Mood Disorders
Most individuals who consult their medical doctor for mood disorders are placed on prescription medications. Many of these anti-depressants are in the form of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI). These drugs (Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Celexa, and Zoloft) are supposed to help the brain be more efficient at using the serotonin it produces. It is analogous to a gasoline additive to help your car get more mileage out of the gasoline in your tank.
Unfortunately, many of these individuals don’t have any serotonin in their tanks and they are running on fumes. Since their brain isn’t making serotonin, an additive isn’t going to help.
Shortcomings of Antidepressants
Antidepressants are sometimes helpful for my patients, because they correct low serotonin levels, but they usually don’t correct the cause of the deficiency. And while prescription drugs have helped millions of people overcome mental illnesses, their side-effects can be life threatening. Prozac alone has been associated with over 1,734 suicide deaths and over 28,000 adverse reactions. Prescription antidepressants can cause depression, addiction, suicidal tendencies, tardive dyskinesia (involuntary muscle spasms), and tardive dementia (senility). These side-effects are due to drug-induced nutritional deficiencies and poor liver function. Most of my patients have these anyway.
Note: To reduce antidepressant induced tremors have your patients take an additional 50-100mg of zinc. This is a tip from another orthomolecular physician. I’ve found it to be helpful. It is sometimes necessary to add up to a gram of manganese with the zinc to get the best results.
Mood disorders and “Fibro Fog”
Depression, mental fatigue, and mental confusion share several underlying causes.
• Poor sleep depletes mood-controlling neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Decreased serotonin leads to depression, mental fatigue, lowered pain threshold, and sugar cravings.
• Low protein diets, poor digestion, and malabsorption syndromes contribute to amino acid deficiencies. Remember, amino acids—along with certain vitamin and mineral cofactors—create the neurotransmitters.
• Nutritional deficiencies are quite common in America. In one study, up to 50% of patients admitted for hospital care had nutritional deficiencies.1
• Magnesium deficiency affects 50% of the population.2 Magnesium and vitamin B6 are cofactors in the production of dopamine, GABA, and serotonin.
• A chromium deficiency, which is especially common among those taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, can cause hypoglycemia and mood disorders.
• A deficiency in any of the B vitamins can lead to depression, brain fog, and mental fatigue.
• Birth control pills and Premarin can deplete vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is needed for transforming the amino acids (tryptophan and phenylalanine) into neurotransmitters (serotonin and epinephrine).
• Vitamin C deficiency hurts the production of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Vitamin C plays a major role in the production of the adrenal “fight-or-flight” hormone, adrenaline. A deficiency in adrenal function can contribute to fatigue, depression, and confusion.
• A deficiency of any of the essential nutrients can create a chain reaction leading to all sorts of mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.
Allergic Disorders
Food and chemical sensitivities can cause all sorts of symptoms. Allergic inflammation of the intestinal tract causes irritable bowel. Allergic inflammation of the nasal membranes creates sinusitis. Allergic reactions in the respiratory tissue creates bronchial spasms (asthma).
Allergic reactions can also occur within the brain, creating mental confusion, depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders.
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that help relay electrical messages from one nerve cell to another. Neurotransmitters are produced from the amino acids in the foods we eat. Amino acids join together in different patterns to form a protein. Eating a protein rich food allows us to replenish our ongoing demand for the essential amino acids. Half of the amino acids are essential. This means our bodies can’t manufacture them and we must get them from the foods we eat (protein). Certain amino acids along with vitamins (B6, B3, C) and minerals (magnesium) produce the neurotransmitters. The amino acid Tryptophan turns into serotonin. The amino acid phenylalanine turns into epinephrine. Amino acids are the raw nutrients needed to manufacture the neurotransmitters which regulate our moods.
What do neurotransmitters do?
Neurotransmitters help regulate pain, reduce anxiety, promote happiness, initiate deep sleep, boost energy, and mental clarity.
The neurotransmitters that cause excitatory reactions are known as catecholamines. Catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinepherine (adrenaline) are derived from the amino acid phenylalanine.
Inhibitory or relaxing neurotransmitters include serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).The neurotransmitter serotonin is produced from the amino acid tryptophan. GABA is produced from the amino aid glutamine.
