Last year, the American Psychiatric Association published an important textbook designed to be used as a handbook and reference guide for psychiatrists worldwide. Entitled Complementary and Integrative Treatments in Psychiatric Practice, the book contains cumulative resources highlighting cutting-edge research with a focus on efficacious psychiatry treatments.  For many years, the publicly accepted standard psychiatric treatment has included psychiatric medications, and the thought of physicians prescribing natural or alternative treatments for mental health was widely considered outlandish.  Now, after thousands of studies on alternative methodologies have been published, psychiatry as a whole is beginning to embrace the ideology that treating the "root cause" of mental illness is not only helpful but essential to long-term patient success.

For years, the scientists and staff at Hardy Nutritionals® have worked tirelessly to spread the word about the safety and effectiveness of using broad-spectrum micronutrients, specifically Daily Essential Nutrients, for the treatment of mood and mental health disorders.  Imagine our elation when we discovered that independent university research focusing on our flagship formulation was featured in this pivotal textbook.  In fact, there is an entire chapter dedicated to broad-spectrum micronutrients in psychiatric practice, which specifically references studies done on Hardy Nutritionals® formulations.

What's more, the book Complementary and Integrative Treatments in Psychiatric Practice has now been awarded the Gold Nautilus Book Award for 2017 in the category of Psychology.  For over 20 years, the Nautilus book award program has continued to gain prestige with authors and publishers around the world as it "seeks, honors, celebrates and promotes print books that inspire and connect our lives as individuals, communities, and global citizens".  

The book, complete with plenty of clinical references, is written in such a way that makes it easy for patients and clinicians alike to read and understand.  It covers a myriad of integrative approaches to treating psychiatric disorders, recognizes micronutrients as a "physiologically sensible approach" to treating mood disorders, and references over 100 independent medical journal publications to support that statement.   

In Chapter 6, which features micronutrient therapy, the authors first examine the evidence with respect to “single nutrients,” or single element therapy. This approach uses one nutrient at a time to treat mood dysregulation and mental health, such as adding extra Vitamin D to the diet for depression.  

“Adjusting a single micronutrient may not have much impact because 1) micronutrients typically act together...2) many enzymes have cofactors, so adjusting one may have little effect; and 3) treating with a single micronutrient can be disruptive by creating imbalances…”

At Hardy Nutritionals^®, we believe in using nutrients synergistically to impact health.  We illustrate this theory through an analogy that we call "the dam theory".  In this example, the dam represents the human body.  If there are no deficiencies in the dam, the dam holds water and functions as it should.  If there are no deficiencies in the body, it too will function as it should.  However, if there are multiple deficiencies (holes) in the dam, it will cause the dam to leak.  Like dams, if there are multiple deficiencies in the body, it won't function optimally either.

While using individual (or several individual) elements to try and achieve a desired health effect is a popular idea, prevailing research shows that providing individual nutrients to the body can create other imbalances, or other "holes in the dam".

According to the authors, the most desirable broad-spectrum micronutrients typically consist of:

• At least 10, preferably more (25 or so), minerals and vitamins
• Individual ingredient doses exceeding the RDA
• Balanced ratios
• High bio-availability
• High quality control
• Absence of botanicals that interfere with drugs
• Availability of peer-review studies on safety and efficacy using comparable formulations

The authors also note that “A broader range of micronutrients is more likely to provide more pervasive physiological changes, including more wide-ranging enhancements of central nervous system (CNS) activity.  Broad-spectrum mineral-vitamin combinations have been evaluated for treating violent behavior and conduct problems, ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and substance use disorders.  Broad-spectrum interventions have also been examined in nonclinical (“normal”) populations for improving mood, cognition, sense of well-being, and stress tolerance."

Not only can clinical broad-spectrum micronutrients, such as Hardy’s Daily Essential Nutrients, help support improved mood stability and mental health in those with common diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, ADHD and bipolar disorder, broad-spectrum micronutrients have also been shown to improve mood, cognition and stress in study participants who had no mental health disorder.

The inclusion of broad-spectrum micronutrient therapy in this award-winning psychiatric publication comes on the heels of a recently published double-blind university study which demonstrates that Hardy Nutritionals® broad-spectrum clinical micronutrient formulation, Daily Essential Nutrients, is a safe and effective alternative to stimulants for treating pediatric ADHD. Daily Essential Nutrients is currently the only broad-spectrum micronutrient formulation ever studied in a fully-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of medication-free children with ADHD.  

Source: Complementary and Integrative Treatments in Psychiatric Practice, edited by Patricia L. Gerbarg, Philip R. Muskin, Richard P. Brown

About Hardy Nutritionals®

Hardy Nutritionals® multivitamin-mineral products are powered by our proprietary NutraTek™ mineral delivery technology, which combines each mineral with specialized organic molecules—just like nature—to optimize absorption and distribution to body cells. Our flagship supplement, Daily Essential Nutrients, is widely considered to be the most research-backed micronutrient treatment.