If you stop and think for a minute I bet you could think of at least one person you know who is on some type of medication for depression/anxiety related symptoms. Maybe it's you! It's gotten so common it's as if no one even bats an eye when it comes up in conversation that so n so is on Prozac or Zoloft. I'm certainly not saying people are not being helped, and these meds aren’t useful, but I've run into quite a few people where their symptoms are being treated, but nothing is being done about what is actually causing the symptoms.
Everyone can identify with being depressed or anxious at one time in their life or another. These are common reactions to events that happen in our lives. I just want to address some of the "not always looked at reasons" for depression and anxiety. Natural Healing offers help on physical and emotional levels. For now I will focus on what we can do for ourselves on a physical level.
Diet - Let's face it, our diet and lifestyle are directly related to our health and how we feel. Over the years of food processing, problems with depression and anxiety have hit an all time high. When we decided to remover the fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables we also began the diseases of civilization; including, obesity, heart disease, depression, Alzheimer's, mood changes, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, gout and more. Every time we fiddle with a wholesome food, we erode its nutrient value. A perfect example everyone's familiar with: all purpose/enriched flour. Here's the ultimate result of modern milling techniques. It's white, soft, blends well with other ingredients, and keeps indefinitely (indefinitely?) on the shelf. The freshly milled flour is slightly yellow, so to whiten it manufacturers either let it age or speed up the process by adding up to 30 chemicals to make it whiter and fluffier and to improve its workability as dough. (One of those chemicals may ring a bell - benzoyl peroxide. The manufacturer may also add a number of additives, colorings, flavorings and preservatives to prolong shelf life. With the addition of man made synthetic B vitamins and iron, they are able to call it enriched. I know I feel really enriched after reading all that! The point is, do we have to wonder why are diets are lacking when the foods that we are consuming are so void of any nutritional value?
B vitamins play a large role in helping our body deal with daily life stresses. They help to maintain the nervous system, proper brain function as well as energy production. B vitamins therefore are useful for alleviating depression, anxiety and their symptoms. Personally, I get mine from a whole food source which contains organic herbs and vegetables - not a pill. I've been using it a while now and the only time I notice a difference is when I don't use it. When I don't use it, the day's stresses get to me more and I definitely don't have the energy level I'm used to. My body responds almost immediately to it - it's great. Make your food work for you, not against you. My Earth’s Nutrition covers you on every level!
Water - I cannot say enough on the importance of water. But let's focus on water and how it affects our moods/brain function. For example, when the body becomes dehydrated, processes within the body that establish themselves are the same ones that occur when coping with stress. Dehydration equals stress, and the body proceeds to "mop up" some of the water reserves in the body. So, consequently, dehydration causes stress, and stress will cause further dehydration… it's ongoing. With dehydration, the level of energy generation in the brain is decreased. Many functions of the brain that depend on this type of energy become inefficient. So what can you do? Drink more water is the obvious solution. How much? A good rule of thumb I like to use is 1/2 your weight in ounces per day. A 100lb person would then consume 50 ounces of water per day. Sounds like a lot, and yes you will be going to the bathroom more. At first your bladder will be more sensitive to the increase, but after a few weeks your bladder will calm down and you will go less frequently, but in larger amounts.
Elimination - Colon, liver, kidneys…In a nutshell, if your body is not getting rid of it's toxic wastes, where do you think it's going? (Another famous question I ask.) But it's true. Let's use the colon as an example. If say, you eat 3 meals today, and tomorrow you only go to the bathroom once, where are the other 2 meals? We live in a constipated society, and no one likes to talk about it. I was one of those people to to the opposite degree. Not anymore, because my health depended on it. These toxins, once dissolved, must be eliminated. When not eliminated on a regular basis, they recirculate and are reabsorbed. Now that’s depressing! Feel free to ask how my Colon Cleanse can help! All the people who come to see me, looking for "something natural" to take for depression/anxiety - get asked these 3 questions. At least 80% of them are lacking in one or all of these areas. Once they are addressed, many have remarkable results. And for some, a little more tweaking is necessary, but the groundwork counts for a strong majority.
