Holistic Psychology- Love Your Gut, Love Your Sanity

In this episode with Dr. Nicole O'Barto Trainer, we dialogue about the role of a holistic approach to augment mental well-being. We explore the role of nutrition and environmental health as influences of mental and overall wellness.

Dr. Nicole holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from West Virginia University, with clinical training at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Specializing in mind-body therapies for chronic gastrointestinal and somatic disorders, she received additional training from the Allegheny Center for Digestive Health. Since 2009, Dr. Trainer has focused on integrative mental health, boasting advanced skills in mindfulness interventions, HeartMath biofeedback, and functional approaches to depression and anxiety, encompassing nutrition, micronutrient therapy, and amino acid therapy.

She can be reached at nicole.trainer@nativeclinics.com

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Transcript

Sibylle Georgianna: 0:12

Well come back. And I am very excited to have a special guest here and today with us. I would like to introduce Nicole to us. Oberto trainer is really sharing my passion about food and mental wellness. And so I was very intrigued to hear about you and your approach to supporting clients. So would you let us know a little bit of who you are and what you what you like to do and what you're passionate about?

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 0:45

Yes. So my name is Nicola Bardot trainer. I am a psychologist and I'm practicing. In Latrobe, Pennsylvania, I practice from an integrative or a functional lens, which essentially means that I strive to incorporate evidence based complementary and alternative therapies into my treatment plans for my clients. And a big component of complementary and alternative medicine is nutrition. So I do a lot of work with my clients on how to improve their diets. And how certain foods are vital for the production of neuro chemicals essential for balance, mood, and emotionality. And also how, how our bodies are capable of making their own serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, and that we need to learn how to eat in ways and take care of our our cells in ways so that our body can do what it naturally knows how to do.

Sibylle Georgianna: 1:51

Wow, yes. How did you get to this area of specialty? May I ask what what intrigued you to support clients in that way?

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 2:00

Yeah, well, I think in since the beginning of my study of psychology, I was really interested in more health focused models. I, I was never really intrigued by deficit based models, right. And so as you are probably well aware, like a Western base model of medicine is very much based upon finding deficits and treating symptoms. And so I've always been much more interested in holistic, or integrative or health focused models and conceptualizations of mental health or mental illness. And so when I, after my master's degree, when I returned back to get my doctorate, I was really intentional about seeking out mentors and training sites that would provide me with opportunities to learn about nutrition and Mind Body therapies, and the relationship between the mind and body and the interfacing that occurs between mind and body and its relationship to emotional well being.

Sibylle Georgianna: 3:01

Yes, indeed, and I think, as you as you describe the Western training, or the western model of, of health, it's really beautiful to see that you found that the application to your to the whole personhood in terms of their health and their development of health. So, so what, I'm sorry? What would be the relationship that you would if you would put it in a couple of words, when you think about gut health and mental health? What have you come across in your trainings?

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 3:35

Well, so the relationship between gut health and mental health is pretty profound. And at the same time, the research that we have in this area is still pretty much in its infancy. So we don't have a large database of this research, we're still learning about the relationship between the gut and the gut microbiome and mental health. But what we are learning so far, is significant. Right? It's, it's understanding that there is a role for the for the gut in the neuromodulation of serotonin immune function, the permeability of the integrity, if you will, or the permeability of the gut wall and its relationship to depression. We we need to respect that 90% of serotonin is made in the digestive tract. So that's a huge implication for emotional well being when we think of serotonin being kind of our natural anti depressant, anti anxiety.

Sibylle Georgianna: 4:45

Absolutely right. Isn't that the most striking aspect? We never think I mean, you don't typically we don't think about our our serotonin as, as in the gut. And so what if there are certain foods that would lend themselves to improve the gut and to improve them to mental health in a subsequent way the serotonin production is what what how should people How should I eat? Yeah,

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 5:10

so I always tell people that we really should strive to eat whole foods right, so we should strive to eat foods in their naturally occurring form as often as possible. We, we should strive to eat colorful vegetables, dark leafy greens, we should incorporate plant based proteins, if we're going to have animal based proteins in our diet, that's okay, but we should be incorporating plant based proteins as well. We should be incorporating foods that are high in fiber, we should be incorporating foods that we know have probiotic qualities, which is good bacteria in order to counter the overgrowth of bad bacteria or to counter the overgrowth of yeast within the digestive tract. So when we think about probiotic foods, we should be thinking about fermented foods, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, things of that nature, Greek yogurt has a lot of bacteria, a lot of good bacteria in it, more and more were being marketed foods that have you know, that printed somewhere on the label, right like that there's, there's live active cultures, or there's pro probiotics, right, like in again, you know, kind of Kambou shows or Kiefer's, or these are all these are all foods that are going to help support a very eclectic and diverse gut microbiome. And that's important because again, when we're when our gut encounters an inflammatory response, or encounters a food sensitivity that is risen to the level of toxicity, it needs to have the necessary bacterias in order to minimize the negative implications of of that invader, if you will, on the gut brain access the permeability of the wall, the relationship to serotonin transmission, right, like it's, they're all, they're all kind of connected.

Sibylle Georgianna: 7:14

So, yes, and I think, just from even, like, what, what's what information is accessible? You know, as you said, the research is so early in its development, that it might be hard to be as educated unless you would really, you know, look for it, or be trained in, in a, from a from a research background that you will you will encounter by going to school. So so now when when we hear all these things in these foods, and to me, you know, with my European background, you know, I love all those foods, I'm like, all good with that respect that say, what would you recommend? If if people are saying, Oh, my goodness, you know, there's nothing on the list there? How do I improve? Is there any foot in the door like to improve the gut brain health? Is it like better official to even start with one food? For example? Like any, any, any ways to help?

