Tagged With "Mental Health"
Blog Post
The Ecosystem in Immigrants’ Guts Is Shaped by the Place They Call Home
Migration and cultural dislocation may not only have emotional impacts, but it can change body's susceptibility to diet related disease. When thinking about how we address health disparities among different communities, understanding heritage and culture may have an important role. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/health/immigration-gut-microbiome.html?action=click&module=Discovery&pgtype=Homepage
Blog Post
The Government Knows A Plant-Based Diet Is Best–It Should Make It Official (fastcompany.com)
The latest developments in the food industry show how fast the world is moving forward in countering climate change. Just this week, the global food chain giant McDonald’s announced that it is planning to cut its emissions intensity by 31% , across its supply chain, by 2030. That’s a big deal. It’s the first global restaurant company in the world to set a science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If McDonald’s can lead on this, so should the United States. If the U.S. wants to...
Blog Post
The Problem With Body Positivity
This op-ed writer wonders if there is a way to talk about health risk and body size while still being non-shaming and body positive. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/opinion/weight-loss-body-positivity.html?action=click&contentCollection=opinion&contentPlacement=2&module=stream_unit&pgtype=sectionfront®ion=stream&rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&version=latest
Blog Post
The Second Assault
"Victims of childhood sexual abuse are far more likely to become obese adults. New research shows that early trauma is so damaging that it can disrupt a person’s entire psychology and metabolism -- Women [have] said they felt more physically imposing when they were bigger. They felt their size helped ward off sexual advances from men." https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/12/sexual-abuse-victims-obesity/420186/
Blog Post
To Head Off Trauma's Legacy, Start Young
Dr. Roy Wade, from the Cobbs Creek Clinic in West Philadelphia, works on his own screening tool to measure young patients "adversity score" -- indicators of abuse, neglect, signs of poverty, racial discrimination, or bullying. "Wade wants to take action because research suggests that the stress of a tough childhood can raise the risk for later disease, mental illness and addiction." https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/09/377569414/to-head-off-traumas-legacy-start-young
Blog Post
Trauma Affects Your Relationship with Food & Your Body [huffingtonpost.com]
When I was invited to deliver the Keynote Speech on Trauma, Food and the Body at the “9th” Annual SCTC Conference in October I immediately pinpointed my biggest area of trauma, sexual abuse. I wrote about my sexual abuse and how it contributed to me developing an eating disorder in my memoir so this was a no brainer for me. Then I began to create my power point presentation. I decided to revisit the ACES test, (adverse childhood experiences), that not only identifies trauma but also...
Blog Post
Trauma in early childhood boosts the risk of teen obesity, study says [philly.com]
Teenagers who have suffered adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — such as physical or emotional abuse, or having a parent who is incarcerated or addicted to drugs or alcohol — are at greater risk of being overweight or obese, according to a new study . In fact, the study found that the more kinds of adverse experiences children endured, the more likely they would have excessive weight issues by middle school or high school. “This study adds to our understanding of childhood overweight and...
Blog Post
Webinar: Defining and Unpacking the Social Determinants of Health & Health Equity
Join the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) on November 29 as it hosts the first webinar in its Culture of Health Webinar Series. Date/Time : November 29, 2018, 4:00 – 5:00 pm EST The National Academies report Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity identified 9 social determinants of health and how these determinants impact our health and the health of our communities. The report also defined health equity as the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health...
Blog Post
Weight Stigma and Health
In one research study, people were pulled out of what they thought was a "shopping psychology" study because they wouldn't fit into the designer clothes set up for the experiment. Afterward, those people had higher cortisol levels than those who weren't excluded. Prolonged exposure to excess cortisol can cause your body to deposit fat in your belly region, which is the kind of fat associated with a greater risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. "Experiencing weight stigma can sort of...
