I have been feeling more & more depressed the past month. I don't usually get depressed, so it's strange even though it IS around the holidays, a time when many get depressed. Anyhow, today I realized that maybe my depression has something to do with the radical increase in white flour and sweets, thanks to the constant supply of pastries, cakes, chocolates, candy canes and m&ms at my office during the entire month of December!!!! I normally don't eat much gluten and sugar products, which is why I am making a connection here.
Thank goodness I am on holiday now and don't have to be around the sugary temptations for a couple of weeks, so I am going to detox (stop eating junk food) and see if my depression disappears. I will let you know if I am successful. I know the holidays can be tough times for many people, but maybe we should also be highlighting the fact that people are eating so much crappy food that they might also be going into candida overload.
Thank you for reading! Happy Ho Ho Ho to all.
About three years ago I lived on fast-food and frozen processed food. I was addicted to cocaine, got drunk every day, and had bouts of depression all the time where I simply could not function.
I started to change things little by little, first with education by monitoring sites and forums like this, reading books, trying diets and new "real" foods. My theory is that we were made perfect. We just need to put our physical body in a position to heal and maintain itself: literally give our body a chance.
Today I crave things like brown rice, sauerkraut, chilled açaí bowls with granola, steamed vegetables, etc. When I feel like eating something sweet, I have a can of coke (not very often). I no longer crave coffee, but I do drink cups of green tea tea with molasses and VCO. Yum!
I do not crave or desire any of that crap anymore! I have a frozen lasagne in my freezer and ice cream that must have been there for months and months. I just get this stuff for emergencies or when people visit, and end up not needing them.
I still eat meat, french fries, fast food, but it's just not part of my daily diet because my body no longer see that as "food". It's just something to have when there is nothing more nourishing available, a filler.
I learned the difference between being hungry and "feeling like having something to eat". I can also now tell the impact of foods in my life... my mood completely changes after eating a lot of barbecue for example. Coffee now puts me in a state where I feel a anxious and apprehensive about everything, and sometimes a bit shaky.
I still have my struggles with life as everybody else as well. I drink beer more than I should, but things are changing slowly. I no longer have that urge to change everything overnight. That's just not sustainable in the long run. You have to commit a small positive change, and wait a few weeks to see what the impact it. Once you do this over and over, one day you will come to the realisation that you are a whole new person. And also in love with it!
I haven't been sick in years. I take no medication of any kind. No doctor can scare me into doing anything. I'm not opposed to seeking help if I need it either, but I understand now that a good doctor is one that understands that he is an instrument in healing, nothing more. I can't run from pompous doctors fast enough.
Dietary Changes, Exercise, Supplements
★★★★★
I've suffered from a moderate constant form of depression called Dysthymia since I was 14 (I am now 43). I've been on several different antidepressants over the years. The last one I took was Paxil CR (which I was forced to quit cold-turkey in 2005 after production of it was briefly stopped after a problem at the pharmaceutical lab). It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was a hellish experience and though I did get an appointment with my Dr. a week into the cold-turkey and could have taken regular Paxil to ease my distress, at that point I wanted NOTHING to do with these medications. The withdrawal symptoms showed me just how much they mess with your brain chemistry. I was getting all sorts of electrical "zappy" sensations, dizziness, tremors, and neuralgic pain that traveled all over my body. It took about 3 months for me to get over the hardest part of it. After that I joined a gym and started a simple EXERCISE program. Just 20 minutes of cardio (pick the machine of your choice) and another 20 minutes or so of weight training and stretching. Yoga classes are super helpful as well. Not only did this help me detox from the residual symptoms but my mood improved dramatically. I still have some 'down' days, but who doesn't? Overall I feel much more energized and balanced than I ever did on the antidepressants.
I've since made incremental changes in the quality of my DIET over the years and this has boosted my mood even more. I no longer eat any overly packaged/refined foods. I eat whole grain breads (sprouted & hemp mostly), and try to cook from 'scratch' as much as possible. Extra virgin olive oil is my cooking oil of choice (except when I am sauteing or using a relatively high heat, in which case I use sesame oil). I still eat meat, but not at every meal or even every day, and when I do it is no longer the "star" on my plate, it is about a 3-4 oz serving and the rest of the plate is filled with vegetables and whole grains. I've learned to love leafy green vegetables (so much so I pile them on my plate). I still 'allow' myself to have guilty pleasures, but after awhile you find you don't really want them because your body has everything it needs nutritionally (so you don't get carb cravings) and your mood is so good you don't cave in to the emotional eating binges. The only 'difficult' time is around that time of the month...I get a little hungrier and may have a slice of cinnamon toast or a little ice cream, but nothing like the pig-outs of the past :) For any emotional irritation during that time there is nothing like a good cup of tea (sweetened with agave so as not to spike your blood sugar...I've come to prefer it over sugar).
