Is your depression and anxiety caused by blood sugar imbalances?

I just had a client come to me with depression and anxiety. After looking over her blood work results that she brought in from a recent doctor's visit, in combination with what I observed and her symptoms, my conclusion was that she has a blood sugar issue (in addition to the obvious mental and emotional elements involved in depression that would need to be addressed). Specifically, I suspect she has hypoglycemia. When her blood sugar plummets, due to diet and hormone issues, her adrenals are required to "step it up" and offer some support for her flagging energy, by causing surges of adrenaline. So not only does she get the lack of energy and low mood of depression, but the adrenaline causes anxiety, angry outbursts and a spinning mind (you know, the "wired but tired" feeling you get sometimes when you are trying to go to sleep?).

She is also getting dizzy spells and chest pains, as well as cold extremities and poor circulation (a result of being in the "fight or flight" state, where blood is directed away from the extremities into the large muscles of the upper legs and the heart). Waking up after about 3 hours of sleep is also an indicator of blood sugar imbalance.

So what do you do if this sounds all to familiar?

1) You need to eliminate or greatly restrict simple sugars from your diet, from obvious sources like baking, sweets and pop, as well a "non-obvious" sources of simple sugar, like fruit juice.  You will also need to limit carbohydrates or starchy foods that reduce to a sugar easily in the body, like grains and root vegetables. You can find lists of where foods are on the Glycemic Index (the rate which a food turns to sugar in your system) here, or a search engine to tell you the glycemic index of any food here (low is 55 or less; high is 70 and above).

2) You may find supplementing with chromium helpful. This trace mineral is often low in people with blood sugar balance issues.

3) Reflexology and acupuncture are both modalities that help balance hormones naturally, as well as help to bring blood sugar back into balance. They will also help to heal the adrenal glands so you can relax and stop worrying. Plus, they just feel good!

If you have depression and/or anxiety, there is many possible causes - blood sugar imbalance is just one possiblity (though a common one). Talk to your doctor and have him do blood tests to check, and ask for advice from a trained health practitioner if you suspect this might be your issue.

Walnut Helps Us Transition Into 2012 & Beyond With Grace & Ease!

Years ago, I was living in Scotland on a remote island called Iona. My mom came for a visit and we travelled to England and Ireland together, visiting relatives and seeing the beautiful sights. An associate of my father hosted us at the Marianella Centre in Dublin, and I fondly remember a majestic and very beautiful walnut tree on the grounds. At one point, I took my journal out to the walnut tree and spent some time with it, appreciating the sense of strength it imparted and leaning against it's sturdy trunk.

Walnut is a plant that lends itself to human conditions in many ways. As a food, perceiving the actual walnut is very telling as it relates to what it's good for. When you look at a walnut, notice how it appears as though a human brain. Sure enough, walnuts are a wonderful source of omega 3 fatty acids that nourish the brain and are very antioxidant, meaning that they scavenge disease-forming agents in the body.

As an herb, black walnut fights parasites and bacterial infections and stimulates the activity of the liver, gallbladder and digestive system, improving overall digestion.

As a flower essence, walnut is widely applicable, and I'll tell you why in a moment. First, let me briefly elaborate on what flower essences are and what they do. Flower essences are highly dilute floral infusions that work on an energetic level. This means that there are no chemical constituents in a flower essence, like root, stem or leaf. Flower essences are just that: essences of the flowering tops of plants. The philosophy of flower essences states that the energy of the flowers have been captured and preserved in a bottle. This energy works upon a person's energetic body, mostly affecting mental, emotional and spiritual components of being, affecting the physical in turn. Flower essences stimulate awareness, awareness being the key to change, movement and personal growth.

Walnut: for making healthy transitions
& gaining freedom from social
expectations or values of family
or community, past experiences
or beliefs in order to follow one's
own path and destiny.

Walnut is widely applicable as a flower essence because it helps us move seamlessly through transition. As I wrote earlier today in a newsletter, transition is change, and I am often reminded by my toddler son's dislike of change just how inherently we resist it. Well, that's what walnut is for - our resistance towards change. And being that change is really the only constant, walnut, as mentioned, is widely applicable. I remember the first time I used walnut flower essence. One day during my cycle with walnut, I stood in the shower and was acutely aware of just how okay it was that everything around me seemed to be in chaos as I transitioned from one stage of life to another. Suddenly, all the beautiful lessons and personal growth were at the forefront of my mind instead of the feelings of overwhelm that often accompany change.

When it comes to using plants for healing, there is a great deal of crossover between nutrition, herbology and flower essences - something I think is very beautiful and a magnificent expression from the plants themselves. This means that a particular application for walnut in herbology, for example, often relates to it's actions as a flower essence. That being said, how amazing that walnut feeds the brain while also improving digestion. This directly translates to the fact that walnut imparts a greater capacity to process and digest change. Thank you walnut!

I am left remembering one of the more poignant things my herbology teacher, Robert Rogers, taught me: notice how walnuts have a harder shell to break and often require a nutcracker. Always think of walnut when there are difficult patterns to break.
The perfect image and so fitting for walnut's application in flower essences.

So, think of walnut as you transition from 2011 to 2012 - if you are having difficulty leaving things behind and striking out anew, walnut. If you are moving in or out of a relationship, walnut. If you are starting a new job or leaving an old one, walnut. If you are moving house, moving cities or moving countries, walnut. Or if you are working on self-improvement and looking to leave self-defeatist patterns and habits behind, walnut.

Walnut could be the key to your success as you rise up to be the person you were intended to be in 2012.

Flower essences are available at all Optimum Health locations and are taken as follows: 4 drops under the tongue 4 times per day for a 28 day period. Please contact me at Prana Holistic if you would like to set up a complete flower essences session.

Roberta Shepherd for Prana Holistic