Check out each one of these tribes and see which one you think fits you best!
The Go Getter Tribe
This emotional tribe is run primarily by epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These are excitatory neurotransmitters that gives us motivation, zest for life and energy to get things done. You thrive on excitement and adventure. You always seem to have energy to get things done and rarely tire, but when you do tire then the pendulum swings to the other side and you crash. You can be the life of the party.
There are some people who tend to have too much of these neurotransmitters, which can be the main cause of insomnia, anxiety and irritability. They can make you feel like you drank too much coffee and feel wired and jittery. Excessive amounts can either come from a tendency to either make too much or decreased ability to break them down. Making too much can be due to too much stress, drinking too much caffeine, taking too many methyl groups, ( Methyl B12, Methyl folate, SAMe). Not being able to break them down fast enough is either due to genetic variations that slow the enzyme that breaks it down or nutritional deficiencies, meaning that they lack the cofactors needed to optimize the breakdown. Magnesium and SAMe are the main cofactors needed in this pathway. But magnesium needs to in the form that can cross the blood brain barrier and breakdown the epinephrine that is in the brain for calming the nervous system. My all time favorite product for this is BrainMag from Xymogen. It has three types of magnesium that are easily absorbed Magnesium malate, bisglyciate, and threonate. It is the threonate form that crosses the blood brain barrier to calm the epinephrine in the brain to calm the nervous system. This is always my first go to product for anyone with too much epinephrine. SAMe is another cofactor needed. Most of the time your body can make the SAMe needed and so supplementation of this is not my first step. SAMe is also a methyl donor and so needs to be taken with caution.
Can we test for these? YES and this is where it can get really exciting. We don’t have to guess. We can test your Neurotransmitters with an easy urine test, the Neuro /Adrenal panel from Labrix. This has been very helpful when it isn’t apparent which neurotransmitter is causing the issues.
Testing the micronutrients is also available with the Micronutrient panel from Vibrant America. This tests 35 different nutrients at a cellular level telling the last 4-6 months of your nutrient status. This helps us see the picture if low nutrient cofactors are causing the problems. Want to know more and dig even deeper? Click Here to schedule a consultation with me.
The Empath Tribe
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. For this Emotional tribe this is more predominant. The positive side is that you feel and care about others. You can be very intuitive and this is a gift. The down side is that you because you are so sensitive, you are a sponge and may take on the energies around you even if they are negative. The empath takes a lot of energy to be in the world especially the main calming neurotransmitter Serotonin. Serotonin tells all the other excitatory neurotransmitters to calm down. When your serotonin level is adequate then you feel like you have your bubble of Utopia surrounding you. You can see the stress but it isn’t in your face. You can feel calm, peaceful, happy and sleep is easy and rejuvenating. When your serotonin levels are low then your Utopia bubble is very small if it even exists at all. Stress can feel in your face. There is a higher chance of feeling anxious, worried, irritable, depressed and difficulty sleeping. All you want to do is go to bed and pull the covers over your head to escape. Chronic stress chews thru your serotonin and can cause depletion.
Did you know that 90% of serotonin that the body needs is made in the gut, but you can’t take the serotonin that is made in the gut and put it in the brain for calming. If there is stress in the gut for any reason… poor diet, imbalanced flora, antibiotic use, NSAID use and many others…then the basic building blocks that are needed to make serotonin get used up and there then is less for the brain to use to make it’s own supply.
What can we do? “Live a life of very little stress” is what some will say. This may be ideal but it may not be realistic. Healing your gut is imperative but still may not be enough. Taking 5 HTP 100 mg by Xymogen in a controlled release tablet can be very effective. 5 HTP (hydroxytryptophan) is a precursor to serotonin. So giving yourself more of the basic building blocks to make serotonin just makes sense. I like the controlled release form best because then it is released slowly and gently through out the day instead of one big lump. I like 5HTP better as opposed to taking tryptophan because there is a chance that tryptophan can go to a neurotoxic metabolite quinolinic acid… so why take the chance. (Please be aware that taking 5HTP is not advisable to take along with any medication that is a SSRI – selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor – unless you are under the care of your health care professional.) I see amazing results in sleep, anxiety, irritability, depression and the feelings of overwhelm that can so easily accompany low serotonin.
Can I test for this? Yes, and this is where it can get really exciting. We don’t have to guess. We can test your Neurotransmitters with an easy urine test, the Neuro / Adrenal panel from Labrix. This has been very helpful when it isn’t apparent which neurotransmitter are causing the issues.
Testing the micronutrients is also available with the Micronutrient panel from Vibrant America. This tests 35 different nutrients at a cellular level telling the last 4-6 months of your nutrient status. This helps us see the picture if low nutrient cofactors are causing the problems. Want to know more and dig even deeper? Click Here to schedule a consultation with me.
The Perfectionist Tribe
This emotional tribe is run by glutamate, which is another excitatory neurotransmitter that is made in your body and we get it from foods and from Monosodium Glutamate, better known as MSG. MSG is a fermented flavor enhancer. Food producers label MSG under several names, including yeast extract, hydrolyzed protein, glutamic acid and sodium or calcium casein-ate, processed foods and artificially flavored foods. Some glutamate is good because it gives us energy, helps us think and makes us smart but too much glutamate will dial our brain up so it almost feels like it runs too fast or we can’t shut it off. It can cause insomnia, irritability and perfectionism. Some people will either make more glutamate or they don’t break it down easily to the calming neurotransmitter GABA. This can be due to genetic variants. Taking things like L- theanine found in green tea can bind to glutamate receptors making it less effective and making you feel calmer.
