increased by 700%! An Australian study also found that being awake for 17-19 hours impaired cognition just as much as having a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, which also counts as legally drunk in Australia.

However, in her research Arianna has uncovered the dangers of sleeping pills. Harvard medical school professor Patrick Fuller explained to her that the chemical imbalances caused by these drugs can limit restorative sleep and often only create a state between sleep and being awake, leading to side effects such as sleepwalking. Additionally, she found that use of benzodiazepines such as Xanax increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease after 3-6 months of use. Taking them for more than six months raises the risk by 84%. It is best to look at what diet and lifestyle factors are causing a lack of sleep, and using nutritional and/or herbal medicines such as valerian or lavender, instead of pharmaceutical interventions. Sleep is essential, but replacing one consequence for another is not the way to go.

Probiotics May Affect Mental Health

The ability of probiotics to affect digestive and immune health now seems to be mainstream knowledge, with advertisements for over-the-counter brands shown on a regular basis. But did you know that they may also benefit your mental health?



Source: Quijote

One such benefit of probiotics is that they could simply improve mood, in other words, make people happy! A study involving 40 people tested the effect of a probiotic supplement containing several species of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus bacteria on negative thought patterns. After 4 weeks, participants who received the probiotics had significantly less aggressive and ruminating thoughts compared to the placebo group. To "ruminate" means to repeatedly go over negative thoughts, which can feel uncontrollable. These results were seen as important because the thought patterns that probiotics reduced are known risk factors for depression. In another study completed by 124 people, volunteers were given either a probiotic milk drink or a placebo for three weeks. Those with low mood who were taking the probiotic were more likely to describe themselves as "happy" instead of "depressed" after the three weeks.

Probiotics may not just prevent depression, but could also reduce its severity if you already have it. A clinical trial of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum tested the two over 30 days for their effects on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Hopkins symptom checklist. They found significant decreases in the sub-spheres of depression, somatisation and anger-hostility. "Somatisation" refers to the physical symptoms that can come with depression. The researchers then analysed the results of those with urinary cortisol levels of less than 50ng/mL at baseline. Cortisol is one of the primary stress hormones. Probiotics still significantly reduced these symptoms, as well as the "obsessive-compulsive", "anxiety" and "paranoid-ideation" scores in the Hopkins checklist. It was also pointed out that probiotics, unlike pharmaceuticals, are not addictive, and do not cause memory or learning impairments. Overall, it looks like probiotics could be an effective way to manage mood disorders naturally, but it is always best to consult a qualified practitioner of natural medicine first.

Could Gluten Make You Go Crazy?

Despite much progression towards a free, individualistic society, a considerable amount of conformity unfortunately remains. This results in bullying and harassment towards people who simply make different choices, even when those different choices are simply what is best for their health. In this case, I am talking about people like me who need to stay on a gluten-free diet. Some of us (like me) cannot or should not be tested in order to get an "official diagnosis" because of often torturous neurological symptoms. I lose balance, co-ordination, memory and feel like I have been partially erased from existence; that is the main reason why I will not get tested. Others, such as a woman in a case study recounted by Dr Kelly Brogan, have it much worse - by "worse", I mean "psychosis". Gluten has been known for years, at least in limited circles, to trigger chronic and disabling psychiatric conditions.

