Originally Posted by
J_9
Maybe most of the mental patients in Australia, where you are, end up in jail. But I hold to the belief that while the diet is good in itself, it is not a cure all. If that were the case then many who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or maybe even multiple personality disorder would be treated with this diet rather than medications along with diet.
Is this also a cure for OCD?
What about diabetics with depression?
My experience is working with literally thousands of treatment resistance mentally ill people in the Corrective Services Department of NSW. It is well documented that about 75% of prisoners have an addiction problem as a comorbid condition of their offences. Addiction is a mental illness. Other non-addicted prisoners are usually typically depressed, people who commit fairly serious offences such bank robberies, rape, people with uncontrollable violence and so forth. Gambling addiction have led some people to steal huge amounts of money from employers. People with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder form an other percentage of prisoners. Schizophrenic and Bipolar people generally cannot always be helped with nutritional therapy alone, but most do benefit from the hypoglycemic diet. Nutritional therapy helps reduce many of the side effects of psychotropic drugs. For details please consult:
Werbach,M.R.(1991), NUTRITIONAL INFLUENCES ON MENTAL ILLNESS, A Sourcebook of Clinical Research, Third Line Pres, Inc.Tarzana. Cal.
I consider Multiple Personality Disorder a phantom diagnosis. It is better to call it Personality Disorder, which usually involves a metabolic disorder.
You will find that if you test people with mental illness (a misnomer BTW) with the four hour
Medical Test for Hypoglycemia, that about 90% will be found to be hypoglycemic.
Another worthwhile test that can be used by non-medical people is the
Nutrition Behavior Inventory Test (NBI) . If you score high you are likely to be hypoglycemic. This can also be confirmed with the medical test.
Most conventional doctors are not familiar with this medical test, because most doctors test for diabetes with a single
hemoglobin A1C test.
The understand the connection between depression and hypoglycemia, one need to understand that hypoglycemia is one form of prediabetic
Insulin Resistance.
A proportion of people tested with the hypoglycemic test may show "normal" blood sugar levels and yet have hypoglycemic symptoms. This is due to an imbalance between zinc and copper levels. This is type 6 hypoglycemia (or cerebral hypoglycia). (See
here).
Here the obstruction in sugar metabolism occurs within the mitochondria right within the ten step
glycolysis.
Most depressions occurring among diabetics have the same etiology as those with prediabetic insulin resistance (hypoglycemics). It is the insulin resistance causing depression. The association between insulin resistance and depression is shown in many studies.
Depression and Insulin Resistance.
The question naturally asked is how can hypoglycemia or insulin resistance cause depression and many of the other "mental illnesses"?
The reason is that for the body to manufacture the feel good
neurotransmitters like
serotonin, it needs an inordinate amount of
Biological Energy called (ATP). Without that energy the body cannot produce the feel good hormones that can make us feel happy and content when we normally should.
Since ATP is derived form the sugars we eat, it is no wonder why the hypoglycemic diet can be a virtual "cure all" for mental illness. This diet needs to be adjusted to the individual nutritional biochemistry of the person with the help of a Nutritional Doctor or a Clinical Nutritionist. Just being on a "healthy diet" is not good enough.
Of course it should be realized that there are many other biological reasons the body cannot produce serotonin, because of an untold medical conditions that also contribute to depression. Most of these medical conditions relate to the digestive system, interfering with nutrient absorption which is the source of our neurotransmitters.
As to OCD, this too is one of the testable symptoms of the hypoglycemic syndrome. In OCD we have an overproduction of adrenaline that sets in motion the
Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) with its varied physiological symptoms. Adrenaline is not only the hormone of fight and flight but also a focusing hormone, forcing us to
focus on the "enemy". It can cause us to ruminate, have "racing minds", to have compulsive thoughts, rituals and this is very hard to control by conscious cognitions. Hence talk therapy is usually ineffective to eradicate this illness.
Knowledge of Nutritional Biochemistry will add a very effective weapon in the hands of therapists dealing with mental illness.