Anita’s Bio:

After working with elite, high performing athletes and corporate executives for 12 years, Anita founded Champion Powered Programs.  Using her signature Power Plate Formula™ and other wellness strategies for sustained success, she motivates and coaches clients on how to reach their highest health potential & performance.

Anita spent 3 NFL seasons as a Nutrition Consultant for the Jacksonville Jaguars and is the creator of 2 online nutrition and wellness courses.  She was featured in The Gluten-Free Edge book by Peter Bronski, and currently writes articles for various online groups. She is a passionate public speaker, corporate wellness workshop leader, and health advocate.

According to Anita, why focusing on Nutrition is so important for mental health:

Food impacts mood and energy. Evidence linking diet and mental health is growing rapidly.  There are several places to look when considering the link between what you eat and how you feel.  One is deficiencies, the most common that affect mood being Vitamin D, Magnesium and Essential Fatty Acids (in particular Omega 3 fats).  The next place to look is food sensitivities.  I hear people frequently say to me that they ‘eat pretty healthy’ AND I encourage everyone to expand their definition of healthy.  There are many so-called ‘health foods’ that wreak havoc on our brains and immune systems, especially if you are predisposed to certain sensitivities.  

Finally, Leaky Gut is becoming an epidemic in our country and the link between gut health and brain health is known.  When our gut flora is out of balance, and we have leaking gut syndrome, or an overgrowth of pathogens (bacteria, fungus, etc), our brains are dramatically affected.  These imbalances MUST be corrected and healed in order for the brain to heal.  

Assessment of Celiac (gluten sensitivity at its highest form) patients has supported a statistically significant incidence of anxiety, panic, depression (21% in this study), bipolar, and schizophrenia (27% in this study). Gluten, dairy, and sugar are the 3 most destructive foods I’ve seen in my 12 years of helping people improve their health with food.  If you are looking for immediate relief and healing, remove these 3 from your diet and give your body and chance to heal.  To be able to avoid a lifetime of medication, pain, and suffering simply by eliminating a certain food type is liberating.  Do not underestimate the role that food plays in your healing.

Anita’s Resource Recommendations:

websites:

anitanall.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21877216

DrHyman.com

DrAxe.com

books:

Vitamin D – The Sunshine Miracle  Vitamin (Thomas James Fox)

The Magnesium Miracle (Carolyn Dean M.D., N.D.)

Grain Brain (David Perlmutter, MD)

clinics:
The Amen Clinic