Nutritional Deficiencies
Metabolizing antidepressants uses up essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids and can create nutritional deficiencies. These deficiencies then lead to further symptoms, including depression. Some individuals do notice an improvement for a period of time but then their nutritional deficiencies begin to rob them of what little serotonin they have left. Once their serotonin is used up, they are left to try yet another antidepressant.
Medical science has now determined that how we feel is largely controlled by the foods we eat and how well these building blocks are converted into neurotransmitters. (Remember that neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that control our moods.) The brain needs adequate amino acids for the production of neurotransmitters.
The average American eats 125lbs of sugar each year.
“After 26 years in medicine, if I had to choose the number one food that has caused the most depression, it would be sugar.” —Sherry Rogers, MD, Depression Cured at Last
Our Happy Hormones
Serotonin, created from the amino acid tryptophan, elevates mood, reduces food cravings, increases pain threshold, promotes deep sleep, relieves tension, and calms the body.
Dopamine and norepinephrine are synthesized from the amino acid phenylalanine. They increase mental and physical alertness, reduce fatigue, and elevate mood.
Epinephrine- is a neaurotransmitter that helps increase enrgy and boost mental clarity. When low it causes depression and fatigue.
Prescriptions medications like Wellbutrin and Effexor attempt to boost the brain's level of epinephrine. However, your patients can simply take the right amino acids, L-phenyalanine or SAMe to increase their epinephrine levels.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a tripeptide made from three amino acids. It has a calming affect on the brain. You may have heard of prescription antidepressants called MAOIs, such as Nardil and Marplan. These work by increasing the effectiveness of GABA. This is another example of a gasoline additive.
Supplementing with SAMe
S-Adenosyl-methionine (SAM)- is involved in regulating the brain's neurotransmitters. Normally the brain manufactures all the SAM it needs from the amino acid methionine. However low protein diets, malabsorption and deficiencies developed from excess methionine use in certain detoxification pathways can create a need for SAM replacement. SAM has been shown through several well designed studies to be one of the best natural antidepressants available. Only its relatively high cost keep it from replacing other natural remedies.
Start with 200mg twice a day and gradually build up to a maximum of 400mg four times a day.
Not everyone will need to take the maximum dose. To reduce the amount of SAM needed, it can be combined with amino acids or St. John’s Wort.
Euthyroid Syndrome
It’s estimated that 1% of the population is suffering from hypothyroidism. This number is widely disputed. *Many scientists, researchers and physicians believe as many as 40% of the population has hypothyroidism.**
Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness by Broda O. Barnes, M.D. and Lawrence Galton.
Euthyroid is a medical term for patients who have normal thyroid blood tests but have all the symptoms associated with hypothyroidism; fatigue, low metabolism, headaches, etc.
A majority of FMS and CFS patient's complain of low thyroid symptoms. They relate that they, and sometimes even their doctors, suspected a thyroid problem only to have their blood work come back "normal." A euthyroid patient will have normal blood work but still suffer from low thyroid. Most physicians won't recommend thyroid replacement therapy if the blood tests come back "normal." Most don't know or choose not to accept the well documented studies that show a low body temperature is indicative of euthyroid hypothyroidism.
Euthyroid patients often have a problem with T4 converting into active T3. The blood tests may show normal levels, but since T4 is not being converted to T3 within the cells, fatigue and other symptoms associated with low thyroid begin to appear. Individuals taking synthetic thyroid hormones like Synthroid (T4 only) may continue to have the symptoms of low thyroid for years, in spite of normal blood tests.
A Good Night's Sleep
American s take over 5 billion sleeping pills each year. 15,000 Americans die each year from prescription sleep medications.
The Arthritis Trust of America, 7376 Walker Road, Fairview, TN 37062. Spring 2004
We've all heard that we need 8 hours of restful sleep each night. The amount of sleep an individual actually needs will vary from person to person. A 5 year old may need 11-12 hours of sleep, an adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep a night. But why is a good night's sleep so important? Poor sleep has been linked to various health problems including depression, fatigue, CFS, FMS, and headaches. Several studies have shown that a lack of sufficient sleep will cause a host of unwanted health issues.
One study showed that college students who were prevented from going into deep sleep (REM sleep) for a period of a week develop the same symptoms associated with FMS and CFS; diffuse pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, irritability, stomach disturbances, and headaches.
( P.Koch-Sheras and A. Lemley, The Dream Sourcebook ( Los Angele: Loweel House).