Source: Panaderia La Colegiala

The woman in this case was 37 at the time and studying for a PhD. Partly because of stress related to studying, she began to believe that people were talking about her. Then, it progressed to paranoid accusations that her parents had assisted in a burglary targeting her home. She was initially hospitalised and given the label "psychotic disorder", and was prescribed risperidone and sertraline. Ultimately she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and Coeliac disease, because of her nutrient deficiencies, weight loss and inability to absorb thyroid medication. Unfortunately, she refused to stick to a gluten-free diet, believing that her doctors were lying to her. She lost her job, became homeless and attempted suicide before being put back into hospital where she was made to stay on a gluten-free diet. Her delusions resolved in three months, but she later relapsed after accidentally eating gluten. In other unfortunate events, Dr Alessio Fasano repeats conventional warnings to not start a gluten-free diet until after intestinal biopsy, in order to avoid a false-negative result. But as Kelly Brogan writes, simply trialling a gluten-free diet could be a path of less harm, as it doesn't result in further damage and more symptoms. Then there is the question of a negative biopsy result, despite the growing acknowledgement of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and its potential psychiatric manifestations. As Dr Hadjivassiliou states, gluten intolerance can be totally neurological, with no intestinal damage. One paper states:
"If gluten is the putative harmful agent, then there is no requirement to invoke gut damage and nutritional deficiency to explain the myriad of the symptoms experienced by sufferers of celiac disease and gluten-sensitivity". 

Want to know how long gluten has been suspected as a cause of neurological disorders? About 60 years...and it still hasn't been recognised in the mainstream! The oldest reports of emotional disturbances being resolved after the removal of gluten date back to 1951. In 1966, a study was published showing an association between schizophrenia rates and wheat consumption. Less wheat consumption, which required a world war to happen, was linked to significantly lower first-time admissions for schizophrenia. More recent research has found a drastically higher incidence of anti-gluten antibodies among schizophrenics, and a 2006 review found at least significant reductions in schizophrenic symptoms after initiating a gluten-free diet. In a study published in 1984, only 2 people out of over 65,000 Pacific Islanders eating a traditional, grain-free diet had chronic schizophrenia. Westernisation of their diets resulted in a Western-level prevalence of the disease. In a 1996 study (why is this not common knowledge?), anti-gluten (gliadin) antibodies were found in 27% of the population, and in up to 57% of people with neurological problems of unknown cause. There is no excuse for bullying or harassing people who do not eat gluten, whether or not they have the medical records to satisfy your questions.

Cinnamon Could Add Spice to the Next Semester

Beginning a new semester or school year at high school or university may be exciting, or it may be filled with stress, which is likely to increase as assessments pile up. Fortunately, there are natural remedies that can help with learning ability, and a new study shows that cinnamon may be one of them.

In this pre-clinical study, mice were first tested in mazes to separate the good learners from the poor learners. The good learners took an average of 60 seconds to find the food reward at the end of the maze, while the poor learners took an average of 150 seconds; two and a half times how long it took for the good learners. After consuming cinnamon for one month, however, the poor learners were completing the maze puzzle at the same time as the good learners, instead of making so many wrong turns. When the brains of mice from both groups were examined, the poor learners had more of one protein and less of another than the good learners at the beginning of the study. After the month of cinnamon consumption, the levels of these proteins were the same in both groups. Researchers stated that these effects were most likely due to some of the compounds in cinnamon, such as cinnamaldehyde, which gives the spice its aroma and flavour. These are metabolised in the liver to form sodium benzoate, which was reported to stimulate plasticity – the ability to learn and adapt – in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory. Initially, plasticity of neurons in poorly learning mice was much lower than those who could learn more effectively. It also improved the structural integrity of the brain cells, which in turn improved their communication with each other. Integrity of cultured hippocampal neurons was measured by the spine density. Now, clinical trials are being planned, as there is hope that cinnamon extracts may help to fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, besides helping stressed out students.

