Depression

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Depression

 

Depression is the most frequently searched-for topic

at DoctorYourself.com. And no wonder. Those of us that

have experienced the depths of clinical depression

know just how awful it really is. When you are in the

bag, it is hard to think out of the bag. But there is

a way out.

 

Rather than give a synthetic drug to block or mimic

the body's chemical nerve messengers

(neurotransmitters), it is possible nutritionally to

encourage the body to make its own natural ones.

 

If we are what we eat, then our nerves also depend on

what they are fed. Here is tremendous potential for

the alleviation of depression and related disorders.

 

MAKE YOUR OWN NOREPINEPHRINE

A depletion of the neurotransmitter called

norepinephrine may result in poor memory, loss of

alertness, and clinical depression. The chain of

chemical events in the body resulting in this

substance is:

 

L-phenylalanine (from protein foods) -> L-tyrosine

(made in the liver) -> dopa -> dopamine ->

norepinephrine -> epinephrine

 

This process looks complex but actually is readily

accomplished, particularly if the body has plenty of

vitamin C. Since one's dietary supply of the first

ingredient, L-phenylalanine, is usually adequate, it

is more likely to be a shortage of vitamin C that

limits production of norepinephrine. Physicians giving

large doses of vitamin C have had striking success in

reversing depression. It is a remarkably safe and

inexpensive approach to try.

 

MAKE YOUR OWN ACETYLCHOLINE

Acetylcholine is the end neurotransmitter of your

parasympathetic nerve system. This means that, among

other things, it facilitates good digestion, deeper

breathing, and slower heart rate. You may perceive its

effect as " relaxation. "

 

Your body will make its own acetylcholine from

choline. Choline is available in the diet as

phosphatidyl choline, found in lecithin.

 

Lecithin is found in egg yolks and most soy products.

Three tablespoons daily of soya lecithin granules

provide about five grams (5,000 milligrams) of

phosphatidyl choline. Long-term use of this amount is

favorably mentioned in The Lancet, February 9, 1980.

Lecithin supplementation has no known harmful effects

whatsoever. In fact, your brain by dry weight is

almost one-third lecithin! How far can we go with this

idea of simply feeding the brain what it is made up

of? In Geriatrics, July 1979, lecithin is considered

as a therapy to combat memory loss. Studies at MIT

show increases in both choline and acetylcholine in

the brains of animals after just one lecithin meal!

Supplemental choline has even shown promise in

treating Alzheimer's Disease. (Today's Living,

February, 1982)

 

Lecithin is good for you. How good? Each tablespoon

(7.5 grams) of lecithin granules contains about 1700

mg of phosphatidyl choline, 1000 mg of phosphatidyl

inositol, and about 2,200 mg of essential fatty acids

as linoleic acid. It also contains the valuable

fish-oil-like, omega-3 linolenic acid. It is the rule,

not the exception, for one or more of these valuable

substances to be undersupplied by our daily diet.

 

Lecithin tastes crummy. How crummy? Well, the lecithin

that is available in capsules is the most popular.

These are sold at health food stores and are

admittedly convenient, but are also expensive. In

order to get even one tablespoon of lecithin, you

would have to take eight to twelve capsules! Since a

normal supplemental dose is three or more tablespoons

daily, that's a lot of capsules to swallow. Much less

costly is liquid lecithin. A taste for liquid lecithin

has to be acquired, shall we say. It is easier to take

if you first coat the spoon with milk or molasses.

After taking liquid lecithin, it is wise to have a

" chaser " of any dairy product or, again, molasses.

Beef and sheep brains are also an excellent source of

lecithin, but don't expect me to recommend them.

 

Probably the best way to get a lot of lecithin easily

is to take lecithin GRANULES. Stir the granules

quickly into juice or milk. They won't dissolve, but

rather will drift about as you drink. Lecithin

granules can also be used as a topping on any cold

food. Ice cream comes to mind. Also, they are not bad

if stirred into yogurt. If you put lecithin granules

on hot food, they will melt and you will then have

liquid lecithin.

 

If that " brains " comment a while back is still

bothering you, please bear in mind that all

supplemental forms of lecithin are made from soy

beans. An alternate non-soy source is egg yolk.

Generally, maximum benefit is obtained when you eat

the yolk lightly cooked (such as in a soft-boiled

egg).

 

By the way, the correct pronunciation of LECITHIN is

" LESS-A-THIN. This is easy to remember because you are

probably less-a-thin then you used-to-a-be.

 

MAKE YOUR OWN SEROTONIN

Before the FDA removed all tryptophan supplements from

the market due to a temporary, and now corrected,

industrial manufacturing error, millions of people had

safely taken regular suppertime doses of this amino

acid, usually 500–2,000 mg, to help them sleep. Inside

you, tryptophan is broken down into anxiety-reducing,

snooze-inducing niacin. Even more important,

tryptophan is also made into serotonin, one of your

body's most important neurotransmitters. Serotonin is

responsible for feelings of well-being and mellowness.

