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Depression support

There are a number of supplements that support depression. Some are quite simple. Magnesium is one of these. I recommend Triple Mag, 2 capsules a day. Folic acid in the dosage range of 2-3 mg is recommended. Super Liquid Folate is a convenient and inexpensive way to get this level of folic acid (4 to 8 drops a day).

Vitamin D is perhaps the most underrated vitamin I can think of. People tend to think of vitamin D as necessary for making strong bones, which indeed it is. However, there is much more to vitamin D. There is now strong evidence that this vitamin is a potent cancer fighter. There is also much evidence that it also reduces autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis. Its ability to dispel the blues is why I recommend it here.

Veith et.al. studied patients treated with 4000 IU daily of vitamin D and showed that vitamin D was not only safe (it did not elevate calcium to worrisome levels), but patients had improved scores on well being.

Fifteen minutes of full body sunshine will allow your skin to manufacture 10,000 IU of vitamin D. Being a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D can be stored for a period of time, up to 12 weeks, but not long enough to last for a whole northern winter. The current RDI for vitamin D is 200 IU daily. This amount seems rather paltry in view of our body’s production of 10,000 IU in one session of sunshine. My recommendation is for 2000-4000 IU vitamin D daily for those who do not get sun for whatever reason, be it winter, northern latitudes, or fair, easily damaged skin. Your psyche will be the happier for it. Best of all, get in a bathing suit and expose your skin to 15 minutes of sun. This is not enough to cause sunburn. Vary your exposure depending upon the season, time of day and your skin coloration.

Inositol is one of those ubiquitous substances that is present in virtually every cell in our body. Its highest concentration however is in the brain and heart. It is required for the manufacture of acetylcholine and serotonin, both critical neurotransmitters. There is a huge safety margin in taking inositol. It can be taken up to 6 g three times a day for severe problems. I recommend starting at 2 g daily, and increasing the dose gradually every 3 to 4 days, until beneficial results can be seen.

While SAMe should not be used in manic depressive patients, SAMe is quite effective in mild to moderate depression. It is used in the dosage range of 400 to 1600 mg daily. There are no side effects in this dosage range. It can begin working in as little as 1-2 weeks, which is much faster that many conventional antidepressants.

SAMe has been studied as a single nutrient for depression and has been found to be as effective as the older (tricyclic) antidepressants. In one study combining SAMe and the patient’s antidepressant, 43% of patients became asymptomatic. Studies comparing it to the newer SSRI type drugs have not been performed.

Alpert et.al, added SAMe to major depressive disorder patients currently taking SSRIs but who were resistant to treatment. They found a response rate of 50% and a remission rate of 43% by adding SAMe. This is powerful news indeed.

Of all the nutrients reviewed in this article, I would have to say that SAMe is the best supported by current research. It is even more amazing when you think that SAMe has only been available in this country since 1999.

There seems to be lots of evidence that omega 3 oils have a great deal to do with depression. Numerous studies have shown that omega 3 oils are lower in depressed patients than in normal individuals. A very interesting French study showed that volunteers who took 7.2 G fish oil daily had lower adrenal hormones. The lower our stress hormones, the happier we are. I recommend 1 tsp of fish oil daily for everyone. For those battling depression, I would take that amount twice or three times a day.

Melatonin is recommended here for those over 40 who do not make their own melatonin like they did while younger. Our production drops steadily during our lifetime. It is recommended primarily for its ability to produce lasting sleep. Please get the timed-released variety that lasts the entire night. Remember that the type of sleep disturbance associated with depression is the terminal sleep type. I recommend starting with Melatonin PR and adjusting the dosage weekly, either more or less depending on your results. While it is a hormone, it is one your body makes naturally while you are young. I therefore think that it is not something you should avoid taking because you are afraid of taking hormones.

A recent, very well publicized study concluded that St. John’s Wort was ineffective for severe depression, with the conclusion that it should not be used. There have been, however, many studies that have shown it to be quite effective for mild to moderate depression, which is far more common. In Germany, where St. John’s Wort is classified as a drug, there are 20 million patients taking prescriptions for this herb. This would hardly be the case for an ineffective substance. The dosage is 300 mg up to three times a day.

One of the major complaints of depressed patients is their lack of energy. There are two nutrients that will do more for energy production than any I can think of, those two being CoQ-10 and carnitine. It is the acetyl-L-carnitine form of carnitine that crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the brain. Both of these nutrients help the mitochondria of the cells to burn fuel, thus increasing our energy levels. If you are listless and want more energy, I recommend 100 mg of CoQ-10 and 100 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine daily (Carnitine-Synergy). Unfortunately, these two nutrients, CoQ-10 and carnitine, are among the most expensive on the market.

Acetyl L-Carnitine 60 Caps

Cod Liver Oil

Inositol Powder 8oz 225g

Magnesium (citrate) 150mg 100 caps

Magnesium (glycinate) 120mg 100 caps

Magnesium (Triple Mag) 250mg 90 caps

Omega Combination Ultra 180 caps

Vitamin D Chewable 90 Capsules

Vitamin D drops Liqui-D3

Vitamin D3 400iu 90 caps

Vitamin D3 10,000 IU

Vitamin D3 2000iu 90 veg caps

Vitamin D3 5000iu 90 veg caps

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