C. verum on the left. Source: Antti Vaha-Sipila (CC BY SA: 1.0)

But isn’t cinnamon just a food, or a mere spice used for flavouring? Actually, cinnamon has been used in traditional medicine to treat conditions such as diabetes for many years. A study on diabetic rats trying to confirm this found that cinnamaldehyde reduced blood glucose by 63% compared to the control group. A dose of 20mg per kilogram of body weight also significantly decreased the amount of haemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein on blood cells) that was tangled up in unabsorbed sugar; increased the liver’s normal stores of sugar and increased the level of insulin. Additionally, it normalised liver enzyme levels. A woman I studied with, who is a type 1 diabetic, had to reduce her dose of insulin after beginning to eat cinnamon! It was the good cinnamon (zeylanicum, or verum), not cassia or another species. Although human clinical trials have not been conducted on cinnamon’s ability to improve learning, it may be still worthwhile to add it to your daily diet. Cinnamon could be added to oatmeal, cereal or yoghurt at breakfast, or consumed as part of chai tea. It could also be added to smoothies, hot chocolate, pancakes or muffins. One idea I found is to combine half a cup of cottage cheese with diced apple and a pinch or more of cinnamon, among many others. Anyway, this is something that could be advisable for stressed-out students.

Six-Hour Workdays Gain Popularity in Sweden

Six-hour workdays are increasingly popular in Sweden, with the aim of not only boosting productivity, but also ensuring that employees have more time to spend on their personal lives. However, this is not all that new: Toyota centres in Gothenburg switched to six-hour days 13 years ago, with happier staff, lower turnover and increased profits. Filimundus, an app developer, changed last year, and while "distractions" such as social media and meetings are eliminated or kept to a minimum, there is more motivation to actually get work done. Even some healthcare workers are enjoying the benefits of a six-hour day, such as doctors and nurses in some hospitals and staff in a retirement home in Gothenburg, which is conducting a study to see whether this is "worth it" to the employers.

When natural forms of medicine achieve equality with allopathic medicine, would I like the same "privileges" as my allopathic brothers and sisters (at least in Sweden) are starting to receive? Yes! Another news article from Refinery 29 covering this topic does state that these employees are still being paid the same amount of money. A 30-hour working week is also the same amount of hours that I spent at school; I'd like to keep that free time and so would many others. Data from the retirement home shows that although the company had to spend (US?)$735,000 in employing more nurses, these nurses reported being happier, more productive and less likely to need sick leave. The care that residents are receiving is also of a higher quality, so one way that the extra costs could be covered may be that those who need aged care could be more likely to choose this home. Besides less sick leave and more productivity, I may be able to add that they could spend less money on hiring new employees, because of lower turnover and the fact that many would be more likely to want to work there. If six-hour workdays become more common, it may also allow more people who are currently economically inactive to get jobs (more people earning more can mean more people spending more, which would probably lead to increased profits in general). It is entirely possible, as I see reports of improvements such as increased pay, less restrictive dress codes, and even unlimited annual leave where quality of work beats quantity, as the labour market tightens (less potential employees). Unfortunately for those in the USA, these changes are most likely to arrive much later than in Europe, where working hours are often (or always) limited by law. I have seen the effects of this while on tour in Europe, with our bus driver's work limits giving us more time at stops, which benefitted us as well.

Rhodiola rosea. Source: Wiki user "Sigma64"

But what can we do to improve our resistance to work-related stress, if less hours are not an option? Besides nutrients such as magnesium and B vitamins (eat your Vegemite!), there is also a class of herbal medicines known as adaptogens, which work in a variety of ways to improve resistance to all forms of stress (oxidative, homeostatic, mental etc.). One of these is rhodiola, which I have prescribed in the student clinic because of its ability to balance out cortisol levels, a key stress hormone. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, two doses of rhodiola were compared to a placebo on a very uniform group of 161 cadets. The results showed a "pronounced" and "highly significant" effect against fatigue, as measured by the Anti-Fatigue Index. The two- and three-capsule groups had average AFI values of 1.0385 and 1.0195, while the placebo group had an average AFI of 0.9046. No significant effect was shown in physiological tests, but there are many other adaptogens which can improve physical performance, and rhodiola may also provide this benefit in some people. Optimal work-life balance is still best, and adaptogens have many other uses such as antiaging, but if you work long hours adaptogens may help with performance and having the energy to enjoy time off.

Has Pokemon Go Helped Players with Depression?

