A diet with healthy fats and proteins, minimum ultraprocessed foods would be part of ensuring optimum metabolic, including hormonal function, and this is all too often missing in young people. The gender dysphoria issue might be similar to the eating disorder issue or more commonly understood brain disorders. High carb diets low in healthy fats and proteins may be a 'weak link' in the health chain. Gut health is central to optimum hormonal and brain development. Nutritional therapy is definitely part of the mix. However, the drivers cannot be simplified or relegated to one topic.
There's a heap of converging social, environmental, scientific and political factors. The book Our Stolen Future documents the potential for environmental chemicals and even womb partners to change sex characteristics. Young people going through growth spurts may have hormonal surges which naturally make them feel more boyish and more girlish at different moments, minutes, days and years. This is growing up and is natural - especially up to the age 25. Locking young people into one identity at this fluid time may not be the best idea, until their brain has matured.
However, perhaps people on the ADHD/ASD spectrum may overlap in these characteristics, but due to highly focussed interests may go down rabbit holes which lead them to gender dysphoria (instead of merely seeing themselves as gay, for example).
We do emphasise the industry financial interest and the capacity for the industry to undertake 'below the line marketing' which includes making sure Wikipedia content reflects their interests, funding celebrities, funding particular NGOs that then fund interest groups, and glamour marketing, for example. Then there are gaming groups and chat rooms which risk verging on recruitment for young people, and educational literature which downplays being straight or gay. When governments fund drugs for different purposes, this might not necessarily come from direct industry influence but be a distinct byproduct of industry activities.
We highlight that it is more 'normal' to highlight Pharmac funding of drugs than of nutrients, no matter the deficiency or insufficiency in high-risk populations.
A strong emphasis has been observed in some school's educational curriculum that seems to place strange weight on discussing gender than might be appropriate at that age.
These issues overlap in complex ways with nutrition status, particularly around the capacity for the gut to absorb and microbiome health in synthesising nutrients for optimum metabolic and hormonal function by gender and age bracket.
It's a highly political and very complex issue. The important issue for us is that the brain is still going under massive developmental stages to at least 25, if not 29. Nutrition and diet do need to be addressed, especially if the young person has a very online world, in order that decisions are made that are not later regretted. Youth is a very short time, compared to adulthood.
Stewardship for a happy adult is key to this complex journey, and it is never one thing.
Thank you for your efforts with this important topic.
Could gender dysphoria be prevented by nutritional therapy?
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/how-to-ensure-optimal-hormonal-development-in-your-child/#gsc.tab=0
A diet with healthy fats and proteins, minimum ultraprocessed foods would be part of ensuring optimum metabolic, including hormonal function, and this is all too often missing in young people. The gender dysphoria issue might be similar to the eating disorder issue or more commonly understood brain disorders. High carb diets low in healthy fats and proteins may be a 'weak link' in the health chain. Gut health is central to optimum hormonal and brain development. Nutritional therapy is definitely part of the mix. However, the drivers cannot be simplified or relegated to one topic.
There's a heap of converging social, environmental, scientific and political factors. The book Our Stolen Future documents the potential for environmental chemicals and even womb partners to change sex characteristics. Young people going through growth spurts may have hormonal surges which naturally make them feel more boyish and more girlish at different moments, minutes, days and years. This is growing up and is natural - especially up to the age 25. Locking young people into one identity at this fluid time may not be the best idea, until their brain has matured.
However, perhaps people on the ADHD/ASD spectrum may overlap in these characteristics, but due to highly focussed interests may go down rabbit holes which lead them to gender dysphoria (instead of merely seeing themselves as gay, for example).
We do emphasise the industry financial interest and the capacity for the industry to undertake 'below the line marketing' which includes making sure Wikipedia content reflects their interests, funding celebrities, funding particular NGOs that then fund interest groups, and glamour marketing, for example. Then there are gaming groups and chat rooms which risk verging on recruitment for young people, and educational literature which downplays being straight or gay. When governments fund drugs for different purposes, this might not necessarily come from direct industry influence but be a distinct byproduct of industry activities.
We highlight that it is more 'normal' to highlight Pharmac funding of drugs than of nutrients, no matter the deficiency or insufficiency in high-risk populations.
A strong emphasis has been observed in some school's educational curriculum that seems to place strange weight on discussing gender than might be appropriate at that age.
These issues overlap in complex ways with nutrition status, particularly around the capacity for the gut to absorb and microbiome health in synthesising nutrients for optimum metabolic and hormonal function by gender and age bracket.
It's a highly political and very complex issue. The important issue for us is that the brain is still going under massive developmental stages to at least 25, if not 29. Nutrition and diet do need to be addressed, especially if the young person has a very online world, in order that decisions are made that are not later regretted. Youth is a very short time, compared to adulthood.
Stewardship for a happy adult is key to this complex journey, and it is never one thing.