The New Bible Cure for Depression & Anxiety (7 page)

But not all fats are created equal. I like to group fats into three categories: beneficial fats, toxic fats, and fats that are allowable in moderation. I discuss this topic in detail in
The Seven Pillars of Health
, but let’s look at each of these fats.

Beneficial fats

Beneficial fats that can help prevent the development of depression include omega-3 fatty acid. More than 60 percent of the human brain consists of fat, and approximately one-third of the brain’s fat is composed of these beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3s create strong cell membranes. For nerve cells to function properly, the brain must have healthy, well-functioning cell membranes. This will directly influence neurotransmitter synthesis and affect levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. Serotonin levels are directly related to your mood; I will explain how this works later in this chapter. For now, understand that omega-3s are a key to fighting depression and anxiety.

As you may be aware, these beneficial fatty acids are found primarily in fish. However, I recommend using caution with regular consumption of fish, since it is being contaminated more and more with toxins such as mercury and PCBs. Fish that are still acceptable for consumption once or twice a week include wild Alaskan or Pacific salmon, mahimahi, sardines, rainbow trout, and tongol tuna.

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Health Tip

Although I do not recommend eating everything on this list, below are fish that have the least mercury content:

Another great dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids is flaxseeds. Grinding the flaxseed makes it easy to consume in a number of different ways: eating it by the spoonful; mixing it into cereals or fruit shakes; or adding it to the ground meal of muffins, breads, and other baked goods. You can replace a few tablespoons of flour in your recipes with ground flaxseed without noticeably changing the taste or texture of your baked goods.

However, don’t use flaxseed oil for cooking! Cooking with flaxseed oil oxidizes the oil and forms a very dangerous fat. I throw the bottle out after a month since it is very prone to oxidation after it has been opened.

I’ve mentioned dietary sources of omega-3 fats; however, most humans only convert a very small amount of flaxseed oil into EPA and DHA, which are the most important omega-3 fats in supporting brain health and decreasing inflammation. These fats actually improve neurotransmitter receptor sites (where they bind in the brain) by making the receptors more flexible. Low DHA levels are linked to low brain serotonin levels, which are related to an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide.

Because it is so difficult for our bodies to convert omega-3 fats from foods into EPA and DHA, coupled with the fact that most fish are becoming more and more contaminated with pesticides, I commonly recommend pharmaceutical-grade fish oil supplements in place of eating fish on a regular basis. (See
Appendix B
for fish oil [omega-3] supplements I recommend.)

I believe it is extremely important to put children—even young children—on EPA and DHA supplements because EPA and DHA are essential for healthy brain development. Research also shows that supplementation with high-dose EPA and DHA concentrates can significantly improve the behavior of children with ADHD.
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Some infant formulas are now supplementing with these important fats for brain health. You can also buy EPA/DHA supplements and follow the appropriate dosage instructions for children.

The average intake of EPA/DHA in North America is approximately 130 mg a day, but this is less than 40 percent of the 500 mg a day that is recommended by the American Heart Association in their 2010 Dietary Guidelines.
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Many physicians recommend doses of EPA/DHA of 1,000 mg to 2,000 mg a day of total omega-3 fats for our support for mood and brain health. However, some clinical studies that suggested that between 1,000 mg to 4,000 mg or more of omega-3 is needed to improve the mood in those with severe depression. I often prescribe between 1,000 mg and 4,000 mg to my patients, depending on what I am treating. (See
Appendix B
for more information.)

Toxic fats

Trans fatty acids or hydrogenated fats are toxic fats, which unfortunately are still being served in many restaurant foods and sold in many grocery stores throughout America. The good news is that processed food manufacturers now have to include on their food label the amount of trans fats in the food.

The bad news, however, is that if the food contains 500 mg or less of trans fats per serving, it can be listed as zero on the food label. Realize that any amount of trans fats in the body is toxic to not only the body but also the brain.

It is critically important that you eliminate all trans fats from your diet. Otherwise, these toxic fats will eventually be absorbed into your brain, setting you up for depression and anxiety.

Fats allowed in moderation

To understand which fats need to be consumed in moderation, you first need to realize that the essential fatty acids are from two families: the omega-6 essential fatty acids and the omega-3 essential fatty acids. A healthy ratio of the omega-6 to omega-3 is about 4 to 1. However, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the standard American diet is closer to 20 to 1. When this ratio is out of balance, it sets the stage for inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, allergies, skin diseases, and emotional diseases, including depression and anxiety. Maintaining this delicate ratio is why I say that omega-6s are fats that are needed in moderation in our diets. When we take in too much omega-6 fatty acids, we increase our risk of depression.

