Ameet Aggarwal Hidden master organ treating your liver€¦ · means to have a sluggish liver and how this can impact our mood and other areas in the body. Ameet Aggarwal: Okay, great

Dr. Ameet Aggarwal – The Hidden Master Organ: Why Treating Your Liver is Fundamental to Anxiety and Depression

www.theAnxietySummit.com November 3-16, 2014

© 2014 Trudy Scott All Rights Reserved Page 1 of 29

The Hidden Master Organ: Why Treating Your Liver Is Fundamental to Anxiety and Depression

• Why the liver is the hidden master organ and defining a sluggish liver • The role of lactate and the liver and how this contributes to anxiety • How the liver affects thyroid hormones • Dietary factors that improve the liver and the ones that make it more sluggish • A form of breathing that massages the liver • Homeopathics, antioxidants and herbs for a sluggish liver • The benefits of using a castor oil pack • The importance of organic psychotherapy, family constellations, de-stressing,

meditation, and exercise

Trudy Scott: Welcome to yet another great call on The Anxiety Summit

Season 2. Today, our topic is all about the liver, “The Hidden Master Organ: Why Treating Your Liver is Fundamental to Anxiety and Depression.” I am your host, Trudy Scott. I’m a certified nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution, and known as a food mood expert. Today, we are talking to Dr. Ameet Aggarwal all the way from Kenya in eastern Africa. Welcome, Ameet.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. It’s lovely speaking to you from warm, sunny

Kenya.




Trudy Scott: It’s really great to have you here. Let me read your bio, and then we will get started, and I’m going to just share a little bit about why I wanted to have you on this summit, so let’s go through your bio first. Dr. Ameet Aggarwal, N.D., is a naturopathic doctor, psychotherapist (gestalt therapy) and family constellations/systems therapist with years of experience treating stress, trauma, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. Ameet is the author of, Feel Good: Easy Steps to Health and Happiness, which teaches you why your mind and body are connected, and how to release trauma and stress, nourish your body with nutrition and herbs, and detoxify to achieve optimal, long-term, emotional wellbeing. From Europe to Canada to Kenya and South Africa, Ameet has lectured around the world and brings to you his vast knowledge on integrating mind and body for emotional wellbeing. Born in Kenya, he returned to his roots from Canada to run his private practice. You can find him at drameet.com, and mobile clinics for remote northern Kenyan underserved communities by the Foundation for Integrated Medicine in Africa, fimafrica.org. He holds workshops for corporations on team building, communication, and conflict resolution, and runs emotional healing safaris in Kenya.

Wow, I love what you do, which is why I wanted to invite you on the summit, and thanks for reaching out after Season 1. I’m glad you did.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. I’d love to have you here sometime, too.

Please make it happen, okay? Trudy Scott: I will, and you know I’ve got a real sweet spot for Africa,

obviously, coming from South Africa. I was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, and actually went to Kenya and Tanzania for our honeymoon. I just love Kenya. It’s an incredible place, and I know that you invite people to come to Africa on safari and have you as their personal healing guide for transformational coaching, and that just sounds wonderful. I highly encourage anyone who is thinking about a trip to Africa, go to Kenya and connect with Ameet Aggarwal. All I can say is it’s just a magical, magical place.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. Yes, it’s a very deep-healing journey that some

people come on, so thank you for that, yes. Trudy Scott: Tell us about some of the safaris that you’ve done with some

people.




Ameet Aggarwal: Well, what we do is health retreats out here, so people come to a

nice location, a nice lodge, and we spend a few days combining yoga and partner sharing, a bit of psychotherapy, Bach flower therapies, homeopathy. A lot of deep, emotional work happens, and, at the same time, you go on safari, you look at elephants, giraffes, or you can go to the beach, so it’s a very holistic holiday. It’s very different from any other holiday. For medical students, I take them in the bush, and we go and treat communities who have no medicines, we use homeopathy and naturopathic medicines. We combine that with camping, with sightseeing and waterfall jumping, so it’s a whole personal growth adventure.

Trudy Scott: Wow. Ameet Aggarwal: It’s a fun project. Trudy Scott: It sounds lovely. Personal growth, getting to see a beautiful place,

and getting to help people locally. That sounds so wonderful. Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. Yeah, it’s a blessing to do that, actually. Trudy Scott: Well, I would love to come, too. It’s been a while since I’ve been

there, and I know that you were born in the little town at the base of Mount Kenya, is that correct? Is that what you told me?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yep, right on the equator. It’s called Nanyuki. Trudy Scott: A magical place. Oh, I’ve got such good memories. Ameet Aggarwal: Yes, it’s at the base of Mount Kenya Trudy Scott: Loved it – Ameet Aggarwal: [Laughs] Trudy Scott: Before we get into our topic, you had mentioned that you just

completed some Kundalini training, which is, from what I’ve seen in the research, very beneficial for anxiety and also for OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, Trudy. Kundalini yoga is one of the best yoga’s I’ve found

for emotional issues, if done properly. A lot of people do yoga to keep fit and to keep mentally stable and healthy, and I find Kundalini actually creates a whole transformation in your outlook in life, in the levels of anxiety that people experience. There’s a




real big transformation because Kundalini also uses a lot of chanting and certain postures that rewire your brain.

Trudy Scott: Excellent. Okay, let’s get into our topic, “The Hidden Master

Organ: Why Treating Your Liver is Fundamental to Anxiety and Depression.” So, before we get started, let’s just talk about where the liver is located in the body and why you call it the hidden master organ.

Ameet Aggarwal: Okay. Thanks, Trudy. The liver is basically beneath your right

rib, just tucked right underneath your diaphragm, and in Chinese medicine, we call it the master organ because it’s really responsible for most of the functions in your body, including blood purification, detoxification of drugs and toxins, and also detoxifies the toxins that are produced by your body itself. The liver also creates a lot of enzymes, produces bile, so it’s responsible for a lot of your digestion, hormone production, protein production, and it also helps with blood sugar storage and regulation. Not only that, it helps with immune cell activation and storage of vitamins and iron.

Trudy Scott: I can see why it’s called the master organ, and you’ve mentioned a

few things there that I know tie directly to anxiety. Iron, for example, is a cofactor for making the neurotransmitters, and you talked about enzymes and then blood sugar. All of these things play a direct role in anxiety, and I know we’re going to talk in more detail how issues with the liver can have a direct impact on some of the mood issues that we see. So, let’s go right into what it means to have a sluggish liver and how this can impact our mood and other areas in the body.