Serotonin is the neurotransmitter or brain chemical that is responsible for regulating your sleep (getting you to sleep), raising your pain threshold (decreasing your pain) and elevating your moods.
Many of our patients are on Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s). SSRI’s are supposed to help a patient hang onto and use their naturally occurring stores of the brain chemical serotonin. It’s like using a gasoline additive to help increase the efficiency of your cars fuel. Most of the patients I see are running on fumes and a gasoline additive won’t help. Using 5HTP is like pouring gasoline straight into your tank. You fill your brain with serotonin. No need for an additive when you can simply replace your serotonin stores anytime you get low.
Years of poor sleep create an imbalance with a persons sleep regulatory system known as the circadian rhythm. The longer someone’s sleep cycle has been compromised, the longer it usually takes for them to experience lasting symptom relief. But just a few nights of consistent deep sleep will provide a tremendous amount of improvement for most patients.
Low serotonin levels
Poor dietary habits, especially low fat (low protein) diets, are one of the main reasons people suffer from low serotonin. A healthy diet that combines complex carbohydrates, adequate protein (amino acids) and fatty acids should provide the all the nutrients needed to produce serotonin. Low protein diets rob the body of the essential amino acids needed to make serotonin.
Low fat diets
Low fat diets deprive your body of essential fatty acids; omega 3, 6 and 9. These essential fatty acids play a major role in regulating cell membrane permeability. Essential fatty acids allow brain cells to communicate with one another. Low fat diets also deprive the body of cholesterol. Contrary to popular medical fiction, cholesterol is an important part of over all health and doesn't cause (in and of itself) arteriosclerosis. Cholesterol is essential in maintaining proper hormone production. Testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), progesterone, estradiol, and cortisol are all made from cholesterol. Cholesterol plays a major role in brain cell function. Low cholesterol has been linked to certain mood disorders including depression and anxiety, as well as increased risk for heart attack.
Cholesterol and fats are the very building blocks that make-up each and every cell. Cholesterol is an important fat that helps keep cell membranes permeable. This permeability allows the good nutrients to get in and toxic waste products to get out of the cell.
Over 8% of the brain’s solid matter is made-up of cholesterol. Lipids (fat) make-up 70% of the brain. The fat insulates the brain cells and allows the neurotransmitters to communicate with one another.
Cholesterol is essential for proper brain function and to normalize neurotransmitters (remember serotonin)! A deficiency in cholesterol can result in mood disorders including depression, anxiety, irritability, and “Fibro Fog.”
Cholesterol is also involved in the production of such essential hormones as DHEA, testosterone, estradiol, progesterone, and cortisol.
Because it is essential to our very survival, the body manufactures cholesterol on a daily basis. Eliminating cholesterol from our diet only triggers the body to make more cholesterol! As we will see below cholesterol is not the villain it is made out to be. Rather a deficiency in essential fatty acids and a diet high in trans-fatty acids provides the ammunition for cardiovascular disease and poor health.
There are receptor sites on the membranes at which point the happy hormones (neurotransmitters, serotonin and others) attach themselves. Trans-fatty acids block the cellular membrane receptor sites. A blocked or hardened cellular membrane prevents nutrients from entering and exiting the cell. The neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) are then unable to attach themselves to the cells membrane. This can lead to depression, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue, A.D.D., or any disorder that involves the brain hormones (serotonin, epinephrine, dopamine, etc.).
Low calorie and low carbohydrate diets
Low calorie diets, skipping meals, and excessive low carbohydrate diets can also cause low serotonin. The amino acid L-Tryptophan competes for brain absorption along with other larger amino acid molecules. Tryptophan is like the little MG Midget sports car competing with the Sports Utility Vehicles to enter onto a crowded highway, usually size wins over style. Tryptophan needs a little bit of insulin (carbohydrate) in the blood stream to help carry it past the blood brain barrier. Once past the blood brain barrier L-Tryptophan enters the brain and turns into serotonin. This is why so many individuals with low serotonin crave sugar. After eating carbohydrates, especially starches, the body secretes the hormone insulin to counter the rise in blood sugar levels. Insulin then helps pull L-Tryptophan into the brain.
This is also why individuals will often eat when they're under stress. But these starches don’t provide the long term reserves needed to maintain adequate levels of serotonin.
