How To Heal Depression Naturally
If you have experienced a persistent sadness for longer than a week with no significant external cause such as a loss in the family or sudden career change, you probably have depression. Healing depression starts with…
Nutrition.
If you are feeling a lack of motivation to pursue your interests in life you may have considered seeing a therapist or psychologist. Talking through the stress and struggle of our lives can be of tremendous help, but if brain chemistry is not being addressed, you will eventually discover that you are talking in circles with no real improvement. If a therapist does not ask you about your diet on the first visit, they do not know how to actually help you recover from depression over the long term and will ultimately charge you premium prices to stew in your pain. Effective therapy should never last more than a year, and optimally ought to only last a few months. Think about it, would you be cool with having the flu for a year? No. You’d take more aggressive action to do what it takes to recover. But when it comes to “mental flu’s” we can linger in waiting rooms well past common sense.
You can’t solve a problem with the same energy that created it. You have to introduce new energy.
Talking can be a powerful healing process of self-discovery but it could also lead to frustrations and a money drain. Therapists need long-term clients and are comfortable with a long, slow approach to finding solutions. They aren’t depressed. They are, theoretically, doing what they love to do and are not in as much of a hurry for relief as you are. There are also quite a few therapists who are, themselves, unstable and incapable of being helpful. Figuring that out per therapist takes time and money that could be more wisely spent on nutrition. That said, talking through a confounding life situation with a caring professional is invaluable. But before you begin the search for a therapist, be sure you are taking action on supporting brain health by learning about which foods contribute to depression and which foods nourish your ability to produce the hormones you need. It is all possible with food. Food is medicine. You do not need to take anti-depressants. You need to change the landscape of your mind and body with to healthy food.
Food is the only way to improve our brain chemistry over the long term. But which ones? See article on sugar. And the reading list.
What you eat determine the landscape of your psychology. Your brain is a complex symphony of hormones and chemicals. Food is the conveyor of the raw materials needed to create the hormones and chemicals our brain needs to manage body functions.
There is only one reason for the symptoms of persistent depression. Low levels of serotonin, dopamine, gaba, and acetylcholine. These are the core essential neurotransmitters necessary for health and wellness. Eating organic whole foods produces them in the body. Talking does not. Talking about anything except a plan on how to get these nutrients into your body will not bring the nutrients into your body. If you are depressed or disoriented, have trouble focusing or remembering, you need to improve your brain’s ability to produce serotonin, dopamine, gaba, and acetylcholine. Only then will your conversations about self-exploration be able to lift up and out of their painful perspective and move on.
Foods that improve brain chemistry are:
whole fruits and vegetables. Not juiced or processed. That just leads to sugar which causes extreme swings in mood.
animal protein. If you are a vegetarian you are probably low in vitamin B12, one of the most important building blocks for the brain.
Supplements that improve brain chemistry are:
Omega 3
B12 and B6
Folic Acid
Magnesium
Vitamin D
Foods that are rich in these minerals should be eaten. To find a list of those foods- google “Foods rich in…” and see what comes up. But if you are already low, eating mineral rich foods may not make a difference fast enough and if you are already deficient, you may have trouble using the nutrition you are eating until you boost and repair your body’s ability to process vitamins and minerals. Taking supplements of these vitamins and minerals will improve symptoms of depression within days.
How to find a trustworthy maker of supplements is a daunting task and can prevent people from even bothering. Fortunately, there is a neutral party non-profit company called Lab Door which tests all vitamin products on the market and gives them a rating. They do not endorse any one product. They only rate it based on the lab results determining the quality of the product. They also sell all the products they test as a way of making money but they also publish their findings on the contents of all products so that you can make an informed decision.
But even the theoretically “worst” brand of supplement would provide some element of the supplement in question so don’t let the number of brand choices overwhelm you. And don’t give into the common conditions of cynicism and distrust that go along with depression. Take action to lift yourself up into hope. Supplements certainly won’t hurt you the way pharmaceuticals will. So give them a try.
Know that you can find solutions. Go with your instincts when choosing a healing path and support your brain health with supplements. Just the act of reaching for help improves brain chemistry in and of itself.
Does the word “depression” make you uncomfortable? Why? When our body gets the flu we never feel self-conscious about the process of recovery. Why should it be different when our brains fall under the weather? Psychological ailments are a different sort of “physical” ailment and we shouldn’t judge or discriminate against our brains when they stop performing well. We should mother them. How do we care for such a complex part of ourselves?
To learn more about how to cure depression, fatigue, and lack of focus without drugs check out these books:
Ask And It Is Given by Esther Hicks
It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
The Ultra Mind Solution by Mark Hyman
I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson
UnStuck by David Gordon