Ameet Aggarwal: Okay, great. So, your liver has a lot of enzymatic processes going

on, and it processes a lot of toxins, so because of stress and different factors, your liver becomes sluggish because of excessive toxins. When your liver becomes sluggish, there’s a buildup of more toxins in your body because there’s less detoxification happening. With more toxins in your body, you get more inflammation going on, and, with more inflammation, there’s a larger demand for cortisol, which is produced by your adrenal glands. Now, most people with anxiety do suffer with some level of adrenal fatigue, so if you have more inflammation in the body from a sluggish liver, that means your adrenal glands have to work harder to produce cortisol, and so you basically burn your adrenal glands out even more. With a cortisol imbalance that comes from adrenal fatigue, you end up suppressing neurotransmitters, such as




GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin, all related to anxiety and depression.

Trudy Scott: Okay, and then we also find that you may need more nutrients to

get through all of this. Ameet Aggarwal: Yes, when there’s a lot of toxicity in the body, there’s a lot of

blockage around the organs, and so not enough nutrients go to your organs, such as your thyroid gland, your adrenal glands and all the other organs, so the amount of nutrients you need for those organs to function better goes up, right? So, the amount of food you’re eating is really not enough to have optimum nutrition. Then, also, when your liver is sluggish, it produces less bile, and when less bile is produced, you have poor digestion. Bile lubricates your intestines and your stool, and with less bile and less lubrication, you end up having more constipation. When you have more constipation, of course, you have more toxin buildup, so there’s more inflammation and the cycle goes on. The other thing that happens with less lubrication and less bile production is you have poor digestion. When your food is not digested properly, it actually creates more damage in your intestines and creates what we call leaky gut syndrome. I think you’re going to be talking about leaky gut in your summit. Basically, it’s when you have gaps in your intestinal lining, which allows more toxins to go into your bloodstream and creates more inflammation in your body.

The other thing is when you have a sluggish liver, you have poor digestion, so meaning less nutrients are actually absorbed in your body, which means less nutrition to create your important neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and melatonin. Therefore, you can see why a sluggish liver means poor digestion and which leads to poor brain function.

Trudy Scott: Yes, definitely, and it just seems like we’ve got these little cycles

going on here where one feeds into the next, and we know how important inflammation is and we’re seeing a big connection with inflammation and anxiety and depression. This whole issue of less bile production - can you just tell us what bile is and how important it is for fat digestion?

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely. So, bile is a substance produced by the liver and it’s

released into your small intestine via the gallbladder, and it has a lot of bile salts which break down fats, right? So, your body cannot absorb fat very easily; it needs to be broken down into little




droplets, and that’s what bile does. Bile also has certain salts in it and properties which activate enzymes coming from your pancreas. So, the combination of bile and pancreatic enzymes is important for optimal digestion. Bile also has a lot of toxins that are being released by your liver, right? So, really, your liver releases toxins from your body into your feces through bile, so the release of bile is extremely important for detoxification, as well as digestion, and actually cholesterol control, as well.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great. I know you have a focus on Chinese medicine and

you talk about the sluggish liver and liver imbalance from a Chinese medicine point of view. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Chinese medicine is not an area that I’m terribly familiar with, but I believe that it’s important to think about.

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely. Basically, in Chinese medicine, we talk about qi and

energy, and blood: the movement of blood and the movement of energy. In Chinese medicine, the most common pathology we see with the liver is called liver qi stagnation, which is basically the blockage of energy within the liver, and that just means that the processes are not working so well. With liver qi stagnation, we often see hormonal imbalances, so for women you’ll notice a lot of PMS symptoms, gas and bloating during menses, breast tenderness, maybe some clotting with menstruation. Generally speaking for both men and women, we will often also see some constipation or gas and bloating, and irritability or impatience. The reason why that happens is because, like your liver is the master organ, right, and it also controls hormones, so if your liver is imbalanced, you will see a progesterone deficiency and usually estrogen dominance. As you know, Trudy, progesterone deficiency directly affects the function of GABA in your brain, and so with liver qi stagnation leading to progesterone deficiency, we will see increased levels of anxiety.

Trudy Scott: It’s important that we keep this in mind, because we’ll often see

women start to notice that they’re feeling much more anxious around their periods or as they’re going into perimenopause or even going into menopause, and this could be related to hormonal changes which, in turn, could be caused by this sluggish liver, correct?

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely, so in addition to hormonal therapy or whatever

treatment they’re doing, their doctor definitely needs to look at their liver function. Now, Western lab tests will not necessarily show elevated liver enzymes, so most doctors will think there’s




nothing wrong with you liver. However, going to an alternative practitioner, they can give you certain herbs, which we’ll talk about later, to help balance your liver function so you get less PMS symptoms and less anxiety with menstrual changes.

Trudy Scott: Great. It’s really important to think about the liver. Whenever I

think of anyone with any kind of hormonal imbalance, we’ve always got to support the liver. It’s so, so important, and in this toxic world that we live in, and with the stress that we have in our society, it’s so important to focus on the liver, as you say. I’m really glad that we’re talking about this because I haven’t heard many people talking about it recently, and I’m glad that you have a whole chapter in your great book, which is really great, by the way. I love the cover of the book. I just love how colorful it is and how it’s got all of these positive words on the cover. What has it got? Let me have a look. It says, Feel Good: Easy Steps to Health and Happiness. Brain, it’s got a big picture of the brain with words like positive and peaceful and confident, and I think it’s important when you’re talking about mood and overall health to talk about the liver, so I’m glad we’re covering this topic.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. It’s definitely a core, fundamental organ that

needs to be treated for any disease, especially anxiety. Trudy Scott: Yep, yeah. Now I want to just talk about lactate and the liver.

There is a direct correlation with high levels of lactate and increased anxiety, so let’s talk about that a little bit.

Ameet Aggarwal: Lactate, basically lactic acid, is produced when your body is

producing energy with less amounts of oxygen. Now, lactate is processed by your liver and converted back to glucose, so if your liver is sluggish, it’s not working well, the conversion of lactate doesn’t happen so well, and high levels of lactate are related to a lot of diseases, including anxiety, Trudy.

Trudy Scott: Great, and there’s actually some research supporting this, isn’t

there? Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, there’s tons of research out there, and in 2008 there was a

paper published in Neuropsychopharmacology, and basically they connected high lactate levels to panic attacks. It’s really well explained: basically, when you have a panic attack you have faster heart rate, faster breathing, and they saw a direct relation between these symptoms and high lactate levels. The other thing that they showed is that when you have high lactate levels, your body resets itself. So, we have the sympathetic nervous system, which is the




fight or flight, or anxiety state, and you have the parasympathetic, which is the resting state.Your body, after having high levels of lactic acid has a harder time going into parasympathetic or resting states, and also what happens is your blood pressure regulation changes. So, instead of being at a healthy level, your body compensates and maintains your blood pressure at a higher level. It’s almost like your body is trying to prepare you for another stressful event. Even though there’s no stress anymore in your life, your body stays in that state. It’s called the baroreflex resetting of arterial pressure.

