Anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a condition characterized by the chronic experience of abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and/or mucous. 1 in 7 people suffer from it, but only half of those have sought treatment. And since there aren't any FDA approved treatments, a lot of people are struggling with irritable guts out there. 61% of people with IBS have anxiety disorders...

Read More..

Genes Are Not Destiny

We are the products of our mother's and father's genes (more Mom than Dad), but a modern understanding of genetics and biology shows us that how our genes are expressed are the product of our environment and what we do. How can that be, when we are allotted a certain genetic hand of cards at conception?The science of epigenetics explains a lot (and leaves us with a lot of questions too). It turns...

Read More..

Depression 3 - Not Quite What It Used to Be

The first written records we have of depression are from Mesopotamia, in 2000 B.C. Those who were depressed were thought to be possessed by spirits, and thus treated by priests. The same was true of mental illness in other records in Babylonia, Egypt, and China, and often a type of exorcism was used as treatment, such as beatings, starvation, and restraint (1). The Greeks and Romans felt "melancholia"...

Read More..

The Evolution of Psychiatry

In the West a few centuries ago, mental illness was considered the result of personal or spiritual failure. Those who suffered were often considered punished by God, and incarcerated or otherwise treated cruelly (think of Bertha Antoinetta Mason locked away in Thornfield Manor.) In France in the early 1800s, Phillipe Pinel and Jean Etienne Esquirol introduced the idea of the traitement morale, that...

Read More..

Diet and Depression Again

Now I'll review the other major dietary observational studies regarding depressive disorders. Dietary patterns and depressive symptoms among Japanese men and women: 521 men and women filled out dietary surveys and mental health questionnaires. Once again three dietary patterns were identified - and those who ate fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and soy (called the "healthy Japanese diet" group) were...

Read More..

Diet, Depression, and Anxiety

This post will focus on a single paper, published in March 2010 in the American Journal of Psychiatry: Association of Western and Traditional Diets With Depression and Anxiety in Women. (Thank you to Dr. Hale for pointing out the study). In the introduction, the authors make note that depression and anxiety are highly prevalent with other chronic dietary-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease,...

Read More..

Depression 2 - Inflammation Boogaloo

It is well known that symptoms of clinical depression are likely mediated by inflammation in the brain. A number of lines of evidence support this idea, including that depressed people, old and young, have elevated levels of certain inflammatory proteins in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Anti-inflammatory agents treat depression, and pharmacologic agents such as interferon-alpha, that cause...

Read More..

Cravings and Processed Food Woo Woo

David Kessler wrote an interesting book last year called The End of Overeating, in which he examined the nature of the food industry in America today and how it might contribute to overeating and obesity. Kessler's book takes up where Fast Food Nation left off - Fast Food Nation will make you never want to eat at a fast food restaurant again, (and also, since reading it I've used as much sterile technique...

Read More..

Vegetable Oils and our Brave New World

A quick review of the basic premise, this new lens through which I examine nutrition, general health, and mental health: humans beings will have the best chance of good physical and mental health by staying true to the diet and activities that we are evolved for. Let's get back to diet for the moment and focus on some of the differences between what we eat today, and what physically healthy peoples...

Read More..

Wheat and Schizophrenia

I'm in the middle of an introduction to vegetable oils post, but in the midst of tweaking that one, my youngest woke up from her nap, and I moved to the family room to observe her toddling about while I glanced at this seriously interesting paper, Genetic Hypothesis of Idiopathic Schizophrenia: It's Exorphin Connection. Free full text! Click the gray box on the upper right.Schizophrenia is an unfortunate...

Read More..

Depression 1

I realize this blog is titled "Evolutionary Psychiatry," and I have yet to actually mention much psychiatry. In part because my job is to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, such asking you about your relationship with your father, or smack in the middle of metabolic syndrome and weight loss. In part we began with the paleolithic theories because I wanted to describe a basis of healthy eating,...

Read More..

Eat What You Want**, Lose Fat, and Keep it Off Forever

** except for a few foods which currently constitute 60% of the standard American diet(disclaimer again - I'm not your doctor - you may have a particular medical condition so that this information does not apply to you. Talk to your doctor if you have questions, but make sure he/she knows what the Friedewalde equation is!)All you have to do is follow a few dietary rules to be more hunter gatherer...

Read More..

Beans and Grains: A Brief Introduction

In previous entries, I made mention of a paleolithic-style diet being optimal for human consumption. By "optimal" I meant you can rely on your appetite to direct you to stay lean (if you are already lean), or be a tad more careful about what you eat and lose the extra fat (in a later post I will explain exactly how to lose the fat!), and, it seems pretty scientifically clear from epidemiological and...

Read More..

The Fat Post: For Heaven's Sake, Eat the Skin on your Chicken

A hundred dieters just turned their heads. "What? The SKIN? That's where all the FAT is!"Well, let me regale you with a tale of ego, bias, and misdirected good intentions.* Back mid-twentieth century or so, public health officials and doctors were trying to figure out what caused heart disease. At the time, there was only a blood test available for total cholesterol, and investigations of atherosclerotic...

Read More..