by Lawrence Wilson, MD

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING PROGRAMS

The effects of nutritional balancing programs upon the central nervous system are fantastic and would easily fill a large book. Among them are improvements in cognition, perception, memory, adaptive energy and coping skills in most cases.

This may sound exaggerated but hundreds of cases indicate it is not. Furtheromore, most psychological symptoms and conditions often disappear. Also, the program will often assist what may be called psychological maturation, mental and emotional integration of the personality and more.

Principles discussed first. Let us begin with a few critical principles that apply to the brain and nervous system followed by just some symptoms that benefit from a nutritional balancing approach to healing the brain and mind.

NUTRITIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

1. The body and the brain are integrated parts of one organism or system. Far too often, symptoms of the body and brain are split off from each other in the current health system. This is very unfortunate, we find.

The two are so intertwined that such distinctions are rarely correct. This is also often clearly revealed on a hair tissue mineral analysis. Until this split is healed, doctors and psychologists will continue to miss important links between symptoms related to the body and those apparently stemming from the brain.

Nutritional balancing a bridge, both in terms of assessment and treatment. Patterns of mineral imbalance on a hair tissue mineral analysis are most often associated with both physical and mental/emotional or behavioral symptoms as well.

This fact is confusing and shocking to many who are learning to interpret hair mineral tests. However, the observations are true.

Once one understands enough about physiology and nutrition, they make more and more sense. The connections between mind and body are very deep and one must always assess the body with such an analysis if one wants to understand mental and emotional symptoms. Unfortunately, standard blood, urine, feces, x-rays and other simple tests will usually not reveal these correlations, unlike the mineral analysis.

2. The brain is a chemical organ. This is an extension of the principle above. However, it refers to the brain’s incredible dependence on a proper balance of an enormous number of chemicals for its functioning. Let us examine these in more detail.

Nutrients. Just as the connection between body and brain is commonly ignored, so too is the dependence on the brain on at least 50 or more common minerals, vitamins, various food groups and more. Science has only discovered some of these required nutrinets and more are being discovered each year.

Renourishing the brain is therefore of extremely high priority in nutritional balancing. Unfortunately, the brain needs almost all of the nutrients. Anything less will not work as well.

Also, the nutrients need to be in balance. Many who consult us are taking all the right supplements. However, the balance is wrong and the effect of the nutrients is much less as a result.

For example, all the minerals compete with each other for absorption. For this reason, taking a mult-imineral supplement or a general vitamin/mineral supplement is usually very ineffective because the minerals compete with each other.

Also, low-dose food-based minerals often are not potent enough and are essentially contaminated with other nutrients so their effect may be much less, even if they are superior quality minerals. These are some of the subtlties we encounter that cause failure of many other nutritional based programs.

Brain allergies. The brain is also subject to allergic types of reactions, sensitivities or “brain allergies”. This is a largely unexplored area but one that is quite significant, especially in certain conditions such as ADHD, autism and other mental health conditions in children.

This is also a relatively new area of research. However, it has been known for some 30 years or more, for example, that many children with ADD and ADHD react very badly to common food additives, particularly colors, flavors and preservatives that are added to many prepared foods for children.

Removing the offending chemicals from the diet and water supply, mainly, and restoring the body’s ability to handle allergens of all kinds can make a world of difference for some people with emotional and mental symptoms.

Toxic metals. Additionally, the brain is extremely sensitive to an enormous number of physical toxins. These include at least 20 toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, aluminum and others.

In fact, all the toxic metals are classified as neurotoxic. The effects of some of them, such as lead and mercury, are very well-documented. In addition, combinations of them have even more unusual and often disastrous effects upon the brain and nervous system.

Nutritional balancing is the finest method we know of to remove toxic metals safely, rapidly and effectively at very deep levels. It works better, in our experience, than intravenous or oral chelators, clay baths and other methods commonly used to remove toxic metals.

Chelation may be faster in a few cases, but not nearly as safe or able to remove the metals at such deep levels. This topic is discussed in much more detail in the article on this website entitled Toxic Metals.

Toxic chemicals. Other powerful toxins include hundreds and perhaps thousands of toxic chemicals in the air, water and food as well as those with which we come into direct contact. These range from solvents and pesticides to plasticizers, food additives, food preservatives and many others.