For those that fit this picture; an overactive brain with a perfectionist nature, I will try MindCalm from Xymogen. It has the Gaba, L theanine and Taurine, Magnesium and Inositol to round out the calming effects.
Can I test for this? YES and this is where it can get really exciting. We don’t have to guess. We can test your Neurotransmitters with an easy urine test, the Neuro / Adrenal panel from Labrix. This has been very helpful when it isn’t apparent which neurotransmitter are causing the issues. Testing the micronutrients is also available with the Micronutrient panel from Vibrant America. This tests 35 different nutrients at a cellular level telling the last 4-6 months of your nutrient status. This helps us see the picture if low nutrient cofactors are causing the problems. Want to know more and dig even deeper? Click Here to schedule a consultation with me.
The Sensitive Introvert Tribe
This Emotional tribe is run primarily by serotonin. Serotonin is the main calming neurotransmitter that tells all the other excitatory neurotransmitters to “calm down”. When your serotonin level is adequate, you feel like you have your “bubble of utopia” surrounding you. You can see the stress but it isn’t in your face. You can feel calm, peaceful, happy and sleep is easy and rejuvenating. When your serotonin levels are low then your utopia bubble is very small, if it even exists at all. Stress can feel like it is right in your face. There is a higher chance of feeling anxious, worried, irritable, depressed and you may have difficulty sleeping. All you want to do is go to bed and pull the covers over your head to escape. Chronic stress chews through your serotonin and can cause depletion.
Did you know that 90% of serotonin that the body needs is made in the gut? Unfortunately, you can’t take the serotonin that is made in the gut and put it in the brain for calming. If there is stress in the gut for any reason… poor diet, imbalanced flora, antibiotic use, NSAID use and many others, then the basic building blocks that are needed to make serotonin get used up and there then is less for the brain to use to make it’s own supply.
What can we do? “Live a life of very little stress” is what some will say, which may be ideal but may not be very realistic. Healing your gut is imperative but still may not be enough. Taking 5 HTP 100 mg by Xymogen in a controlled release tablet can be very effective. 5 HTP (or hydroxytrytophan) is a precursor to serotonin. Giving yourself more of the basic building blocks to make serotonin just makes sense. I like the controlled release form best because then it is released slowly and gently through out the day instead of one big lump. I also like the 5 HTP better, as opposed to taking tryptophan, because there is a chance that tryptophan can go to a neurotoxic metabolite quinolinic acid… so why take the chance. (Please be aware that taking 5HTP is not advisable to take along with any medication that is a SSRI – Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor – unless you are under the care of your health care professional.) I see amazing results in sleep, anxiety, irritability, depression and the feelings of overwhelm that can so easily accompany low serotonin.
Can we test for this? Yes, and this is where it can get really exciting. We don’t have to guess. We can test your Neurotransmitters with an easy urine test, the Neuro /Adrenal panel from Labrix. This has been very helpful when it isn’t apparent which neurotransmitter are causing the issues. Testing the micronutrients is also available with the Micronutrient panel from Vibrant America. This tests 35 different nutrients at a cellular level telling the last 4-6 months of your nutrient status. This helps us see the picture if low nutrient cofactors are causing the problems. Want to know more and dig even deeper? Click Here to schedule a consultation with me.
The Organizer Tribe
This emotional tribe has Histamine as the predominant neurotransmitter. Histamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved with the sleep/wake cycle, it helps with energy and motivation. When in excess we will see inflammation, itchy red skin, allergies, anxiety, insomnia. Histamine is found in many foods and our body makes it as a response to injury, like in a bee sting. There are three main pathways the body uses to break histamine down. If someone has genetic variances and specific nutritional deficiencies than these pathways are slowed down and histamine remains high and can result in the high histamine symptoms. You may know that you have a histamine issue if you don’t sleep well after eating a diet high in histamines like wine, beer, sushi, aged cheese, salami, vinegar, kombucha, soy sauce, leftovers and many others. This is where anti- histamines are helpful. If high histamine is your issue, then limiting histamine foods can be helpful but this approach can be limiting and exhausting for a long term solution. A better approach is to optimize the pathways that breakdown histamine making sure that all the needed cofactors are available, such as a good B complex, multi minerals and Vitamin C. DAO Assist by Xymogen is a supplement that provides the DAO enzyme which is one of the main enzymes needed to break down histamine.
Can I test for this? Yes, and this is where it can get really exciting. We don’t have to guess. We can test your Neurotransmitters with an easy urine test, the Neurotransmitter Panel. This has been very helpful when it isn’t apparent which neurotransmitter are causing the issues. Testing the micronutrients is also available with the Micronutrient panel from Vibrant America. This tests 35 different nutrients at a cellular level telling the last 4-6 months of your nutrient status. This helps us see the picture if low nutrient cofactors are causing the problems.
Want to know more and dig even deeper? Click Here to schedule a consultation with me.