Since Pokemon Go was released this month, it has had some surprising impacts on its millions of users, including offering benefits for players who suffer from mental health conditions. Users have taken to social media to report unexpected improvements in depression and anxiety since downloading the game, which requires the player, or “trainer”, to go outside and walk, often for hours at a time. This is commonly a struggle for people with depression or anxiety to achieve for even a few minutes.

A few tweets from some users read as follows:

“PokemonGo has already been a better treatment for my depression than anything my doctor prescribed or therapist recommended.”

“Took another 4 mile walk and talked to 4 people along the way. PokemonGo may solve obesity and social anxiety in one app.”

“PokemonGO is gunna cure my social anxiety. Everyone has been so nice. People are not as scary as originally perceived.”

As playing the game requires going out and exploring one’s neighbourhood to find and capture Pokemon, leaving the house does not come with the forced social interaction which can make it so difficult. While there are hundreds of apps attempting to improve mental health by affirmations or mood tracking, many lose interest after a few days or weeks.

Video games have come a long way since I owned this.

But is there any scientific evidence to explain these benefits? Yes, for both the increased physical activity and the fact that some of the best Pokemon are found near trees or water. A study has found that spending just 30 minutes a week in nature can reduce the risk of depression by 7%, and high blood pressure by 9%. With the high prevalence of these conditions, even 7 and 9% means a significant number of people benefit. Social cohesion, measured by trust, reciprocal exchange and general community cohesion, also improved. Another found that going for a 90-minute walk through a grassland area decreased activity in the area of the brain responsible for negative rumination when compared to brain scans before the walk. Rumination means repetitive thoughts focusing on negative aspects of the self, and can increase the risk of depression. Yet another found that walking down a tree-lined street could significantly lower stress levels, even when the participants were preparing a speech or performing mathematics in front of judges. This has been a familiar concept to Japanese culture for many years, known as “nature bathing”. As for simply exercising, a study on 1,904 women with depressive symptoms, mild or moderate depression found that 200 minutes of walking a week, or 150 minutes of moderate exercise (golf, tennis, swimming, aerobics or line dancing) was linked with improvements in mental health. They had more energy, socialised more, felt emotionally better and were not as limited by their depression. 150 minutes is equal to just over 20 minutes a day, while 200 minutes can be spread out and rounded up to 30 minutes a day. More exercise was associated with greater improvements, though there were still benefits at lower levels of exercise. However, the average Pokemon Go player is likely to walk for much longer than 30 minutes at a time. Overall, it looks like a game that is not only enjoyable and world-famous, but also leads to much-needed exercise and time outside, should not be automatically dismissed as “stupid” or “childish”.

Unfortunately for me, my phone does not support the game, but hopefully I can update it.

Anxiety May Speed Aging, Probiotics May Slow It

Previously, I have covered underlying physical problems beneath depression and anxiety, as well as the role of telomere shortening in aging. Anxiety and depression are already very serious issues, with one in ten Americans on an antidepressant (Life Extension, March 2016, like the rest of this article), but to make things worse, anxiety has been found to shorten telomeres and thus speed cellular aging! This knowledge may cause yet more anxiety, I know, but fortunately there are natural, effective treatments that can target the physical causes of anxiety.

First, some good news: I have recently seen good results in an 18-year-old student clinic patient with anxiety, who I have put on a St John's Wort tablet along with some diet changes. Over the past two weeks, his anxiety and issues with sleep have halved in severity. However, the research I am talking about today is about two strains of probiotics that have been shown to halve anxiety and depression scores in clinical trials. At college, we haven't been warned about drug interactions with probiotics like we have with St John's Wort, so they may be a safer alternative if you are on medications such as the oral contraceptive pill.