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 8:09

Yeah, so I think it just if you just start eliminating, if you started eliminating processed foods, right, processed, you know, processed foods are, are more difficult on our gastrointestinal system. And if you start incorporating more whole foods, more fruits and vegetables that are going to have that, that are bought locally, right, so again, you know, we, we've, our food production has changed so much, right. So if you're buying local foods that are that are grown locally, in local soil, they're going to have a lot of the good bacteria especially like, again, because our you know, our soil is going to be rich and a lot of trace minerals, and a lot of bacteria that's necessary for the region in which we live in in order to support the the invader bacterias, if you will, right like that we're going to encounter in our environment. So I think that if you if you find that like, Well, I'm not kind of drawn to these probiotic oriented foods, I would suggest eating local foods, foods that you know, are grown in soil, right, that's local to your region, I would suggest whole foods, foods that are rich in fiber, because fiber again is essential. prebiotic, right, so we hear prebiotics and probiotics. So fiber is essential prebiotic, so having lots of foods that are rich in fiber is really good for the gut microbiome as well. And that's, that could be a place that you could start looking at environmental toxins. So environmental toxins that that we don't necessarily know we're taking in from the candles that we burn the cleaning supplies that we use. Products that you know, again, kind of products that we're using shampoos, things of that nature, right like these environmental toxins that are unbeknownst to us have an impact. act on the integrity of our gut microbiome. So we could we could sidestep nutrition for a moment and just look at minute limiting in the influx of environmental toxins. And we could try to actually support by bringing, you know, by, by using products that we know, are going to be much less have much less of a toxic load, we could minimize antibiotic use. So we know that dysbiosis, which is essentially compromised gut microbiome, we know that a major contributor to that is the overuse of antibiotics. So we are either being prescribed antibiotics to treat infections that we have, or a lot of times we're eating food, breeding animal proteins, that the animal has been overexposed to antibiotics throughout its lifetime, because its living conditions were not, you know, we're no longer conducive for health. Right. So as we've had shifts and changes in the demands on our need for food and food supply, animals have been subject to conditions that have not been ideal. And then we started using and we started giving antibiotics in order to prevent disease. But those antibiotics then are passed down to us, right, and those antibiotics then have increased, we have increased exposure to antibiotics, which strips our gut microbiome of both good and bad bacteria.

Sibylle Georgianna: 11:41

Sorry, and there's so much even in skincare, you have to be so careful to look at the labels, and not to it's so easy to overuse, antibiotic ointments, or, I mean, it's, it's truly again, from a European background, that is not even kind of permitted a lot of times to the consumer, to be exposed to such, you know, substances, so to speak. So, so I think, I mean, you gave us like, I feel to me, like a lot of ways how to unravel the threat of more health, towards the gut biome, you know, through the steps to, to explore there. So. So if we, you know, if there is something where, let's say you're saying, I really would want to, I mean, you probably can't say that, but if you had one thing that you would want your clients to, to, you know, kind of go first tick a list first, would it be more like the environmental thing, if they don't feel as comfortable about the food? Would it be? You know, is there any, like a starting point to those various pathways towards better health?

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 12:47

Yeah, so I think, I think it's important that we recognize that the gut has a very sophisticated nervous system. So if, if I, anytime I'm working with a client, I don't just I again, I establish more holistic integrative treatment plans. So I nutrition is a part of that conversation. But nervous system regulation is also a big part of that conversation, environmental toxins is a part of that conversation, lifestyle, and movement, and sleep is a part of that conversation. So I think that, you know, if I would, if you were to point in the direction of of, you know, where should I start understanding the value of regulating your nervous system on a daily basis, because the, again, dysbiosis in the gut imbalance of good and bad bacteria, right? causes an exaggerated stress response, which causes increased secretion of the stress hormone cortisol into the system, right, which causes increased inflammation system wide. Okay, so that is compromising not only the integrity of the gut, but it's compromising the whole system's ability to function optimally. So I think that we we need to recognize that there's this very sophisticated nervous system in our gut, right, it's called the second brain and regulating our nervous system on a daily daily basis, developing practices where we regulate our nervous system on the daily basis can be really beneficial for allowing our gut to function more optimally, and then allowing us to incorporate some of these behavioral interventions or behavioral strategies that we're talking about.

Sibylle Georgianna: 14:37

And that is really in line with you know, my area with serving clients really also with that vagal nerve regulation, right? So really helping that autonomic nervous system which we weren't even when I was trained, you know, we there was not even an like an emphasis on the ability for us to shape the autonomic nervous system. So the one that is running your fight flight or freeze is indeed very malleable in ways that whether it was, as you kind of mentioned, red duck meant it You know, even something to relax to, you know, how we, you know, movement, what movements would be helping with that regulation. So I do love, everything like that kind of links together. So this has been so truly helpful to hear another advocate on this important subject. How can you know the listeners reach you to learn more about your work, be in touch.

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 15:36

So I can be reached directly through email at Nicole dot trainer at native clinics.com. You could also visit my website native clinics.com. You could follow us on Instagram or Facebook at Native mental health care.

Sibylle Georgianna: 15:56

Okay, we will put those in the show notes as well. And yes, it to be continuously inspired with our fellowship here. So thank you so much for your time. And yes, to hear more from you as hopefully then also with hopefully more research more to this to this topic supporting the broader community and to stay on it together. Thank you so much for your time. You're welcome.

Nicole O'Barto-Trainer: 16:25

Thank you so much for having me.