Stress
Stress is another reason people become deficient in serotonin. Emotionally stressful situations cause the body to release adrenaline, cortisol and insulin. These stress hormones stimulate the brain to secrete serotonin. Long term stress and poor dietary habits can deplete the body’s serotonin stores. Stimulates, like caffeine, nicotine, chocolate, diet pills, sugar, and nicotine, cause a rapid rise in blood insulin levels. This is then followed by the brain releasing serotonin. Serotonin helps the person feel better and think clearer. This is only temporary. A stimulate high is always followed by an unwanted “low.” This then leads to further use of stimulates to keep your serotonin levels high. This is how addictions are created. People become dependant on stimulates to help them raise their serotonin levels. This addictive process causes further depletion of serotonin.
A deficiency in any of the synergistic nutrients, magnesium, B6, B12, B1, B3, and calcium, will prevent the production of serotonin. Stress can deplete the body of magnesium (a common occurrence in FMS and CFS patients) and B6. Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid can counter the effects of stress and may help spare magnesium and B6.
Exercise Helps Increase Serotonin Utilization
From Dr. Batmanghelidj’s book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, comes this quote “ There is a direct relationship between walking and the build-up of the brain Tryptophan reserves. There are several amino acids that compete for crossing the naturally designed barrier system into the brain… These competitors to Tryptophan are grouped under the title of branched-chain amino acids (BC amino acids). During exercise, these BC amino acids, along with fats, are used as fuel in the larger muscles. The muscles begin to pick up these amino acids from the circulating blood. As a result, the odds are changed in favor of Tryptophan for its passage across the blood-brain barrier.”
Numerous studies have demonstrated that depressed individuals have faulty glucose/insulin regulatory mechanisms. Other studies have clearly shown the relationship between low blood sugar and decreased mental acuity.
Hypoglycemia Protocol
Hypoglycemia is a complex set of symptoms caused by faulty carbohydrate metabolism. It is usually the result of consuming too many simple carbohydrates (sugars).
Hypoglycemia has also been shown to be a major trigger for the onset of headaches (migraines).
The following foods are not recommended for anyone with hypoglycemia or hypoadrenia tendencies.
Table sugar, maltose, honey, sucrose (fruit sugar), bananas, raisins, dates, fruit juices, apricots, beets, white flour, white potatoes, white rice, cooked corn, corn flakes, and cereals.
It’s always best to combine protein, fat and carbohydrate in each snack or meal. Avoiding simple sugars and consuming a balanced diet helps create a stable blood sugar. Eating healthy snacks throughout the day can also help keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Healthy snacks that combine protein, fat and carbohydrate include, nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.,) along with an apple, pear, or whole wheat crackers.
“Fibro Fog”
Decreased mental clarity, forgetfulness and mental fatigue usually start to disappear when an individual starts sleeping through the night. Your mental abilities will improve once you normalize your brain chemistry. Raising serotonin is first on the list and you'll notice rapid improvement once you begin taking 5HTP. If after a few weeks you are still complaining of mental fatigue, depression, low moods, or lethargy, reevaluate your Brain Function Questionnaire. More than likely you will have checked a lot of N (epinephrine) or D (dopamine) statements. You should benefit from taking SAMe along with the 5HTP.
Make sure you are taking 500mg of adrenal cortex each day. This allows you to become more resistant to stress (a major cause of depression and “fibro fog”).
Correcting the cause of mood disorders.
No one is born with a Prozac deficiency. However, people can develop a serotonin deficiency. Using a SSRI doesn’t correct the cause. If someone is out of gas(serotonin) why would you use a gasoline additive (SSRI)? Why not fill the tank (brain) up with gas (serotonin) instead?
I’ve been using amino acid replacement therapy for several years. I’ve found this approach to be far superior to using prescription medicines (in most cases) for treating mild to moderate mood disorders. I’ve treated thousands of patients with mood disorder. Over the years I’ve used various questionnaires or tests to determine which amino acids needed to be recommended. I’ve been using the questionnaire below and have found it provides a quick and accurate assessment diagnosing a person’s brain chemistry. I’ve found very few problems with mixing them with prescription anti-depressants.
Please see Brain Function Questionnaire here
Amino Acids and Orthomolecular Medicine
A New Kind of Medicine
A group of progressive-minded physicians have helped pioneer a new way of treating mental disorders.