Trudy Scott: Great, so it’s like there’s a lion chasing you down, and, if you’re in

Kenya, that could be a real situation. We always hear about the lion chasing you; in Kenya, it could be the real deal. [Laughter]

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, I think that’s where they got the analogy from −

[Laughter]

Trudy Scott: I know, and we’ve got to think about why do we get these high

levels of lactate in the first place, and I first came across this connection between lactate and anxiety when I was reading Joan Mathews-Larson’s book, Depression-Free, Naturally. I write about it in my book, so I was really pleased to see that you write about it and you talk about it, because it’s not something that we hear about often. We’ll hear some things that you need to think about quitting when you’ve got anxiety, and you may think, “Well, why do I need to do that?” But things that can actually contribute to high levels of lactate in the blood are sugar, alcohol, and caffeine. Food sensitivities can raise your lactate levels. There’s even some nutrients, like niacin and B6 and B1, calcium and magnesium that can actually raise lactate levels, so if you’re deficient in these nutrients it could be a problem. As you heard Ameet saying earlier, when you’ve got a sluggish liver, you may not be able to use all these nutrients. So, it’s really important to think about some of these things that can cause the high lactate in the first place, and then remove those so you’re not going to have that issue with the lactate. Am I missing anything there?

Ameet Aggarwal: No, you’re absolutely right, because what I’m finding with

caffeine, for example, long-term coffee use actually impairs liver function. Even though with coffee, the research is showing coffee is really healthy for people, long-term coffee use impairs liver




function so it diminishes the processing of lactate. Also, certain foods: if you have a high sugar diet, of course, high sugar is converted to lactate very fast, and so you just have higher levels with that. Caffeine also stimulates your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin, and when you produce adrenalin, your body releases more sugar and you get shallow, rapid breathing, right? So, with more sugar and high stress levels, the liver function is impaired and processes the sugar and the lactate more ineffectively, and that’s why you see higher anxiety levels when you’re stressed and you’re drinking caffeine, which also stimulates the adrenals.

Trudy Scott: Right. And there are some people that are more prone to the

effects of lactate, high levels of lactate, and there are some people who are more affected by coffee. I’m really glad you bring up coffee because it is such a big factor for so many people when it comes to anxiety. I have so many of my clients noticing such a big difference when they get off the coffee, and it is such a difficult thing for so many people to do. It’s the drug of choice that so many people hold onto and they don’t want to give up, and, when they do, they often say, “I can’t believe how much better I feel without it, how much less anxious I feel. I thought I really, really needed it, and I don’t.” But of course, we’ve always got to look at the underlying reason as to why someone may need coffee in the first place. Is it the adrenals? You’ve got to address that so they’re not having to use this crutch of coffee. So, I’m really glad that you support me on the coffee because there’s a lot of people who are saying, “Yes, coffee has all these good benefits,” but certainly for a lot of people, it’s not a good idea.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, we need to look at the individual, what they’re suffering

with, the health of their different organs, whether they can tolerate coffee, how much they’re taking, how long they’ve been using it. All these factors are important, Trudy.

Trudy Scott: Yeah, they really are. We’re going to come back to some other

things that you can do that will help with the sluggish liver. Coffee is one of them. We’re going to talk about some foods and we’re going to talk about some nutrients. But, before we go there, let’s just talk about another way that where we can see this connection between the liver and maybe some mood problems, and this is the thyroid, because the liver and the thyroid are very connected. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah. There was a beautiful article written by Malik and Hodgson

which really explains the connection between thyroid hormones and the liver function. Basically, thyroid hormones are processed




by the liver. Some of the conversion of T4 into active T3, which is a thyroid hormone, requires healthy liver function. So, if your liver is sluggish, you’ll have lower levels of T3, and low levels of T3 of course are related to feelings of depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Then, vice versa, your thyroid hormones actually improve the function of your liver cells amongst all the other cells in your body, so if you have a low thyroid function, your liver function will be compromised. As we know, your liver produces bile and a lot of other hormones in your body, so low thyroid function means low liver function, which means more constipation, more hormonal imbalances, so you’ll see hormonal imbalances with a compromised thyroid function, right? You can see they both – it’s a synergistic relationship. Thyroid hormones are necessary for good liver function, and good liver function is important for good thyroid function.

Trudy Scott: Right. I can really see how it is the master hormone. It’s tied to so

many different areas in the body. Wow. Ameet Aggarwal: Yes, definitely. Trudy Scott: Then, I just wanted to mention that these papers and studies that

Ameet is mentioning here - we’ll make sure that they are available on the blog for this particular topic. So this one that he’s talking about is by Malik and Hodgson, and we’ll make sure that there’s links to these so you can go and read some of these, as well.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you. Trudy Scott: Before we go into some of the treatment recommendations, tell us

what would make us suspect that we may have a sluggish liver? Ameet Aggarwal: A lot of people with anxiety or depression, they either have adrenal

fatigue or leaky gut syndrome, and, often, there is a liver issue involved. What I look for is digestive symptoms, first of all: gas, bloating. Constipation is very common because there’s low bile function and low bile production. Hemorrhoids too, because there are veins in your rectum that go to the hepatic portal vein, which is part of your liver, so if your liver is sluggish and tight, this vein backs up and the blood in your veins in your rectum also backs up, so you’ll see hemorrhoids. So, the key treatment for hemorrhoids is actually flushing your liver. For women, you will often see breast tenderness, clotting during menses, a lot of cramping, some irritability, in both men and women, and, with compromised liver




function or liver qi stagnation, you also see insomnia, especially between 1:00 and 3:00 AM in the morning, which is the Chinese medicine time for the liver. So, these are all the symptoms to look for, Trudy, when assessing whether there’s a liver involvement with anxiety and depression.

Trudy Scott: Excellent. I’m glad you mentioned the 1:00 to 3:00 AM, because

that’s a good clue that something might be going on. What about other things, like stool color alternating from a lighter color to a darker color? Do you have your patients look at their stool to see what it looks like?

Ameet Aggarwal: Whenever there is irregular stool, I’ll often treat the liver because

the liver is compromised. Sometimes, irregular stool is because of food sensitivities and inflammation going on in the intestines. But, if there is inflammation in the intestines, there’s usually toxicity in the body, so the liver still needs to be treated, as well as repairing the gut.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great, and then someone may also not be able to tolerate

high-fat foods because they’re not producing enough bile, which is needed for the fat digestion. Would you say that that’s a fair statement?

Ameet Aggarwal: Exactly. Definitely. Trudy Scott: Let’s just talk about gallbladder, because a lot of people end up

with gallstones or gallbladder attacks, and then they get their gallbladder removed, and I just feel it’s a very unfortunate situation because a lot of doctors will say, “You don’t need your gallbladder.” Unfortunately, we do. Any comments on that? Would you say that it would be better to hold onto your gallbladder? I’m sure you would say that.

