Traditional Okinawa = one of the world's "Blue Zones"
"While the average life expectancy in the United States is 76.4 years, it’s 84 years old in Japan – and five times as many people from Okinawa live to be 100 years as their peers in the rest of the country" (Link). The traditional Okinawan diet includes soy, beans, sweet potatoes, green tea and fish (among other foods).
How much fish do Okinawans eat?
"The traditional Okinawa diet actually only includesthree servings of fish per week.Consuming these omega-3s boasts many anti-inflammatory benefits, including supporting healthy blood pressure, heart health, and brain function" (Link).
Omega 3 deficiency problems:
Now let's look at a single case study of a long-term raw vegan who had a stroke (anecdotal evidence, I know). When they looked at his blood, they found that his omega 3's were incredibly low. Here's the video.
At about 30 minutes into the above video, Mr. Norman discusses how algae supplements are often inferior, simply because it's hard to find the deep sea types of algae that salmon often eat. Also, hexane is often used in processing the oil from the algae. Of course, some algae supplements are better than others.
Humans have eaten fish throughout history, evidenced by our need for omega 3 fatty acids, B12, iodine and many other foods. Sure, some people do great on a vegan diet. However, others do far better eating our ancestral and "species specific" diet that includes some animal products (such as wild caught fish).
Here's a link where RFK talks about eating Northern Pike on a daily basis.
1) Eating wild caught fish can improve mood. Wild caught fish is high in B12, vitamin D, vitamin A, iodine and Omega 3 fatty acids. All of these things work together to improve mood (Link).
2) Eating wild caught fish can improve libido. (Link)
3) Eating wild caught fish can improve your eyes. (Link)
Do you like whales?
Did you know that whales eat roughly 5,500 pounds of fish per day (link)? Now that you know this fact... do you still like whales? I guess my point is that eating your ancestral diet (for health reasons) does not inherently make you "evil."
Coffee actually does have some nice benefits. For example, one extensive study in Korea confirmed that black, organic coffee is great for your heart (Link). Another interesting study links drinking coffee with longevity (Link).
Quitting coffee can be difficult. It can lead to pounding headaches, fatigue and even depression (Link). So, why would anyone want to go through these difficult coffee withdrawal symptoms?
Despite some of the positive aspects of drinking coffee, it also has its downsides. First of all, it is proven to be very addictive (Link).
Secondly, drinking daily coffee is associated with a caffeine crash - which can lead to a sense of exhaustion or even depression as the daily crash sets in (Link). Some coffee drinkers have also experienced irregular heartbeat, insomnia, jitters, increased anxiety, heartburn and temporary blood pressure spikes. While some people experience none of these symptoms, many people do, and feel the need to quit coffee.
But how to quit coffee?
1) Knowledge over Guilt - The link between coffee and depression is real. However, guilt and anger for having a cup of coffee is not helpful at all. Rather, realizing that coffee can rob us of our overall daily energy and mood (link), it becomes easier to quit it. Realizing the significant benefits of freedom from coffee can make it easier to get through the first few difficult days of withdrawal.
2) Switch to Swiss Water Decaf - If you love the taste of coffee, there are many organic decaf coffees available now. The "Swiss Water Process" uses natural ways to remove the caffeine in coffee, so harsh chemicals are avoided. Fortunately for us, these chemical free decaf coffees taste amazing and are becoming more popular.
3) To combat headaches, try Green Tea. Green tea has far more benefits than coffee with 25% of the caffeine (Link).
Try adding different flavors to your green tea!
4) Consider other coffee alternatives. There are many chicory and barley blends that brew like coffee and share coffee's"nutty" and "earthy" flavors. Link
Sadly, one famous drink that is often overlooked is hot chocolate. Tradition tends to give year round preference to coffee, reserving hot chocolate for cold winter nights. However, many people are starting to buck that silly tradition, replacing their morning coffee with cocoa on a daily basis. Hot chocolate has about 10-15% as much caffeine as coffee (Link) and is also good for your heart, your blood pressure, your skin and your cognitive abilities (Link).
