Dr. Mark Hyman, the founder and medical director of the UltraWellness Center in Lenox Massachusetts, has found that problems of the brain, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disease, attention deficit disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and mood swings can be prevented and improved by his innovative wellness program. Dr. Hyman’s program is comprised of diet, nutritional supplements, exercise, meditation, and lifestyle changes. In an interview in Life Extension, Dr. Hyman explains that his treatment approach may one day make traditional psychiatric medication obsolete.
Autoimmune Diseases
Most autoimmune diseases have stress as their underlying cause. Stress is also known to worsen or exacerbate symptoms and trigger flares. Living with a chronic disorder can also be accompanied by feelings of depression or anxiety, especially when chronic disease interferes with tasks of daily living. In his latest book, The UltraMind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First, Dr. Hyman offers a program that addresses the basic causes of disease.
Functional Medicine
Functional medicine differs from alternative or integrative medicine in that it is based on Western science. Functional medicine focuses on finding the root causes of an individual’s health problems rather than choosing treatments that merely relieve symptoms. According to Dr. Hyman, 80 percent of health care dollars are spent on chronic diseases. Dr. Hyman reports that functional medicine is particularly important in chronic conditions, including autoimmune diseases, digestive problems, heart disease, and brain and mood disorders.
Addressing the Problems
Dr. Hyman explains that there are only a few basic problems that are responsible for disease. These include:
- An increasingly toxic diet, from pesticides and heavy metals
- Significant nutritional imbalances and deficiencies
- Constant, chronic stress
- Allergens
Dietary Recommendations
Dr. Hyman recommends eating wild, fresh, organic, non-genetically modified food grown in mineral and nutrient-rich soils and drinking pure, clean filtered water. He emphasizes putting the good stuff in and taking the bad stuff out. To accomplish this he recommends avoiding processed foods, refined sugars, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, gluten, refined grains, and chemical preservatives, and eating fresh, whole foods. He recommends avoiding toxins by eating foods low in the food chain, for example eating sardines rather than swordfish.
For a brain-healthy diet, he recommends fresh vegetables and fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts and lean protein. Hidden food allergens are the underlying cause of many chronic diseases and Dr. Hyman recommends taking the proper steps to identify allergens.
Nutrigenomics is the science that studies the way in which specific foods alter gene expression. These findings are important for dietary recommendations. For instance studies show that people eating wheat, oats and potatoes turn on about 60 genes that promote obesity, inflammation, oxidative stress and diabetes whereas rye and pasta turn on nearly 70 genes that do the opposite.
Lifestyle Changes
Dr. Hyman recommends working outside as much as possible, getting nine hours of sleep each night, avoiding chronic stressors, and exercising daily to combat the effects of stress. It’s also important to avoid exposure to unnecessary chemicals especially pesticides. Meditation is recommended for resting and relaxing the mind.
Supplements:
Because he's found that it’s very difficult to avoid exposure to toxins, Dr. Hyman states that most people need dietary supplements. He recommends vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6 B12, C, D, E, K, carotenoids, biotin, choline and inositol, calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulfur, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, vanadium, zinc, boron, chromium, and silicon, tryptophan, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and lysine, and the essential fatty acids linoleic acid, gamma-linoleic acid, alphal-linoleic acid, eicosanpentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Dr. Hyman uses a multivitamin along with fish oil, vitamin D3, magnesium, Coenzyme Q10, acetyl-L-carnitine, and vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid.
Hormones
Today’s diet, according to Dr. Hyman, deprives people of thyroid hormone, while excess sugar causes too much insulin and stress causes the production of too much cortisol and adrenaline. Imbalances in these hormones lead to imbalances in sex hormones.
Source:
Mark Hyman, "Healing the Broken Brain Syndrome", Life Extension, March 2009, 73-78.
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