Among naturopathic circles, the gut-brain axis, i.e. the relationship between the digestive and nervous systems, is a familiar concept, but can raise eyebrows in mainstream society. Animal studies, which serve as a model of human physiology, have demonstrated that the makeup of the intestinal microbiome (ecosystem of bacteria) can not only influence brain development and mental health, but early life stress can dramatically alter intestinal bacteria composition. For example, mice with sterile intestinal tracts showed exaggerated stress responses, including higher cortisol levels, but administration of Bifidobacterium species normalised the stress response. Disease-causing E. coli bacteria worsened their response to stress.  Probiotics can improve neurological health by reducing inflammation, balancing hormones such as cortisol (the main stress hormone), improving intestinal integrity (reducing leaky gut) and crowding out the bacteria which can produce toxins that may negatively affect mental/neurological health.


Pickling can require Lactobacillus species. Source: Nevit Dilmen

The two species of bacteria in question are Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum, which are available in the practitioner brands that the student clinic sells. In one study involving 55 participants with mild depression or anxiety, a prescription of this combination for 30 days significantly benefitted mental health. There was a 49% drop in the global severity index of psychological distress; a 50% decrease in depression scores; a 60% decrease in anger-hostility scores; a 36% drop in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score and a 13% drop in urinary free cortisol. Supplemented participants also reported less self-blame and better problem solving. In another, participants aged 18 to 60 who reported at least two symptoms of stress (irritability, nervousness, anxiety, trouble sleeping and gastrointestinal disturbance) were also assigned to either receive this combination of probiotics or a placebo. Those in the supplement group experienced a 7.6-fold greater reduction in stress-induced abdominal pain, and a 2.1-fold greater reduction in nausea and vomiting related to stress. Of course, diet and lifestyle changes, possibly along with herbal medicine initially, are still things that I would recommend alongside the probiotics, especially if you are looking for freedom from pharmaceuticals. A consultation with a qualified naturopath, which I will soon be, is essential. Mental health has not been my strong point in the past, but it is essential in antiaging and longevity.

New Gluten-Free Beer Available in Germany



Coming soon to Oktoberfest? Source: Usien.

Thanks to Australian scientists and farmers, German consumers now have access to gluten-free beer made from a new strain of barley, a breakthrough for manufacturers seeking alternatives to rice and sorghum. Approximately 70 tonnes of the new Kebari strain of barley have been sold to Germany’s largest brewer, Radeberger. Kebari barley is non-GMO, instead, it is the product of decades of breeding out gluten by cross-breeding low-gluten varieties of barley. Production of this new strain will be strictly controlled in Australia, in order to prevent any cross-contamination which could have negative effects on the health of coeliac or gluten sensitive consumers. Kebari barley only contains tiny amounts of gluten, but at 5 parts per million it is well below the WHO qualification of 20ppm. European beer drinkers have embraced gluten-free varieties more than other regions, with most growth in the sector coming from those who do not suffer from coeliac disease, although diagnosis of the condition has increased. Coeliac disease is largely genetic, with an estimated prevalence of 0.5-1% globally, and features an immune reaction to gluten that usually involves intestinal damage, rarely only symptoms involving other organs, or both. The majority of patients with coeliac disease will have damage to the small intestinal villi, which negatively affects nutrient absorption. Therefore, the need for gluten-free options, or foods with a gluten content low enough to not trigger a reaction, must be taken seriously as untreated coeliac disease can lead to increased risk of disease and higher mortality rates. Additionally, patients with certain other diseases, such as hepatitis B, may have a higher prevalence of coeliac disease, whether it is a cause or effect of these other conditions.

