This document discusses how depression can be lifted through nutrition and exercise without medication. It outlines various signs of depression and potential causes such as life stress, nutritional deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances. Low serotonin levels are linked to depression, and certain foods like sugar can cause serotonin crashes and cravings that worsen symptoms. Supplementing nutrients that support neurotransmitters like vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids can help lift depression. Lifestyle habits like a whole foods diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management are also recommended beyond supplementation alone.

1. Lifting Depression
With Nutrition & Exercise

2. What is depression?
Normal to feel low sometimes
Grief, loss of a loved one, etc part of life
Lingering Depression not healthy and can be
lifted without medication

3. Signs
Sleep too little or too much
Exhaustion / no energy
Poor concentration / focus
Low sex drive
Hopelessness, helplessness, unworthiness

4. Signs
Can’t control negative thoughts
Loss of appetite or huge appetite / cravings
Irritable / short tempered / aggressive
Loss of interest in hobbies / friends
Interferes with your ability to live life fully

5. Signs
No blood test or biological marker that your
doctor can do which says “You are officially
depressed”
Depression is a sign that we are unhealthy

6. Causes
Life events / Stress (Finances, etc)
Loss of loved one
Chemical imbalance (Brain)
Nutritional deficiency / Food allergy
Hormonal imbalance
Environmental toxins
Co-morbidity (Cancer, Parkinson’s...)

7. Cytokines produced
during inflammation
Cytokines leads to
deficiencies in
neurotransmitters by
continuously stimulating
their release
Several studies show
high levels of cytokines
= depression
Overactive immune
system might be a
cause

8. Brain is made up of billions of brain cells
via chemical messengers called
neurotransmitters
◦ Serotonin and beta-endorphin affect mood
◦ Beta-endorphin affects physical and
emotional pain
◦ Serotonin deals with mood and behavior
◦ Serotonin directly affects impulse control,
irritability, isolation and depression.

9. Brain is always striving for balance of chemicals
◦ DOWNREGULATION – receiving too much of any
given message confuses the brain. This is what
causes people to develop a tolerance to a drug.
◦ UPREGULATION – brain opens up more receptors so
that it can get more hits.
◦ Sugar sensitivity and natural low levels of serotonin
create problems, especially for those taking anti-
depressants.
◦ Children of alcoholics are mostly all sugar-sensitive
people and this may lead to addiction of drugs and
alcohol.
◦ WITHDRAWAL – headaches, irritability, diarrhea, joint
pain and flulike symptoms experienced from not
receiving substances such as alcohol or sugar. This
causes further cravings and dysfunction.

10. Low levels of Serotonin
Impulsiveness, bad choices
◦ Can make you feel depressed and crave simple
carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, or candy
◦ Brain will do whatever it can to increase the
serotonin and the cravings for foods that will
raise your serotonin levels and that means
devouring anything in it’s pathway leading to
further insulin surges and eventual dramatic
declines that cause you to lose energy and lead
to depressive feelings

11. Antidepressants

12. Antidepressants
Allopathic: antidepressant drug to raise low serotonin levels
◦ Increases the amount of serotonin received by the neuroreceptors
◦ SSRI such as Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Celexa, Zoloft turn off reuptake pumps
◦ Prozac and Seroxat may cause aggressive and suicidal behavior in 25% of
the patients according to a clinical trial
◦ Side effects are many and can be severe and/or may lead to death,
especially in the case of MAOI users as it interacts with some substances
such as yeast, alcohol and caffeine.
◦ Should be monitored by a psychiatrist if you take these medications
◦ While not technically addictive, 50% experience alarming withdrawal
symptoms

13. Recent Study
For the study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,
researchers randomly assigned 156 depression patients to either take
the antidepressant drug Sertraline (Zoloft) daily for 16 weeks; a form of
psychotherapy called supportive-expressive therapy twice a week for
four weeks, then weekly for 12 weeks; or take inactive placebo pills for
16 weeks.
At the conclusion of the study period, researchers reported virtually no
difference at all among the groups in how depression patients responded to
their treatments -- roughly 25 percent from each group saw an improvement in
their depression symptoms, while the rest continued to struggle with their
symptoms.