5) During Withdrawals, Give Yourself Time For Rest. Coffee withdrawals can bring headaches as well as exhaustion. Giving yourself time to sleep, rest and simply recharge during these withdrawals may be essential. The worst withdrawals occur the first few days. So plan on quitting during a weekend when you can sleep a lot, for example.
6) Have fruit or a fruit smoothie for breakfast. The natural sugars in fruit smoothies help to boost energy while providing an excellent source of fiber, antioxidants and vitamin C. A fruit smoothie can be combined with your coffee replacement to give you the energy spike that you're looking for.
7) Cut Back Gradually. Cutting back gradually makes the headaches and other withdrawal symptoms less severe.
8) Forgive yourself if you have a cup. Remember that coffee does have health benefits, and there are worse things than drinking coffee. The decision to quit is totally your own, and many reasonable people decide that they will never quit coffee. So if you do have an occasional cup, it definitely isn't the end of the world.
9) Stop Before You Start. Withdrawal from coffee can be very painful and difficult. As the Smithsonian puts it, "Within 24 hours of quitting the drug, your withdrawal symptoms begin. Initially, they’re subtle: The first thing you notice is that you feel mentally foggy, and lack alertness. Your muscles are fatigued, even when you haven’t done anything strenuous, and you suspect that you’re more irritable than usual. Over time, an unmistakable throbbing headache sets in, making it difficult to concentrate on anything. Eventually, as your body protests having the drug taken away, you might even feel dull muscle pains, nausea and other flu-like symptoms." (Link)
In other words, why start this new addiction if you're currently free from it? Since breaking an addiction usually leads to a painful withdrawal period, it's far easier to stop before you start.
For some proven tips on how to quit coffee, check out my other post HERE
Rather than giving us energy, coffee is actually "borrowing" energy from adrenal reserves that then need to be refilled. As One significant study says, "One of the major effects [of caffeine] is to stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine and norephinephrine, resulting in an immediate boost of energy. However, in time, the adrenal glands become exhausted." And this adrenal exhaustion leads to significant fatigue. "It is our observation that most of the time fatigue is a result of diminished adrenal function or adrenal exhaustion."
On his website, New York physician Dr. Bass details how a morning caffeine boost comes at a cost. "A cup of coffee relieves a headache only to fasten the headache upon the user; it relieves depression of spirits only to double the depression when it 'wears off'. (If the primary action is stimulation, the secondary effect is depression)." (Link)
"Caffeine doesn't add energy to your system, it just burns up your reserves at a faster pace. You get a short-term boost at the expense of long-term jitters and fatigue" (The Unofficial Guide to Beating Stress by Pat Goudey, page 136).
"In effect, drinking multiple cups of coffee is telling your body that it's under dire circumstances almost all the time" (Link).
One study published in 2007 found that 52 per cent of panic-disorder patients suffered a panic attack after drinking caffeinated coffee. Conversely, the panic-disorder patients drinking decaf did not suffer panic attacks (Link).
"Caffeine does not provide energy—only chemical stimulation. The perceived "energy" comes from the body's struggle to adapt to increased blood levels of stress hormones. In most cases, this induced emergency state leads to well-defined side effects collectively known as caffeinism. Ironically, caffeinism is characterized by fatigue" (Caffeine Blues By Stephen Cherniske MS, page 10).
Personally, I have also felt the negative effects of coffee. When I drink coffee in the morning, I feel invigorated, positive and energized. Yet, as the caffeine wears off, my evenings can include lethargic and sad or even depressing feelings. Conversely, when I'm off caffeine and eating a whole foods, plant based diet, I generally feel zero depression at night. I have even kept a journal about how a plant based, caffeine free diet has effected my mood. While on this plan, I have felt incredibly happy and positive many evenings for no specific reason. When I'm drinking coffee and tea during the day, however, I have felt sad at night for no specific reason.
"When caffeine is consumed, insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar, is increased. Insulin lowers blood sugar levels, which can cause depression a few hours after you consume caffeine" (Link).
Water, juice and smoothies are great alternatives to coffee. For those who can't seem to quit caffeine altogether, green tea may be a good alternative, even if it's temporary. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee and contains theanine, which helps promote sleep (Link). This study proves the incredible relaxing effects of theanine. To discover more amazing benefits of green tea, check out my other post HERE.
