Countless people who have struggled with mental health issues like severe depression, paranoid delirium, severe anxiety, addictive personality disorder, and even schizophrenia have been prescribed a lifetime of medications. Many have experienced the demoralizing effects of at least one visit to the psychiatric ward during their lifetime thinking they are ‘broken’ when in reality, it was due to a wheat allergy or sensitivity that went undiagnosed for their lifetime.
The good news is that underlying causes of brain health conditions and diseases CAN be found and treated. There are a number of underlying causes of brain-related disorders and diseases that can range from environmental toxins like glyphosate exposure, for example, to lack of amino acid (protein) absorption, to infections, leaky gut, or even genetics. And surprising to some people, certain foods can be a major cause of brain chemistry imbalance or neurodegenerative diseases too.
These different underlying causes of brain diseases and disorders can affect multiple neurotransmitters in your brain, ranging from Clostridia Infection or Mold leading to Dopamine imbalance, to a high carb/low protein diet causing low Serotonin. Even more interesting is that certain infections can cause imbalances in several brain chemicals leading to major imbalances in GABA, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Serotonin. There are also certain gene mutations which can affect neurotransmitters like Norepinephrine, GABA, Serotonin, and Dopamine. While these can all be detected AND treated, understanding what the root causes are is where you will find your answers and solutions to effectively treating the symptoms related to your brain chemistry imbalances.
One of the underlying causes of neuro-psychiatric diagnosis that is food-related can be from gluten, specifically the excessive absorption of gliadin peptides that lead to opioid activity in the human body.
This happens because the human body doesn’t make the enzymes needed to completely breakdown the gluten proteins found in wheat (and barley and rye). The undigested gluten proteins don’t only cause an opioid-like effect on the brain, these gluten proteins called gliadin are also known to cause intestinal permeability which means that the gut becomes ‘leaky’ and the proteins migrate out of the gut and into the blood stream, eventually crossing the blood-brain barrier and inducing undesirable effects on the endogenous opioid receptors and the transmission of neurochemicals in the brain.
To add to the cascade of negative effects that gliadin has on the brain and gut, the damaging effects of gluten on the permeability of the gut and the blood-brain barrier often lead to and antibody response where the antibodies that recognize gliadin (in the gluten) are found wandering around in the bloodstream, body, and brain where it doesn’t belong, and they start to attack the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) enzyme, which is the enzyme needed to convert glutamine into GABA. Gaba is the ‘calming’ neurotransmitter in the brain. When glutamine levels increase because they are not able to convert to GABA, the combination of increased glutamic acid and decreased GABA levels can lead to symptoms like anxiety, depression, irritability, and sleep issues.
Sadly, our current system of labeling individuals with psychiatric and other neurological disorders based solely on symptoms rather than using an evidence-based (data-driven) approach has failed us in a massive way. Thankfully there are practitioners around the country who are flocking towards understanding and implementing evidence-based systems to find the underlying causes and implement real solutions for mental health disorders and neurological disease.
Understanding that there can be many underlying causes of mental health disorders and neurodegenerative disease that can all be discovered using data-driven approaches completely changes the landscape surrounding the stigma around mental health. And the best news is that by understanding the underlying causes, appropriate plans of action can be taken to address the underlying cause. From foods to infections to mycotoxins (mold) to environmental toxins or how your environment and lifestyle are influencing your genes that drive your brain chemistry…. All these can be tested for and addressed so that real treatment and be given, and real results can be attained.
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