Ameet Aggarwal: I definitely think so, because each of your organs have meridians,

right? Each of these meridians connect to your energetic lines that connect to other organs, and so they have functions not only physically but emotionally, as well. With gallstones and stuff like that, you’re looking at high cholesterol levels. If you have a healthy liver and less inflammation going on in your body, your cholesterol levels are often lower, and, therefore, you’ll produce less gallstones and keep your gallbladder healthier.

Trudy Scott: Okay. I’m less concerned about high cholesterol. I’m more

concerned about the fact that you don’t have this repository to store the bile, and you’re removing something from the body that




you actually need. I’m more concerned about low cholesterol. But that’s okay. I think we’ve covered why to suspect that your liver may be sluggish, and I’m glad you mentioned the blood tests because, often, it won’t show up in the blood tests that there is something going on. If you did see something in the blood work, what are the markers that you would look at?

Ameet Aggarwal: You’re looking at the transaminase enzymes, so they will show up

as ALT and AST, and the other enzymes you’re looking at is alkaline phosphatase and GGT, as well.

Trudy Scott: Okay. Ameet Aggarwal: So these are all the markers you’re looking for. Trudy Scott: Okay, and I actually look at blood work from a functional point of

view, so I look at much narrow ranges. So keep in mind if you’re getting blood work from your doctor, the range that you’re seeing is really, really wide because it’s the average population that isn’t terribly healthy, and we want to be looking at much narrow ranges. So sometimes we’ll see, for example, the ALT or the AST a little bit elevated but it’s not outside the lab range, and that could be a clue that maybe you need some liver support.

Ameet Aggarwal: Definitely. Trudy Scott: Okay. Ameet, let’s talk about some of your treatment

recommendations. Let’s first talk about some things you want to eliminate. We’ve talked about coffee so we’re good with that one, and obviously with the elimination, it would be the sugar, as well, the alcohol, which is going to increase the lactate, as well. Anything else that we might want to remove?

Ameet Aggarwal: Basically coffee, sugar, and toxic foods, processed foods, all those

that add toxicity to your liver need to be removed, right? The other reason why we remove coffee during anxiety, Trudy, is because coffee stimulates your adrenal glands without nourishing them, and a lot of people with anxiety have adrenal fatigue or the adrenal glands are not properly balanced, so we don’t want to stimulate them during anxiety, right? We want to remove stimulants so that they can rest and recuperate.

Trudy Scott: Okay, really good. What do we want to do when it comes to diet

in terms of supporting the liver? There’s just so much that we can do in terms of adding some lovely foods that are going to actually help support the liver.




Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, a beautiful question, Trudy, because that is the fundamental

treatment for your body is through diet, right? So eating lots of bitter greens, bitter foods, they stimulate bile production, right? So you’re releasing toxins and stimulating your liver really to squeeze itself clean, and then remember the liver processes a lot of toxins, so it’s prone to oxidative damage. So, you need a lot of antioxidants, right, your berries and your beets and those sort of foods that protect your liver cells and help them repair from oxidative damage. The third thing you need is a lot of fiber, because when you’re detoxifying, you need fiber to bind to the toxins in your intestine and pull the toxins out through your feces. So, have lots of green foods, which are very leafy to provide a lot of fiber, and a lot of mixed berries.

Trudy Scott: Great, and obviously these foods that we’re eating should ideally

be organic or not sprayed with pesticides because, otherwise, you’re adding additional toxins into the body that the liver has got to try and deal with.

Ameet Aggarwal: Exactly, exactly, so if you’re juicing and trying to heal your liver,

whether it’s anxiety or cancer, do organic food because you need to get rid of the toxins.

Trudy Scott: Right. Good. Now, something else that you talk about, which is

very interesting and it’s not something that I’m terribly, familiar with, is deep diaphragmatic breathing. Tell us why this is important, and then let’s just talk about how you would do this.

Ameet Aggarwal: Basically, your liver is below your diaphragm, right? When you’re

stressed, you’re breathing in a shallow way, and shallow breathing means you’re only using the upper part of your lungs, and that’s why people get tight neck muscles when they’re stressed because they’re just using those muscles at the top here to help the upper part of their lung to breathe. That means you’re not taking full, deep breaths, so your diaphragm is not going down enough, and the thing is, Trudy, when you breathe deeply, when your diaphragm goes down, it actually massages your liver, so it helps with the detoxification process. That’s why now we see people who are stressed, their liver becomes sluggish because they’re not flushing it out, and it’s well known in Chinese medicine, they always say that stress goes through the liver, and this is why. So, really, to help your liver detoxify, deep breathing is very important, and that means basically breathing deeply. It’s basically called belly-breathing, so




breathing deep so your belly expands first, and then bringing the air all the way up to your lungs. That means you’re really pushing the diaphragm down, which massages the liver really well. Do ten deep breaths three times a day and you’ll really help your liver out.

Trudy Scott: I love it, and I love that you talk about massaging the liver. What a

beautiful concept. [Laughter]

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah. Yeah, we don’t get enough massage in this world

nowadays. I think we should go back to grooming each other [laughs].

Trudy Scott: Exactly. So, ten deep breaths, three times a day? Ameet Aggarwal: That would be wonderful – Trudy Scott: − excellent. Let’s talk a little bit more how you would do this. So,

you would breathe in from low down, and then hold your breath, or what do you want – how do you want to do this?

Ameet Aggarwal: You don’t want to hold your breath for too long. No, it’s just sit in

a relaxed position, make sure you’re comfortable, and if you’re running around doing office work, just find a quiet place to sit for a bit. Take a deep breath. Focus on your breathing, first, right? Just focus on your breathing, and then take a deep breath and let your belly expand first, and let the air fill up slowly up to your chest, and then breathe out slowly, releasing from the chest first, then lower down until your belly becomes empty. So, really slow your breathing down, and then the next deep breath, you expand your belly first, let the breath go up and fill your chest, and again, and you can do this while you’re listening to this seminar, and then release the breath slowly releasing it, emptying your chest, and finally down to your belly, and do ten of these three times a day.

Trudy Scott: Excellent. Love it, and it’s so interesting, because as you’re

talking about it, before you walked us through it, I immediately started thinking how I was breathing, and once you’ve heard this, you will start thinking about how you’re breathing and realize how quick your breathing is, how you’re not doing that deep breathing. So that was a great exercise. Thank you for sharing that.

Ameet Aggarwal: A pleasure, Trudy.




Trudy Scott: Really important. Okay, so now the other topic, again something that I don’t use in my practice but I know about as being beneficial, is homeopathy. I know you talk about this, as well, as being beneficial for the liver, so let’s just talk a little bit about how homeopathy can help with a sluggish liver.

