FromStressToStrength TopNutritionToolstoEase AnxietyInKids
Jess Sherman, MEd, RHN, FDN-P
The Power Of Functional Nutrition
Functional Nutrition helps us understand how the body functions and what we can do every day to support that function.
Functional Nutrition Helps Us Parent From The Inside Out
When we understand our children’s bodies, we can meet them where they’re at and give them what they need to grow strong and resilient. And the great news is that you can do this work even if your child is picky, loves sugar, and you hate to cook Food is important - don’t get me wrong - but it doesn’t need to be where you start.
When we work from the inside-out we find creative ways to nourish our kids, and we reduce 5 types of internal biological stress that keep a child’s nervous system revved up or overwhelmed, and keep their mind from finding calm. This document outlines what that can look like.
YOUR AVERAGE DOCTOR, THERAPIST, AND TEACHER DOESN’T KNOW THIS BUT...
Along with emotional skills, social supports, educational plans, and positive parenting, your anxious child also needs to build strength and resilience from the inside in order to feel more calm and secure. That means the right nutrition and tending to their physical health is key for their wellbeing.
KeyNutrientsforAnxiousKids
ALL nutrients from real, whole food are important to the health of the nervous system. Our bodies have evolved to thrive on the food grown in nature so you want to stick to those foods as much as you can
But there are a few standout nutrients that we have found many anxious kids need more of. This increased need may be because of their genetics, their diet, their digestion, and/or their environment.
I’m NOT suggesting you go out and buy all kinds of supplements! What I AM suggesting is that you assess your child’s diet Are they eating foods that contain these nutrients? Start there.
Magnesium
Zinc
Involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions including the synthesis and transport of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, magnesium is considered a calming mineral that helps ease stress in the nervous system and in the muscles It is also involved in the production of energy
Required for at least 100 different enzymes to function, zinc is linked to attention issues, decreased appetite, eating disorders, poor digestion, depression, amenorrhea, poor sleep, moor memory, and hormonal acne. Zinc is critical for maintaining neurotransmitter activity so low zinc can be a factor in all mood disorders
Consider This:
Does your child eat a varied diet of real, colorful foods?
That’s how they will get these nutrients covered. Most processed foods lack essential nutrients.
KeyNutrientsforAnxiousKids
B Vitamins Omega 3 fatty acids (fish/algae)
Vitamin D
This type of fatty acid Influences inflammation, mood, behavior, memory, learning, skin, and impulsivity. Our cell membranes and every aspect of neurotransmission require adequate Omega-3s. Children with ADHD were found to be 60% more likely to have a variant in the FADS2 gene that can result in a reduced capacity to incorporate omega 3s into the cell membrane.
Bs are critical for nervous system health, detoxification, and energy production, and the creation and transport of neurotransmitters. Deficiency has been associated with motion sickness, depression, and night terrors. A body under stress will burn through its B vitamins and can quickly become depleted
D is a foundational vitamin for overall health and supports brain health by helping the body regulate inflammation As a critical cofactor for the enzyme Tryptophan Hydroxylase (TPH), vitamin D also helps increase serotonin in the brain.
Needed for the production of serotonin and dopamine as well as learning, memory and sleep, iron is crucial for the brain.
Consider This:
Do you know your child’s genetics? They may need more nutrition due to genetic variants.
KeyNutrientsforAnxiousKids
Choline
Antioxidants
Choline is critical for cellular health, brain and nerve function, detoxification, and hormonal signaling. It is an important building block for acetylcholine - a neurotransmitter that contributes to memory, mood, and muscle control. Insufficient choline can contribute to poor memory, slower mental processing and IQ, poor digestion of fatty foods, nausea, chronic constipation, brain fog, muscle twitching, and trouble focusing.
Antioxidants are a family of nutrients that balance oxidationa natural process that occurs in the body. When there is a lot of inflammation or stress there is more oxidation, therefore more antioxidants are needed. Vitamins A, C, E, along with many plant chemicals and minerals act as antioxidants in the body. Your child needs to be eating fresh, whole, colorful foods to get sufficient antioxidants, and the more stressed they are the more they need.
