Sowing the seeds of change

[Guest guest]

Sowing the seeds of change

 

_http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/Health/article/88182 _

(http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/Health/article/88182 )

 

 

WMHC psychiatrist spearheads social anxiety disorder study.- by Lesley

Bowie

 

 

Wed Oct 24, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHITBY -- A medical director at the Whitby Mental Health Centre is carving

out a name for himself with a new study linking pumpkin seeds to the effective

treatment of social anxiety disorder.

 

" It's a new way of thinking about how we can affect brain chemistry through

foods, " explains Dr. Craig Hudson.

 

 

 

His study was released this month by the Canadian Journal of Physiology and

Pharmacology and describes that gourd seeds contain the highest concentration

of tryptophan, the same amino acid found in milk and in turkey, but at much

higher levels.

" One gram of pumpkin seeds has the same amount of tryptophan as a full glass

of milk, " says Dr. Hudson.

Tryptophan can have two benefits. When processed in the central nervous

system under high light conditions, it is converted to serotonin, which aids in

the treatment of depression and anxiety.

In low light conditions, it is further metabolized to melatonin, which

induces a natural sleep.

But in order to better absorb tryptophan from one's blood stream into the

central nervous system, it must be combined with a high glycemic carbohydrate

which reduces levels of neutral amino acids that normally compete with

tryptophan for absorption.

" You can eat the whole turkey and it's not going to help you sleep, " adds

Dr. Hudson. " But eat turkey with mashed potatoes and you'll feel sleepy. "

His team developed a functional food in the form of a bar, combining

de-oiled butternut squash seed meal, cold pressed to maximize the concentration

of

tryptophan, and dextrose.

Another placebo bar was created containing dried fruit and dextrose but

without any source of tryptophan. Both were made at the Guelph Food Technology

Centre in Guelph.

Seven people aged 18 to 65, suffering from social phobia or extreme shyness,

took part in the study conducted at Stratford General Hospital.

" When they came in we told them they would be reading a one-page passage in

front of a video camera that afterwards 30 people were going to review. But

there was no video tape in the camera, " says Dr. Hudson.

By monitoring heart rates and through observation, the study found people

were much less anxious one hour after eating the functional food compared to

placebo.

Dr. Hudson, who has been studying the presence of tryptophan in pumpkin

seeds since 1997 for treating sleep problems, hopes food may one day become

just

as accepted in treating mental illness as medication.

" It's a huge shift in thinking, " says Dr. Hudson, who plans to market the

functional food one day.

Although the study took place in Guelph, Stratford and Boston, Whitby Mental

Health Centre is placing a greater emphasis on research, says Dr. Hudson.

" I was hired to come here a year ago and a lot of that, I think, is because

of my research background, " he adds.

Dr. Hudson is a former chief of staff and chief of psychiatry at Stratford

General Hospital and is a contributor to the Canadian Journal of Physiology

and Pharmacology, Nutritional Neuroscience, British Journal of Psychiatry and

American Journal of Human Genetics.