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| :: Can nutrients treat anxiety disorders :: |
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Consuming oat bran has been proven to lower the body's cholesterol levels. Consuming Vitamin D-rich products such as milk and yogurt are known to strengthen bones and thus reduce the risk of osteoporosis. If certain foods and nutrients can help the body repair physical disorders, can nutrition help manage psychological disorders for some people? Can food affect mood?
The answer to this question is the centerpiece of a presentation entitled, Orthomolecular Treatment of Anxiety Disorders, being presented by Jonathan E. Prousky, ND, FRSH, Chief Naturopathic Medical Officer and Associate Professor of Clinical Nutrition, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto, CN. Dr. Prousky, who is also Editor in Chief of the peer-reviewed journal, The International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine, will deliver his remarks during the 20th Annual Convention of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) being held at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix, AZ, August 24-27, 2005.
The term orthomolecular refers to having "the right molecule in the right concentration." The concept was introduced by Linus Pauling, Ph.D., the twice-honored Nobel Laureate, in his landmark article published in Science (1968). Orthomolecular medicine continues to be investigated at the University of Oregon's Linus Pauling Institute for Science and Medicine.
Orthomolecular therapy is the identification of a missing molecule within the body, and correcting it via nutrition, an inexpensive, readily available and nontoxic alternative to drugs. While many individuals are treated for generalized anxiety disorder (the most prevalent psychiatric condition in North America) with benzodiazepines or selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), many naturopathic physicians will use nutrition as a first line defense after reviewing a patient's history and results of a physical exam.
Orthomolecular naturopathic physicians such as Prousky rule out the existence of physical diseases, organic cause, or psychological problems as being responsible for all or part of a patient's anxiety. Once these are ruled out, these naturopaths will identify whether the anxiety is caused by nutritional deficiencies (such as insufficient levels of B vitamins), nutritional dependencies (such as niacinamide), food allergies, and/or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Instead of recommending drug therapy, practitioners like Prousky will prescribe nutritional treatments, changes in diet, and even the elimination of substances that can affect or disturb brain function, such as caffeine, alcohol and products containing processed sugar.
Orthomolecular medicine does not simply take into account the mainstream organic causes of anxiety, but attempts to identify other causal factors of anxiety such as nutrient deficiencies, nutrient dependencies, food allergies, and hypoglycemia. Each of these causal factors, or a combination of them, can cause dysfunction to the brain, causing mood to be altered, and anxiety to be expressed.
This orthomolecular approach to anxiety treats the patient as a whole, Prousky states, rather than giving each anxiety patient the same drug or combination of drugs.
According to Prousky, due to the relative absence of negative side effects, and the wide availability of nutritional treatments, the orthomolecular approach should be the first one to be considered when patients are being treated for their anxiety disorders
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