Amino Acids
Through the process of digestion, the body takes long protein chains and breaks them down into single amino acids. It then uses those amino acids to do things like construct tissue, create enzymes and white blood cells, and make neurotransmitters We get amino acids through protein-rich foods that have been well digested.
Consider This:
Is your child extracting nutrients from their food efficiently? If they struggle with pain, constipation, diarrhea, or IBS they may not be getting sufficient nutrition from the food they eat.
IsMyChildWiredForAnxiety?
Is this just who they are? Is this genetic? Is there really anything I can do to change how they feel and respond and react?
Truth is, both can be true at the same time.
There may be genetic factors - or "wiring" - influencing your child's stress capacity. They may be "wired" to perceive stress differently than others; they will probably always be highly sensitive and intuitive.
But the research field of epigenetics and the clinical field of Functional Nutrition have shown us that the expression of our wiring is highly influenced by nutrients, environment, and lifestyle.
So that means regardless of how they're wired, kids can learn to adapt to stress differently if we change their internal and external environments.
This does not mean changing them. It means turning the wiring that’s currently getting in their way into a superpower so they can see possibilities that are currently beyond their wildest imagination.
When we do this, we help them become more resilient - able to grow through stress - so they can see what they’re truly capable of.
ThreeTherapeuticConsiderations ForAnxietyInKids
STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SUPPORT & SKILLS
Sensitive, emotional kids need skills, tools, and tactics for managing the mind and their big feelings and strengthening a sense of attachment, safety, belonging & purpose Strong connections and a positive environment will bring messages of calm and safety to their nervous system and coax it out of a stressed state.
OPTIMIZE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES
There can be hidden biological stress and pressure that keep the nervous system stuck in a stressed state. Finding and relieving that stress while also improving stress tolerance by increasing cellular nourishment allows those skills, tools, tactics, and supports you put in place "stick" so a child not only thinks more rationally but also feels more secure.
RETRAIN NEURAL PATHWAYS
Over time, patterns and messages get stored in tissues and keep kids stuck Sometimes these patterns need to be actively reconfigured. Adjunct work like Neurofeedback, frequency work, Somatic work, Psychotherapy, Neurodevelopmental movement work, Chiropractic, and family therapy can be helpful tools here.
Resilienceliesattheintersectionofthesethreeconsiderations.
DeeperDive: HowToOptimizeBiologicalResources (AKAThe3-PhaseRoadmapToResilientKids)
Nourish
Nourishment means meeting the 5 Nourishment Needs a nervous system requires to find a state of calm. Switch to quality whole foods with sufficient nutrients & identify insufficiencies. Know which nutrients and foods suit your child’s genetics and use supplements strategically. Also support other aspects of nourishment: restorative sleep, movement, play, outdoor time, hydration, clean air, and a sense of connection & purpose
Relieve
5 types of pressures keep a nervous system stuck in a stressed state. They are: 1) nutrient imbalances 2) food reactions 3) toxicity 4) digestive imbalance 5) infection. Use functional tests or make educated guesses to assess which are at play and create a nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle plan to relieve them.
Build
You now know your child’s strengths and vulnerabilities so we build your toolbox of strategies that help you help them through stressful circumstances. You can confidently teach them about their bodies and arm them with self-care tools to take with them through life
WhatFamiliesExperience WhenTheyWork
Resilience is our capacity to grow from stress. Resilient kids have flexibility when exposed to the unexpected, they recover quickly when ill, they are able to focus and remember things, they are comfortable with transitions. Resilient kids can move through and grow from stressful experiences without feeling crushed under the pressure.
Helping kids build resilience has been my jam since back when I was a high school teacher But once I learned about the impact of food, nutrients, genes, and the microbiome on how kids feel, function, and move through life, I turned my attention to helping parents like you find ways to support their anxious child’s biology so they feel more calm, safe, and secure.
When Jess discovered the profound impact of nutrition and stress on resilience she set her mind to helping busy, frustrated, worried parents find natural, simple ways to help their kids thrive. Jess is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner, Board Certified in Practical Holistic Nutrition She has special expertise in gut health, is certified in Bioindividual Nutrition and various diet protocols, and holds a Master's Degree in Education. Her mission is to help more families bring calm into their homes, confidence to their parenting, & better health, learning and emotional stability to their kids JessSherman.com