The problem is that the standard American diet is chock-full of omega-6 fatty acids. They are commonly found in salad dressings, cooking oils (corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil), and processed foods like potato chips.

In addition to having higher omega-6 content in our foods, we have lowered the amount of omega-3 content in our foods. When America went on the low-fat diet craze approximately twenty-five years ago, we threw out almost all fats—including even good omega-3 fats. Research has shown that coinciding with the low-fat diet craze was an increase in depression.
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Serotonin-boosting Snacks

Now that I’ve discussed the foods to avoid because they will worsen depression and anxiety, allow me to share some of the things you can eat to boost your serotonin and alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Since maintaining a steady blood sugar level is a key to keeping your mood from fluctuating, snacking is important. Even if you eat three healthy meals a day, if you eat the wrong snacks, you set yourself up for trouble. You must choose the right snack at the right time.

To boost serotonin levels I recommend one or two snacks each day. About three hours after lunch, eat a mix of approximately 30–40 grams of a starchy whole-grain carbohydrate with less than 3 grams of fat and less than 3 grams of protein. Although this seems like a scarce amount of protein, this is because too much protein can interfere with serotonin production. If you are trying to lose weight, you can decrease the carbohydrate grams in your snack from 30–40 grams to 25–30 grams, and eventually to only 20–25 grams. These snacks should be eaten on an empty stomach in less than ten minutes, and can be eaten again an hour before dinner if needed. Keep in mind that it usually takes about thirty minutes for the serotonin effect to improve your mood. If you have weight problems, you can take either 5-HTP or L-tryptophan as described in the next chapter. You can also eat snacks that are 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fat that are listed in my upcoming book
Dr. Colbert’s “I Can Do This” Diet.

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Health Tip

Brain-boosting Snacks

Any of these snacks will jump-start your brain’s serotonin levels. (These snacks help to raise serotonin levels in the brain.)

• Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Chewy Bar
  
• Fiber One Oats and Peanut Butter Chewy Bar
  
• Fat-free pretzels (one and a half ounces)
  
• Rice cakes, regular size (four pieces)
  

Once you figure out the snack that works best for you, I recommend that you put the amount equal to 30–40 grams of the snack in a resealable plastic bag. Then carry the bag with you in your car, purse, or briefcase. By eating these snacks at the specified times, along with healthy meals that consist of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, good fats, and lean meats, you will not only boost your serotonin levels, but you’ll also alleviate your cravings for unhealthy snacks and comfort foods (like a whole tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream). Do not choose a snack that you find irresistible and will overeat.

We have explored how proper nutrition can help us move from depression to joy-filled living. As you determine to eat right, pray for the strength to choose the right foods.

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Prayer for You

Almighty God, empower me spiritually to take control over my appetite so that what I eat helps my body overcome depression. Remove from me the desire for foods and thoughts that fuel depression. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may discern and decide to eat and think right so that Your Spirit of joy will replace any spiritual heaviness in me. Amen.

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Prescription

Your Diet to Overcome Depression

In this chapter we have discovered that certain foods can help us overcome depression. Make a short list of foods you will begin including regularly in your diet:

What type of tea will you choose to begin drinking, and how many cups a day will you drink?

Describe how you will begin to limit sugar intake:

Describe how you will begin to limit fat intake:

Chapter 5: Joy-filled Living With Nutritional Supplementation

God has created wonderful natural substances that can help you overcome depression: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs. These powerful substances are readily available in health food stores. Although they are no substitute for consulting a physician or professional counseling, they will usually help you to overcome depression.

I’ve discovered that most people believe we get all the nutrients that we need from the standard American diet; however, this is simply not true. I find in my practice that nutritional deficiencies are quite common, especially in those with depression and anxiety. The standard American diet consists of fast food, sodas, junk foods, and processed foods that are usually very high in sugar and carbohydrates and low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These junk foods deplete our bodies of certain vitamins and minerals.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Three specific nutrient deficiencies have been associated with depression and anxiety: the B vitamins, magnesium, and chromium. I believe that in order to alleviate both depression and anxiety, it is important to take a good comprehensive multivitamin that contains the B vitamins, magnesium, and chromium that will enable your body to make the necessary neurotransmitters, or “feel-good chemicals,” to begin to change your mood. A comprehensive multivitamin and omega-3 fatty acid supplement, along with a healthy diet, provide the foundation for changing your mood. Let me discuss each nutrient briefly and then give you my specific recommendations for supplementing.