The effects of only a very few of these chemicals are well researched. However, many are known to be neurotoxic. In addition, we are exposed to complex combinations of these chemicals. No one has any idea regarding the neurotoxic effects of these combinations, especially when combined with toxic metals and nutrient deficiencies.

Nutritional balancing is one of the very few nutritional or even medical systems or therapies that we know of that can remove hundreds of toxic chemicals quickly and safely as well.

This is done by balancing the body chemistry to improve the body’s energy level and ability to remove toxins. We also support and regenerate as much as possible the eliminative organs and tone up the entire immune and other body systems.

Another part of the program that is not mandatory but very helpful is the use of a powerful detoxification regimen involving coffee enemas, saunas and other means to rapidly enhance the excretion of toxins.

Biological toxins from infections, poor digestion and other causes. Other toxins that powerfully affect the brain are generated inside the body. These can be due to chronic infections, intestinal toxicity and other rather common causes.

These can be incredibly powerful toxins. Examples include toxins generated by certain strains of bacteria in infected teeth, sinuses and other areas near the brain. Others include the alcohol produced by the overgrowth of candida albicans in the intestines and in other tissues of the body.

Few methods exist to detect and remove chronic infections such as infected teeth and other deep and low-grade infections. Most produce few if any visible signs, symptoms or abnormalities on standard medical tests.

Once again, nutritional balancing is one of the few ways we know of to bring up and eliminate some of these chronic infections that may be anywhere in the body. As the body’s energy, elimination, digestion and other functions improve, the body begins to root out these infections. Often a short “healing or purification reaction” occurs for a few days and then the infection is gone forever. Occasionally, a root canal must be removed or some other intervention, often dental, is required to eliminate the entire infection.

Electrical distortions in the environment. These can also affect the brain. New research indicates, for example, that long-term continuous cell phone use or even computer use may affect some people’s brains and nervous systems.

The problem of cell phone usage and hand-held computers is one that we hope will be addressed, as the young people, especially, have much greater exposures than the older generation with potential problems that are quite severe.

Another electrical issue, at times, are large magnetic fields in homes and offices. Once again, some are far more sensitive to these than others. Traveling in aircraft with many radar systems, radios, television sets, computers and so many other devices today may emit harmful fields that can interact with our brains and interfere with their functioning.

We hope this topic will be addressed more in the future. In the meanwhile, we suggest that people minimize exposure to cell phones, computers, television sets and other sources of electromagnetic fields that are known to be unhealthy for our nervous systems.

3. The brain requires tremendous energy. This is another key principle that is not appreciated at all, basically, in medical science today. It may be stated that energy is required for all brain functions. Specifically, this is energy produced within each cell that is needed for all cellular and organ functions, including the activities of the nervous system.

In fact, brain uses up to half our calories. When any problem of energy production arises, the brain is affected at least as much as any other organ or system of the body.

In practice this means that low adaptive energy always causes disturbances in cognition, perception, reasoning ability and more.

For example, when energy is low, often feelings are suppressed and thinking becomes foggy or lacks clarity. Memory can suffer, as can the ability to process past traumas and events. In fact, all cognitive and behavioral activities are affected to some degree by low energy.

A simple example can help clarify this principle. When a person has had very little rest or sleep for a few days, many mental and emotion faculties deteriorate rapidly. These include perception, memory, cognition, processing speed, mental acuity and many others.

This is rare, you may say, but in fact it is not rare at all. Many people do not rest nearly enough. Even among those that sleep 10 hours nightly, most have low “adaptive energy”.

Low adaptive energy means that the energy available to the cells of the nervous and other body systems is well below the ideal. This is due to a combination of factors, many of which we mentioned just above, such as nutrient depletion, toxic metals, toxic chemicals and chronic infections.

These imbalances, in turn, cause hormone imbalances, mitochondrial dysfunction, cell permeability difficulties and other problems at the cellular and organ levels that impair adaptive energy production in the brain and elsewhere.

Hair tissue mineral testing reveals this in numerous cases of mental and emotional disorders. The test has several indicators of lowered adaptive energy. Often all of these indicate significant energy loss or failure to produce enough energy at the cellular level.