Livestrong.com recommends cutting gluten out of your diet as one way avoid triggering schizophrenia:
"Mental illness often produces a sensitivity to gluten, which can result in many of the symptoms of schizophrenia. Eliminating gluten sources from your diet will reduce these issues. Gluten is present in foods that contain wheat, rye, barley and their byproducts. Read labels to be sure you are completely avoiding foods that aren't gluten-free. Common foods you will need to avoid include bread, crackers, many cereals, soy sauce, baked goods, beer and some other alcoholic drinks (Link).
Livestrong also recommends avoiding candy and other processed sugars, while adding a good multivitamin and Omega 3 supplement into your diet.
Dr. Mercola points out on his website that there is "60 Years of Research Links Gluten Grains to Schizophrenia" (Link)
One lady who suffered from schizophrenia said that the following foods triggered her schizophrenia.
Here are some of the foods that she found triggers her schizophrenia:
1) Fatsare the very very worst. When I over eat fats the voices literally scream at me.
Before 1999, the year Columbine happened, mass shootings were almost unheard of. Today they are almost commonplace, most being committed by young adults on antidepressants or anti anxiety medications. Coincidentally, young adults 18-44 are now the biggest users of prescription antidepressants and pain relievers (Link), with 18-34 year-olds leading in fatal OD's (Link). One common side effect of these medications is psychosis.
Paxil’s known “adverse drug reactions” – according to the drug’s FDA-approved label – include “mania,” “insomnia,” “anxiety,” “agitation,” “confusion,” “amnesia,” “depression,” “paranoid reaction,” “psychosis,” “hostility,” “delirium,” “hallucinations,” “abnormal thinking,” “depersonalization” and “lack of emotion,” among others. And for most antidepressants or similar medications, the list of side effects is similar. For example, some of the possible side effects of Valium include "Anxiety, panic, irritability, aggressiveness / aggression [and] paranoid psychosis" and "outbursts of anger" (Link).
The following list contains offenders who had been taking prescribed psychiatric drugs before committing their violent crimes. Unfortunately, this list is longer than is mentioned here.
- Regarding the 2019 mass shooting in Dayton Ohio, "The coroner said cocaine, antidepressants and alcohol were found in Betts’ system at the time of the shooting. A pipe device and a clear baggie carrying cocaine was found on Betts’ body." (Link) - "In the case of Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old Florida mass-shooter, his mother’s sister, Barbara Kumbatovich, told the Miami Herald that she believed Cruz was on medication to deal with his emotional fragility" (Link) - The Las Vegas killer who killed almost 60 people was taking prescribed Valium (Link). Some of the possible side effects of Valium include "Anxiety, panic, irritability, aggressiveness / aggression [and] paranoid psychosis" and "outbursts of anger" (Link). - "The officer noted that [Dylan] Roof was becoming increasingly nervous. He searched Roof and found "orange strips" that Roof said were 'suboxone,' a Schedule 3 narcotic [prescription medication]. Roof was arrested and his 2000 Hyundai Elantra was towed" (Link). Dyllan Roof slaughtered 9 African Americans in a church in June of 2015. - "German investigators found antidepressants in the apartment of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz this week, according to published reports" (Link). Andreas Lubitz purposefully crashed the plane he was piloting, tragically ending the lives of 150 people on board. - Many people are probably wondering, why didn't Elliot Rogers receive any medical treatment prior to his horrific murders of 7 college students in California? The answer is, he was already taking Xanax and Vicodin. As he wrote in his journal, "To end my life, I will quickly swallow all of the Xanax and Vicodin pills I have left, along with an ample amount of hard liquor" (Link). - "Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley acknowledged that Fort Hood gunman Ivan Lopez was taking psychiatric medication before the shooting, underscoring yet again the clear and consistent connection between mass shooting incidents and SSRI drugs" (Link). The below article is pasted from www.wnd.com: (Link). - "Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking Luvox – like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and many others, a modern and widely prescribed type of antidepressant drug called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. Harris and fellow student Dylan Klebold went on a hellish school shooting rampage in 1999 during which they killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 24 others before turning their guns on themselves.Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals concedes that during short-term controlled clinical trials, 4 percent of children and youth taking Luvox – that’s 1 in 25 – developed mania, a dangerous and violence-prone mental derangement characterized by extreme excitement and delusion. - Patrick Purdy went on a schoolyard shooting rampage in Stockton, Calif., in 1989, which became the catalyst for the original legislative frenzy to ban “semiautomatic assault weapons” in California and the nation. The 25-year-old Purdy, who murdered five children and wounded 30, had been on Amitriptyline, an antidepressant, as well as the antipsychotic drug Thorazine. - Kip Kinkel, 15, murdered his parents in 1998 and the next day went to his school, Thurston High in Springfield, Ore., and opened fire on his classmates, killing two and wounding 22 others. He had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin. - In 1988, 31-year-old Laurie Dann went on a shooting rampage in a second-grade classroom in Winnetka, Ill., killing one child and wounding six. She had been taking the antidepressant Anafranil as well as Lithium, long used to treat mania. - In Paducah, Ky., in late 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, son of a prominent attorney, traveled to Heath High School and started shooting students in a prayer meeting taking place in the school’s lobby, killing three and leaving another paralyzed. Carneal reportedly was on Ritalin. - In 2005, 16-year-old Jeff Weise, living on Minnesota’s Red Lake Indian Reservation, shot and killed nine people and wounded five others before killing himself. Weise had been taking Prozac. In another famous case, 47-year-old Joseph T. Wesbecker, just a month after he began taking Prozac in 1989, shot 20 workers at Standard Gravure Corp. in Louisville, Ky., killing nine. Prozac-maker Eli Lilly later settled a lawsuit brought by survivors. Kurt Danysh, 18, shot his own father to death in 1996, a little more than two weeks after starting on Prozac. Danysh’s description of own his mental-emotional state at the time of the murder is chilling: “I didn’t realize I did it until after it was done,” Danysh said. “This might sound weird, but it felt like I had no control of what I was doing, like I was left there just holding a gun.” John Hinckley, age 25, took four Valium two hours before shooting and almost killing President Ronald Reagan in 1981. In the assassination attempt, Hinckley also wounded press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and policeman Thomas Delahanty. Andrea Yates, in one of the most heartrending crimes in modern history, drowned all five of her children – aged 7 years down to 6 months – in a bathtub. Insisting inner voices commanded her to kill her children, she had become increasingly psychotic over the course of several years. At her 2006 murder re-trial (after a 2002 guilty verdict was overturned on appeal), Yates’ longtime friend Debbie Holmes testified: “She asked me if I thought Satan could read her mind and if I believed in demon possession.” And Dr. George Ringholz, after evaluating Yates for two days, recounted an experience she had after the birth of her first child: “What she described was feeling a presence … Satan … telling her to take a knife and stab her son Noah,” Ringholz said, adding that Yates’ delusion at the time of the bathtub murders was not only that she had to kill her children to save them, but that Satan had entered her and that she had to be executed in order to kill Satan.Yates had been taking the antidepressant Effexor. In November 2005, more than four years after Yates drowned her children, Effexor manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals quietly added “homicidal ideation” to the drug’s list of “rare adverse events.” The Medical Accountability Network, a private nonprofit focused on medical ethics issues, publicly criticized Wyeth, saying Effexor’s “homicidal ideation” risk wasn’t well-publicized and that Wyeth failed to send letters to doctors or issue warning labels announcing the change. And what exactly does “rare” mean in the phrase “rare adverse events”? The FDA defines it as occurring in less than one in 1,000 people. But since that same year 19.2 million prescriptions for Effexor were filled in the U.S., statistically that means thousands of Americans might experience “homicidal ideation” – murderous thoughts – as a result of taking just this one brand of antidepressant drug. Effexor is Wyeth’s best-selling drug, by the way, which in one recent year brought in over $3 billion in sales, accounting for almost a fifth of the company’s annual revenues. One more case is instructive, that of 12-year-old Christopher Pittman, who struggled in court to explain why he murdered his grandparents, who had provided the only love and stability he’d ever known in his turbulent life. “When I was lying in my bed that night,” he testified, “I couldn’t sleep because my voice in my head kept echoing through my mind telling me to kill them.” Christopher had been angry with his grandfather, who had disciplined him earlier that day for hurting another student during a fight on the school bus. So later that night, he shot both of his grandparents in the head with a .410 shotgun as they slept and then burned down their South Carolina home, where he had lived with them.”I got up, got the gun, and I went upstairs and I pulled the trigger,” he recalled. “Through the whole thing, it was like watching your favorite TV show. You know what is going to happen, but you can’t do anything to stop it.” Pittman’s lawyers would later argue that the boy had been a victim of “involuntary intoxication,” since his doctors had him taking the antidepressants Paxil and Zoloft just prior to the murders. For a bigger list, click here
'Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food'
(Hippocrates - Father of Medicine)
1) One very large international study has found that people eating a plant based diet live an average of 8 years longer than those eating a diet with a lot of animal products (Link 1)(Link 2). 2) "Combined data from the EPIC-Oxford cohort and the Oxford Vegetarian Study (including 31,470 meat-eaters, 8,516 fish-eaters, 18,096 vegetarians and 2,228 vegans) found that, compared with meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans had around 50 per cent lower mortality from pancreatic cancer (Appleby et al., 2016). When they excluded those who changed diet group during the study (possibly reflecting the onset of illness), compared with regular meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans had around 50-60 per cent lower mortality" (Link).
3) T. Colin Campbell is an American biochemist who specializes in the effects of nutrition on long-term health. He is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, and the author of over 300 research papers. Campbell wrote the ground-breaking book called "The China Study," and he recommends a plant based diet that focuses mainly on whole foods (cooked and raw). Campbell says, "It’s not because we have data to show that 100 percent plant-based eating is better than 95 percent. But if someone has been diagnosed with cancer or heart disease, it’s smart to go ahead and do the whole thing. If I start saying you can have a little of this, a little of that, it allows them to deviate off course. Our taste preferences change. We tend to choose the foods we become accustomed to, and in part because we become addicted to them, dietary fat in particular" (Link).
Referencing the above study by T.Colin Campbell, former U.S. President Bill Clinton decided to eat a plant based diet after being confronted with heart disease (link). 4) At 1:15 in the following video, Deborah Kotz from US News and World Report says that the Adventist church has one of the healthiest diets, and therefore one of the longest life expectancies. "It's pretty accepted now in the medical community - with all of the scientific research that's been looking at Adventists - that they live longer than their peers." On their website, the Adventist church recommends "A generous use of whole grains, vegetables and fruits; and a moderate use of low fat dairy products (or nutritional equivalent alternatives), legumes, and nuts; a very limited use of foods high in saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, and salt; abstinence from tobacco, alcohol, and coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages."
5) "A few years ago, scientists identified five groups of long-lived elderly people (aged 70 and older) – Japanese in Japan, Swedes in Sweden, Anglo-Celtic people in Australia, and Greeks in both Greece and Australia – and observed them for the next seven years, tracking their health status and food choices among nine different categories: vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, cereals, dairy products, meat, fish, and monounsaturated fats. A total of 785 elderly people were followed.
The researchers found that legumes were the most important dietary predictor of survival among the elderly, “regardless of their ethnicity,” they wrote. For every 20-gram increase in daily legume intake (20 grams is about three-quarters of an ounce), 'there is a 7 to 8% reduction in mortality hazard ratio.'" (Link)
6) According to the US National Cancer Institute, "People whose diets are rich in plant foods such as fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of getting cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, stomach, lung, and there is some suggested evidence for a lower risk of cancers of the colon, pancreas, and prostate. They are also less likely to get diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. A diet high in fruits and vegetables helps to reduce calorie intake and may help to control weight. To help prevent these cancers and other chronic diseases, experts recommend 4 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, depending on energy needs. This includes 2 to 5 servings of fruits and 2 to 8 servings of vegetables, with special emphasis on dark-green and orange vegetables and legumes" (Link). 7) "An interesting new study...found that avoiding meat, fish and poultry leads to more frequent reports of positive mood. The researchers, from Benedictine University in Illinois and Arizona State University, noted that in general, vegetarians report better mood than omnivores (those whose diets include meat, fish and poultry)" (Link). 8) The following is from Dr. Oz's website: "Red meat is still linked to an increased risk of heart disease, but it’s not just from the fat. New research points to a substance found in red meat called L-carnitine. This new research suggests that L-carnitine, either from red meat or taken in supplement form, poses a threat to your heart" (link).
