ADHD Insights: Nutrient Power

Brain Biochemistry Reconsidered For Clinical Inquiry

You know I'm interested in details that work, and Nutrient Power by William Walsh will take both the informed clinician and the informed consumer further down that challenging but essential trail of brain biochemistry. Most importantly, Walsh covers in detail multiple issues that should be considered in every refractory presentation – with specific solutions for multiple clinical problems.

From the National Institutes of Health and the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, Walsh writes with the authority of both a researcher and clinician with over 30,000 patient assessments over the years.

Just a few highlights will whet your appetite from this interesting neuroscience researcher with more than 200 scientific articles and 5 patents.

Brain Details From Nutrient Power

– An underappreciated fact is that the primary raw materials for the synthesis of many neurotransmitters are nutrients – amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other natural biochemicals that we obtain from food.

– The population of transporter [presynaptic reuptake transporters] proteins – generally has a more dominant effect on synaptic activity than the number of neurotransmitters present.

– The rate of production of transporters is enhanced by certain nutrients and inhibited by others.

– There are a multitude of genetic and environmental aberrations that can produce nutrient imbalances in the brain. If the brain is presented with a severe overload or deficiency of a nutrient required for neurotransmitter synthesis or activity, one can expect that mental problems will result.

– Our first success was the discovery in 1974 of distinctive trace metal imbalances in the violent group [of prison inmates at Joliet Stateville Correctional Center]. We consistently found abnormal levels of copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, chromium, manganese, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, lithium and cobalt in the blood, urine and hair of persons with behavioral disorders. p 115.

Walsh sets a new bar for informed inquiry from ADHD, to autism, to schizophrenia – it's a deep but highly recommended book for your next mind-steps.

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