Rebuild from Depression Blog

I went to Trader Joe's the other day and the free sample guy Bryan said "Hey, the depression book lady! You know, that stuff really works."

He went on to say that since we spoke last a few months ago he started taking an Omega-3 and a B-vitamin supplement religiously and has gotten mood relief.

Bryan started taking these supplements even without blood work because of the evidence for their effectiveness in alleviating depression. First, most of us do not get enough of these nutrients and fats in our diet and just adding them will give us a better sense of wellness. Second, in clinical trials participants tend to have improved moods while taking them. The clinical trials often do not even test to see if the participants are deficient. And frankly, most of them would be.

Unless you have made a concerted effort, the smart money is that you have not consumed enough Omega-3s or folate, perhaps for your entire life.

If you or a loved one are struggling with depression, read Chapter 8: The Usual Suspects.

This chapter describes the importance of Omega-3 fatty acids and B-vitamins. This version of the manuscript is not final in content and has not been edited since my last round of revisions, so pardon the typos. They are all mine and I apologize in advance.

Finding Omega-3 supplements

The book excerpts do not include the Appendix which will have recommendations on supplements. You can easily access Omega-3 fatty acid and B-vitamin supplements. I am looking for the best supplements to offer on the website, but one simple solution is to walk into your local independent health food store and ask for their best supplement. My preferred cod liver oil is from Nordic Naturals. The best price right now is at www.vitacost.com. I have purchased the 16 oz liquid form because that is the best value. If the thought of cod liver oil or fish oil makes you gag, look for a gel cap form.

Dr Andrew Stoll recommends about 4 grams of EPA for depression. That is a lot of supplementation, so even if you take half that amount, you'll want to shop the price. Look at the label on the back of the supplement for the amount of EPA. Most will be in milligrams. One thousand milligrams equals one gram. You'll see that it takes a lot of cod liver oil to reach four grams of EPA.

Finding B-vitamin supplements

Brewer's Yeast enriched with B-vitamins is a very good B-vitamin supplement. I used to take a tablet form from GNC that worked well. A cheaper form is powder that you mix with water, available at any health food store. If you take the powdered approach, get the "de-bittered" variety. Ask at your independent health food store for Brewer's Yeast and, if it's powdered, ask if they've tasted it. You might take about double the recommended levels for a couple of weeks. If you find yourself reorganizing the cupboards at midnight, you've taken too much. Brewer's Yeast can give you some energy, but you need your sleep more than your cupboards need reorganizing.

Alternatively ask someone at your local independent health food store for their recommendation on a B-complex vitamin for you.

B-vitamins and liver

Those who know me well know that my favorite B-vitamin supplement is actually liver. I mentioned the Brewer's Yeast above because that is the most palatable choice for most people. Another path to B-vitamins is through eating liver. Yes, I mean the internal organ of an animal. When I eat liver about three times a week, I have a great boost of energy, I am able to handle stress, and the many life stresses do not upset me as much as they normally would. If I haven't disgusted you with this, liver is another strategy for you.

Nothing is easy if you are struggling with depression

There may be no supplement on the planet that can turn your life around in a few days if you are at the bottom of a bad cycle.

If you are able to begin to take a B-vitamin an Omega-3 fatty acid supplement, do that today. The B-vitamins may only take a week to show an effect, but nutritional therapies in general may take weeks or months. It is a long-term strategy. And on bad days you'll forget to take the supplements. That's OK. Take them when you remember. Over time, your down cycles should be shorter and less bad. The time between these down cycles will be longer. That's progress. I am hoping for many good days for you.

Tell a friend

If you have a friend who needs this information, send them this entry. At the bottom of the page for this post, you will see an option to "share with a friend." Send this to them today. It's a good day to get started.

In celebration of our first ever contest here at Rebuild from Depression, my mom and I have been working diligently on this downloadable cookbook for you. The cookbook features five depression buster foods and is called "Depression Busters: Five Family Favorites."

Do not fear. Even though the current contest is called "Pest or Dinner" and we are having fun trying to figure out if particular rodents have the nutrient density to qualify as depression busters, there are no rodents in this cookbook. There is not even an organ meat. There are, in fact, even some plant-based foods, none of which are pesky. I apologize in advance if this comes as a disappointment to anyone. (We are working on the organs, however, so just sit tight and, please, send us recipes if you have some good ones.)

To access the free e-book, just click on this link. If you have subscribed to something here before, you will simply receive your download link via email. If you have not yet subscribed to any of the free resources, click on the link and you will be sent a confirmation email. Then click on that link to get your email. This is just our system's way to reduce spam. Sorry for the hassle.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next entry in the Pest or Dinner contest.

