OCD, Insomnia, and Fatigue: Based on the book "This is Your Brain on Food"
OCD:
As we’ve seen with related conditions like anxiety, the gut-brain connection is a factor in OCD. Changing gut bacteria can change the course of the disease, and gut bacteria change when OCD symptoms emerge. Dietary glutamates are generally regarded as healthy in normal amounts for most individuals, but sufferers of OCD should be very careful about their glutamate intake. That’s because glutamate plays an important role in your brain as a neurotransmitter that is deeply intertwined with OCD symptoms. There are two types of dietary glutamate. Bound glutamate is usually eaten as part of a protein, and thus it can be digested and absorbed well. Free glutamate is not bound to other amino acids, which means that it can cause spikes of glutamate in the blood. You want to avoid these spikes. Free forms of glutamate are found in cured meat, Roquefort and Parmesan cheese, fish sauce, soy sauce, ripe tomatoes, broccoli, grape juice, caviar, salami, miso, and bone broths.
OCD CHEAT SHEET Since OCD is so closely related to anxiety, the dietary recommendations for anxiety also apply here. Foods and Supplements to Embrace: N-acetylcysteine: While NAC itself must be taken as a supplement, cysteine-rich foods can also be effective. Try meat, grains, eggs, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, broccoli, red pepper, and onion. Myoinositol: Fresh vegetables, especially navy or green beans, Brussels sprouts, and lima beans; peanut butter; whole wheat bread; cantaloupe; and citrus fruits. Glycine: Meat, fish, dairy products, legumes, spinach, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, pumpkin, bananas, kiwi. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum): Available as a supplement. Vitamin B12. Spices: Turmeric with a pinch of black pepper. Foods to Avoid: MSG, other glutamates, and glutamic acid: Fish sauce, oyster sauce, tomato sauce, miso, Parmesan cheese, savory snacks, chips, ready-to-eat meals, mushrooms, spinach, seaweed, cheeses, soy sauce, fermented beans, tomatoes, and high-protein foods like meats and seafood. Gluten: If you have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, avoid all wheat products, such as bread, pizza, pasta, and many alcoholic drinks.
Insomnia and Fatigue:
Maintaining the delicate balance of bacteria in your gut is crucial for healthy sleep. The gut-brain connections we see with sleep should feel familiar by now: by interacting with the immune system, your hormones, and the vagus nerve directly, gut bacteria communicate with your brain to determine sleep patterns. And once again, the interaction goes both ways, with the brain able to have an effect on gut bacteria as well. You’ve probably heard about the circadian rhythm, a twenty-four-hour internal body clock that regulates when we sleep and when we’re awake. When this sleep/wake cycle is disrupted, it leads to metabolic damage. Melatonin is available as a supplement, but it also occurs naturally in certain foods. Food sources include eggs, fish, milk, rice and other grains (barley and rolled oats), fruits (grapes, pomegranates), nuts (especially pistachios and walnuts), seeds (sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, and flaxseeds), and a variety of vegetables (asparagus, tomatoes, broccoli, and cucumber). There are nine essential amino acids that cannot be made by the body and therefore must come from food sources. Like tryptophan, L-ornithine is an essential amino acid that has the potential to improve sleep quality when you’re fatigued. It is produced in the body from foods containing L-arginine. The simplest way to get L-arginine is to eat complete protein sources, which means they contain all nine essential amino acids, which the body cannot produce on its own. These include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, soybeans, and quinoa. Foods that increase inflammation can decrease your energy availability. To reduce inflammation, it is important to eat an anti-inflammatory diet. The central tenets of an anti-inflammatory diet are as follows: Your brain is made up of 60 percent fat. In order to perform at its best, it requires a constant supply of omega-3 fatty acids—at least 2–3 g combined of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid per day. Reducing omega-6 fatty acids is key to maintaining the correct balance of omega-3s to omega-6s. Eating an excess of omega-6s can trigger the body to produce chemicals that spike inflammation. These fatty acids are found in oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, soy, peanut, and vegetable. That means you should cut down on mayonnaise, many salad dressings, and most processed and fast foods. A diet rich in colorful, non starchy vegetables adds polyphenols, which fight inflammation through a number of processes. Other sources of polyphenols include: cloves, star anise, cocoa powder (natural, non alkalized), Mexican oregano, dark chocolate, chestnuts, and flaxseed meal. Black and green tea, blackberries, muscadine grape seeds, apple-cider vinegar, cinnamon, and superfruits such as the maqui berry may also help to decrease inflammation. When you are on an anti-inflammatory diet, you must stabilize insulin by eating whole, plant-based foods rich in healthy fat (avocados, dark chocolate, olives, chia seeds, coconut, almonds, pecans, and walnuts) and natural chemicals. Eat vegetables such as cauliflower, green beans, and broccoli. More than two decades ago, researchers realized that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome had low magnesium levels in their red blood cells. When their magnesium was replaced, they felt more energized. Magnesium decreases inflammation and relaxes the nervous system. For example, when you exercise, lactate accumulates in your blood, which leads to tired and achy limbs. However, magnesium can prevent this lactate accumulation, which in turn helps relieve fatigue. Food sources of magnesium include dry roasted almonds, boiled spinach, dry roasted cashews, soy milk, cooked black beans, and edamame. Low zinc levels are also a hallmark of chronic fatigue syndrome, and increasing zinc can improve and prevent fatigue. Zinc deficiency is very common, with about half of the world’s population prone to zinc deficiencies due to dietary patterns. To get more zinc, incorporate lamb, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, grass-fed beef, and chickpeas into your diet.
INSOMNIA AND FATIGUE CHEAT SHEET Foods to Embrace: Omega-3 fatty acids: Fish, especially fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines. Melatonin: Eggs, fish, milk, rice, barley and rolled oats, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, flaxseeds, asparagus, broccoli, and cucumber. Tryptophan: Turkey, other meats, and chickpeas, especially when combined with carbohydrates. L-ornithine: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, soybeans, and quinoa. Chamomile tea. Foods containing helpful micronutrients: Lettuce, tart cherry juice, barley grass powder, maca, Panax ginseng, lingzhi, asparagus powder. For Fatigue: Anti-inflammatory foods: Omega-3s, colorful vegetables for polyphenols. Minerals: Magnesium and zinc. Vitamins B1, B6, B9, B12, C, D, and E. Capsaicin Rich foods: Chili peppers including cayenne, serranos, and jalapeños. Spices: Black cumin and turmeric. Foods to Avoid: Caffeine: You don’t have to completely eliminate caffeine, but stick to the guideline of no more than 400 mg/day, and don’t drink caffeine after three p.m. Alcohol: Though alcohol can put you to sleep, it also disrupts sleep.
Next Week: Bipolar, Schizophrenia, and Libido.
