Re: Balanced Diet

20 Dec 2005 11:42:02 -0800 in article
<1135107722.722586.245560@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> "Usman"
<khanusman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>I have been suffering from severe depression from more then a year.
>Despite of trying prescription anti depressants, there isnt much
>improvement. I am finally resorted to alternative treatment and trying
>to find out if I have some kind of food allergy.I have started with
>gluten free diet.
>
>- I take around 2-3 cups of carrot juice for breakfast.
>- Eat around 3-4 bananas at regular intervals during work (9:30 AM to
>6:30 PM) with 2, 3 hours difference.
>- Eat guava for lunch.
>- Eat an apple around 4-4:30 PM
>- Eat boiled rice with cooked vegetables for pulses for dinner.
>
>Kindly suggest if the diet plan mentioned above is balanced or is there
>any thing important that I need to add?
>
I'm not a doctor, but here is my suggestion: Take your medication or get it
replaced with something which works better. Get psychological counseling, if
possible. Try to excercise daily, even walking is ok. Eat some fatty fish
daily. And use some supplements such as 1 g ethyl-EPA/d (or 6-9 g EPA+DHA
from fish oil, if ethyl-EPA is not available), 1 mg vitamin B12/d, folic
acid and other B-vitamins, vitamin D (2000 IU/d), vitamin C, vitamin E,
selenium, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, curcumin (or turmeric) and ginger. All of
these are important and necessary, if your depression is as severe as you
claim.

Major depression is often accompanied with low level systemic inflammation,
I don't know if it is a cause or consueqence, but you need to curb this
inflammation and increased free radical production caused by it to prevent
any further biological damage and to stop depression from getting worse.
Many of the above supplements are meant for that purpose, to stop the damage
inflammation is causing and to catch the free radicals. Curcumin and and
ginger help to reduce inflammation.

Depressed patient have low levels of long chain omega-3 fatty acids
(especially EPA) in their cells, the level of these fatty acids correlate
inversely with severity of depression. Low levels of omega-3 could be caused
by excessive lipid peroxidation (caused by freee radicals created by
inflammation) and/or low intake. Ethyl-EPA or fish oil help to restore the
omega-3 levels, and they also help in inhibiting inflammation. 1 g ethyl-
EPA/d and 6-9 g of EPA+DHA from fish oil have been effective in preliminary
trials, enhancing the effect of antidepressant medication.

Folic acid has also enhanced the effect of antidepressants in trials, and
many depressed people have low B12 status.

Antioxidants vitamin C and E, and selenium will help in making free radicals
harmless. Ginkgo biloba is also antioxidant, but in addtion it and Panax
ginseng help to bring down stress hormon cortisol level, which is often
elevated in depression. Ginkgo also protects your brain, especially
hippocampus from a potential athropy chronic depression otherwise could
possibly cause.

I don't know where you live, but if you don't get enough UVB radiation onto
a large enough area of skin throughout the year (20 minutes whole body
exposure on a clear summer day gives equivalent of 10000 - 25000 IU of
vitamin D, which is a lot more than you need), take vitamin D daily at least
in winter, if live at latitude higher than 35-40. Low vitamin D status can
cause secondary hyperparathyroidism, which can cause depression. Vitamin D
has been found effective in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in at least
one trial, and another trial found that it improved the mood of healthy
volunteers in winter.




--
Matti Narkia
.

Relevant Pages

  • Depression and vitamin D (was: Re: Balanced Diet)
    ... >>I have been suffering from severe depression from more then a year. ... >from fish oil, if ethyl-EPA is not available), 1 mg vitamin B12/d, folic ... >hippocampus from a potential athropy chronic depression otherwise could ... Cross-talk of vitamin D and glucocorticoids in hippocampal cells. ...
    (sci.med.nutrition)
  • Re: Strange one this.
    ... But vitamin C seems to make my depression worse. ... I've even challenged the psycho to a blind experiment to ... I had some normal 200mg vitamin C tablets, so I took 3 of those for a couple of nights and I felt really down and grumpy the day after the first dose. ...
    (uk.people.support.depression)
  • Vitamin D status in patients with MS is negatively correlated with depression, but not with fatigue.
    ... depression, but not with fatigue. ... Medical Center, Maastricht Academic MS Center Limburg, Orbis Medical ... Knippenberg S, Bol Y, Damoiseaux J, Hupperts R, Smolders J. Vitamin D ...
    (alt.support.mult-sclerosis)
  • Re: Clinical trials do actually happen.
    ... Vitamin D lifts mood during cold weather months ... Loyola researchers to study nutrient in depression and diabetes patients ... of depression and poorer blood sugar control than men with diabetes. ...
    (uk.people.support.depression)
  • Re: Depression and vitamin D (was: Re: Balanced Diet)
    ... >>>I have been suffering from severe depression from more then a year. ... >>inflammation is causing and to catch the free radicals. ... Low levels of omega-3 could be caused ... >>Antioxidants vitamin C and E, and selenium will help in making free radicals ...
    (sci.med.nutrition)