Hello faithful readers
Not many of you know this but I suffer from depression and anxiety. My anxiety is worse than my depression but when I get anxious it fuels my depression, vicious cycle hey!
I have seen over the years that if I am not eating right or exercising I become less tolerant and I can't seem to cope with things as well. It is the same as when I was drinking cola everyday, it would fuel my anxiety and I would be freaking out all the time.
I thought I would post this article that I found on the internet and you could then click on the link to expand the information. It is well worth the read and very helpful. I know I will be taking in some of that sunshine today :-)
Depression
Depression is rated by the World Health Organisation as the
leading cause of disease burden amongst high income countries.
Depression is characterised by feelings of worthlessness or guilt, poor
concentration, loss of energy, fatigue, thoughts of suicide or
preoccupation with death, loss or increase of appetite and weight, a
disturbed sleep pattern, slowing down (both physically and mentally),
agitation (restlessness or anxiety). If you think you are feeling down,
try our free
depression test questionnaire to check your mood.
There are many factors that can contribute to the development of
depression such as psychological issues or biochemical imbalances, and
triggers such as major stress or trauma.
There are also a number of nutritional imbalances that can make you prone to depression such as:
- essential fats –Do you need more Omega 3?;
- homocysteine – Is it too high, corrected with B vitamins?;
- serotonin levels – Do they need boosting with amino acids;
- blood sugar balance;
- levels of the nutrients chromium and Vitamin D;
- food intolerances – Could they be making you sad?
To find out more about these factors read on, or click on our
Action Plan for Depression.
What is depression?
In Britain, 1 in 20, or around 3 million people, are diagnosed with
depression. Unipolar Depression is rated by the World Health
Organization as the leading cause of disease burden amongst high-income
countries.
Are you depressed?
Depression is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms in a questionnaire
test, the most common being the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression, or
HRS for short. This contains questions about your mood, guilt feelings,
suicidal thoughts, insomnia, agitation, anxiety, physical problems, sex
drive, and so on. Depending on your test score on these questions, you
will be diagnosed with either “mild,” “moderate,” or “severe”
depression. Here’s a simplified depression test questionnaire to check
your mood.
What causes depression?
There are many factors that can contribute to the development of
depression. There might be underlying biochemical or psychological
issues that predispose an individual to depression. There might be a
trigger such as a stressful event, a bereavement, loss of a job, or
break up of a relationship. If you are suffering with a low mood,
whether you consider that it is depression or not, you should see your
GP who can rule out medical causes, recommend counselling, cognitive
behavioural therapy and psychotherapy, and assess your medication.
Exercise is also very important and there’s lots of evidence that
regular exercise boosts mood, especially if you’re able to exercise
outdoors in a green environment. Even a walk in the park or a stroll by
the river is thought to be beneficial.
Diet & Nutrition – what works
Increase your omega 3 fats
Omega-3 fats are called essential fats, because unlike some other
substances, they can’t be manufactured within the human body, and
therefore it is essential that you take them in through your diet. The
richest dietary source is from oily fish such as salmon, sardines,
mackerel, pilchards, herring, trout and fresh but not tinned tuna.
Surveys have shown that the more fish the population of a country eats
the lower is their incidence of depression. There are two key types of
omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA and the evidence suggests that it’s the EPA
which seems to be the most potent natural anti-depressant.
Increase your intake of B vitamins
People with either low blood levels of the B-vitamin folic acid, or
high blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine (a sign that you are
not getting enough B6, B12 or folic acid), are both more likely to be
depressed and less likely to get a positive result from anti-depressant
drugs. In a study comparing the effects of giving an SSRI with either a
placebo or with folic acid, 61% of patients improved on the placebo
combination but 93% improved with the addition of folic acid. But how
does folic acid itself, a cheap vitamin with no side-effects, compare to
anti-depressants?
Boost your serotonin with amino acids
Serotonin is made in the body and brain from an amino acid called
tryptophan. Tryptophan is then converted into another amino acid called
5-Hydroxy Tryptophan (5-HTP), which in turn is converted into the
neurotransmitter serotonin. Tryptophan can be found in the diet; it’s in
many protein rich foods such as meat, fish, beans and eggs. 5-HTP is
found in high levels in the African Griffonia bean, but this bean is not
a common feature of most people’s diet. Just not getting enough
tryptophan is likely to make you depressed; people fed food deficient in
tryptophan became rapidly depressed within hours.
Balance your blood sugar
There is a direct link between mood and blood sugar balance. All
carbohydrate foods are broken down into glucose and your brain runs on
glucose. The more uneven your blood sugar supply the more uneven your
mood. In fact, our experience at the
Brain Bio Centre is that poor blood sugar balance is often the single-biggest factor in mood disorders amongst the people that seek our advice.
Up your intake of chronium
This mineral is vital for keeping your blood sugar level stable
because insulin, which clears glucose from the blood, can't work
properly without it. In fact it turns out that just supplying proper
levels of chromium to people with atypical depression can make a big
difference.
Bring on the sunshine
Known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’, around 90% of our vitamin D is
synthesised in our skin by the action of sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency
is increasingly being recognised as a common problem around the globe
and may be implicated in depression, particularly if you feel worse in
winter.
Bad mood foods
Some foods are associated with mood problems. For example, in a huge
population study, Coeliac Disease (a severe intolerance to gluten – the
protein found in wheat, rye and barley) was associated with an 80%
increased risk for depression. It is thought that Coeliac Disease is
vastly underdiagnosed in the UK. Your GP can test for it, and should
test you if you have fluctuating digestive symptoms including diarrhoea,
constipation or bloating, and especially if you have unexplained
anaemia. In fact, you can have mood symptoms relating to gluten, even
without Coeliac Disease.
Food for the brain-Depression