14. Placebo Effect

15. DTCA
Dr David Healey
Dr Duane Graveline

16. Coming off
antidepressants
Titrate up slowly on
nutrients and down on
meds, with an M.D.

17. Prescription drugs which
cause depression
Corticosteroids
Lioresal
Bromocriptine
Capoten
Tagamet
Synthroid
MAOIs
Ritalin

18. Prescription drugs which
cause depression
Opioids
Yohimbine
Calcium-channel blockers
Barbiturates
Benzodiazepines
Beta-adrenergic blockers
A class of female hormones often used in hormone replacement therapy

19. Prescription drugs which
cause depression
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics
Statins
Mevacor
Accutane
Narcotics
Norplant (birth control)
Mercury
Antipsychotics

20. Lifting Depression

21. Almost every single
vitamin and mineral has
a link to depression

22. Brain boosting foods
Balance your glucose - food for the brain
EFAs - the brain is 60% fat by solid mass
Phospholipids - memory molecules
Amino acids - brain’s messengers
Intelligent nutrients - fine tune the mind

23. Amino Acids
Building blocks of
protein
Found in all raw fresh
produce
Found in all protein
sources
Damaged through heat
and cooking

24. Gut-Brain Connection
100 million neurons in the
gut
(Neuron is a nerve cell
which makes up brain and
spinal cord)
95% of the serotonin
created by our bodies is
created in our guts. Other
5% in brain.
“Trust your gut”

25. Healthy Gut
Need to cultivate “good bacteria” and minimize
“bad bacteria”
Probiotics (supplements / fermented food)
1 can of coke eliminates all the good bacteria
in your gut
Sugar feeds “bad bacteria”

26. AVOID Antacids - these can cause depression
because they interfere with gut, stomach acid,
and makes it more difficult for nutrients to be
absorbed into small intestine. A nutrient
deficiency is a cause of depression.
Tums, Mylanta
Maalox, Gaviscon
Pepto Bismol
Rolaids, Alka-Seltzer
Milk of Magnesia

27. Nutrient cofactors for
neurotransmitters
Vitamin A, Bs,
C, D, E
Zinc, Copper,
Magnesium,
Calcium, Iron
Selenium,
Chromium

28. Golden Rules
Eat whole, real foods - nothing processed
“If man makes it, don’t eat it”
Junk food = depression food
Cut out foods with added sugar
Sugar leeches nutrients, removes protein
from body, leads to negative thoughts
Raw Vegetables & Fruits are critical

29. Golden Rules
Essential fatty acids
chia seeds, hemp
seeds/oil, flax seeds/
oil, blue-green algae
seeds: pumpkin,
sunflower, sesame
Avoid fried food

30. Get tested
Get a full test of which
nutrients deficient in
Get a full food & toxin
allergy test
Get tested for toxic metals
(i.e. hair test)
Solving those problems
can sometimes lift
depression alone

31. Supplements
Zinc - 25mg zinc given to people on
antidepressants reduced depression more
than antidepressants alone

32. Avoid
Artificial Sweeteners; Neurotoxins, causes mental confusion, depression and
anxiety
◦ Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) affects neurological pathways and may lead
to depression
◦ Trans fats, causes inflammation in the body (and brain)
◦ Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are
preservatives (found in some cereals, chips, vegetable oils) that affect the
neurological system of the brain, altering behavior.
◦ Red dye #3 and #40, found in many foods and cosmetics, interfere with
brain-nerve transmission
◦ Yellow #6 and yellow tartrazine, increases adrenal gland tumors which affect
anxiety and depression

33. Herbs to consider
Ashwanganda Root – an adaptogen that helps you to adapt to
stress
◦ Passionflower – mild sedative, encourages deep sleep
◦ Chamomile – gentle calming herb. Great for insomnia.
◦ Hops- nervine relaxant, sedative. Good for anxiety.
◦ Jamaican Dogwood –for sleep, anxiety
◦ Kava-Kava – relaxes mind and body, for stress and anxiety
◦ Linden – mild tonic for nervousness, anxiety, insomnia
◦ Valerian Root – “nature’s valium, for anxiety, insomnia
◦ Holy Basil – for anxiety, stress, insomnia
◦ St. John’s Wort (hypericum) – has both serotonin and melatonin-
enhancing effects, excellent sleep regulator and used as an anti-
depressant

34. Beyond Food
Exercise, 30 minutes
daily
◦ Guided self-help
(keeping a journal)
◦ Counselling
(psychotherapy)
◦ Meditation

35. Beyond Food
◦ Deep Breathing
Exercises – breathing to
reduce stress
◦ Brain Music – uses
rhythmic patterns
◦ Sleep – 7-9 hours of
deep sleep, no more – no
less
◦ Laughter & Sex

36. More to be posted...