It’s time to take a moment to address your health so you can feel your best which in turn will give you the energy and resilience to help others. If you’ve been feeling like you can’t get through the day without your coffee (or other caffeine laden drink), a glass of wine or are experiencing cravings for sugar or carbohydrates and maybe you are feeling tired but wired, it is time to explore whether your constant on the go lifestyle is creating chronic stress and is impacting your adrenal glands.
I know first hand how improving adrenal health can at times seem impossible, especially when conventional advice isn’t practical for parents and practitioners busy looking after others. In this special episode, Dr. Izabella Wentz and I are debunking adrenal fatigue or what Dr. Wentz more appropriately calls adrenal dysfunction myths in the most comprehensive way so you can better understand the root causes of the symptoms you may be experiencing. Dr. Wentz shares practical and actionable advice from her Adrenal Transformation Protocol, so you too, can get back to feeling your best without having to “press pause” on your life.
Don’t miss this episode and dive into the enlightening conversation to learn about adrenal and thyroid dysfunction, its symptoms, and how Dr. Wentz’s protocol has already transformed thousands of lives.
When we are addressing such complex issues with our children’s neurological health we must always circle back to the foundations of health and how imbalances there may be the root cause of our children’s symptoms of mitochondrial dysfunction in anxiety. Nothing is more foundational than looking at cellular health and in particular, cellular metabolism, the ability of our cells to make sufficient energy for the tissues/organs/systems that are made of the cells to do their jobs. After all, the brain is one of the highest consumers of energy in the human body!
Although there is still a need for more research, there are many indicators that we need to look at mitochondrial dysfunction as a key link to anxiety. Given the role of the gut-brain axis in brain health, it is not entirely surprising that the gut microbiome can both be impacted by poor mitochondrial health and disruption in the microbiome can lead to poor mitochondrial health. This bi-directional link between anxiety and mitochondrial dysfunction is the topic I discuss during my interview with Trudy Scott, CN for the Anxiety Summit 5.
What is the gut-brain axis?
The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication network that links the enteric, central and autonomic nervous systems. In a 2015 review article published in the Annals of Gastroenterology, the authors concluded that “Strong evidence suggests that gut microbiota has an important role in bidirectional interactions between the gut and the nervous system. It interacts with CNS by regulating brain chemistry and influencing neuro-endocrine systems associated with stress response, anxiety and memory function.”1
What are mitochondria and their role in the gut and the brain?
Mitochondria are descendants of aerobic bacteria that entered (literally and functionally) into a mutualistic partnership with ancient anaerobic microbes. “Nutrient metabolism is a function shared by both the microbiome and mitochondria. In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the gut microbiome produces metabolites that influence mitochondrial function and biogenesis (i.e., mitochondrial replication within a cell to increase ATP production.)”2 Therefore if your child’s microbiome is out of balance (dysbiosis) then this, in turn, will negatively impact their mitochondrial function.
Mitochondria are responsible for the production of ATP, adenosine triphosphate, which is the body’s energy currency. It’s used to transfer the chemical energy needed for all metabolic reactions in the body.
Mitochondria are found in every cell—from five hundred to two thousand per cell, depending on the type of tissue the cell is found in and how energy-dependent that tissue is. Mitochondria even have their own DNA. (In other words, they are important.) The mitochondria break nutrients down to produce ATP, a process that generates free radicals within the mitochondria called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Free radicals are oxidative molecules that must be neutralized by antioxidants or they damage cells and tissue. The body’s master antioxidant, glutathione, is the primary antioxidant that neutralizes reactive oxygen species to reduce oxidative damage to the mitochondria
Bottom line is if we have an imbalance of ROS and antioxidants this results in oxidative stress which impairs mitochondrial function.
What happens when mitochondria are impaired? How does this relate to symptoms of anxiety?
In the July 2019 issue of Trends in Neuroscience, a review article concludes that mitochondria are now being recognized as modulators in anxiety-related behaviour. There is a bidirectional link between mitochondria and anxiety.
Specifically, they state that: “Mitochondrial, energy metabolism and oxidative stress alterations are observed in high anxiety and conversely changed mitochondrial function can lead to heightened anxiety symptoms.”3
An increasing number of studies are revealing that several other mitochondrial-related functions, such as oxidative stress, apoptosis, neurosteroid production and mitochondrial biogenesis are also altered in individuals with high anxiety.4 A case study series published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry Clinical Neuroscience, case study series evaluating mitochondrial dysfunction present in various psychiatric conditions including anxiety also identified how mitochondrial dysfunction is reported to be present in 70 of adult patients reporting a major psychiatric disorder and 50 of children with a mitochondrial disorder have depression.5