Blog Post
Weight Stigma is Harmful to Health and Can Heighten Obesity Risk
In this Opinion article, we review compelling evidence that weight stigma is harmful to health, over and above objective body mass index. Weight stigma is prospectively related to heightened mortality and other chronic diseases and conditions. Most ironically, it actually begets heightened risk of obesity through multiple obesogenic pathways. Weight stigma is particularly prevalent and detrimental in healthcare settings, with documented high levels of ‘anti-fat’ bias in healthcare providers,...
Blog Post
Welcome to ACES and Nourishment
Adrienne and I are excited to launch this community where anyone can share research, articles, stories and ideas about the connections between food, eating, nutrition, obesity and ACES. As many of you know, the foundational ACES research emerged from an investigation into why participants in an obesity program were dropping out despite initially losing weight. It uncovered how participants' childhood trauma histories affected their weight, risk for metabolic or diet-related disease,...
Blog Post
What Children understand about Food Insecurity
https://civileats.com/2018/03/26/what-children-understand-about-food-insecurity/
Blog Post
‘White People Food’ Is Creating An Unattainable Picture Of Health
"There’s a perception in the black community that eating healthy means eating like white people, but it doesn’t have to be that way. " This article discusses the complexity that race, class, and history, bring to how nutrition practitioners address the diet and health of African Americans: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-people-food_us_5b75c270e4b0df9b093dadbb?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=women_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000046
Blog Post
Why Emotional Eating Can Be a Consequence of Trauma
Research suggests that trauma can be a cause of emotional eating, or the drive to consume “comfort foods,” to manage the negative emotions directly related to past negative events.
Blog Post
Why Nutritional Psychiatry Is The Future of Mental Health Treatment (theconversation.com)
The link between poor mental health and nutritional deficiencies has long been recognized by nutritionists working in the complementary health sector. However, psychiatrists are only now becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of using nutritional approaches to mental health.
Blog Post
Why we Need to Talk about Trauma in Public Health Nutrition
When you consider the word trauma in relation to food, health and eating
what does it conjure up? In what ways is trauma relevant to dietetic practice?
What does it even mean? In this article, I briefly introduce the concept of
trauma as used in public health, social justice activism and counselling.
Blog Post
Why We Need to Talk About Trauma in Public Health Nutrition [lucyaphramor.com]
Link to .PDF of article by Lucy Aphramor, Dietician and Social Action Poet: https://lucyaphramor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/NHD-Trauma-April-2018.pdf?utm_source=Training+Registration&utm_campaign=dc0bee3aa9-AUTOMATION__2_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_38d9a4f547-dc0bee3aa9-80253031
Blog Post
Young Women are Reviving Indigenous Food Traditions Online
"For Gladstone, upholding Indigenous food is partly about healing from a history of trauma. The processes of colonialization and the genocide of Native peoples across North America was mirrored by the devastation of the plants and animals that Native Americans had long relied on for sustenance and spiritual companionship........ Gladstone believes that the trauma of genocide and the devastation of food-giving landscapes had a large impact on driving poor health outcomes in her community, as...
Calendar Event
Food and Mood MeetUp in Tacoma
Comment
Re: her_stress_obesity_5-30.pdf
If no one has checked this out, I highly recommend this report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation if you want to understand the connection between ACES and nutritional health
Comment
Re: Why We Need to Talk About Trauma in Public Health Nutrition [lucyaphramor.com]
Laura- Thanks for posting Lucy's article. Yes, all professions need to know more about trauma. And all professions need to know how to screen for food insecurity, housing insecurity, medical care insecurity, domestic violence, racism, addictions and other limiting factors that keep trauma in place and is made visible through the labels of mental health challenges, physical health challenges, incarnation, foster care/dependency to name a few. Kristen
Comment
Re: Why We Need to Talk About Trauma in Public Health Nutrition [lucyaphramor.com]
I remember my first presentation I gave in residency, it was on the health affects of substandard housing. Many of my colleagues, including many POC, gave presentations on Liver Failure or Hepatitis A, but there was something that had a far greater effect on health and I was very familiar with it. I wish doctors would keep thinking about the effects of poverty. My little brother was lead poisoned in that horrific substandard housing and his IQ is only 52. He cannot read or write and it pains...