Ameet Aggarwal: Homeopathy is really the magical light for me, because it’s very

dilute substances made out of nature, and they’re diluted so many times, so much that there’s no toxic substance left in the final remedy. It actually works by stimulating the energetic forces in your body, and what I find is homeopathy really helps to treat the root cause of disease without suppressing any symptoms. There are certain remedies that are really good for liver function, and I’ll mention them here just so that the listeners can have a repertoire of some remedies available. The first choice is nux vomica. It’s excellent for when the person has stress, constipation, and irritability. Lycopodium is also a great homeopathic remedy, and usually people with a lot of gas and bloating will do well with lycopodium. Other remedies include chelidonium, phosphorous, and china. These are all great liver detoxifiers, and I definitely recommend seeing a homeopathic doctor or naturopath who specialize in homeopathy to find out what’s the most indicated homeopathic remedy that goes really well with the herbs and other treatments.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great, and I’m glad you mentioned finding someone to work

with, because with the homeopathy, it’s not just a matter of, “Use this.” There’s a lot of symptoms that are very specific to the formulation. That’s correct, isn’t it?

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely. You definitely need to look at your unique symptoms,

including your dreams, your food cravings, and all that to determine the best homeopathic remedy for you, and that way you’ll also get the best results, right?

Trudy Scott: Right, so can you just mention those again, just in case they’re new

to some people? Ameet Aggarwal: Yes. Nux vomica, lycopodium, chelidonium, phosphorous, and

china. Those are the big one for liver. Trudy Scott: Okay, great, and do you find that homeopathy is something that

you use with most of your patients, or is it on a case by – obviously it’s on a case-by-case basis, but I’m just wondering if this is a big part of your repertoire.




Ameet Aggarwal: Homeopathy is probably used with every single patient that comes into my office, unless it’s like back pain or something, and then I’ll use Bowen therapy. But the homeopathy treats the root cause of disease. It also releases emotional experiences from the past, so you can actually release trauma using homeopathic medicines.

Trudy Scott: Very interesting. Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, so it’s really the key treatment that I use in a lot of my

practice, and then I do a lot of charity mobile clinics up in the north and that’s the only thing I use is homeopathic medicines.

Trudy Scott: Oh, fantastic. This is when you’re doing the work with the

underserved communities? Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, yeah, homeopathy works really well for these communities.

They love it. Trudy Scott: Oh, fantastic. That’s wonderful. Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, yeah. Trudy Scott: Okay, so now we’re going to talk about some of the nutrients that

I’m more familiar with that I use in my practice and a lot of nutritionists will obviously use, and other holistic and integrative practitioners would use, as well. This is some antioxidants. You talked about how we’ve got this need for antioxidants when we’ve got this sluggish liver, so let’s just talk about a few that may be beneficial, and then we’ll talk about some of the herbs that are very beneficial.

Ameet Aggarwal: Okay, so the two things you need to do with the liver, you need to

protect the cells, because there are a lot of toxins causing oxidative damage. So you need antioxidants, and those are things like N-acetyl cysteine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, glutathione, alpha lipoic acid, and coenzyme Q10. These are all typical supplements. I wouldn’t take all of them at the same time, so see a professional like a naturopath or somebody else to prescribe the best combination for you. Of course, the herbs are fantastic because they have a synergistic effect on the whole body. Milk thistle is one of the most common herbs used for improving liver function. Now, milk thistle protects your liver cells from oxidative damage, and it also helps them regenerate. They’ve done a lot of studies where there’s actually damaged liver cells, and they give people milk thistle and the cells recover really well.




Trudy Scott: Fantastic. Isn’t it amazing how the liver can regenerate? A lot of people think, “Oh, I’ve damaged my liver,” but if you give it the right nutrients and these herbs and it can actually totally recover.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, nature is really wonderful to us. We have to be really

grateful for nature. The other herbs that we use to protect liver cells is turmeric. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is well known that turmeric helps protect liver cells, and it also has an antioxidant effect, antifungal, antimicrobial. So turmeric is another beautiful herb that you can add to your cooking. The other thing I want to talk about, Trudy, is in addition to protecting your liver cells with antioxidants, one must also stimulate liver function, the bile flow, right, to help flush out toxins, and that’s where I use dandelion, also known as taraxacum. This is a great herb, it’s a bitter herb, that will help stimulate more bile flow, and so it helps release a lot of toxins from your liver. So, these are the three herbs that I often use to help move your liver, and there’s other formulations that supplement companies are creating that have additional herbs in them, and they all work really well to improve liver function.

Trudy Scott: Fantastic. Just because of your accent, I’m just going to say

turmeric, you’ve seen some research talking about curcumin, and there’s so much research on this. I’ll share some of the studies. One of them that I really liked was titled, “Pharmacological Actions of Curcumin in Liver Diseases or Damage,” and as well as being so beneficial for the liver, it’s anti-inflammatory, it’s an antioxidant, and has anti-cancer activities. There’s a ton of research being done on this as being beneficial for cancer, and, interestingly enough, one of the main researchers on curcumin is also Dr. Aggarwal from a hospital in Texas. I’m sure you’ve heard of him?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, I’ve heard of him [laughs]. In fact, my family knows him, I

think. Trudy Scott: Oh really? Interesting. Ameet Aggarwal: It’s funny, yeah [laughs]. Trudy Scott: Very interesting, yes. Of course, we’ve seen so much research on

curcumin for depression itself and anxiety itself, so it’s interesting how these beautiful nutrients from nature can have so many mechanisms – helping the liver, reducing inflammation, helping protect you against cancer, helping your mood. It’s just lovely.




Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, Trudy, we’ve really got to go back to traditional ways of eating. There’s so much knowledge and wisdom in old practices.

Trudy Scott: There certainly is, and then I like that you mentioned Rooibos tea,

because coming from South Africa, I’m a big fan of Rooibos tea – R-O-O-I-B-O-S tea. It’s a herbal tea that’s naturally free of caffeine, and we actually talked about it on Season 1 of The Anxiety Summit. I interviewed Dr. Amanda Swart, a South African researcher, who’s doing a lot of research on Rooibos tea and sharing how beneficial it is for helping to reduce stress. A big connection with modulation of cortisol levels that can help lower your cortisol if it’s too high or help balance your cortisol if it’s too low. So, very interesting to see that there’s actually some research showing that it’s very protective of the liver, as well.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, definitely. Rooibos tea, in addition to helping cortisol

levels, actually what we call – it has what we call a hepatoprotective effect, which means basically it’s protecting the liver cells.

