Important: How Minerals Help You Cope Better In Life

How do you cope? I know it's not something we all feel comfortable talking about, but I believe it's an important conversation worth having. To cope better in life, you can't ignore your challenges you have to face them. But sometimes you may need a little understanding and support.

Listen to episode #93 : How Minerals Help You Cope : Find A JOY TO BE ME on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or Spotify 

When I graduated the Nutritional Therapy Association in 2012, my eyes were opened to the decline in mental health and how nutrition played a big role. I was so impacted by this, that 3 of my colleagues and I created an online course called; A Calm Mind. We tackled how we believe we were supposed to have sense of well being and be better able to cope in life than we are today. We covered all the nutrient deficiencies quite thoroughly.

A couple years later,  I began to work with hair tissue mineral analysis in my practice, and saw the many connections to our ability to cope. How minerals impact mood was a huge eye opener for me. And then a couple years later, I saw the connections to emotional health and freedom after sparking myself back to life with minerals.

Now, I truly believe you and I are designed to feel an immense sense of well being & peace, and live within a calm mind.

Yet the majority of people today battle with mood swings, anxiety, cravings, depression and more. 1 in 8 Americans take an anti-depressant, about of quarter of which state they've been on long term.

According to statistics found through the National Institute of Mental Health, Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older, about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.

Also, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more disorders, with severity strongly related to co-morbidity.  Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder. Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44. Major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.

From what we see, mental illness is on the rise and may only continue to become more prevalent. Unless, the mass public learns that these illnesses can be prevented and start to act on that now  we are in for a rude awakening in the coming generations. Sadly, we are degenerating. The hopeful thing is we can heal our bodies through a more holistic approach to supporting health not just through healthier food choices, but targeted nutrition and coaching support to help with lasting habit changes.

This is clearly an epidemic we are up against. However, we do not have to accept this bad mood epidemic as our fate. We simply need to take a step back and see the bigger picture.

One thing to address is that we literally lack the nutrients we need to nourish our brains – our brains need very specific nutrients that typically are not found in the Standard American Diet.

Today, I want to talk about how missing minerals can impact your mood, but when you add them in you will have better coping abilities.

Common Signs/Symptoms of An Imbalanced Brain

• difficulty focusing or concentrating
• anxiety, worry
• panic attacks
• depression, apathy or boredom
• fatigue
• difficulty regulating attention
• AD/HD (Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity)
• brain fog
• insomnia
• nervousness
• migraines
• negative mindset, pessimism
• low self-esteem
• angry, obsessive thoughts
• obsessive behavior, compulsive, perfectionist
• irritable, impatient, edgy
• shy, fearful
• PMS with tears, anger or depression
• trouble relaxing or loosening up
• tendency to be uptight or tense
• easily upset, frustrated or snappy  under stress
• overly emotional or sensitive
• mania
• avoid dealing with painful issues or grief
• isolation from others
• mood swings
• procrastination
• self-destructive thoughts
• failure to listen and follow instructions
• forgetfulness
• poor abstract thinking
• easily distracted
• decreased alertness
• impulsive behavior
• learning disorders
• hysterical behavior
• memory lapses
• loss of immediate visual and verbal memory
• diminished comprehension
• impaired creativity
• decreased libido
• excessive sleeping
• lack of emotional maturity
• manic depression
• thoughts of death or suicide
• poor verbal memory
• rage
• phobias or fears
• hyper vigilience
• too many ideas to manage
• confusion
• paranoia
• shyness
• self-absorption
• codependency
• lack of common sense

The majority of us can find ourselves on that list at least a of couple times. The truth is, as a nation, as a population, most of us do not live within a calm mind and we struggle day in and day out to cope.

We live with some level of mood dysfunction or brain chemistry imbalance. Yet, many of us today are simply not educated on what steps we can take and on the proper nutrition to reverse many if not all of theses symptoms. We think it’s ‘normal’ to feel this way and accept it as part of aging or something else. We don’t stop to ask ourselves if we have a choice in the matter, but we do.

What is interesting to me is that if we took a quick look at the issues that can arise from any one of our 4 major macro-minerals being out of balance or deficient, we can see how easy it is to have mood/behavior issues.

Calcium

When the body is deficient in tissue calcium stores one can experience irritability, nervousness, anxiety, hyperkinetic behavior (aka: AD/HD). This because calcium is a very sedative mineral, it helps decrease one’s sensitivity to stressors acting as a ‘buffer’ to it.

On the flip side, when hair tissue shows calcium excess (could be a loss or even biounavailable form of calcium excreted in the hair as well) the associated symptoms that may arise can be apathy, depression and even social withdrawal.

Calcium affects the cell membrane permeability, muscle contraction and nerve impulse conduction (along with a number of other functions). When it’s out of balance we can experience difficulty related to these key processes being impaired in the form of mood issues.

Magnesium

When the body is deficient in magnesium one can experience symptoms of anxiety, irritability and hyper-kinetic behavior. When a hair analysis shows hair tissue magnesium it often indicates that magnesium is being lost by the body vs. the body having too much. This actually results in a deficiency.

Low tissue stores of magnesium is associated with anxiety, irritability, belligerence and a high-strung personality. I've seen over 1000 tests to date and it is incredibly rare for anyone to have sufficient stores of magnesium. In fact the only ones I've seen sufficient are after months of a purposeful approach with supplementation.

Magnesium is SO critical. It’s essential for energy production, protein synthesis and it’s required for the activation of more enzymes than any other mineral in the body. It’s also sorely lacking in the modern day diet and soil. It's like the ultimate chill pill because it's so balancing and needed for so many functions in the body.

Sodium

When the body is deficient in sodium one can experience mental depression and apathy. In excess, nervousness and irritability would be more prevalent. Sodium is responsible for the regulation of cell membrane permeability. It is also a key adrenal gland mineral and is associated with the hormone aldosterone.

Potassium

When the body is deficient in potassium this usually indicates exhausted adrenal glands and low blood sugar which can contribute to apathy and even anxiousness or irritability. In excess it can contribute to depression. I've never seen a single person have enough potassium in reserve, and it's hard to get enough in the diet these days. I love potassium because when you do focus on getting more in your diet and sometimes through a supplement it can noticeably help your mood. It can help you get through brain fog or that wired but tired feeling.

Minerals Are Your Spark Plugs

I am still a big believer that we choose how we respond to life and to stress. We can't always control our circumstances but we can choose how we respond. It can be harder to cope or choose to respond well when we are lacking in the raw ingredients our brain needs and working from a place of 'deficiency'. So, I believe we need a holistic mind-body approach to better cope in life.

You can implement a lot of the practices I've shared about here before such as; meditation, practicing gratitude, hiking, journaling, emotional detox, vision boards,  AND get the right support for your current health with a targeted approach through hair tissue mineral analysis. I shared more about minerals in two previous posts; 'How To Get Sparked Back To Life with Minerals' and 'The Best Functional Test To Get The Most Clarity For Your Health'.

[Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash ]

Now, I'd love to hear from you! In the comments below, let me know if you knew that minerals helped you cope or if you have any questions.