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previous: Steve A. Maybe skip the meds... -- 7/12/2003 6:01 PM

Natural Healing and Depression

7/13/2003 2:14 AM
Sleebo_The_Beebo	Natural Healing and Depression For myself, I prefer natural healing methods over traditional prescription remedies. For me this works. However, I am not a doctor so please don't take what I say as medical advice. For sure, consult with your physician first. And in my opinion, the best physicians are those who are skilled in nutrition and natural healing in addition to conventional medicine. Without getting into too many specifics, I'd like to add the following: 1) I highly recommend the book "Stress and Energy" written by Linda Page, PHD (a professional nutritionist) which is one of the best books I've come across on naturally fighting depression. 2) I suffer bouts of chronic depression myself and have found that St. John Wort, an over the counter natural mood elevator, seems to work for me. WARNING: Do not take St. John's Wort if you are currently taking anti-depressents prescribed by a doctor. You will need to work with your doctor in that situation because St. John's Wort may interact in a negative way with other anti-depressents. Consult with your doctor on how to convert over to SJW from let's say Prozac. 3) Recent studies have shown that folic acid, an over the counter B-vitamin, significantly enhances the effectiveness of anti-depressants. After reading this on Yahoo news I tried taking it with SJW and found it to be true for me. Without it, SJW only relieves my depression 50% of the time. With folic acid supplements, SJW becomes 80-90% effective for me. Absolutely amazing. 4) Because all B-vitamins play a role in the healthy functioning of the brain, I find that a good all around B-multivitamin works well for me. However, I've found that not all multivitamins work the same. Seems from my readings that B-vitamins are most effective in certain ratios. That perhaps explains why not all B-multivitamins were completely effective for me. The moral is that you may need to experiment to find one at your health food store that works for you. Over consuming large amounts of B-multivitamins sometimes makes me more depressed. I take a large enough dose to help my depression, but not any larger than needed to do the job. 5) I stay away from multi-vitamins with mineral supplements. Minerals are important for health certainly, but mega-doses of minerals can have detrimental effects on health because they tend to build up in the body if over-consummed. Because of this I personally excercise caution in this area. 6) I find that staying away from excessive alcohol and caffine consumption minimizes depression. 7) Having a balanced diet with lot's of natural fruits, vegatables, and grains helps as well. Again, I am making no recommndations here, other than to suggest that you read the book I noted and to consult with your physician about some of the vitamins and natural substances that I mentioned. An interesting aspect of depression is that it tends to get worse as we age. There is a reason why old people sometimes get cranky. It's because they are often more prone to depression due to decreasing amounts of certain neuro-transmitters in the brain. Depression is treatable in my opinion by proper diet and vitamin supplements. Don't take my word on it though because I'm not an expert in this area. Do some reading on your own and consult your doctor to get the real story.

7/13/2003 2:14 AM

Sleebo_The_Beebo

Natural Healing and Depression

For myself, I prefer natural healing methods over traditional prescription remedies. For me this works. However, I am not a doctor so please don't take what I say as medical advice. For sure, consult with your physician first. And in my opinion, the best physicians are those who are skilled in nutrition and natural healing in addition to conventional medicine.

Without getting into too many specifics, I'd like to add the following:

1) I highly recommend the book "Stress and Energy" written by Linda Page, PHD (a professional nutritionist) which is one of the best books I've come across on naturally fighting depression.

2) I suffer bouts of chronic depression myself and have found that St. John Wort, an over the counter natural mood elevator, seems to work for me. WARNING: Do not take St. John's Wort if you are currently taking anti-depressents prescribed by a doctor. You will need to work with your doctor in that situation because St. John's Wort may interact in a negative way with other anti-depressents. Consult with your doctor on how to convert over to SJW from let's say Prozac.

3) Recent studies have shown that folic acid, an over the counter B-vitamin, significantly enhances the effectiveness of anti-depressants. After reading this on Yahoo news I tried taking it with SJW and found it to be true for me. Without it, SJW only relieves my depression 50% of the time. With folic acid supplements, SJW becomes 80-90% effective for me. Absolutely amazing.

4) Because all B-vitamins play a role in the healthy functioning of the brain, I find that a good all around B-multivitamin works well for me. However, I've found that not all multivitamins work the same. Seems from my readings that B-vitamins are most effective in certain ratios. That perhaps explains why not all B-multivitamins were completely effective for me. The moral is that you may need to experiment to find one at your health food store that works for you. Over consuming large amounts of B-multivitamins sometimes makes me more depressed. I take a large enough dose to help my depression, but not any larger than needed to do the job.

5) I stay away from multi-vitamins with mineral supplements. Minerals are important for health certainly, but mega-doses of minerals can have detrimental effects on health because they tend to build up in the body if over-consummed. Because of this I personally excercise caution in this area.

6) I find that staying away from excessive alcohol and caffine consumption minimizes depression.

7) Having a balanced diet with lot's of natural fruits, vegatables, and grains helps as well.

Again, I am making no recommndations here, other than to suggest that you read the book I noted and to consult with your physician about some of the vitamins and natural substances that I mentioned.

An interesting aspect of depression is that it tends to get worse as we age. There is a reason why old people sometimes get cranky. It's because they are often more prone to depression due to decreasing amounts of certain neuro-transmitters in the brain.

Depression is treatable in my opinion by proper diet and vitamin supplements. Don't take my word on it though because I'm not an expert in this area. Do some reading on your own and consult your doctor to get the real story.

Replies:

John Fisher The thing about those kinds of medi... -- 7/13/2003 3:21 PM