The 21st century has a mental health epidemic.
People today are 100 times more likely to suffer from mood issues than people born 100 years ago. Adult rates of depression and anxiety have tripled since 1990. At least 1 in 10 children suffer from significant mood disorders.
Moodfood.net is nutritional health coaching informed by neuroscience. Recent developments in brain science have identified the biochemistry of many mood disorders and mental diseases, such as depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder and ADHD. Serious mental illness and thoughts of suicide or homicide require professional psychiatric care. But for many mood issues, it is now possible to achieve optimal mental health through nutrition and nutrient therapies by targeting specific neurotransmitters.
Mental illness is rarely caused by just one thing. It is a compounded effect. Moodfood.net looks at the big picture and considers healing from different angles in order to achieve the primary goal of balancing your moods.
We work together to find if you have food allergies or sensitivities. These contribute to imbalanced brain chemistry by creating dysbiosis in the gut and digestive system. There are countless studies showing the relationship between the gut biome and mental health. Elimination diets are a first line of defense to find out what foods you may be allergic to or have sensitivity to. Many mood disorders disappear when the problem foods are removed.
Food is much more than just fuel. It is information that communicates with your genes. It used to be thought that genes are static. However, new evidence from the science of nutrigenomics shows that genes are very active, being expressed millions of times per minute. Nutrient factors in food have the power to determine which genes are turned on and which genes are silenced. For example, inflammation is a result of gene expression and is associated with all mental disorders. Only 1% of disease can be attributed to genes. The other 99% comes from diet, lifestyle choices and the environment.
Part of our process involves figuring out whether your mood disturbances are biochemical or psychological. For psychological mood issues, individual or group psychotherapy is very effective, and Moodfood.net can help you find a professional. But if therapy has not worked for you, then you might have a biochemical imbalance. Even Freud was “firmly convinced that one day all these mental disturbances we are trying to understand will be treated by means of hormones or similar substances.”
Nutrient therapies have proven to be effective in common mental disorders like depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder and ADHD. The huge body of research and proven success of nutrient therapies has created a revolution in approaches to mental health at places like Princeton Brain Bio Center, The Walsh Research Institute, Health Recovery Center and The Neuro-Nutrient Therapy Institute. Pioneers in the field, like Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, William J. Walsh, PhD, Joan Matthews Larson, PhD and Julia Ross, MA, have successfully used nutrient therapies for the past 50 years.
Moodfood.net is a biochemical approach to treating mental health by using your body’s natural chemicals. This is a powerful solution to the problem of emotional instability caused by a broken brain.
Matt Volla
I am a certified Integrative Nutritionist, internationally certified Health Coach, artist, yogi and surfer. I studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City and strongly believe the adage that “food is medicine.” As a younger person I received a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Masters degree in Electronic Music from Mills College in Oakland, CA. Using my own experiences of self-discovery and healing through exercise, the arts, music/sound and decades of integrative health and yogic practices, I now provide therapies to help people suffering from mood disorders, PTSD and addiction recovery. I currently live and work in San Francisco, CA.
Nutrition has played a vital role in my own journey to mental health. Along the way chemical imbalances in my brain created periods of time where I experienced both depression and anxiety. Searching for healing in all of the traditional ways through psychotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic and the like did not fully alleviate my pain.
I clearly remember the day my therapist said, “I can’t do anything for you. You must go on medication.” I had heard something similar from other therapists, but deep down I knew that I could solve this emotional riddle naturally– and I decided to make it my life’s purpose.
Various practices helped relieve some of my symptoms however nothing truly balanced my brain chemistry until I focused deeply on nutrition. By changing my diet, adding key vitamin and amino acid supplements while maintaining regular exercise and meditation routines, I have found a holistic solution to my mental health! This process of self-discovery inspired a strong desire in me to help others who also suffer from biochemical disturbances and has become the basis for assisting others in healing a range of physiological and mental conditions.