However, once again this problem is not apparent on regular medical tests, brain scans, EEGs or psychological tests used today. Nor can one assess the problem accurately by one’s looks, age or other physical characteristics. To repeat, however, these imbalances are the rule today, not the exception.

4. Many toxins cause specific brain disorders. This is an undisputable fact. However, it is once again not even mentioned by most physicians to those who suffer with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, bipolar disorder and other common conditions.

Unfortunately, detecting the toxic conditions cannot be done with blood tests, once again. The hair mineral analysis, however, is helpful. Here, too, however, not all conditions are readily identifiable. However, if one stays on a nutritional balancing program for several weeks to up to a year or more, they will eventually be revealed as layers of adaptations are removed.

5. Medicine and psychology overlook nutritional imbalances. This is the sad truth. Neither of these professions pay much attention to nutrition and especially to toxicology of the heavy metals, which are so important for mental functioning today.

I also find that those physicians who are “holistic” often are not well-trained in nutrition, so be careful whom you consult. We have a referral list on this website of doctors whom I have trained and whom I trust with hair mineral testing and nutritional balancing. Otherwise, results will not be nearly as good.

6. The brain is the seat of the mind and the soul. This may sound vague. However, it is included because today one of the saddest facts is that many people do not achieve even near their full human potential because their brain chemistry is depleted of nutrients, toxic and otherwise imbalanced.

The importance of this fact cannot be overestimated. This is the worst problem with Ritalin and anti-depressant drugs and other medical and psychological approaches for mental health and emotional healing of traumas and all mental health conditions.

Unless the brain is nourished properly and the toxins removed from the brain, the person’s development of his or her full development will be seriously impaired.

7. Congenital brain nutrient depletion and toxicity is extremely common. Congenital imbalances refers to those present at birth. Most physicians do not realize that many children today are born with congenital nutritional imbalances and toxic metals and chemicals in their nervous systems, particularly the brain.

These are passed on from toxic and depleted parents to the offspring through the placenta. These help explain the explosion of conditions of early childhood such as infections, ADD, ADHD, autism and many other developmental and behavioral and learning disorders. This factor must not be overlooked by young women, especially, who want to have healthy children and do not wish to be spending their time at special behavioral and special educational efforts for a child whose brain is not functioning well.

It takes at least a year or more for a young woman to correct her own body chemistry before becoming pregnant. It is well worth the effort, a fact to which many of our patients can testify.

8. Nutritional imbalances in the brain can cause mental disorders, just as emotional disorders such as anger or fear can give rise to physical conditions. This is an example of the complete interconnectedness of the body and the brain.

On a related subject, imbalances such as chiropractic or structural imbalances can also contribute to mental and emotional disorders and are relatively easy to fix with appropriate care. This should also be part of any complete mental and physical evaluation today.

SYMPTOMS THAT MAY IMPROVE

Behavioral disorders. Symptoms that may improve often include depression, anxiety, insomnia, bipolar disorder, some forms of schizophrenia, emotional instability and emotional detachment.

Sexual imbalances. Sluggish sexual development, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, low self-esteem and others often improve as hormone levels, bood sugar levels and many other subtle imbalances improve. This can be most helpful for teens and children with developmental issues as well.

Cognitive and learning disorders may include brain fog, poor memory, inability to think clearly, clouded perception and others. Among the learning disorders that can respond are ADD, ADHD, general lack of attentiveness and motivation and others.

Psychological maturity and personality integration. This applies mostly to children, but may apply to adults as well. It may include improved grades in school, more self-motivation, better rest and sleep, improved self-esteem, improved emotional control and emotional detachment.

This, in turn, improves all relationships and famiiy issues in many cases. It also tends to reduce overall stress and anxiety, making a person far happier and more productive.

It also promotes what we call emotional development and even spiritual awakening This latter term means the unfoldment of a person’s entire human potention.

Part of this development is to process all old traumas from childhood successfully. We find that nutritional balancing makes this far more possible.

Sometimes this requires what we call purification reactions or the older term of catharsis. This happens regularly on nutritional balancing programs, but not nearly as often when a person is on just a chelation programs or other types of nutrition or drug regimens.

This is not an exaggeration. Lest this sound exaggerated, it is not in many cases. Nutrition holds tremendous potential to enhance counseling and to keep people mentally healthy and prevent drug dependency, both legal and illegal.

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