When you are writing a book about health you are sometimes convicted by your own behaviors. It's a bad idea to drink alcohol when you struggle with depression or even when you've had depression in your past. It's a depressive drug. Most of us probably know that.

If you don't think about it a whole lot, you can just kind of cover your ears and say "la la la la" if the topic ever comes up over your beer.

But a few events have collided, inspired this blog post, and finally got me to write the inset article about alcohol for the book.

My son has gotten into "stories" in the past year. As we drive the long hour or two to civilization weekly, I always hear "Mama, tell me a story." I am pretty long on stories, but even I get bored with the exchange on occasion. I decided to practice speaking techniques in the context of specific "stories." So I have a "story" about drugs. It's an anti-drug message perfect for a young child. The story includes some great persuasive descriptions and a repetitive refrain that I deliver with great energy:

"It's easier never to start than it is to stop once you are addicted."

The speech comes packed with stories of Aunt Frances, who was given two days to live and still walked out of the hospital with her pickled liver. She would have lived, of course, had she actually stopped drinking when she returned home.

"As tough as she was, Frederick, she couldn't stop drinking once she was addicted."

We role-play refusal techniques. He claims he's "already cool" and "doesn't need a toke." (And I become acutely aware at times that I don't know slang terms for drugs. I'll have to make a few calls before I take my speech on the road.)

And so it was just a matter of time before I got the question:

"Mom, why are you drinking? It's not healthy. You need to stop."

I was careful in my speeches to discuss "too much" alcohol so that this day would not come. And yet the day is here.

The fact of the matter is that since about December I have pretty easily consumed my weight in wine quite a number of times. When the ">number of deaths in your friendship circle becomes Apocalyptic, these things tend to happen.

"Frederick, you are right. I am going to finish this glass and when you return from Magic Mountain, I will not drink anymore."

I can assure you that Frederick will not forget the promise. And because I will not sneak alcohol from anyone, that makes tonight the end of the wine.

In honor of the end, I finally wrote the inset article for the book. It's amusing in this context that I put it off for so long. And as it turns out, it is a probably a bit of a softball treatment of the issue in the context of depression, but it was the best I could muster given the probable state of my own B-vitamins today:

Alcohol and Depression Alcohol is not only a depressive drug, but it actually depletes your body of depression-fighting nutrients. B-vitamins in particular are lost as you drink. Studies in humans of blood levels of folate show that hours after a drink, our blood levels of folate fall (Stowell 2000). Folate is difficult enough to get in our diets, it seems like a good idea to take it easy on the drinks.

I will have my last glass in about an hour. A plate of liver tomorrow, packed with folate, will be the beginning of my penance.

Easter has snuck up on me once again. It is a shock that it's April, but it is a relief that it is sunny. We don't have a strong Easter tradition around here, but this is a good week for us nonetheless for at least five reasons.

1) The Eggs.

I've never really cared for those plastic Easter eggs that open up primarily because they usually have something very ordinary inside. My son just got a pink one, wrapped in more plastic, with a green Jolly Rancher inside. That seems like a lot of plastic for a Jolly Rancher.

When I was a girl, I used to get a big chocolate egg from See's Candy here in California. That was a treat, but it was always a little much and now I need it like a hole in the head.

In my opinion, the best Easter eggs are actual eggs.

If you can find some brown eggs, white eggs, and even green eggs then when you dye them, the range of colors is really cool. We have a variety of hens and get a whole range of egg colors, so the Easter egg dying is even more fun than usual.

The yoke under that colored shell is also loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids because our hens are allowed to range and eat bugs. Commercially, the Omega-3 eggs you find in stores from hens fed flax or algae are a good bet too.

2) The Chocolate.

I am always skeptical about research that links some sort of dessert to improved health. My dad tells me regularly that ice cream helps his depression. And once when I did a depression buster pizza makeover (important book research of course), my dad ate a bite or two and said "I know I feel better already. It does help my depression."

Well, Dad doesn't really have depression and just enjoying a food isn't really enough to make something a depression-buster.

But chocolate does have some properties that make it stand out in the dessert category. It is a good source of depression-fighting magnesium and it affects your serotonin levels. My friend Terri recommends raw cacao for this purpose. It will be a far sight better than the Easter chocolate available at the quick stop this week.

4) The Dinner.

Holidays are always a great opportunity to hone cooking skills. Easter is great because that meal can be just about anything we choose. I choose beef over ham and turkey because of its nutrient content. Beef also fills my freezer after the recent slaughter of my steer, so it is an economical choice in this house.

This year is actually even better because we will be doing more eating than cooking. We are traveling to southern California to spend the holiday with my family.

