Depression is a serious issue in America, affecting over 10% of the population. In fact, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health says 11% percent of Americans over the age of 12 are on antidepressant drugs. But the problem is even bigger for women over 40, where 25% of them are taking antidepressants.

This is concerning, as the World Health Organization (WHO) now says that depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. All of us experience down times. But true clinical depression doesn’t go away quickly or easily.

Treating depression can be challenging because its symptoms also can be causes, creating a chicken-and-the-egg scenario. For example, headaches can lead to depression – or they can be a symptom. You may need to treat the headaches to truly eliminate the depression or vice versa. Unfortunately, many doctors are all too happy to write a prescription for an antidepressant and call it a day. This might mask the symptoms of depression, but it may not treat the root issue that’s causing it in the first place.

Here are some of the issues that can lead to depression: stress, chronic headaches, chronic stomach aches, bowel problems, chronic nutritional deficiencies, chronic allergies, a chronic physical disorder, a poor diet, excessive sugar and/or caffeine, an endocrine disorder like hypothyroidism, endometriosis, insufficient sun exposure, or even an environmental pollutant like toxic metal exposure.

While an antidepressant might help you feel better, it won’t correct any of the above issues – and they can continue to cause other symptoms. So when patients come to me because they’re suffering from depression, I make sure to investigate their health as an entire package. I often find that resolving another problem can also clear up the depressive symptoms.

For instance, hypothyroidism is one of the most common issues I encounter when patients have symptoms of depression. Having an underactive thyroid causes many people to feel tired, depressed, and unable to cope with life’s demands. They often withdraw from their favorite people and activities. It’s easy to see how you could assume that depression is the issue when thyroid hormones are actually the missing puzzle piece. If you suspect you have an underactive thyroid, try testing your temperature. As soon as you wake up in the morning, put a thermometer under your arm. Then you will need to lie perfectly still for 15 minutes. I know this is hard, but any movement can invalidate the results. Do this for five days in a row. If you’re regularly getting a reading at or below 97.6 degrees Fahrenheit, you should talk to your doctor about your thyroid levels.

You may be able to improve your thyroid levels by making some simple changes to your diet or your supplement regime. Iodine, protein, selenium, potassium, the amino acid L-tyrosine, B vitamins, and adaptogenic herbs like Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng) can all help your thyroid function. You’ll find iodine in kelp and seaweed. Interestingly, excessive intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale, may suppress your thyroid if you eat them raw. While cruciferous vegetables do have enormous health benefits, you should only eat them mildly steamed or lightly cooked, not raw, if hypothyroidism is an issue for you. Support your thyroid and you may find your depression fading.

Even if it’s not affecting your thyroid, a potassium deficiency can also lead to symptoms of depression. Believe it or not, it can even trigger episodes of intense crying without cause. Eating potassium-rich foods, such as bananas or potatoes, and taking the naturopathic remedy of apple cider vinegar, honey, and water with your protein meals can help with such symptoms. You also may find that being deficient in an amino acid like L-tryptophan or tyrosine can cause symptoms of depression. Your body needs tryptophan to produce adequate levels of serotonin, and low serotonin levels are linked to depression. You’ll find tryptophan in milk products and turkey. If you eat them with complex carbohydrate foods, insulin will help clear the way for tryptophan to make it to your brain. Tyrosine is better taken in supplement form. But it’s also good to take the supplement with some complex carbs so that tyrosine can help your brain make more dopamine. This can reduce symptoms of depression as well.

A different type of culprit is candidiasis, or a chronic yeast infection. Its symptoms can include disorientation, confusion, a sense of being out of control, joint and muscle pain, and/or vaginal discharge, in addition to depression. Blood work and a description of symptoms can help a good doctor identify candidiasis, which you can try pau d’arco and bifidus and a low/no sugar diet.

One final cause of depression that often goes overlooked is a parasite. Parasites are more common than most people realize (and they’re not fun to think about). But you shouldn’t rule them out, as their effects can be extreme, ranging from feelings of depression to paranoia. You should consider a parasite if you have unusual symptoms, particularly if you’ve been traveling. I once treated a patient suffering from an intestinal parasite with an herbal milk thistle extract, lipoic acid, and pine bark extract. They went from sojourning out to the wilderness to prepare for the Apocalypse to letting their guns collect dust in the basement once the parasite was eliminated. Their paranoia disappeared.