The B vitamin family

There are eight essential B vitamins, and these are important in patients who have depression and anxiety. Vitamin B-6 is extremely important in patients with depression and anxiety because it is critical to the synthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine increase the risk of depression. However, three B vitamins—B-6, B-12, and folic acid—generally lower the homocysteine levels. These B vitamins also function as “methyl donors,” which are absolutely necessary for human neurotransmitters to function efficiently.

Researchers have found that depressed patients are commonly deficient in B-6, B-12, and folic acid. I have found that vitamin B-6 levels are especially low in women on birth control pills. To insure you have adequate amounts of B-6, as well as the other important B vitamins, take approximately 800 mcg of folic acid, 500 mcg of B-12, and 2–10 mg of B-6. Good comprehensive multivitamins will contain adequate amounts of these important B vitamins. (Please see
Appendix B
for more information.)

Magnesium

Almost 70 percent of Americans are not consuming adequate amounts of magnesium in their diets.
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Magnesium is very important for more than three hundred enzymatic reactions in the body. It also helps prevent muscle spasms, heart attacks, and restless legs syndrome, and it relaxes muscles. Magnesium may also help reduce nervousness and anxiety and may help you to sleep, especially if it is taken at bedtime. If you suffer from muscle spasms, eye twitches, jittery feelings, and anxiety, it is highly likely that you are not taking sufficient amounts of magnesium.

I typically recommend approximately 300–400 mg of magnesium a day; however, higher doses than this may cause diarrhea. Magnesium is found in seeds, nuts, dark green leafy vegetables, grains, and legumes. Good comprehensive multivitamins will usually contain adequate amounts of magnesium. (See
Appendix B
.)

Chromium

Chromium is an important mineral that helps to stabilize blood sugar levels as well as insulin levels. This in turn may help with mood swings triggered by hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Again, realize that the standard American diet with fast foods, junk foods, and excessive sugars depletes this very important mineral from our bodies. I prescribe at least 200 mcg.

Antidepressants vs. Natural Supplements

According to a recent study, the number of Americans taking antidepressants doubled from 1996 to 2005, with approximately 10 percent of Americans using these medications. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil are the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants.
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Prozac and other SSRIs only prevent the reuptake of serotonin by the brain and do nothing about increasing the supply of other neurotransmitters. These drugs are also known to have side effects, which include suicide, loss or decrease of sex drive, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, diarrhea, headaches, sweating, tremors, skin rashes, and drowsiness.

Prozac and other antidepressants can also cause sexual dysfunction, including the inability to achieve or sustain an erection in men and the inability to achieve orgasm in both men and women.

Some newer drugs called serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), such as Effexor XR and Cymbalta, are also commonly prescribed, but again, I find that these have many undesirable side effects.

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Health Tip

The Truth About Psychotropic Drugs

For an eye-opening report on the disturbing reality of the antidepressant drug industry and what it is doing to our homes and families, I encourage you to get a copy of the documentary
Making a Killing
, produced by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights at
www.cchr.org
.

These are the main reasons I believe natural supplements are the better way to go in treating depression and anxiety. However, if you are on any of these medications, do not make any changes without first consulting your physician. Never just stop a psychotropic medication, but with the help of your doctor, begin to slowly wean off if it is recommended.

Supplements for Depression

Let’s go over the natural supplement protocol I recommend specifically for arming yourself against depression.

SAM-e (S-adenosyl methionine)

SAM-e is the natural form of the amino acid methionine that has been sold as an antidepressant medication in Europe for more than twenty years. SAM-e not only works as an antidepressant with few or no side effects, but it also may improve cognitive function and is useful in treating osteoarthritis as well as liver disease.

Numerous studies have shown the efficacy of SAM-e in treating the symptoms of depression. SAM-e actually helps to raise the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain.

Many physicians, especially in Europe, believe that SAM-e is just as effective as standard antidepressant drugs in treating depression. In fact, in 2003, after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviewed one hundred clinical trials on SAM-e, it concluded that SAM-e works as well as many prescription medications without the side effects.
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SAM-e must be taken on an empty stomach. I usually recommend starting on low doses of 200 mg twice a day on an empty stomach, and gradually working up to 400 mg to 800 mg twice a day on an empty stomach, usually about thirty minutes before meals. This supplement is somewhat expensive. Please take a multivitamin with adequate amounts of B-6, B-12, and folic acid to avoid elevated levels of the toxic amino acid homocysteine.