9) This is from NBCnews.com: "A startling study shows men who have the highest levels of these compounds [from fish oil] – the kinds found in fish but not in vegetable sources -- have a higher risk of prostate cancer. Men with the very highest levels had a 71 percent higher risk of high-grade prostate cancer – the kind most likely to spread and kill, they report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute" (Link). 10) Another in-depth 500-participant survey of those eating a raw food diet included people who followed an 80 to 90% raw foods diet for 2 years. Those reporting “a lot” of stress in life after transitioning to live foods dropped from 56% to 20%. 81% felt they had developed emotionally “quite a bit” or “tremendously”. Also of great significance was the reduction in the number of respondents reporting chronic fatigue (from 16% to 3.6%), candida (from 21% to 5%), depression (from 27% to 7%), anxiety (from 22% to 8%), weak immune system (from 17% to 0.2%), hypoglycemia (from 15% to 2.6%), fibromyalgia (from 5.6% to 1.5%), osteoarthritis (from 4.8% to 2.8%), and cancer (from 2.7% to 0.4%) (link).
11) "One study of 141 American long-term (mean time 28 months) adherents to a raw foods diet found self-reported improvements in health and quality of life after adoption of the diet" (link)
12) In one study taken at the Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland, "quality of sleep and general health improved" for those following a vegan raw foods diet (Link). 13) One study confirmed that "Uncooked food can be seen as a useful adjunct to drugs in the treatment of allergic, rheumatic and infectious diseases" (link).
14) "A large, cross-sectional study conducted by investigators at the University of Melbourne in Australia shows that...the Western diet was associated with a 50% increased likelihood of depression. 'Simply put, if you habitually eat a healthy diet that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and high-quality lean meat, then you may cut your risk of depression and anxiety,' principal investigator Felice Jacka, PhD, told Medscape Psychiatry." (link)
15) A BBC News article reports that "Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods. By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods."(link) 16) "A new study from England found that depressive feelings were more common among those who ate more processed foods, and less common in those with a diet consisting of 'whole foods' (i.e. fruits, vegetables, minimally processed grains)." (link)
17) "It can be concluded that vegan diet had beneficial effects on fibromyalgia symptoms at least in the short run" (link). 18) According to another BBC News article, 9 volunteers who ate a raw vegan diet enjoyed "good energy levels and mood", lower cholesterol and lower blood pressures (link). 19) According to a recent BBC News article, "People who follow a raw food vegetarian diet are light in weight but healthy, according to US researchers" (link). 20) "According to Dr. Greger (nutritionfacts.org), prescription drugs are actually the 6th leading cause of death! (Most could be avoided on a nutrient-denseraw vegan diet.)." (link)
If humans don't get enough sunlight (roughly 15 minutes a day), we can become vitamin D deficient. A vitamin D deficiency can lead to severe depression and anxiety (Link). Fortunately, there are good vegan and vegetarian vitamin D3 pills that can instantly help boost your mood. Taking one daily may help bring your vitamin D levels back to normal.
2) Consider Herbal Supplements
In addition to vitamin supplementation, there are also many herbal and homeopathic remedies available. Two of my favorites are Bach's Rescue Remedy and Kava Kava. Check out my post on stress-busting vitamins and supplements Here.
3) Join a Free Support Group
Going to a counselor, a trusted friend or a free 12-step group may be an excellent way to release some tension while getting some valuable insight in a loving environment. There are support groups for many ailments these days, including depression, anxiety, OCD, codependency, PTSD, grief, etc. So if you do find a support group, try to find one that is focused on your main struggle.