Comment
Re: Farm to Hospital Bed: This Hospital Uses it's Roof to Feed Thousands (nationswell.com)
What a fantastic initiative. Creating integrative health and wellness in primary health care settings!
Comment
Re: Why We Need to Talk About Trauma in Public Health Nutrition [lucyaphramor.com]
Well written article and fantastic articulation of the approach around trauma and dietary consumption and consultation. There are many great points to this article and is a sector that needs to be crucially explored. Pointing out in addition to these strong points, the importance of exploring the types of foods we consume and the scientific insight of its impact on our physiological health, emotional regulation, and behaviour change. As similar to therapeutic context of defining trauma,...
Comment
Re: Can What We Eat Affect How We Feel?
Thank you Monica for sharing this article. I am constantly amazed at the affects of mineral deficiencies and our mental health. I agree that more B6,B12, Zinc, Omega 3's and Iron are not the entire healing protocol, however I do know that deficiencies in those nutrients have a huge impact on our bodies and mental health. I was thrilled to read about Nutritional Psychiatrists! I have been posing the question to friends a lot lately about why psychiatrists do not check vitamin and mineral...
Comment
Re: Can What We Eat Affect How We Feel?
Thanks for your comment Linda. It always shocks me, even though I shouldn't b shocked, at how medical protocols fail to consider nutritional health.
Comment
Re: This is How Dutch Kids Enjoy and Learn from Keeping Vegetable Gardens (brightvibes.com)
I was so interested in this subject that i felt compelled to respond. sorry for its length...A few years ago i managed a family service in a most disadvantaged community in Kent. The families that i supported came from an array of chaotic backgrounds and traumatic experiences that initially our community service mirrored that of a war zone. The rates of families on CP and CHIN were alarming. i spent most of my days stopping fights breaking out, and arguments NOT with children, but their...
Comment
Re: Childhood Trauma Can Impact Our Gut Bacteria
"The children with a history of early caregiving disruptions had distinctly different gut microbiomes from those raised with biological caregivers from birth. Brain scans of all the children also showed that brain activity patterns were correlated with certain bacteria. For example, the children raised by parents had increased gut microbiome diversity, which is linked to the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain known to help regulate emotions." Food and nutrition is such an important...
Comment
Re: Eating Kale May Help Older Adults Slow The Decline In Cognitive Skills (scienceblog.com)
Lots of interesting research around whole foods-plant based diets and cognitive functioning. Though we should always be wary when a single food is correlated to a health benefit.
Comment
Re: Meaning of Food and Life Questionnaire.pdf
I shared this with during a staff meeting! Found a few my colleagues identify their relationship with food as strongly moral/social followed by health.
Comment
Re: Eating Certain Raw Fruits and Vegetables Has Been Linked to Better Mental Health [metro.co.uk/]
This is an important disclaimer from the article: "Obviously, this study isn’t claiming a cause-and-effect link between what you eat and your mental health status. Depression can’t be caused by a lack of vitamins or cured by a surplus. It simply says that there’s an association between what we eat and how we feel." However, I would love to see more research in this area. Original research paper found here .
Comment
Re: Eating Certain Raw Fruits and Vegetables Has Been Linked to Better Mental Health [metro.co.uk/]
Of course. I don't believe there are panaceas or "miracle cures" for anything that ails us. I do believe that every little bit that we can do to improve our health matters, though, including eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. That alone won't cure depression, but it can play a big part along with other lifestyle changes and treatments.
Comment
Re: Listen to ‘Dear Sugars’: Trust Your Body — With Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevantbo
Such a great discussion! Body shame comes up very often in my professional practice, and it certainly takes time to change the "dieting mind" and to dismantle messages from diet culture that we grew up with and are so accustomed to. Definitely going to share these new definitions of health and powerful messages mentioned here!
