Depression – Understanding the Causes & Cures

Depression is a type of mental disorder that affects a person’s mood. It can affect your thoughts, feelings, behavior, and overall health. Approximately one out of fifteen teenagers gets depressed every year!! In America alone, 1 in 4 Americans at some time in their lives suffer from depression. Recent studies have highlighted the physiological or biochemical imbalances in the body as the two main causes of depression. These studies have also pointed at the foods we eat having an influential effect on mental health.

Are you suffering from depression?

Every human feels sad at some time but if this sadness is prolonged and you feel sad more than you feel okay then you should be concerned about your mental health. Is your sadness due to depression? Or is it a normal feeling? To answer this, the American Psychiatric Association has given certain guidelines. They say that you are clinically depressed if you experience 5 of the following 8 symptoms for a month or longer. If you experience 4 out of 8, you are probably depressed. Are you experiencing?

1. Poor appetite with weight loss or increased appetite with weight gain?
2. Insomnia or hypersomnia?
3. Physical hyperactivity or inactivity?
4. Loss of interest in usual activities or a decreased sex drive?
5. Loss of energy and feelings of fatigue?
6. Feelings of worthlessness, self-reproach or inappropriate guilt?
7. Diminished ability to think or concentrate?
8. Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide?

Dietary Considerations

As mentioned above, recent studies have shown great significance of the food we take on our mental health. Our diets can cause or aggravate depression in many ways. Sugar is the main culprit. The brain requires stable blood sugar levels. When we eat sugary foods, our pancreas becomes over-stimulated and produces excess insulin that pushes our blood sugar too low. In short, sugar disturbs the delicate balance of brain chemistry. Strangely, the symptoms of depression are temporarily calmed by sugar. However, in the long run it harms us as it causes a crash in energy and depression in the wake of a sugary snack.

Besides sugar, fried foods also have an adverse effect on our mental capability. It greatly slows down the synthesis of neurotransmitters in the brain by making blood cells sticky. In order to avoid such adverse effects of fried and fatty foods you need to reduce your consumption of whole milk, cheese, fried foods, and hamburgers.

An overgrowth of candida (yeast) also contributes to depression. Food allergies can be one of the most common causes of metabolically induced depression. High levels of histamine in the blood can cause depression and mood swings. Cerebral allergy is caused by foods we are sensitive or allergic to. Symptoms of cerebral allergy include depression, fatigue, anxiety, dizziness, irritability, confusion, headaches, and dullness.

Oral contraceptives deplete the body of nutrients that prevent depression, such as vitamin B12, folic acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and zinc. Drinking too much coffee, tea and sodas with caffeine can bring on many of the symptoms associated with depression (headaches, nervousness, and irritability). Low levels of Vitamin C can cause depression.

Dietary balance of complex carbohydrates and proteins has an effect on the production of neurotransmitters.

• Tryptophan, a serotonin precursor, is increased when we eat complex carbohydrates like beans, brown rice and vegetables. If you’re feeling agitated, eating a meal like that will help calm you down. When our brains produce enough serotonin we feel relaxed.
• Protein promotes the production of dopamine and norepinephrine, which make us feel more alert.
• Rule of thumb: Eat more complex carbohydrates if you are nervous and need to relax, eat more proteins if you are tired and need to be more alert.

 Treatment of Depression with Alkaline Ionized Water

Water is resource which has solutions to all kinds of problems. To avoid all such depression related problems you need to take lots of water as water has shown its magic from the very beginning of life on earth. The quality of water varies greatly; it becomes difficult to get pure water free from any pollutants. All tap or bottled mineral water is not 100% pure or highly hydrating. Alkaline Ionized water is negatively charged, is a powerful natural antioxidant, and is up to 6 times more hydrating than normal bottled or distilled water. It will clear up the mind, energize the body and reduce the risk to depression by a great extent. Alkaline water is what you need to protect yourself from risks of depression.

Supplementation

Vitamin supplementation can have an influence on depression, especially if someone is deficient in them.