Trudy Scott: Very, very interesting, and we’ve got some research on that that

we’ll share, as well, so you can dig a little bit deeper. But all of these amazing things that are so beneficial for so many areas, and of course Rooibos tea is a great option if you’re wanting a hot beverage and you’re giving up the caffeine, because remember we need to talk about giving up the caffeine and the coffee, and you could switch to Rooibos tea, which is just wonderful. I’ve always liked my Rooibos tea pretty mild, and Amanda Swart said you need to leave the teabag in for at least five minutes, or if you’ve got the tea leaves, you need to brew it for at least five minutes. Three to five cups a day is very beneficial. So I love it, I grew up on it and have always enjoyed it. Is it readily available in Kenya?

Ameet Aggarwal: It is. A lot of the stores carry that. The funny thing, you

mentioned about the five-minute brewing, I was in a restaurant in South Africa when I was giving a talk on anxiety and depression there, and they bring the Rooibos tea with a timer that says, “This will be the perfect time to brew your Rooibos tea.”

Trudy Scott: Fantastic. What did they say the perfect time was? Ameet Aggarwal: I think was eight minutes, actually. Trudy Scott: Okay, good. Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, it was eight minutes. Yeah, so it was very interesting.




Trudy Scott: Very interesting. My aunt lived in Cape Town, and she married an

Afrikaans man, and they used the Rooibos loose-leaf tea, and they would brew their Rooibos on the stove for probably an hour, so it was really, really strong. I couldn’t handle it that strong.

Ameet Aggarwal: Wow. Trudy Scott: Five to ten minutes is good. Ameet Aggarwal: I’ll try that next time. One hour.

[Laughter]

Trudy Scott: Okay, so Ameet, let’s talk about something else that we don’t often

hear a lot about, and I think it’s a good thing that we could add to our repertoire when it comes to the liver, and that is using a castor oil pack.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yes, but you will not drink the castor oil. That’s very important

for listeners to realize. The castor oil packs are basically applying castor oil over your liver area, which is basically over your right ribcage. How it works is you apply the castor oil, and then you put a very thin, white flannel cloth or a gauze on top of that, then you put a hot water bottle or a heating pad, and the heat drives the castor oil below the skin and into the lymphatics around the liver. Your lymphatics carry a lot of toxins, and the castor oil helps the lymphatics flush out these toxins. When the lymphatics around the liver have less toxins, that means the cells in the liver can function better, and, therefore, they detoxify better, they work on the hormones much better. So I find that if somebody cannot take herbs, either because of the medications they’re on, I’ll often recommend castor oil packs, and castor oil packs are also excellent for fibroids and endometriosis. The key thing to remember, Trudy, is do not do castor oil packs if you’re pregnant or if you’re menstruating, and also seek professional advice if you have cancer or metastasis to the liver.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great. So if someone was going to do this, how often would

they do it? Ameet Aggarwal: I recommend every day for about three months, depending on the

condition. For women, if their menses are regular, it’s three weeks on and then one week off during menses, or adjusted accordingly depending on how your menstrual cycle is.




Trudy Scott: Hmm. So this would be part of your thinking, “I want to look after

my liver and do kind of a liver detox,” and you would do this for the three months you suggest and then repeat it once a year or twice a year?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, once or twice a year, depending on your lifestyle, as well. Trudy Scott: Okay. Ameet Aggarwal: Of course, if you’re drinking lots of alcohol, then you need to do it

more often. Trudy Scott: Right. Ameet Aggarwal: But I would say generally twice a year is enough. It has a very

soothing effect. It helps with sleep issues, as well. I often find people’s sleep improving when they’re doing castor oil packs.

Trudy Scott: Very interesting. Ameet, just repeat how long you would leave

this on. I don’t know if you said that or if I missed that. Ameet Aggarwal: I didn’t. You leave it on for about an hour. Trudy Scott: Okay. Ameet Aggarwal: So what I recommend patients to do is just when they’re going to

bed, put the castor oil pack on, and then, as they’re falling asleep, it will just fall off naturally after an hour, and the next day they’ll just do another one.

Trudy Scott: The other question I was going to ask, would you notice any kind

of reaction to it, like if you’re very toxic, might you feel worse initially and then you would want to slow it down and do it for less duration or not every day, or is it gentle enough that you’re not going to notice anything like that?

Ameet Aggarwal: If you do notice strong effects, it’s better to use less castor oil, and

also remember to drink a lot of water, because what happens is you will notice looser stools because the castor oil is also softening your stools, so you might think that you’re getting diarrhea, and things like that. So, increase your water intake to help flush out the toxins, and if your stools are very loose or you’re getting headaches or anything like that, then just do it either for less time, maybe half an hour. Also, Trudy, very important, also if you’re breastfeeding, do not do castor oil packs, or seek medical advice,




because when you release toxins, some of the toxins go into your breast milk, and you don’t want your baby to be drinking that.

Trudy Scott: Right, okay. Good point, and then anything to be aware of when it

comes to buying the castor oil? Is there anything that we need to look for in terms of good quality castor oil?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yes, get it from a reputable health food store, so definitely check

your sources. Go to a reputable source. Trudy Scott: Okay, and there is organic castor oil or anything that we need to

think about? Ameet Aggarwal: Well, everyone prefers organic, it’s not always available, so I will

use non-organic sometimes. Trudy Scott: Okay, great, and then just repeat again how much castor oil you

would put on the area? Ameet Aggarwal: The key thing is the white cloth that you put over your ribcage. It

should be moist but not dripping. Trudy Scott: Okay. Ameet Aggarwal: So it will probably be about five tablespoons. Trudy Scott: Okay, great. A few other things that I think are pretty useful when

it comes to detoxing is doing a sauna session. What do you think about that?

Ameet Aggarwal: Saunas are great, Trudy, because they stimulate blood flow, and

also they open up the pores in the body so you sweat a lot, and your skin is the largest detoxifying organ in the body. So if you can enhance detoxification by improving the skin’s detox mechanisms, you give a break to your liver and your kidneys, and then everything just ends up working much better.

Trudy Scott: Right, and then what about lymphatic drainage or lymphatic

stimulation, like using a little mini trampoline to promote lymphatic flow?

Ameet Aggarwal: Trampoline, and also dry skin brushing, Trudy, are great ways of

moving lymphatics that are around your body. A lymph carries a lot of toxins away from the interstitial space between your cells, and sometimes if the lymph is not moving enough, the waste stays around your cells. By using a trampoline or dry skin brushing, you




end up moving your lymph throughout your body and helping it drain to the veins, basically, where it flushes all what it’s been carrying. By doing that, the lymph pulls the toxins from around your cells, and now your cells can communicate with each other much better. The enzymes between the cells communicate better, they work better, so that means cells in important organs for anxiety and depression or emotional wellbeing, such as your liver, your adrenal glands and your thyroid, end up working much better and your tendency then, of course, to anxiety and depression significantly reduces just because you’re moving your lymphatic system.