5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and L-tryptophan

The amino acid called 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) was discovered in the 1990s and is derived from the seed of the
griffonia simplicifolia
plant from Africa. Its processing does not involve fermentation, and the seed is a natural source. 5-hydroxytryptophan is produced in the body when the amino acid L-tryptophan combines with vitamin C.

L-tryptophan and 5-HTP help to restore the levels of the important neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps alleviate depression and anxiety by regulating mood, behavior, appetite, and sleep.

There are several reasons I feel 5-HTP is superior to L-tryptophan. Researchers have found that in clinical trials, approximately 70 percent of 5-HTP administered orally is absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
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This means that 5-HTP tends to be absorbed better than L-tryptophan. This also means that it is not necessary to take as high a dose of 5-HTP as tryptophan since more of it is delivered to the brain. Also, 5-HTP is a step closer to the formation of serotonin than tryptophan. And lastly, 5-HTP is able to raise the level of all monoamine neurotransmitters, which include norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, melatonin, and serotonin.

L-tryptophan and 5-HTP are also quite effective in treating depression, which is usually associated with low serotonin levels. The normal dose of 5-HTP is 50 mg three times a day with meals or 150 mg at bedtime. However, after a few weeks, you may increase the dose to 100 mg three times a day with meals or 300 mg at bedtime. You should not take 5-HTP with any other antidepressants, such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil.

L-tryptophan usually comes in a 500-mg dose. I usually recommend taking two to three capsules at bedtime. I recommend USP pharmaceutical grade, especially with L-tryptophan since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked a contaminated batch of L-tryptophan to a rare blood disorder called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), which was responsible for multiple deaths in 1989. It was taken off the market for a while, but has since been reapproved for use. Do not take both L-tryptophan and 5-HTP except under the supervision of a physician. It usually takes about three to four weeks to feel the benefits of these powerful amino acids.

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Health Fact

Caution About SSRIs and MAO-Inhibitors

WARNING! Be careful if you are taking SSRI medications with either 5-HTP or tryptophan. There is a condition known as serotonin syndrome, characterized by restlessness, tremors and shivering, agitation, confusion, delirium, rapid heartbeat, diaphoresis, hyperreflexia, blood pressure fluctuations, and myoclonus. You are more prone to serotonin syndrome if you take an MAO-inhibitor drug with either 5-HTP or L-tryptophan, or if you are taking an SSRI medication with high doses of either 5-HTP or L-tryptophan. For this reason, please consult with your medical practitioner before taking 5-HTP or L-tryptophan if you are taking an SSRI medication, and do not take either 5-HTP or L-tryptophan if you are taking an MAO-inhibitor.

L-tyrosine

L-tyrosine
is an amino acid that is eventually converted to dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, which are neurotransmitters. Over the years, I have found that higher doses of L-tyrosine are fairly effective in treating some cases of depression.

I usually start patients on L-tyrosine at 500 mg, thirty minutes before breakfast and thirty minutes before lunch. I gradually increase the dose and find that 1,000 mg to 1,500 mg of L-tyrosine twice a day, thirty minutes before breakfast and lunch, is usually effective for many individuals with depression.

Be sure and take 10 mg of vitamin B-6 after taking L-tyrosine. Also, some people taking L-tyrosine benefit from taking an additional 500–1,000 mcg a day of sublingual B-12.

D,L-phenylalanine
is another amino acid that is converted to tyrosine and leads to the production of neurotransmitters. Both tyrosine and phenylalanine have mood-elevating properties and may be beneficial along with 5-HTP. The dose of D,L-phenylalanine is two 500-mg capsules in the morning on an empty stomach and one 500-mg capsule later in the afternoon on an empty stomach.

St. John’s wort

St. John’s wort
is an herb that has been used for centuries to treat both depression and anxiety, with its medicinal uses first recorded in ancient Greece.

An analysis of thirty-seven clinical trials concluded that St. John’s wort may only provide minimal beneficial effects on
major
depression; the clinical trials also found that St. John’s wort may be of greater benefit for people with
minor
depression. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institute of Health (NIH), cofunders of one of these clinical trials, found that St. John’s wort was no more effective than a placebo when treating major depression of moderate severity.
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Therefore, I do not recommend St. John’s wort for major depression. However, for mild depression or dysthymia, I usually recommend 300 mg of St. John’s wort, three times a day. If this is not effective after about three to four weeks, I usually have my patients double it to 600 mg, three times a day. If patients do not see any benefits after two months, it probably will not help the depression. I must caution you not to take St. John’s wort with any other antidepressants.

Supplements for Anxiety

Now, I’d like to discuss a natural supplement protocol I recommend specifically for arming yourself against anxiety.

L-theanine