Views:
4,432
Published:
14 years ago
Re: Im close again
I agree completely with you view on benzos and alcohol, and you might also
add caffeine to the group. Caffeine tends to take one from highs to lows
with a lot of anxiety thrown in, particularly in large quantities. I
personally think these recent "power drinks" like Red Bull are
absolutely insane.
Omega 3 supplements have been shown in clinical studies to reduce depression
and anxieties. Our early ancestors ingested a ratio of 1:1 Omega 6 to
Omega 3. Currently our normal diet gets from 20:1 to 50:1 Omega 6 to
3. The Inuit have (before the introduction of Western diet) a diet ratio
of 1:1 and their food source is primarily animals from the sea with very few vegetables.
Fish oil and cod liver oil are the best sources of Omega 3 and they have a ratio
of 2:1 - flax oil has a ratio of 6:1 and is not as beneficial. It often
takes a while for the benefits of Omega 3 to manifest relative to depression and
the studies that I've seen use mega doses in the area of 6000 mg and higher, but
it is cheap, particularly in relation to prescription drugs.
Another supplement that has been used in Europe to treat depression for more
than 40 years is SAM-e.
From http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/cod-liver-oil.htm
Cod liver oil
and depression
Research
has found that people who suffer from depression who received a daily
dose of 1 gram of an omega-3 fatty acid such as cod liver oil for 12
weeks experienced a decrease in their symptoms, such as anxiety, sadness
and sleeping problems
All the
patients had already tried prescription drugs before enrolling in the
study, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as
Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac, or drugs from an older family of drugs called
tricyclic antidepressants, all of which are considered standard
treatments for depression.
Previous
studies have suggested that the balance of omega-3 fatty acids in the
brain may be skewed in people with depression, and earlier studies have
shown that cod liver oil and fish oil supplements can help alleviate the
symptoms of depression and schizophrenia.
If you
suffer from depression, I would also recommend you look into SAM-E which
has been used for 20 years in Europe to treat depression and is very
effective.
If the
relationship between depression and omega 3 fatty acid interests you, I
would highly recommend Dr. Stoll's book "The Omega-3
Connection". Dr. Stoll is a Harvard psychiatrist who has done a
good job of compiling the evidence supporting the use of cod liver oil
and fish oil to treat depression.
If you
take your omega 3 in liquid form, as opposed to capsules, the dose for
both the cod liver oil or fish oil liquid should be about 1-2 teaspoons
per day. This is a good initial dose for most people but if you notice
any belching, it is likely that your gallbladder is not digesting the
oil properly and you may need to take a high potency enzyme with plenty
of the fat digesting enzyme lipase.
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From: http://www.smart-drugs.net/depression-SAMe.htm
SAMe -
Supplementation
Supplementation with SAMe was
shown to reverse many symptoms associated with depression, such as low mood,
tiredness (5), and anxiety or stress (8). When depressed patients are treated
with- SAMe, they exhibit an increase of the levels of SAMe in their blood and
cerebro-spinal fluid (9).
Depressed patients frequently
turn to alcohol for relief of their problems but this actually worsens their
condition. Too much alcohol interferes with the production of SAMe.
Without SAMe protection, the liver becomes more susceptible to toxic damage.
Also, the resulting reduction of SAMe worsens depression, creating a catch-22
situation. Thus, SAMe
supplements not only protects the liver against alcohol-related damage, but also
reduces alcohol-related depression (10).