In 1968, Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, PhD, originated the term “orthomolecular” to describe an approach to medicine that uses naturally occurring substances normally present in the body. “Ortho” means correct or normal, and orthomolecular physicians recognize that, in many cases of physiological and psychological disorders, health can be reestablished by properly correcting—normalizing—the balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and similar substances within the body. Like their more conventional colleagues, orthomolecular physicians acknowledge that mental disorders originate from faulty brain chemistry. However, they rely less on prescription medications and more on treating nutritional deficiencies, restoring nutrients to optimal levels to correct neurotransmitter dysfunctions.
The premise of orthomolecular medicine extends back to the 1920s, when vitamins and minerals were first used to treat illnesses unrelated to nutrient deficiency. During that time, it was discovered that vitamin A could prevent childhood deaths from infectious illness, and that heart arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) could be healed by dosages of magnesium.
Today, orthomolecular medicine is making some of its greatest contributions to a controversial area of medicine, psychiatric disorders. Psychiatrist and a founding father of orthomolecular medicine, Abram Hoffer, MD, along with Humphrey Osmond, MD, began using large doses of niacin to supplement traditional medical therapy when treating schizophrenics. Their treatment doubled the number of recoveries in a one-year period.
Still, many physicians neglect the role proper nutrition plays in relation to our health. The prevalent notion is that a balanced diet supplies all the nutrients needed for the body to work properly. This draconian idea flagrantly ignores the research showing up in our very own medical journals. The majority of American diets are deficient in many of the vital nutrients needed for good health. Complicating the matter is our reliance on the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for proper vitamin and mineral doses. The RDA originated in the 1940s and has had only minor increases since its beginning. Yet individuals in the 2000s are bombarded with over 500 toxic chemicals on a daily basis. And much of our food supply is processed and grown in nutritionally depleted soil. We need more nutrients to keep ourselves healthy!
And each of us is a special creation; we have different nutritional needs. Although the RDA for nutrients may prevent severe deficiency disease, orthomolecular physicians say that these levels do not provide for optimal health, and people may need many more times these levels. For example, studies of guinea pigs show a twenty-fold variation in their vitamin C requirements. Similar studies have been done in humans: children have been shown to have varying needs for vitamin B6.
Orthomolecular medicine, used alone or with prescription medications, can provide quick and lasting relief from dozens of stubborn health problems. Orthomolecular medicine relies on nutrition first; drug treatment is reserved for conditions unresponsive to nutrient therapy alone.
Orthomolecular physicians realize biochemical individuality and place no value in across-the-board RDA guidelines. Instead, megadoses of nutrients may be required to overcome dietary deficiencies.
Are Megadoses Safe?
Some argue against megavitamin treatment (“megadoses”), noting that high doses of certain vitamins can cause adverse reactions. A major study, however, that compared overdose fatalities and adverse reactions showed that too much prescription medication is cause for over 106,000 deaths a year. In comparison, the total number of deaths from vitamin/mineral therapy between 1983 and 1990 was zero.
Problems can occur with megavitamin or herbal therapy, but if symptoms arise, reducing or stopping the therapy will almost always terminate any side-effects. It’s important to work with a physician who specializes in vitamin/mineral or herbal therapies. In the three years we’ve been using orthomolecular doses of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids—both intravenously and orally—we have not seen a single major side-effect.
The amino acids tryptophan, phenylalanine, and glutamine can all be used to successfully treat depression, anxiety, and mental fatigue.
Other helpful Supplements
• St. John’s wort is a perennial plant native to Great Britain and northern Europe. It has antibacterial, antidepressant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory abilities but has received the most attention for its use in treating depression. (It’s been described as “natural Prozac.”) Hypercin, along with other chemicals contained in St. John’s wort, acts as both a weak MAOI and an SSRI.
A review of 23 studies shows St. John’s wort to be as or more effective as several prescription drugs (Elavil, Zoloft, and Tofranil) in treating depression. Each year, over 60 million prescriptions for St. John’s wort are written in Germany alone. Dosage is standardized (.3% hypericin) 300 mg. 3 times daily.
St. John’s wort should not be taken along with prescription antidepressant medications, unless you are working with a knowledgeable physician. It may also increase the potential for sunburn, especially if taken with Propulsid, Previcid, Feldane, or sulfa drugs. You may wish to consult your physician about taking St. John’s wort along with Ultram. St. John’s wort may decrease the effectiveness of certain medications, including digoxin, Coumadin, theophylline, birth control pills, and cyclosporine.
