Elizabeth Pattalis Nutritionist

SUSTAINABLE WEIGHT LOSS & INTUITIVE EATING NUTRITIONIST

Moody? Short Fuse? Can’t Tolerate Stress? Is It Pyrroles?

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pyrroles

Have you always known you can’t handle stress very well? Or maybe you tend to be a ticking time bomb, when you get mad, geez don’t people know it!

Sometimes this type of behaviour can be diagnosed as anxiety or maybe bipolar. However, it may be a condition that has been gone undiagnosed.

This condition is called pyrrole disorder. It’s usually when something stressful happens in a person’s life that symptoms start to appear.

When a person with pyrroles is stressed, the body will overproduce pyrroles or hydroxyhaemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL). HPL binds to several nutrients, making them unavailable for use by the body. These three nutrients are vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc. Copper levels tend to be high as well when suffering pyrroles.

Vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc are all required for the production of GABA, which is the calming neurotransmitter in the brain. Therefore if you have pyrroles, you possibly it hard to wind down, feel you suffer mood instability, or have anxiety or depression. It is low zinc that puts you at risk of high copper levels. Cooper overload causes the opposite of calm; it can be what makes a person appear to be having a tantrum.

What Are The Symptoms Of Pyrroles?

  • Poor stress tolerance
  • Apathy, low mood
  • Sensitivity to lights, odours and sounds
  • Highly irritable
  • Short temper
  • Mood swings
  • Inner tension
  • Poor mental focus
  • Pain in the spleen area (stitch feeling in the side)
  • White spots on fingernails
  • Morning nausea
  • Little morning appetite
  • Poor dream recall
  • Skin complaints (dry, dermatitis, keratosis pillaris)
  • IBS

Conditions Associated With Pyrroles

  • ADD
  • ADHD
  • Bipolar
  • Aggression
  • Depression
  • Schizophrenia
  • Gut Imbalances – without sufficient stomach acids or with SIBO, absorption of nutrients may be poor. You need B6 and Zinc for adequate stomach acids.
  • Adrenal Disorders – the inability to handle stress fatigues the body
  • Liver and Gallbladder Issues – bile flow is affected with low HCL

In addition, 60% of mental health patients have a methylation disorder (MTHFR & Genes – See previous post on methylation – you may want to have a DNA test)

Managing Pyrroles

Combined with a holistic nutritional approach, correct diagnosis of pyrrole disorder is critical to successful management of the condition. Long term supplementation of both B6 and zinc is likely necessary for ongoing suppression of HPL and to eliminate symptoms.

Symptoms usually improve quickly, within three months.

In assessing if you have pyrrole disorder, a thorough case history is necessary. If pyrrole condition is deemed likely, there is a urine test that tests for levels of pyrroles (1). Measurements of HPL at regular intervals help to determine maintenance dosages of nutrients.

What Can You Do Today

Food is the building blocks of your neurotransmitters, start here. Eating a diet rich in quality protein and healthy fat provides the body with the necessary building blocks. You require amino acids (broken down from protein) for synthesis of brain neurotransmitters and essential fatty acids for healthy cell membranes, which is necessary for healthy nerve function.

In addition to addressing the foundations by getting your diet in check, get in touch for a consultation. Pyrrole disorder is one part of the problem. It can be treated rather fast, however, there usually are other factors involved as explained above. Better to address each part for best results rather than a band-aid fix. Some additional test may be considered with the pyrrole urine test such as DNA testing, organic acids test, blood test and heavy metal testing.

Bookings can be made online both in in-clinic and online Australia wide.

DUTCH Test – The Most Comprehensive & Informative Hormonal Test

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The DUTCH test, which uses dried urine, is the simplest, and informative test for anyone who suspects they might have a hormone problem. The test is done four times in a day, and the strips of dried urine are then used to give you a complete hormone panel, including metabolites.

Testing 4 times a day is important as hormones fluctuate during the day, it allows for a more complete picture of what is going on for you. Cortisol, for example, one of the hormones the test checks for, if this was low in the morning and then high at night, then you’re likely to be suffering insomnia, foggy brain in the morning and so on. If you just got a blood test, you’d only be capturing that one time which perhaps could be normal if you happened to do it at midday.

The test also captures metabolites which you don’t get in a blood test. These metabolites are extremely valuable for you to know. If you had a blood test and was told you are estrogen dominant, a common phrase, that would make you think you have too much estrogen. But it doesn’t tell you why. With the DUTCH it captures the estrogen metabolites eg 2-OH-E1. By looking at these metabolites you can determine if you have a problem with a sluggish liver and in what phase of liver clearance. Phase 1 and Phase 2 liver clearance requires different treatment approaches.