Trudy Scott: Wonderful, and then one other final thing that I have found to be

useful is an amino acid called taurine, which is very calming, and then also happens to provide liver and gallbladder support, which I think is pretty cool.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, definitely you can add whatever is suitable for the patient’s

individual condition. It’s a fantastic idea. Trudy Scott: Okay, great, and just talking about all the liver and all this

detoxification, we’re exposed to so many environmental toxins. I actually have interviewed a few people and we’ve talked about mercury toxicity and environmental toxins, so having this additional support by the liver is just so important.

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely, Trudy. People forget how important the liver is, and

we need to remind everyone that when you’re treating any chronic health issue, whether it’s emotional or physical, always address the liver, always.

Trudy Scott: Right, which is why we wanted to do this interview, because it’s so

important. Ameet Aggarwal: It is, Trudy. Trudy Scott: Okay, so now, just taking a slight little detour from our topic,

because I think this is pretty interesting, is a section in your book, you’ve got a whole chapter on it, and it’s on improved sexual pleasure and performance, and you write about this connection between prolactin and orgasm. I just thought it would be interesting to talk about because it’s not something that you hear about much. Can you just comment on that?

Ameet Aggarwal: Absolutely, yeah. Well, prolactin is released when men and

women orgasm, and for some reason it seems to affect men more




because you’ll find that men get more sleepy after sex. So actually having an orgasm actually improves your sleep, Trudy. It’s very relaxing, and it’s due to this hormone called prolactin.

Trudy Scott: Wonderful, so if you need a little bit of help with sleeping or a

little bit of relaxation, you can get a little bit of a prolactin boost like this?

Ameet Aggarwal: [Laughs] in moderation, I’m sure. Trudy Scott: Yes. Okay, great. Well, thanks for sharing that. That’s an

interesting addition to the calming effects of everything else that we’ve been talking about.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, yeah, absolutely –and also sex improves your testosterone

levels, and testosterone is also known to help fight depression, by the way.

Trudy Scott: Excellent, and then also with all that hugging, hopefully we’re

getting a bit of an oxytocin boost, as well. Ameet Aggarwal: Exactly. It’s such a calming effect then, even emotionally and

energetically, all the hugging, caressing, cuddling just calms your whole heart and neurological system down.

Trudy Scott: Wonderful. Great. Okay, then let’s end with an area that I know is

of great interest to you. You do this gestalt therapy and you’re a psychotherapist as well as a naturopathic physician. Tell us a little bit about this area of your work.

Ameet Aggarwal: I think this is my favorite part of healing and naturopathic

medicine and is what I call transformational coaching and awareness. I combine intuition with gestalt psychotherapy and family constellations. Basically, Trudy, we all go through emotional experiences, and these emotional experiences alter our perception of life and they affect us quite deeply. These emotions that we manifest or experience are stored in our limbic brain, the primal part of our brain, and even though the event is over, these emotions still exist, so we carry these feelings in us as if the incident will happen again, or we’re still kind of living that incident. What that does is it actually causes our brain to create new nervous connections – neural connections we call it – using what we call neuroplasticity. So, a change in brain connection actually alters the entire physiology of your body, right, because your brain sends signals to




different organs, and that’s why emotional experiences can actually cause a change in the physical reaction in your body. So, chronic disease can sometimes be healed – depending on the cause, - by releasing that traumatic experience either using counseling, psychotherapy, homeopathy, and emotional freedom technique. That’s why I really love it is because we’re treating the root cause, Trudy, and that’s really important. That’s where people want to get to, right? Instead of relying on medications all the time, they want to release these experiences that can actually set them free from hindering their full, healthy physiology.

Trudy Scott: Wonderful. So, you’ve got the combination of addressing

nutritional deficiency, supporting the liver, healing the adrenals, and then using this therapy technique to help release the trauma.

Ameet Aggarwal: You have to combine all approaches, right, because as you’re

supporting the body using the nutrition and detoxification, the brain is still signaling the body that there’s something wrong based on old emotions, right? So by treating the emotions with counseling, really releasing them and coming to terms with reality, the new reality in the present moment, the body suddenly relaxes and lets go of old trauma. By doing that, physically your body readjusts itself, all your organs calm down, and they produce the right hormones in the right amounts, and the stress leaves your body, so your organs just become healthier, blood flow improves. It’s a synergistic effect, so your body affects your mind, and your mind also affects your body.

Trudy Scott: Wonderful. Really great, and I’m sure the fact that you are

supporting the physical body with all these other modalities would make the therapy aspects much more effective.

Ameet Aggarwal: That’s exactly what I write in my book, because if your body is

unhealthy, right, your cortisol levels are imbalanced, then your brain has a harder time creating new nervous connections, even after emotional releases. However, if there’s normal levels of cortisol and other hormones and your body is clean, then when you do an emotional release, the way your brain makes new nervous connections is much easier. So with emotional healing and counseling, you get better results when your body is healthier.

Trudy Scott: What a great combination. Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, it’s fun. It’s fun. I love doing it.




Trudy Scott: So, which came first? Did you become a naturopathic doctor and then learn about the emotional connection, or did you start off with the psychotherapy and then become a naturopath?

Ameet Aggarwal: Well, in naturopathic medicine, there’s a lot of emphasis on the

emotional connection to disease and physical health, and so that was engrained in us. However, I did study gestalt psychotherapy in Toronto at the same time as doing naturopathic college, so I combined the two at the same time, and then they just blended really well. It just made sense, because psychotherapy and certain counseling techniques help the body release stored emotion rather than analyze, and that’s what you’ve got to look for. You’ve got to look for techniques that actually release stress and old emotional memories.

Trudy Scott: Right, and now there’s two terms that are in your bio that I’d love

you to just clarify. One is organic psychotherapy? Ameet Aggarwal: When I say organic, it means just the ability to transform and

release rather than become an analysis. Trudy Scott: Okay, got it, so what you were just talking about. Ameet Aggarwal: Exactly. Trudy Scott: And then what are family constellations? Ameet Aggarwal: Family constellation is a system of therapy where you look at the

influence of past generations on your condition now. So, you were born into a system, a family system, and that system is affected by the behaviors of your grandparents and great-grandparents, because the behaviors of your great-grandparents affected how your grandparents behaved and your parents behaved, right? All these behaviors influence the entire system. Now, if there was a trauma that your grandfather experienced, for example, he would react emotionally and your grandmother will respond, and the children born into that family, of course, are then responding to that initial emotional response to the trauma. Then, next, you were born into the system, and of course, you’re feeling the behaviors of your parents, which were affected by your grandparent’s behavior. So do you see the interconnection down the line of generations?