Finally, SUPPLEMENTS can be the icing on the good mood cake. I take a whole food multivitamin to fill in any nutritional gaps, a good Omega blend oil (something with borage oil in it is excellent too) and vitamin D drops in the wintertime (along with plenty of time under a sunlight simulator bulb - I keep one in my reading lamp).
Record numbers of people are suffering from depression because of the standard American lifestyle & diet. It doesn't have to be that way...you can feel good again without dependency on pharmaceuticals and by only making a few simple lifestyle changes (no need to go vegan or raw, though go for it if that makes you even happier).
★★★★★
Whenever I feel a depressive mood coming on I simply pour myself a glass of juice or tea and add about 3 dashes of just regular grocery store bought cayenne pepper, drink up and in seconds I begin to feel much better and relaxed. Works really fast! No need to even stir the cayenne into the drink.
Vitamin D
★★★★★
depression has pretty much been a part of my life since i can remember. after trying every anti-depressant my doctor could dispense i turned to the internet to search for a more natural approach. since my depression worsens in the winter months i made the connection with a Vitamin D deficiency. since 30 minutes in the high summer sun provides 20,000iu yes twenty thousand IU (International units) of vitamin d i realized my 400iu supplement was not cutting it. i started taking 10,000iu on sunny days and 20,000iu when it's cloudy. i have never felt better in my entire life. coconut oil helped and i continue to take it, so did vitamin b supplements. but the vitamin d deficiency was surely the culprit. don't accept feeling miserable, change your habits. i have read that doctors can offer 50,000iu daily by prescription so i felt that i could take 20,000 without complication. its important to use common sense, if you're at the beach in the sun all day then take a few days off of the vitamin d.
Sunshine
Sunshine is a great way to get Vitamin D and most Americans are deficient. Vitamin D improves the immune system and with out a strange immune system you will be sick! Studies show that it can reduce your risk of cancer as well. It also improves mental well being. You need only 15-20 minutes of sun exposure a day over at least 50% (the more the better) of your skin if your fair skin, longer exposure if you have a darker skin tone. Search the web for "Vitamin D and Sunshine health benefits".
Best of health
Magnesium
★★★★★
★★★★★
Cold Showers
Cold Showers
★★★★★
When I went to my Dr. last week and he asked how I was, I told him he'd better sit down. I've suffered (and I do mean suffer-suicidal thoughts daily) chronic depression for the last 17 years. I've gone off meds 3 times - once for 4 years even- but always end up crashing and need to go back on. Anyways back to the Dr. appt... I told him I had been HAPPY!!!! for 7 whole days and I hadn't cried since Sunday. The reason I cried was because I didn't know how long this would last. Had a bum day yesterday but not too bad today.
I thought it could be the combination of all the above or just my meds kicking in after trying 3 different kinds in 2 months. Not until I read all these posts did I think my showers could actually being contributing to my emotional well-being. Being 45, back in college with a bunch of 20 year olds, dealing with my disrespectful, pot smoking 17 year old son, chronic headaches and migraines, depression, hormone hostage (peri-menapause)... well I can use all the help I can get. I've also developed tennis elbow from being on the computer most of the day for school and homework. The showers haven't helped with that yet so I'm going to try emmursing my arm between my 2 kitchen sinks in hot and cold water.
Thanks for reading and I will definitely be checking out more of this website and referring my friends to it.
★★★★☆
hips was a 40 now they are a 39
leg was a 24 1/2 now they are a 24
waist was a 34 1/2 now they are a 34
I'm still eatting the same food and excerise only thing changes is that I found out about ACV
Acetyl L-Carnitine
★★★★★
Cold Showers
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
St John's Wort
★☆☆☆☆
Acetyl L-Carnitine
★★★★★
I think Americans are having to eat such nutrient deficient foods that synthetic supplements can't completely cover as good as Mother Nature can; that whole populations are having subclinical and even clinical deficiencies that are being labeled as 'this or that problem' instead of what it really is!
Anyway, I was taking 500mg/day on empty stomach. Another thing it is good for is the heart. L-carnitine is better, but this other helps some with the pressure on the chest also.
Cold Showers
★★★★★
5-HTP
★★★★★
★★★★★