While many of these issues have depression as a symptom, it’s true that at times depression itself is the foundational issue. Conventional doctors are often quick to write prescriptions for antidepressants, which can help for a time, but often introduce other side effects. Many patients also report that their antidepressants become less efficacious over time, which starts a harmful cycle of higher doses and increased side effects. While prescription drugs are a relatively new phenomenon, humans have been suffering from and successfully treating depression for thousands of years.

One word of warning before I tell you about these options: you should never stop taking an antidepressant without the full supervision of a doctor. Don’t even try to change the dosage on your own in hopes of weaning yourself off of a drug. This can be very dangerous. Talk to your doctor and ask for help replacing it with a natural option gradually. Even if the drug doesn’t seem to be affecting you anymore, it is.

Many people — doctors included — think that depression begins and ends in the brain. But practitioners of more traditional forms of healing have more comprehensive ideas. For example, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, energy can get “stuck” in the liver, leading to chronic irritation, agitation, and depression. Herbal medications can help release this energy, promoting physical and psychological
healing. I’ve seen it happen time and again for my patients. I’ll tell you about some of the herbal options in a moment. But first I want to emphasize that herbs are only a piece of the puzzle. You must also lead a healthy lifestyle, with appropriate diet, exercise, and rest habits.

Sometimes, of course, you need to start treating the depression to be able to reset your healthy habits. That was the case for Liz, a 58-year-old who came to my office seeking a solution to her anxiety and depression. She’d tried Zoloft and Wellbutrin to no avail. In fact, she was convinced that Zoloft was the culprit behind the 20 pounds she’d gained in the past year. I recommended she try Ashwagandha extract (Withania somnifera, standardized for total alkaloids and 2.5% total withanolides). She began taking two 500 mg doses in the morning and one in the afternoon.

After six weeks, Liz reported that she felt considerably better. And by the two-month mark, she said she was feeling better than she had in a long time. She was sleeping better, had less anxiety, and had even lost three pounds without even trying.

I’m not surprised that Ashwagandha helped. Studies have shown that this herb can reduce anxiety and inflammation by regulating cortisol (the stress hormone) and GABA, a chief neurotransmitter. One study even found that Ashwagandha could help people suffering from chronic stress lose weight. This could explain Liz’s great results.

While Ashwagandha has a long history of being used for treating depression, other herbs’ effects have been discovered more recently. In particular, researchers are just beginning to discover how powerful both saffron and turmeric can be in treating depression.

Saffron is already known to do more than add a unique flavor to foods. Its ability to support eye health is well-documented. So it’s not surprising that saffron could benefit our brains as well, since the eyes are an extension of the brain. Early research on animal models has been promising, so researchers have moved on to studying saffron’s effects on humans struggling with depression. In one study, published in Pharmacopsychiatry, participants with major depressive disorder and anxious distress received either 30 mg per day of saffron or 40 mg per day of citalopram (an antidepressant) for six weeks. The researchers evaluated the patients according to the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety. Both groups showed significant improvements. But, of course, the saffron group didn’t have to worry about potential side effects from the antidepressant.

Another study compared the effects of taking saffron to a placebo. In this 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the researchers followed participants with depression and anxiety. The participants who received 50 mg of saffron twice a day showed significant improvements on the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory by the end of the study.

Saffron is clearly showing a lot of promise as a treatment option for depression and anxiety, but it’s not the only new discovery with such good results. You’ve probably heard of turmeric before, and like saffron, it’s great both inside and outside the kitchen. Its active compound, curcumin, is a powerful antioxidant that’s used to support cardiovascular and bone health and cognitive function. Researchers suspected it could also be used to treat depression — possibly in combination with saffron.

A recent trial investigated the effectiveness of varying doses of curcumin and a curcumin/saffron combination. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers divided 123 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder into four groups. One group received a placebo, one received 500 mg per day of curcumin, one received 1,000 mg per day of curcumin, and the last group received 500 mg per day of curcumin plus 30 mg per day of saffron. Patients who were already taking an antidepressant were allowed to continue doing so, as the researchers were evaluating changes in depressive symptoms over the course of the 12-week study.

The researchers used the self-rated version of the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS) to evaluate the patients’ depressive symptoms and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure anxiety at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks. They were looking for a reduction of more than 50% in IDS scores to confirm that a treatment was effective.

