As we have discussed and learnt about various factors which could trigger depression or similar brain disorders, the question we should all be asking ourselves (including medical professionals), are we suffering from SSRI deficiency? Or are we all in need of pharmaceutical drugs to address this medical condition?
Depression, is now regarded as the 2nd leading cause of disability globally, and it is certainly affecting many people around the globe. People who suffer from depression tend to experienced conditions such as sleep disruptions/insomnia, eating disorders, digestive dysfunctions, mood problems, and for some, social detachment.
From a sabotaging poor diet to inflammation, why are these factors not looked into by conventional dietitians, medical doctors and even alternative health professionals? Bear in mind that our body works as entire unit itself, and not isolated parts or systems. For instance, whatever happens to the mind, it will reflect the physical body, or whatever happen to the physical body, we will feel it in the heart or our soul. And if your heart is hurt, we will feel it mentally and also physically as well. Trying to only treat serotonin chemistry in the brain is more like only attempting to clean one small part of the entire dirty car which needed a comprehensive wash. Sounds like an easy fix to the problem, an easy way out convincing patients that a pill will fix your depression, and you depend on it for as long as possible.
Let's dive into some of the ways to manage the factors which could contribute to depression or similar brain dsyfunctions. We will also look into some of the alternative anti-depressants for natural solutions and treatments.
DIET
A huge factor which directly impact the brain and mood. Brain fog, headaches, mood swings, energy level fluctuation, all these are symptoms of primarily related to foods one consume. You can try to do an experiment to convince yourself, below is a simple.
Test 1
Eat a bowl of cereals with low fat milk, add with 2 slices of any bread of your choice. Sounds like a 'healthy' morning breakfast right? Low fat, grains and perhaps even whole wheat bread. Observe your [ mental clarity and focus, energy levels, cravings, bloating, gas ] and after 1 hour,and for the next 3 hours or so. How you feel after 1-3 hours upon ingestion of those foods will tell you a lot about the state of the brain, mental and physiological functions. Remember, you are eating a carbohydrates based meal, a low fat content, which what the dietary guideline recommended.
Test 2
One whole avocado. A very high fat low carbs food/meal. Perform the same observations and ensure both these tests are done on separate days. Please sleep on the same time the night before, for fair accurate assessment.
Apart from the simple test, bear in mind that eating a typical Western American diet, or even high carbs non organic home-cook meals coupled with wheat, it is a recipe for chronic inflammation of the brain and the rest of the body. The goal is to feed the brain its preferred fuel and nutrients, and remove or reduce as much inflammatory food groups or ingredients from your diet. Stop fueling the fire in the brain!
ALTERNATIVES NATURAL ANTI-DEPRESSANTS
- Chamomile
- Tulsi (Arguably the most potent anti-stress herb on the planet)
- Licorice root ( help to regulate cortisol pathway, not meant for everyone, avoid drinking at night)
- Turmeric (curcumin) (shown in studies to combat inflammation in the brain)
- Coconut oil ( one of the superfoods to reduce inflammation and provide ketones for the brain)
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- Magnesium Oil (apply topically on the skin)
- Raw cacao powder (rich in trytophan and magnesium)
- Brocolli sprouts or sulfur based supplements (key in detoxification to eliminate toxins)
- Ashwagandha (help support thyroid and regulate stress, avoid night consumption for some people)
MANAGING TOXICITY, FREE RADICALS, INFLAMMATION
Anything that you put in your mouth, water or foods, will likely to determine if it's pro-inflammation or anti-inflammation. Doesn't matter if it's water or cheeseburger, your body will either classify the ingested substance as foreign invaders or nutrients for assimilation. It will either attack the pathogenic substance or digest the nutrition in the foods for the body's benefits. If it's activating immune response from either the the soda beverage you consume, or perhaps fluoride exposure from various sources, free radicals and inflammation will occur.
Be it from sugar or wheat in the foods you consume, or fluoride in the toothpaste or even polluted air which inhaled in the lungs, oxidative stress is coupled with stolen electron resulted in domino affect in the body, and inflammatory cytokines such as IL1, IL6, IL17 and TNF- Alpha will be flooding the gut, brain and the rest of the body too. As I've elaborated in previous post about inflammation, how it affect the conversion of tryptophan to 5-HTP, as BH4 is extremely fragile to oxidative stress. Same apply with conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine to DOPA, your reward or pleasure hormone and also a critical neurotransmitter called dopamine.
Imagine, an average Joe, eating his typical processed foods diet on daily basis, high in refined sugars and wheat, that itself is enough to trigger high amount of inflammation in the gut, and thus, activating the GUT-BRAIN AXIS. Whatever happens in the gut, it will affect the brain. If you have regular brain fog, that's your brain on fire. Bloating primarily represents inflammation in the gut, be it from food sensitivities or just inflammatory foods such as grains, wheat, soybean, nuts, legumes, sugars, dairy products, etc.
The end goal is to remove these foods from the diet first hand, and identify the top of your list REACTIVE foods. Then, you might want to add more bio-available anti-oxidants from organic whole foods or supplements, whichever suit your better in long run.
EXERCISE
By now, everyone know exercise is good for you. Be it brisk walking in the park, or high intensity training, some movement is better then no movement. Is that right? Of course there are good and not so ideal form of exercises. As I blogged before, there are certain extreme exercises which may cause more damage then benefits to the body and health.
