Today, let’s explore the root causes of anxiety and depression. As a functional medicine M.D., I focus on three key areas: genetics, diet, and lifestyle.
First, let’s talk about genetics. People with a fast MAOA gene often have low levels of happy neurotransmitters because their bodies burn through serotonin quickly. This can make them feel consistently low, anxious, and depressed. Watch my short video HERE on the fast MAOA gene.
Diet is crucial too, and I’ll delve into that more in future videos.
Lifestyle plays a major role, especially insulin resistance. Consuming too much sugar, mainly from refined carbs, keeps insulin levels high, preventing the brain from using sugar effectively. Think of sugar as newspaper for starting a fire—you need logs (ketones from dietary fat) to keep it burning steadily. For a healthy brain, you need both a small amount of glucose and ketones. I’ll provide tools for managing insulin resistance in upcoming videos.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into these topics. Thanks for joining me on this journey to better mental health!