3) The Sunshine

I know some of you are up to your eyeballs in snowflakes this week. Our weather has been so glorious that I've gotten almost nothing done on my computer. My garden gloves are leaving tan lines on my forearms as evidence of my activity this week.

Sunshine on your skin will raise your levels of vitamin D, a deficiency many implicate in Seasonal Affective Disorder (winter time blues). Light entering your eyes, unprotected by sunglasses, will increase your levels of melatonin and help you get a better night's sleep.

5) The Family.

As much as sunshine feels like the highlight of the week since I have had a few great days outside, I will tear myself away and make a five hour trip for a dinner. It feels like a big chore given the sunshine here, the many weeds that need pulling, and the satisfaction I feel with getting things done outside. But I know that the schlep will be more than worth it. We have a great family and do not see them often enough.

Earlier this week Reuters reported the findings of some surprised researchers: add some tequila to your juice to increase the antioxidant levels.

Antioxidants are critical in cancer prevention, but some Jack in your orange juice for breakfast just doesn't seem like the very best path we can take to increase the antioxidants in our diets.

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of liver. In fact, liver is a depression buster food and probably in a class of its own providing in large quantities every depression-fighting nutrient in my book except for magnesium. Most foods make the list because they excel in one or two nutrients or in Omega-3 fatty acids. Not liver. It could nearly be your replacement for a multi-vitamin/mineral complex.

I used to see my multivitamin and mineral as good nutritional insurance. It certainly is a form of insurance, but there can be consequences with taking your daily supplement blindly.

The folic acid fortification program in the United States provides us with a very good example of why supplementation willy-nilly can have perverse consequences.

People do not get enough folate in their diets and a low folate status is associated with birth defects like spina bifida. Since many women do not plan their pregnancies and many who do plan them do not consume enough folate in preparation, the USDA decided to fortify grain-based foods with folic acid in the late 1990s.

Nearly a decade later, researchers are trying to determine the effect of this food fortification program. Neural tube defects like spina bifida are on the decline, but cognitive problems are on the rise in the elderly.

It appears that you can get too much of a good thing under certain circumstances.

Results of a consumer survey were released last month by the International Food Information Council (IFIC). Survey researchers asked consumers question such as "How concerned are you with the amount of fat you are eating?"

72% of Americans are concerned with the amount of fat they consume.

Compared to one year ago, Americans are concerned that they are consuming too much saturated fat and they are actually seeking to consume more vegetable oil.

There is very little reason to consume more vegetable oil. In fact, to fight depression, research suggests we should be consuming less.

People who read this blog know that I think liver is the new black and the food most likely to keep our energy up and keep us on an even keel. I eat it as much as possible. As it turns out, I do get sick of it pretty quickly and then take some in a freeze dried form. It is like a miracle in my skillet and just short of a miracle in freeze dried form.

Liver is known for its B vitamin content. It is so loaded with vitamin B-12 that it challenged my graphics program to display it. It is one of the best sources of folate - a critical depression-fighting nutrient that is difficult to get enough of in our diet.

Everyone struggles to improve their diets and sometimes the task seems so monumental that it is not even worth the effort. But small changes can have an impact. A study of breastfeeding moms from about ten years ago makes that point.

I see these supplements in health food stores all the time. In one bottle you get three types of essential fatty acids. We have been hearing about how important Omega-3 fatty acids are and since Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids are essential too, these products look the product manufacturers' gift to your health. They are not.

On the way home from preschool the other day, five-year-old Frederick was recounting his dream for the night. As he described the dream, I thought "I must write about this on the site."

What I thought to myself as he told me the story was "Good news. His B-6 status is good."

Your regular doctor will not have this information but pioneer in mental health and food nutrients, Carl Pfieffer, describes in his book Nutrition and Mental Illness that in the presence of a B-6 deficiency you do not recall your dreams at night.

How many times have you said, "I don't have dreams"?

You likely do have dreams but just don't remember them.

In honor of this week's 50th Anniversary of the La Leche League at their conference in Chicago, I have found an interesting article on Omega-3 fatty acids, trans fats, and the cord blood of newborn babies. Pregnant or not, woman or not, a study of the cord blood of newborn babies is important for our health.

I am what Sandor Katz in Wild Fermentation calls a post-vegetarian. I was a vegetarian or near vegetarian for many years primarily for health reasons. I am an omnivore now for the same reasons. Apparently, my favorite vegetarian chef, Mollie Katzen, eats meat on occasion.

I eat meat now for the nutrient content, not just because it is an easy meal or because I cannot pass up a hamburger (though I do find it hard to pass up a hamburger). My depression was aggravated by nutrients that were lean in those old vegetarian days - vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, zinc, and Omega-3 fatty acids. Iron is another deficiency that can plague anyone, but one which vegetarians are more likely to struggle.

