You may have to address the fact that you’re eating extra food for comfort or out of boredom. Some foods may have seemingly addictive qualities. For example, when you eat tempting foods like chocolate, your body releases trace amounts of mood- and satisfaction-elevating hormones. This may reinforce a preference for foods that are closely associated with specific feelings. The pleasure of eating also briefly allows us to escape feelings of negativity. According to Carl C. Pfeiffer, M.D., a huge part of mental wellness is balanced brain chemistry, which is related to whole body nutrition. You might be surprised to learn that the idea of eating more foods such as fresh veggies and fruits that grow on plants and eating fewer foods that are manufactured in plants holds a lot of truth-refined food lacks the hundreds of nutrients your brain needs to function correctly. Some people who suffer from anxiety, attention deficit disorder and depression excrete high levels of substances once believed to be kryptopyrroles, but which are actually hydroxyhemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL), in their urine. HPL is naturally formed in the body as a byproduct of red blood cell formation. It binds to vitamin 86, zinc and possibly biotin, increasing the urinary elimination of these nutrients. High levels of HPL in the urine are correlated with various mental and behavioral disorders that can be reversed with high dose, long-term supplementation of vitamin 86 and zinc. However, nutritional deficiencies aren’t the only factors that can affect your mood and behavior. It’s critical for you to also avoid foods that you are allergic or intolerant to, such as wheat, sugar or dairy. You have to remember that the brain uses 30 percent of your food energy. Pfeiffer writes, “Since the [brain] is perhaps the most delicate organ of the body, it should be no surprise that allergies to food can upset levels of hormones and other key chemicals in the brain, resulting in [mental and emotional] symptoms.” These symptoms include anxiety, confusion, loss of memory and depression. You may be thinking that changing your eating habits will be too challenging. However, if you maintain a positive and confident perspective, you will succeed. Look beyond food for comfort and entertainment. Instead of unwrapping a candy bar, watch a movie, listen to music, or plan enjoyable events with family and friends. This behavior change is like getting into any new routine-it might be hard at first, but with time it will take root. Repetition is the key to maintaining any good or bad habit.

Emotional healing is the hardest thing to face because it isn’t tangible or quantifiable. However, modem research has proven that stress does play a role in inflammation. According to a study by E. Clays published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, people with elevated job stress have increased inflammation. The study analyzed 892 male workers without cardiovascular disease. Those who believed they didn’t have control over their work had high levels of a blood protein known as fibrinogen. Fibrinogen is a clotting protein produced by the liver and released into the blood when there is a tissue injury to repair. When blood vessels become damaged from high blood sugar, high cholesterol, alcohol, drugs, pathogenic infection or food allergens, or when an inflammatory response is triggered by any one of these factors, fibrinogen is sent to the site of injury where it combines with other proteins to form a blood clot. A wound scar remains as a result. A high level of fibrinogen in the blood is therefore a marker of inflammation and it has been linked to an increased incidence of heart attacks. Many researchers are suggesting that high levels of inflammation are related to high stress and lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Doctors and scientists understand that our minds play a huge role in healing ailments. For instance, in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Dr. Jon KabatZinn developed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which teaches patients how to use meditation to manage pain and stress. Bodywork therapies, such as massage and acupuncture, also appear to help people resolve, or at least cope with, psychological and emotional stress. Researchers continue to study bodywork therapies to better understand the physiological mechanisms by which stress affects health. Author Allan Walling writes that bodywork therapies do not change the number of stressors a person is subject to, but rather change one’s physiological response to them. When a memory or feeling is uncovered and released through bodywork therapies, the catharsis that follows is particularly effective in stimulating healing. Given the emotional component inherent in bodywork, you should choose your practitioner with care-make sure she or he is an individual you feel comfortable with and has legitimate qualifications.

This chapter is the most important one in the entire book. Some of you may disagree and might be tempted to skip over this section. After all, it’s painful to deal with our feelings, and human beings tend to avoid painful experiences. However, you need to be mentally on board for the MTHI plan to work. If you’re not committed emotionally, then you won’t be willing to follow through with the necessary changes. Full healing can take place only when the mental and emotional aspects of illness are addressed. Anger, fear and anxiety are typically stored and expressed in the gut. This is clearly evident in our language-think about common sayings such as “his guts were churning with anxiety” and “her stomach clenched in fear.” As a nutritionist, I try to look at my own rituals to figure out how to help my clients beat old habits and shape new ones. As a teenager, I would hide cookies in my clothes hamper like a squirrel and eat them when I got upset. One day, at the age of twenty-eight, I realized this habit was self-destructive and was able to stop hiding food. This was a decision only I could make-all the cajoling and threats from my family or boyfriends couldn’t make me stop. Identifying what is destructive about the behavior, and understanding why a person might be forming a negative habit helps to clarify how it can be stopped. Positive reinforcements are helpful for some people. For others, it doesn’t matter if you offer them all the rewards in the world-they need to give up habits on their own terms.