While all the participants experienced decreases in IDS scores throughout the study, the placebo group leveled out by week four, while the other groups showed improvement through week 12. Interestingly, all the groups had similar decreases in scores, indicating that neither increasing the dose nor adding saffron made much difference in curcumin’s ability to treat depression. Moreover, the subgroup of patients who were identified as having atypical depression responded even better than those with other types of depression. None of the patients suffered from adverse effects, which is one of the major reasons I prefer herbs to chemicals when it comes to treating depression. I don’t like to introduce other problems just to solve one!

Ashwagandha, saffron, and turmeric are just three of a number of herbal options for treating depression. Of course, when it comes to treating depression, it’s important to have a thorough evaluation to determine if another issue could be causing the depressive symptoms. You always want to identify and treat the root issue rather than merely dealing with symptoms. That can mean the difference between just getting by and truly thriving.

I’ve seen herbs used successfully to treat depression and underlying causes of depressive symptoms time and again. I know they can be effective. And you can find them readily available at most health food stores and online. Quality is important. Always look for a reputable manufacturer. However, I can’t stress enough that you should not stop taking a prescribed antidepressant without the supervision of a trained medical professional. While these drugs can have unwanted side effects, the consequences of stopping them abruptly can be far more severe. Find the right doctor to help you transition safely to a more natural option.

http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbclip/560/121651-560.html.

Treating Irritable Bowel Diseases Without Drugs or Supplements

For people with irritable bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, managing the condition can become an ongoing fight of pain, hospital stays, and using medication to manage symptoms. These diseases are typically treated with steroids or other drugs that can have serious side effects and don’t do much to address the underlying cause of these conditions. Even worse, these medications often suppress the immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to other health issues. This is difficult for anyone to deal with, but it’s especially devastating for children. A gastroenterologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. David Suskind, was convinced there had to be a better way to care for his pediatric patients. And what he found could change the way you treat your gut challenges.

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that inflammatory bowel diseases have been linked to the bacteria in the digestive tract. It seems that the more we learn about the microbiome, the more diseases we can link back to imbalances there. Ongoing research into these conditions has indicated that something in the microbiome causes the patient’s immune system to attack the bowel. We don’t yet know why this occurs, but Dr. Suskind suspected that suppressing the immune system wasn’t the only way – or even the best way – to deal with the condition.

Dr. Suskind developed a diet that he dubbed the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). It’s a fairly restrictive diet in that it doesn’t allow for grains, dairy, processed foods, or sugar in any form other than honey. But it’s still nutritionally balanced and focuses on the consumption of whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, meat, and nuts. He conducted a 12-week study with 10 patients suffering from either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis to see if the diet could help.

For this study, the results of which were published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, the patients followed the diet carefully for 12 weeks and didn’t take any medications. The results were incredible. By the end of the study, 8 of the 10 patients were in remission! Not only were their diseases under control, they weren’t worrying about any unwanted side effects of medications, nor were they at increased risk of other illnesses due to suppressed immune systems.

While Dr. Suskind acknowledged that his study was small and that the treatment might not work for everyone, he did point out that “SCD is another tool in our tool belt.” And it’s a far safer tool than many others, so it’s certainly worth trying. In fact, it should be the first tool you use to treat these illnesses before you try drugs.

While eating a whole-food diet like this one can be an adjustment, it’s likely no more difficult than adjusting to the potential side effects of medications. And giving up beloved foods can easily become worthwhile if it means the excruciating symptoms that accompany an inflammatory bowel disease disappear.

While it’s true that this study was conducted with children, there’s no reason that these results wouldn’t translate to adults as well. We’re learning more every day about how our diets contribute to our health, particularly by feeding either the good or the bad bacteria in our guts. That microbiome we’re helping to create in turn plays a significant role in our well-being. Inflammation is the enemy in Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, and the foods that Dr. Suskind eliminates in the SCD are known contributors to inflammation. Instead, the diet emphasizes fiber-rich foods that feed our friendly bacteria and supply us with plenty of nutrients.

If you’re struggling with an inflammatory bowel condition, a diet like this is definitely worth trying. It’s hard to go wrong eliminating inflammatory foods and emphasizing nutritionally rich options. If you’re currently using a medication to treat such a disease, don’t discontinue it without your doctor’s supervision. But if you have the discipline to stick with a diet like the SCD, give it a try. I suspect you’ll be pleased with the results, and you may be able to discontinue or diminish your medication with your doctor’s help. I also recommend that you take a high-quality probiotic like Advanced Probiotic Formula (800-791-3395) to ensure that you’re helping the good bacteria win out over the bad guys in your microbiome. This is a wise idea whether you’re currently suffering from an inflammatory bowel disease or not, as you want to avoid creating any imbalances that could lead to one down the road.