Comment
Re: Listen to ‘Dear Sugars’: Trust Your Body — With Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevantbo
Loved this episode. So much insight provided. Something that stuck out to me was the comment about how unnatural diets are, and how natural our common responses to diets (binging) are. I never thought of that. Other comments that stood out: "[Let's] focus on healing and focus on self care from a weight neutral perspective ...it doesn't seem to be helpful to focus on weight and it's starting to feel like it's actually harmful." "Health is not control and hyper vigilance, health is our...
Comment
Re: Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong
I also love this tidbit from the article: The most effective health interventions aren't actually health interventions—they are policies that ease the hardship of poverty and free up time for movement and play and parenting. Developing countries with higher wages for women have lower obesity rates, and lives are transformed when healthy food is made cheaper. A pilot program in Massachusetts that gave food stamp recipients an extra 30 cents for every $1 they spent on healthy food increased...
Blog Post
‘Building Wealth and Health Network’ Reduces Food Insecurity Without Providing Food [drexel.edu]
As the coronavirus pandemic forces so many to reckon with growing food insecurity and increased health challenges, the Building Wealth and Health Network program of Drexel University’s Center for Hunger-Free Communities is reducing food insecurity and improving mental health – without distributing any food or medicine. How? By focusing on group experiences that promote healing and help people save money and take control over their own finances. Parents of young children, who completed the...
Blog Post
How Grocery Shopping Online Could Help Close Equity Gaps (calhealthreport.org)
Late last month, California’s food stamps program, CalFresh, began allowing beneficiaries to buy groceries online at participating stores—a recent upgrade to the program that lets families skip potentially perilous grocery shopping trips during the coronavirus pandemic and limit the spread of the disease. Now, food policy advocates are asking the state to provide the same purchasing opportunity for pregnant women and families with young children who get benefits through WIC . “We applaud the...
Blog Post
Monica Bhagwan with Guy McPherson (www.thetraumatherapistproject.com)
Monica Bhagwan was interview by Guy McPherson of The Trauma Therapist Podcast. Here's a description of this episode. To read the rest of this introduction and to check out the interview of Monica Bhagwan by Guy McPherson, please go this hyperlink. Please know that Monica Bhagwan along with Adrienne Markworth are Community Managers of the ACEs and Nourishment community right here on ACEs Connection. We are proud of the work of our community members and managers.
Blog Post
This Harlem chef is cooking up international dishes to strengthen his local community (upworthy.com)
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected diverse communities due largely in part to social factors such as inadequate access to housing, income, dietary options, education and employment — all of which have been shown to affect people's physical health. Recognizing that inequity, Harlem-based chef JJ Johnson sought out to help his community maximize its health during the pandemic — one grain at a time. Johnson manages FIELDTRIP , a health-focused restaurant that strives to bring...
Blog Post
New Transforming Trauma Episode: Complex Trauma, Self-Sabotage, Diet Culture, and Eating Disorder Recovery with Iris McAlpin
T ransforming Trauma Episode 030: Complex Trauma, Self-Sabotage, Diet Culture, and Eating Disorder Recovery with Iris McAlpin In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Sarah Buino interviews NARM Practitioner and coach Iris McAlpin. Iris specializes in eating disorder recovery, complex trauma, and self-sabotage. Iris also hosts a podcast called Pure Curiosity which seeks to facilitate nuanced conversations about the human experience and de-stigmatize mental health challenges. Iris...
Blog Post
Associations between adverse childhood experiences and weight, weight control behaviors and quality of life in Veterans seeking weight management services [sciencedirect.com]
By Robin M. Masheb, Margaret Sala, Alison G. Marsh, et al., Eating Behaviors, January 2021 Abstract Introduction A neglected area of trauma research with Veterans is the study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of ACEs, and to explore relationships between ACEs and measures of weight, eating behaviors and quality of life in weight loss seeking Veterans. Methods Participants were 191 Veterans [mean age 58.9 (SD = 12.8), mean Body Mass...