An example of the test is below. This test tells the practitioner that the patient is suffering from estrogen dominance and that their phase 1 liver detoxification needs support. This patient was treated with DIM and then retested, estrogen now has improved. But you would not want to give the patient DIM if there Phase 2 is the actual problem, you would then cause more estrogen to circulate through the body. The example illustrates why you cannot just guess. Guess wrong and you’re now suffering more. 

Dutch

As a health practitioner, I regularly use the DUCTH test with my clients. My advice tends to usually be, get your diet almost right first and then we can determine if you have a hormonal problem that needs to extra support. 

Hormones it tests for include:

  • Free Cortisone
  • Creatinine
  • Free cortisol
  • Total cortisol
  • Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels
  • Estrogen metabolites
  • Progesterone metabolites
  • Testosterone metabolites
  • Androgen metabolites
  • DHEAs
  • Melatonin

Plus markers including dopamine, serotonin (soon about to be phased out), norepinephrine, MMA (for B12 status), Xanthurenate (for B6 status) and Pyroglutamate (for glutathione status). These markers help with hormone metabolism/detoxification. 

If you’d like more information or would like to get tested please contact me for a consultation. Bookings can be made online or contact me directly for appointments outside of what is available. 

Effects Of Chemicals On Human Health

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Chemicals and toxins in our environment, also known as endocrine disruptors, contribute to poor health. 

Too often people dismiss it and I can understand why. I’m guilty of it too, you don’t see the immediate impact it has on your health, therefore, you don’t worry about. That and you may think, why is it a problem now whereas years ago not so?

I’ll tell you why. We live in a much more toxic world than we did before. We are also more nutrient deficient and stressed which impacts the way we detoxify chemicals. By reducing your toxic load you can improve your weight loss efforts, liver function, aches, digestion, mood and more. On top of that you’re helping minimise lifestyle related diseases.

Where are these endocrine disruptors found? 

  • plastic bottles
  • plastic storage containers
  • tinned food (the lining is BPA)
  • receipts 
  • plastic wrap
  • plastic toys
  • cosmetics and skin care
  • nonstick cookware
  • coatings on furniture and carpet
  • and more 

They include:

  • bisphenol A/F/BPA
  • dioxins
  • pesticides and herbicides (glyphosates)
  • phylates
  • heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic)

The impact these chemicals can have on our health varies. It can contribute to obesity, diabetes, infertility issues (PCOS, endometriosis, early puberty, poor both outcomes, reduced sperm quality), hormone-sensitive cancers in females, thyroid conditions, neurodevelopment, anxiety, depression chronic fatigue, and epigenetic changes. 

Certain groups that are more susceptible to these chemicals are children and women. Children have undeveloped detox pathways and also an underdeveloped blood-brain barrier. Women can be more susceptible depending on their stage in life, eg pregnancy.  Women are also the highest consumers of personal care products. Plus women have a higher fat to muscle ratio. Toxins love fat and get stored here. On a side note to my weight loss clients, if you are losing lots of fat, you’re body will need help to detoxify all the chemicals being released by the excess fat being burnt. This is why you may feel lousy if you lose fat quickly, all your toxins are being released into your bloodstream!

Now I know we can’t all avoid endocrine disruptors completely. But we can reduce our exposure. Reducing it by a little still makes a difference! I’ll also add here, I often see clients with health conditions not getting the results that are really hoping for even though they feel they are doing things right. But, they don’t make changes in this area. If you are spending lots of money trying to improve your health, whatever the condition, don’t underestimate what chemicals may be doing to your health. We need to get down to basics sometimes before we spend endless money and time on other approaches such as medication, supplements, other natural therapies, and surgery. 

So what can you do to reduce your toxic load?

  • invest in quality cookware (avoid non-stick, aluminum, copper)
  • buy organic where possible. Eating an organic diet for just one week has been shown to reduce pesticide exposure in adults by 90% (1). 
  • avoid plastic as much as you can. BPA free is no better (avoid codes 3, 6 and 7)
  • avoid heating food in plastic in the microwave
  • reduce the number of personal care products you use or choose organic and chemical free cosmetics. Go make up free :)
  • drink filtered water. Tap water contains lead, copper, and fluoride. When buying water in plastic bottles, don’t reuse the bottle and don’t let the bottle sit in a warm place such as the car. It leaches chemicals when warm. 

Lastly, support your body’s detoxification pathways. There are certain supplements that may help such as vitamin C, curcumin, NAC and also certain foods particularly useful including globe artichoke, brussel sprouts, and broccoli. 

If you are feeling ‘toxic’ and this is one area of your health you know you could do better with, please contact me for a consultation. Tests can be done to pinpoint if you’re liver is functioning at optimal and the level of toxicity that may be present. Or please check out my online detox foundation program.