Suskind, David L et al. Clinical and Fecal Microbial Changes With Diet Therapy in Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 2016 DOI: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000000772

Nutrition Detective

For Maximum Effectiveness — Don’t Exercise Too Much

For those of you who hate to exercise, I have great news for you. You may be able to get away with doing less work at the gym — and actually reap more rewards. A study conducted at the University of Stirling revealed that you can actually maximize your fitness benefits with just two reps of a particular exercise.

Yes, you read that right — two reps will actually do more for your fitness than three, five, or even 20 reps. Of course, you have to be doing the right exercise. For this study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the researchers had participants complete a particular high-intensity cycle sprint called a supramaximal. These “sprints” were done on an exercise bike. But you can do them on a regular bike. Or you can simply run in a similar way.

The participants’ cardiovascular benefits, which the researchers measured according to VO2 max, or the most oxygen the body would utilize in one minute, maxed out after just two intense repetitions. Each sprint beyond that actually decreased the participant’s overall fitness improvement by an average of 5%.

While you can’t get away with doing just two reps of any old exercise, if you want to see improvements in your fitness, this study does provide compelling evidence of just how powerful and effective short, high-intensity workouts can be. The researchers don’t yet know if there are types of exercises other than supramaximal sprints that will allow you to get such great results with so few reps, but you can bet they’re going to keep studying high-intensity exercise to try to find out.

I hope this research is a good reminder to you that even if you don’t have much time to work out, you can still gain benefits from using your limited time efficiently. You just have to push yourself to really go all-out during your intervals. Even 15 minutes of high-intensity interval training a few times a week can really pay off for your health. If you don’t have time to get to the gym, try running or cycling sprints in your neighborhood. Note: before beginning any high-intensity work out, please check with your doctor.

Niels BJ Vollaard, Richard S Metcalfe, Sean Williams. Effect of Number of Sprints in a SIT Session on Change in VO2max. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001204

LETTERS

Q: You recently mentioned that “penicillin is actually derived from Cordyceps.” I’m allergic to penicillin. Can I safely take MycoPhyto Complex, which contains Cordyceps? — Mary T., via email

Dear Mary,

Both penicillin and Cordyceps are derived and related to fungus. Since there’s actually a variety of penicillin allergies and it’s difficult to know without extensive testing, the best answer to your question is no. You should be very safe and not use the MycoPhyto Complex.

Although the ingredients are quite different, Advanced Resveratrol Formula (800-791-3395) by Advanced Bionutritionals is both anti-inflammatory and immune boosting with a side benefit of improving cardiovascular health. You may want to consider this one instead.

There are other options in the purely herbal solutions too. You may want to consider Ashwagandha and/or Rhodiola. I would recommend going with a reliable brand that’s standardized.

Q. My sister is an intense cell phone user. I’ve argued with her for the past few years about the effects this will have on her health. Can cell phone use ultimately wreak havoc on her health or even kill her?
— Mildred, via email

Dear Mildred,

The science says you’re winning this argument. In an Israeli study of 1,726 heavy cell phone users, such heavy use raised the risk for salivary gland tumors by 50% on the side the subjects favored for holding the phone. So anyone who uses their mobile phone a lot, like your sister, should consider getting an earpiece or putting the phone on speaker so they can hold it away from the head.
As bad as this risk is, there’s a much bigger risk from heavy cell phone use. That risk is talking or texting while driving. When you use your phone while driving, you’re similar to a drunk driver. In fact, you’re four to five times more likely to have an accident. No call or text is worth your life. Pull over before using the phone in the car.

Q. I have an extremely dry scalp. I’ve tried applying coconut oil, dandruff shampoo, and many other products, but nothing seems to help. Do you have any suggestions? — Kristen K., via email

Dear Kristen,

Since your topical applications have not been successful, here’s what I suggest. Wash your hair with a shampoo containing the trace mineral selenium and scrub your scalp in an attempt to exfoliate. After shampooing, then apply your favorite moisturizer — any of the ones you listed.

In the meantime, begin a good fish oil, such as Complete Daily Oils (800-791-3395) or Nordic Naturals Ultra Omega. In addition, Udos 3-6-9 oil is a good option. Take one tablespoon twice daily. Some
of my patients find that 1 tablespoon of Nordic Naturals Ultra Omega and 1 tablespoon of Udos 3-6-9 is a great combination for restoring moisture to the scalp and the body. Give the inside/outside program 90 days and let us know how it worked for you.