If you have always struggled with depression or if, for the first time, you feel yourself slipping into the abyss over the current economic crisis, take matters into control now and get some relief. Besides prescription medication that you may be taking, there are natural remedies that complement any sort of depression therapy you have already begun.
Exercise
Exercise raises your levels of serotonin, a feel-good hormone your body produces naturally. Many pharmaceutical drugs used for depression work to increase the level of serotonin in your brain. Exercise raises your serotonin levels naturally and can be used in conjunction with other depression therapies. There have been clinical trials, in fact, in which exercise was found to be more effective than pharmaceutical medication at improving depression, partly because it does raise your serotonin levels. It has other benefits as well -- fresh air and cardiovascular activity in themselves will help your health.
The dilemma with exercise as a depression-fighting tool is that if you are depressed, you are not likely to exercise. It is simply difficult when you suffer from depression to get out and exercise like you should. Exercise, then, becomes a critical tool to prevent depression. If you are not in a deep, depressive pit now but if you know you likely could be very soon, by all means, exercise regularly. It could be the key to keeping you out of the pit.
Sleep and rest
Sleep and rest are critical for a healthy brain. Lack of sleep actually leads to inflammation in your body -- "silent inflammation" that, unlike a swollen ankle, you cannot see with your eyes. Though you cannot see it, it is wreaking havoc in your body. Inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and depression.
If you are not getting enough sleep each day, you will likely suffer from inflammation.
Structure your life so that you can sleep a solid, uninterrupted eight hours if possible. If you have a new baby or a strange work shift, try to make up for the lost sleep by relaxing your body throughout the day. In fact, regardless of your sleep schedule, plan to take breaks, stretch, and breath deeply throughout the day to encourage rest and recovery.
Fish oil
Fish oil builds your brain with the beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA that are critical to brain function. Your brain is largely made up of Omega 3 fat and the American diet has been woefully deficient in this key fat for decades. Fish oil will give your brain the building blocks it needs to be healthy. In fact, fish oil itself reduces inflammation and is often recommended to prevent inflammatory diseases such as depression and heart disease.
Find a high dose EPA fish oil. EPA is a specific long-chain Omega 3 and all fish oils will show how much EPA is in the fish oil itself. Depression clinical trials tend to use at least one gram of EPA. Andrew Stoll, Harvard depression researcher, recommends four grams of EPA each day. These are high doses of fish oil and your budget may break before you hit four grams, but do try to find a high dose product to help fight depression.
Vitamins
Just as your brain needs beneficial fats to be healthy, it needs vitamins too. Vitamin B-6 for instance is necessary for the creation of serotonin, that feel-good brain hormone. Your body takes the protein in your food, particularly tryptophan, and uses vitamin B-6 to convert it into serotonin. Your Thanksgiving turkey has both tryptophan and B-6, making it a great vitamin-rich meal for your brain. There is some scientific evidence that particular B vitamins such a folate/folic acid, may actually help anti-depressant medications work better.
Consider adding a B complex vitamin to your routine, particularly the coenzyme form of the vitamin. Coenzyme B vitamins may well improve your brain health and give you a bit of energy.
As winter continues, do consider having your vitamin D levels checked to ensure that your levels are adequate. We get vitamin D most readily from sunshine as it hits our bare skin. Covering our skin with coats, mittens, and scarves in the winter can sometimes lead to deficiencies. Those deficiencies can affect our brain health.
Food
Just as fish oil and vitamins help depression, so too does the food that contains them. In the bookRebuild from Depression: A Nutrient Guide, consumers get a look at the foods highest in the fats, vitamins, and minerals that can aggravate depression and that depressed people tend to be deficient in. The book reviews the "usual suspect" nutrients that aggravate depression, discusses how people can determine if they are deficient in those nutrients, and recommends supplements and foods based on those findings.
One of the foods highlighted in the book is wild game. Animals on the range are more likely to have Omega 3 fats in their meat than animals from a feedlot. Whole grains contain high amounts of the brain-building B vitamins. Fatty fish and seafood are loaded with the beneficial Omega 3 fats.
Adding targeted foods to your diet can help you win the depression-fighting long game.
Multiple methods win the game
Depression is a complicated illness and our best strategy for fighting it is attacking it from multiple directions. Add exercise, rest, relaxation, and good nutrition to your life. You may find that you are more able than you ever have been at tackling life stresses and getting through the current economic crisis.
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