For instance, an individual has loaded his GI tract with sugars and wheat based foods for breakfast and lunch. Daytime stress level is high at work, and he or she decided to hit the gym at night for RPM or 90 mins or treadmill. The amount of cortisol produced throughout the day and night for this person, not only increased permeability of the gut, but resulting in even higher amount of oxidative stress and inflammation.
Solution? Simple. Listen to your body. Whenever you feel exhausted at work or lack of sleep the night before, avoid long duration cardiovascular type of exercise, or any extreme long bouts of training especially at work. You can either meditate in a dark quiet room, or relaxing form of yoga or energizing chakras work in exercises. Breathing exercises is beneficial to restore balance to the biological oscillators. And of course, go to bed early by 10pm latest.
VITAMIN D
Sun exposure is crucial, when it comes to regulating the neurotransmitters in the body and brain. As many people are avoiding the sun like a plaque, we are not only seeing more mental and brain disorders, and also chronic degenerative diseases such as cancer and stroke. This potent hormone regulate all vital neurotransmitters needed for brain functions, and it also inhibit inflammatory responses in the body. It is also a powerful anti-cancer substance needed to keep us all healthy. The darker your skin tone is, the more sun exposure you need. Get tested for 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D level, to find out if you are deficient in Vitamin D.
Now, what next? Where do I start? With so much of information, most people may feel overwhelmed, and for some, they may give up before trying any of these factors management and hitting the pills back again.
Do what you think you can first hand, and if you are a depression or anxiety patient, do not taper off the meds immediately before you manage your diet, lifestyle and factors which I discussed. Try natural alternatives anti-depressant solutions, different individuals will achieve various results. Remember, no one is destined to suffer from depression or similar brain disorders. Same apply with other neurological or chronic degenerative diseases.
Anything that you put in your mouth, water or foods, will likely to determine if it's pro-inflammation or anti-inflammation. Doesn't matter if it's water or cheeseburger, your body will either classify the ingested substance as foreign invaders or nutrients for assimilation. It will either attack the pathogenic substance or digest the nutrition in the foods for the body's benefits. If it's activating immune response from either the the soda beverage you consume, or perhaps fluoride exposure from various sources, free radicals and inflammation will occur.
Be it from sugar or wheat in the foods you consume, or fluoride in the toothpaste or even polluted air which inhaled in the lungs, oxidative stress is coupled with stolen electron resulted in domino affect in the body, and inflammatory cytokines such as IL1, IL6, IL17 and TNF- Alpha will be flooding the gut, brain and the rest of the body too. As I've elaborated in previous post about inflammation, how it affect the conversion of tryptophan to 5-HTP, as BH4 is extremely fragile to oxidative stress. Same apply with conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine to DOPA, your reward or pleasure hormone and also a critical neurotransmitter called dopamine.
Imagine, an average Joe, eating his typical processed foods diet on daily basis, high in refined sugars and wheat, that itself is enough to trigger high amount of inflammation in the gut, and thus, activating the GUT-BRAIN AXIS. Whatever happens in the gut, it will affect the brain. If you have regular brain fog, that's your brain on fire. Bloating primarily represents inflammation in the gut, be it from food sensitivities or just inflammatory foods such as grains, wheat, soybean, nuts, legumes, sugars, dairy products, etc.
The end goal is to remove these foods from the diet first hand, and identify the top of your list REACTIVE foods. Then, you might want to add more bio-available anti-oxidants from organic whole foods or supplements, whichever suit your better in long run.
EXERCISE
By now, everyone know exercise is good for you. Be it brisk walking in the park, or high intensity training, some movement is better then no movement. Is that right? Of course there are good and not so ideal form of exercises. As I blogged before, there are certain extreme exercises which may cause more damage then benefits to the body and health.
For instance, an individual has loaded his GI tract with sugars and wheat based foods for breakfast and lunch. Daytime stress level is high at work, and he or she decided to hit the gym at night for RPM or 90 mins or treadmill. The amount of cortisol produced throughout the day and night for this person, not only increased permeability of the gut, but resulting in even higher amount of oxidative stress and inflammation.
Solution? Simple. Listen to your body. Whenever you feel exhausted at work or lack of sleep the night before, avoid long duration cardiovascular type of exercise, or any extreme long bouts of training especially at work. You can either meditate in a dark quiet room, or relaxing form of yoga or energizing chakras work in exercises. Breathing exercises is beneficial to restore balance to the biological oscillators. And of course, go to bed early by 10pm latest.
VITAMIN D
Sun exposure is crucial, when it comes to regulating the neurotransmitters in the body and brain. As many people are avoiding the sun like a plaque, we are not only seeing more mental and brain disorders, and also chronic degenerative diseases such as cancer and stroke. This potent hormone regulate all vital neurotransmitters needed for brain functions, and it also inhibit inflammatory responses in the body. It is also a powerful anti-cancer substance needed to keep us all healthy. The darker your skin tone is, the more sun exposure you need. Get tested for 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D level, to find out if you are deficient in Vitamin D.
Now, what next? Where do I start? With so much of information, most people may feel overwhelmed, and for some, they may give up before trying any of these factors management and hitting the pills back again.
Do what you think you can first hand, and if you are a depression or anxiety patient, do not taper off the meds immediately before you manage your diet, lifestyle and factors which I discussed. Try natural alternatives anti-depressant solutions, different individuals will achieve various results. Remember, no one is destined to suffer from depression or similar brain disorders. Same apply with other neurological or chronic degenerative diseases.
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