• S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM) is involved in regulating the brain’s neurotransmitters. Normally the brain manufactures all the SAM it needs from the amino acid methionine. However, low-protein diets, malabsorption, and deficiencies can create a need for SAM replacement. SAM has been shown through several well designed studies to be one of the best natural antidepressants available. Only its relatively high cost keeps it from replacing other natural remedies.
Start with 200 mg. twice daily, and gradually build up to a maximum of 400 mg. four times daily. Not everyone will need to take the maximum dose. To reduce the amount of SAM needed, combine it with amino acids or St. John’s Wort.
I’m recommending SAMe more and more. I find that patients don’t need but 200-400mg when taking the other core supplements I recommend. I also find that SAMe seems to work faster and perhaps better than L-phenylalanine to boost epinephrine levels. It seems to stabilize serotonin and epinephrine levels. I’ve had several patients comment that after they started taking SAMe something kind of shifted and they felt better overall, better than they had felt in a long time.
Not all SAMe is created equally. The price has come down for SAMe but it is still around $30 for 30 200mg talets. Your patients will be tempted to buy their SAMe at Walmart or other discont stores. This is a mistake. SAMe starts to deteriate rather quickly when exposed to air. It needs to be bubble vacuum packed. I use SAMe that comes from Italy. I’ve found it far superior to any other I’ve tried. I think this is why I’m getting such good results.
Reducing Fibro Fog
• L-acetylcarnitine (LAC) reduces brain fog. It is a more active form of the amino acid carnitine. Studies have shown it to be valuable in helping decrease depression and increase mental acuity, especially memory enhancement.
LAC tends to be expensive, and you might want to try a formula that contains several brain-boosting nutrients. ProThera makes a product called NeuroThera, which I recommend. NeuroThera contains phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, LAC, ginkgo biloba, and other brain-boosting nutrients.
• Phosphatidylserine reduces brain fog and is the major phospholipid in the brain. It regulates the fluidity of the brain cells, allowing nutrients in and toxins out. It plays a key role in allowing brain cells (neurotransmitters) to communicate with one another. A deficiency of SAMe will create a deficiency of phosphatidylserine.
Essential Therapeutics Fibro Fog Formula
Final Comments
Brain fog, mental fatigue, and mood disorders usually begin to improve once you begin taking 5HTP and start to sleep through the night. Make sure you are taking a good optimal daily allowance multivitamin/mineral formula along with fish oil, and a free form amino acid blend.
Make sure you are taking adrenal cortex if needed.
Amino acid replacement therapy offers a safe and quick way normalize your brain chemistry. Use the Brain Function Questionnaire for guidance.
Consider using SAMe to boost epinephrine levels when indicated.
It is important to address the whole body and correct any and all of these potential causes.
• Keep your DHEA levels in the “high-normal” range (250-300).
• Correct any thyroid disorders
• Uncover and avoid any food allergies.
Notes
1 Source: Roubenoff R et al. “Malnutrition among hospitalized patients: problems of physician awareness.” Arch Intern Med; 1987
2 Source: Tired or Toxic? by Sherry A. Rogers; 1990
3 Natural sources of L-tryptophan include milk, cheese, meat, ham, peanuts, and cottage cheese. All of these are very high in calories and cholesterol. So, if you want to use food sources, supplement small amounts, along with the serotonin-production catalysts: calcium, magnesium, and trace chromium.
4 If you aren’t dreaming at night, you’re probably deficient in B6. If you’re taking up to 250 mg. of B6 in the form of pyridoxine and still not having dreams (whether you remember them is not important), switch to taking 50–150 mg. of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (an easier-to-absorb form of B6).
Resources
• Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry by Carl Curt Pfeiffer; 1988
• The Ultimate Nutrient: Glutamine by Judy Shabert and Nancy Ehrlich; 1994
• Healing the Mind the Natural Way by Pat Lazarus; 1995
• Anxiety Epidemic by Billie J. Sahley; 1994
• Essential Guide to Psychiatric Drugs by Jack M.Gorman, MD; 1998
• Botanical Influences on Illness by Melvyn R. Werbach, MD, and Michael T. Murray, ND; 2000
• Orthomolecular Medicine for Physicians by Abram Hoffer; 1997