But what about those who have no reason to suspect coeliac disease, and are just eliminating gluten to maintain general health? Are they simply following a “fad” that will pass eventually and give way to another dietary “no-no”? There is a theory, in fact, that gluten may be bad for everyone. Some say that gluten is indigestible in humans, and that gluten sensitivity, where there is no damage to the intestines, may affect millions more than the 18 million already known. This is harder to diagnose, as patients could have anything from a list of around 100 symptoms, with varying degrees of similarity to coeliac disease. Some autoimmune diseases may be triggered by gluten intake, as similar antigens to those made by our bodies may “confuse” the immune system. Gluten has also been implicated in a range of neurological issues, particularly neuropathy and ataxia. For example, there has been an association made between gluten and schizophrenia, and there has also been evidence linking gluten to cerebellar degeneration in ataxia of “unknown cause”. Ataxia is the best description of my symptoms. In addition to gluten, the lectins, opioid-like compounds and high levels of aspartate and glutamate found in wheat may also cause damage, particularly to the nervous system. The lectins in wheat can cause intestinal damage and inflammation. Gliadomorphin, an opioid found in wheat, can activate brain opioid receptors and thus damage neurological function. Aspartate and glutamate are “non-essential” amino acids which stimulate the nervous system and can kill neurons by over-stimulation (excitotoxicity). Therefore, wheat may be the worst out of the several grains that contain gluten. While it has not been concluded that gluten is harmful to most, or all, people, mounting evidence that it can cause harm, along with the value of personal choice, mean that the production of gluten-free beer may benefit many of those who choose to consume alcohol (in moderation, of course).

Do Green Oats Have Anti-Aging Effects?

In the 1980s and 1990s, published studies in Europe showed incredible increases in the lifespan of animals given a drug called deprenyl, which reduces the breakdown of dopamine. For example, treated elderly rats had their remaining lifespans doubled (Mech Aging Dev), and immune-suppressed mice in another study lived up to around 200% longer of deprenyl (Arzneimittelforschung). This led to a surge in demand for the drug, which was originally approved to treat Parkinson's disease, for anti-aging purposes, however, it was very expensive for US consumers. Fortunately, a cheaper alternative exists: an extract of green oats, otherwise known as Avena sativa. This herb in extract form is available in the student clinic at my college, and until now very undervalued by me. (References in original Life Extension article, The Most Sought After Anti-Aging Drug).

So how do green oats work against aging? By preserving levels of dopamine. "Normally", dopamine levels in the brain decrease by about 13% each decade after the age of 45. Once dopamine levels drop to 30% of (youthful) normal, symptoms of Parkinson's disease may appear; a drop to 10% is fatal. As people age, levels of Monoamine Oxidase-B (MAO-B) increase, which degrades dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Dopamine is a "feel-good" neurotransmitter, and it wouldn't be surprising if a decline in this is behind the negativity that is often radiated by many elderly people. Negativity is bad for your health, and the negative older people in your life are not more "realistic", they are likely to have low dopamine and therefore cannot psychologically respond as well to whatever it is you've done to make the world better. Specifically, motivation and reward are what dopamine is involved in, so low dopamine means you are less able to see the point or positive side in things.  MAO-B also decreases acetylcholine, an essential neurotransmitter for cognitive function; Alzheimer's disease also features a loss of acetylcholine.

This sounds frightening - who would want to lose their youthful levels of dopamine, acetylcholine and other neurotransmitters? It isn't really, as the quite accessible green oat extract has been found to protect against it. One study of people aged 30-60 years showed increases in electrical brain activity during concentration tests after supplementation with green oat extract. After two hours, delta and theta brainwave activity were increased by 38% and 25% respectively compared to placebo. Delta and theta brainwaves are associated with raised focus, concentration, perpetual speed and executive functioning. Another trial with 36 elderly people found a 65% improvement in cognitive function compared to placebo, and even those with a mild cognitive impairment showed an over 26% improvement on their test scores. A third study involving 42 people with self-reported cognitive decline, with an average age of 59 years, showed an amazing 180% increase in scores of a test called "global speed of performance" compared to the placebo group. There were also small but significant improvements in executive function, working memory and episodic memory.

When people come to me with signs of low dopamine, or are looking for something with anti-aging effects on the nervous system, I will recommend green oat extract more often. Just because it sounds less exotic than Ashwagandha or reishi mushrooms doesn't make it less effective.