This is such a profound effect that Prozac, Paxil, and

similar antidepressants artificially keep the body's

own serotonin levels high. You can do the same thing

naturally through diet. And no one can tell us that

beans, peas, cheese, nuts, sunflower seeds, and good

ol’ wheat germ are toxic if you eat a lot of them!

 

Plenty of carbohydrates in your meals helps tryptophan

get to where it does the most good: your brain. In

order to cross the blood-brain barrier and get in,

carbs are required. So cheese and crackers provides a

better effect than the cheese standing alone. Cover

your ears, animal friends, for I am also about to

condone eating the occasional dead bird. Poultry,

especially the dark meat, is a rich (yet very cheap)

source of tryptophan. Add potatoes or stuffing, and

you have the reason everybody is sprawled out and

snoring up a storm after a typical Thanksgiving food

orgy. But to be able to look your parakeet in the eye

after the fourth Thursday in November, you can stay

vegetarian and still get tanked up on tryptophan.

 

Consider that five servings of beans, a few portions

of cheese or peanut butter, or several handfuls of

cashews provide 1,000–2,000 mg of tryptophan, which

will work as well as prescription antidepressants—but

don't tell the drug companies. Some skeptics think

that the pharmaceutical people already know, and that

is why the FDA is keeping tryptophan supplements off

the market. Here are two quotes in evidence:

 

" Pay careful attention to what is happening with

dietary supplements in the legislative arena. . . . If

these efforts are successful, there could be created a

class of products to compete with approved drugs. The

establishment of a separate regulatory category for

supplements could undercut exclusivity rights enjoyed

by the holders of approved drug applications. "

 

(FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy David Adams, at

the Drug Information Association Annual Meeting, July

12, 1993)

 

" The task force considered many issues in its

deliberations including to ensure that the existence

of dietary supplements on the market does not act as a

disincentive for drug development. "

 

(FDA Dietary Task Force Report, released June 15,

1993)

 

Remember that tryptophan is one of the ten essential

amino acids you need to stay alive. It is by law added

to liquid feedings for the elderly and all infant

formulas. Yet tryptophan supplements remain illegal.

You can legally buy L-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a

nonprescription tryptophan derivative, at health foods

stores. 5-HTP is quite costly, however. The good news

is that plenty of inexpensive vitamin C enables your

body to convert dietary tryptophan into your own

5-HTP, and then on into serotonin.

 

So go, eat, and be happy!

 

Foods High in the Amino Acid L-Tryptophan

 

(In milligrams per 100-gram (3.5 ounce) portion, about

the size of a deck of playing cards. That is not a

large serving, and in a single meal you might easily

double or triple the figures listed here.)

 

Beans

Lentils 215

Dried peas 250

Navy 200

Pinto 210

Red kidney 215

Soy 525

 

Nuts and Seeds

Brazil nuts 185

Cashews 470

Filberts 210

Peanuts 340

Peanut butter 330 (natural, not commercial)

Pumpkin seeds 560

Sesame seeds 330

 

Tahini (ground sesame seeds) 575

 

Sunflower seeds 340

 

Other nuts generally provide at least 130 mg per small

serving; usually more.

 

Grains

Wheat germ 265

 

Cheese

Cheddar 340

Parmesan 490

Swiss 375

 

Other cheeses tend to be lower in tryptophan, but are

still very good sources.

 

Eggs 210

 

Poultry 250

 

(Note how vegetarian sources are as good as, and often

much better than, flesh sources.)

 

Brewer's Yeast 700

 

(Source: USDA, Amino Acid Content of Foods)

 

Meats are generally regarded as a good source of

tryptophan, organ meats supposedly being the highest.

However, most meats are in the range of 160–260 mg/100

g, with organ meats ranging between 220 and 330. These

figures certainly do not compel meat eating. They

compel split pea, cheese, and cashew eating!

 

VITAMIN B-6 AS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT

 

Ample amounts of B-complex vitamins, especially B-6

(pyridoxine) must be present for for your body's

normal, depression-fighting chemical reactions to

occur. B-6 deficiency is very common in Americans, and

that " deficiency " is measured against an already

ridiculously low US RDA of only two milligrams. The

amount of B-6 needed for clinical effectiveness in,

say, rabbits is the human dose equivalent of 75 mg

daily. That is over 35 times more than the RDA!

 

Really enormous doses of B-6 taken alone have produced

temporary neurological side effects. It usually takes

between 2,000 and 5,000 mg daily for symptoms of

numbness or tingling in the extremities. Some side

effects have been reported as low as 500 mg daily, but

these are very rare indeed. Therapeutic doses between

100 and 500 milligrams daily are commonly prescribed

by physicians for PMS relief. A daily total of a few

hundred milligrams of individual B-6, especially if

taken in addition to the entire B-complex to ensure

balance, is very safe indeed.

 

Copyright 2003 Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA Telephone (585)

638-5357.