Trudy Scott: Yes, very interesting. Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, and sometimes these behaviors actually alter your

physiology, and there’s ways to heal the impact of older




generations on your present life, and we use family constellations or systems therapy for that.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great. That’s a very comprehensive approach that’s looking

at so many different elements – physical, mental, family history, everything. Really, really interesting.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, extremely important, Trudy. In fact, I wrote a whole chapter

on that which I’m offering to the listeners on the website that they’ll visit.

Trudy Scott: Okay, great, so you’ve got a gift that we’ll make available to

everyone, and we’ll share the link to that on the replay page and in the blog that’s going to go with this interview. So, this is going to be a chapter from your book and it’s called “Emotional Experiences Have a Direct Impact on Your Body,” is that correct?

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, it gives details on how emotions are stored in your brain,

how it alters your brain chemistry, the effect on your adrenal glands and different organs, and it lists a bunch of techniques we can use to release it. Then, the whole first part of the book is actually full of techniques that you can use in order to release all old emotional memories.

Trudy Scott: Fantastic. Well, thanks for offering that. That’s wonderful. We

appreciate it. Ameet Aggarwal: A pleasure. A pleasure, Trudy. Thank you. Trudy Scott: Well, this has been absolutely fantastic, and a very important topic,

obviously. I appreciate you sharing this with us. I’d love to just end with a little bit of something from you about the work that you’re doing in Kenya. I know I’ve got a really soft spot for it. I came to Kenya for our honeymoon. My husband and I came just before we got married, and had an amazing time. The country is absolutely fantastic - we loved it. We went to some beautiful places and saw flamingoes and we saw beautiful game, and we met some of the amazing local people, and hiked to the top of Mount Kenya. We actually spent two weeks on Mount Kenya –

Ameet Aggarwal: Oh my gosh. Trudy Scott: − yes we backpacked to the top, and then did the hike around the

mountain. It was absolutely beautiful. So it’s really been special interviewing someone who’s living there right now. So, tell us a




little bit about Mount Kenya and then some of the work that you’re doing.

Ameet Aggarwal: Okay. I actually live at the bottom of Mount Kenya right on the

equator, a little town called Nanyuki. My dream was to come back to Kenya after Canada to start mobile clinics for remote communities and supervise students and doctors from around the world, which I started through a program called FIMAFRICA, Foundation for Integrated Medicine in Africa. Basically, we go to remote villages that don’t have medical services and treat them for chronic diseases or acute diseases using naturopathic medicine, mainly homeopathic medicine, which works really well. A lot of these communities suffer from a lot of chronic disease but all they’re given is antibiotics or antimalarials, which don’t necessarily treat the root cause of the issue. So, they love homeopathy because a lot of chronic disease is disappearing, and they really notice the difference between the two types of medicine. So it’s my passion, and yeah, I hope to continue doing it for the rest of my life. My aim is hopefully one day to sell a million copies of my book and just do mobile clinics all day [laughs].

Trudy Scott: Wonderful. What a great thing that you’re doing, and the fact that

people can come there as part of this tour that we mentioned earlier, and then be part of going to some of these communities.

Ameet Aggarwal: Yeah, it’s a great experience. That’s what I would call it. It’s

really touching. Trudy Scott: Well, it’s wonderful, and when I read that about you and learned

that about you, that just made me want to interview you even more. I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing, and we appreciate the fact that you are doing it, and I’m sure the locals do, too. It’s really, really wonderful, so thank you for doing that.

Ameet Aggarwal: Thank you, Trudy. Thank you. Trudy Scott: Any final words of wisdom? Ameet Aggarwal: Final words is a request. If you know any organizations that you

want to support with employee wellness, give them a copy of the book for their employees, because that will support the mobile clinics in the future, and I really appreciate that. My second thoughts are always heal the mind. Look at your childhood, look at your teenage years, always release those emotions, because you never know whether they’re affecting you right now. Even though




you don’t think they are, they do carry some weight, and you’ll feel the difference. You could actually save yourself from a lot of diseases, as well as emotional pain by just doing the work, you know, just doing the work. Love yourself. You’ll get there.

Trudy Scott: Great. Well, thanks very much, Ameet. It’s been an absolute

pleasure having you on The Anxiety Summit, and I look forward to sharing your work and your book and your gift with everyone who is listening in on the summit. Thanks so much for spending time with us. Everyone listening in on another great interview on The Anxiety Summit, thanks for joining us, and be sure to check in and listen to some of our other great interviews.

Here is the speaker blog: http://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/anxiety-summit-hidden-master-organ-treating-liver-fundamental-anxiety-depression/ Dr. Ameet Aggarwal ND, psychotherapist and author of Feel Good

Dr. Ameet Aggarwal ND is a Naturopathic doctor, psychotherapist (gestalt therapy) and family constellations / systems therapist with years of experience treating stress, trauma, anxiety, depression and chronic disease. Ameet is the author of Feel Good: Easy Steps to Health and Happiness which teaches you why your mind and body are connected and how to release trauma and stress, nourish your body with nutrition and herbs AND detoxify to achieve optimal long-term emotional wellbeing. From Europe to Canada to Kenya and South Africa, Ameet has lectured around the world and brings to you his vast knowledge on integrating mind and body for emotional wellbeing. Born in Kenya, he returned to his roots from Canada to run private practice (www.drameet.com) and mobile clinics for remote underserviced communities (www.fimafrica.org). He also holds workshops for corporations on team building, communication and conflict resolution and runs emotional healing safaris in Kenya.




Trudy Scott, CN, host of The Anxiety Summit, Food Mood expert and author of The Antianxiety Food Solution

Food Mood Expert Trudy Scott is a certified nutritionist on a mission to educate and empower women worldwide about natural solutions for anxiety, stress and emotional eating. Trudy works with women one-on-one and in groups, serving as a catalyst in bringing about life enhancing transformations that start with the healing powers of eating real whole food, using individually targeted supplementation and making simple lifestyle changes. She also presents nationally to nutrition and mental health professionals on food and mood, sharing all the recent research and how-to steps so they too can educate and empower their clients and patients.

Trudy is past president of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. She was recipient of the 2012 Impact Award and currently serves as a Special Advisor to the Board of Directors. She is a member of Alliance for Addiction Solutions and Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Trudy is the author of The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings (New Harbinger 2011). Trudy is also the host of the wildly popular Anxiety Summit, a virtual event where she interviews experts on nutritional solutions for anxiety.

The information provided in The Anxiety Summit via the interviews, the blog posts, the website, the audio files and transcripts, the comments and all other means is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise, or supplementation program, before taking or stopping any medication, or if you have or suspect you may have a health problem.

Documents

Ameet Aggarwal Hidden master organ treating your liver€¦ · means to have a sluggish liver and how this can impact our mood and other areas in the body. Ameet Aggarwal: Okay, great