But with a focus on meat nutrients it is easy to forget the benefits of the plant world.

In depression studies of mice, researchers literally throw them into a water tank and observe them swimming. Healthy mice meet the challenge and swim. Depressed mice may swim at first but they will soon wear out and the only movements they will make in that tank of water are the minimal movements necessary to keep their heads above water.

A 2004 study of the magnesium-depression link used the swim test to test the effect of magnesium depletion on depression and anxiety. They fed one group of mice a magnesium-depleted diet for a few weeks and fed control mice a regular diet. At the end of the study period, the poor magnesium deficient mice were prone to anxiety and to depression.

Most folks probably do not give a whole lot of thought to their zinc intake, but apparently, if your diet is lacking, one of the consequences is depression. Doctors who use an orthomolecular approach to treating depression such as those at the Carl Pfieffer Centers or authors Joan Matthews Larson and Julia Ross have for decades examined their patients' zinc levels. They have found what researchers are only beginning to document - that improving your zinc status from a deficiency state can improve your mental function.

Zinc and depression
The clinical trial evidence for the zinc-depression link is still slim, but researchers do give us cause to believe that the two are related:

Women who have been pregnant receive fair warning from obstetricians and midwives that they need to watch their iron intake. Hemoglobin levels get monitored in pregnancy. And though the poking and prodding gets old if you are the pregnant woman, the importance of iron in pregnancy and in nutrition in general cannot be overstated. Most women do not consume nearly enough iron in a day. Add pregnancy to the picture, where her body is required to produce more blood to support the uterine lining and placenta, and iron deficiencies become quite common.

The western diet is in a large part responsible for our low iron status. Foods low in iron such as white flour and potato chips have replaced higher iron whole foods such as whole wheat bread and legumes. Meat consumption has been on the decline as well which would be a good source of iron in an otherwise processed-food diet.

Anything you are deficient in may cause or aggravate your depression, but there are the usual suspects. In the many nutrients that keep our brains healthy, some have a much more direct impact than others. There are also nutrients that we are simply much more likely to be deficient in and, thus, end up high on the radar of researchers (Omega 3 fatty acids and iron are a good example).

Research comes out regularly on the link between Omega 3 fatty acids and depression. If you are depressed and have not made a concerted effort to improve the content of Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, the easiest first step you may make to alleviating depression is to buy an Omega 3 fatty acid supplement. Read more on this site:

If you are in the New York area and into eating one of nature's most powerful depression-fighting foods, check out the chopped liver taste-off at The Fork in the Road blog at the Village Voice (via Marisa at Slash Foods)

We should have a liver taste-off right here on this blog or perhaps a liver blog carnival. I wonder if such a carnival already exists. I wonder if anyone would join the carnival besides my mother and I.

More on liver:

• Mom's flash-cooked liver recipe
  
• Liver and essential fatty acids
  
• Vitamins and minerals in liver

The talk around the brunch table today was about inflammation and, specifically, the finding that the cholesterol-lowering drugs may actually work to reduce heart disease because they reduce inflammation in the body. There are ways to reduce inflammation without the use of pharmaceuticals and certainly without the use of expensive pharmaceuticals. After all, aspirin reduces inflammation.

It reminds me a bit of my discussions with a vendor last week at Expo West about an anti-inflammatory product they carry. I am always interested in learning about anti-inflammatory foods or supplements because of the role of inflammation and depression. The woman was selling a high-priced supplement and I asked her a question that shocked her just a bit: is your product more effective than aspirin at reducing inflammation? Walking outside my front door and taking in some deep breaths on a spring day reduces inflammation too.

I posted a list a couple of times in the last month about things I was going to do to stay healthy in the midst of work stress. What strikes me is that these activities (particularly the first four), will reduce inflammation in my body. I could take drugs to reduce inflammation, but unless the drugs are sleeping pills, they will not give me the sleep I am lacking. They will not help me get sunlight and exercise.

Today for Easter I sat on a hammock with my friend Galina and said, “This is the way to reduce inflammation.”

“The List”
1) Sleep a lot more. If I count sheep, I will try not to think about the bacteria colonies in their rumen.
2) Cut the coffee. A friend of mine recommends Tylenol for this task. I usually put myself through some sort of obsessive weaning program.
3) Move around a little bit. For numb shoulders and for general health, a wise person once told me that exercise can be healthy. Finger movement at the keyboard is not the best source of exercise.
4) Eat real food. Coffee is not a food group. Salads are a nutritious and easy option. I will keep my fingers crossed that the lettuce was not watered with dairy run-off. (See, there I go again.)