As a book needs margin on its pages, we all need margin in our lives. This is the area I have the most trouble in. Often my stress comes from saying "Yes" too much. Yet saying "No" to draining people or activities gives us the free time we need to recharge, relax and "smell the roses".
- Take a weekly "Sabbath". Allow yourself one day of rest per week. This means putting work and serious chores aside, allowing yourself some time to "smell the roses".
- Allow yourself 2-3 hours of "recharge time" daily. Some ideas for how to spend this time might include reading, watching your favorite show, grabbing a relaxed meal with your family or a friend, walking in a nature preserve, taking a warm bath or simply meditating quietly in your room. This time is also available for napping or simply resting in case you did not sleep well the night before.
5) Eat For Energy
Avoiding processed sugars is a good way to improve your sense of well being. “Processed sugars bind with and dissolve B vitamins in the digestive tract, causing resultant health problems in the skin, nerves, digestive and undesirable stress reaction” (link). Rather, a diet that is rich in whole, fresh, uncooked vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes is a proven way to add the living essential vitamins and minerals into your diet that help keep us both calm and vibrant.
For a practical way to include more raw foods in your diet, check out my other post HERE.
6) Take a Break From Your Phone (and your computer)!
Turning your phone off, or putting it on Airplane Mode, may help remind us of what life was like in the 20th century (and every other previous century), before the emergence of cell phones. "A new study has found that smartphones can actually increase people's stress levels, HealthDay news reports. The reason, as HealthDay explains, is that smartphones produce 'a relentless need to immediately review and respond to each and every incoming message, alert or bing'" (Link).
- "A 1999 study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine showed that university students who walked and did other easy to moderate exercise regularly had lower stress levels than couch potatoes or those who exercised strenuously" (link).
- "Levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate our mood, rises when we are outside. One study found that regular outdoor runners were less anxious and depressed than people who ran indoors on a treadmill, and had higher levels of post-exercise endorphins, the feel-good brain chemicals associated with 'runner's high'" (link).
8) Drink Green Juiceor a Green Smoothie
"Research shows that chlorophyll is effective in rebuilding the blood, stimulating liver function, strengthening immunity, and detoxifying chemical pollutants. Numerous recent studies have also indicated that chlorophyll has anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic properties. In short, getting enough chlorophyll can help you feel more vital and less stressed, which equals less emotional eating. Chlorophyll is found in highest concentrations in green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, as well as wheat grass and blue-green algae." (link)
For many people, one cup of organic, black coffee per day actually has positive emotional effects. However, some people who are prone to panic attacks may find an improvement after quitting coffee. For example, a study published in 2007 found that 52 per cent of panic-disorder patients suffered a panic attack after drinking caffeinated coffee. Conversely, the panic-disorder patients drinking decaf did not suffer panic attacks (Link).
Many people who experience jitters from coffee are amazed by the "relaxed alertness" that green tea provides. There are two main reasons for this.
This study proves the incredible relaxing effects of theanine.
"Caffeine injects adrenaline into your system, giving you a temporary boost, but possibly making you fatigued and depressed later. If you take more caffeine to counteract these effects, you end up spending the day in an agitated state, and might find yourself jumpy and edgy by night." (link)
10) Avoid large amounts of alcohol
"In humans, a low dose of alcohol improved performance of a complex mental problem-solving task under stressful conditions. However, in some individuals, at certain doses, alcohol may induce rather than reduce the body's stress response. Much research demonstrates that alcohol actually induces the stress response by stimulating hormone release by the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands." (link)
11) Temporary Water or Juice Fasting
Occasional, controlled water or juice fasting can bring about stress relief. For more info, click here!
For the first time in history, more than half of Americans are on chronic prescription medications (Link).Is this a good sign or a bad sign? Could it have to do with our diets? "In his new book How Everyone Became Depressed: The Rise and Fall of the Nervous Breakdown, the University of Toronto psychiatrist and historian Edward Shorter takes aim at the what he sees as the massive overdiagnosis of depression in America. Something like a third of Americans think they are depressed in a given month, but we know, writes Shorter, 'that only 3% of the population is chronically sad.' It’s a dangerous state of affairs 'which means that poorly diagnosed patients are denied the benefit of proper treatment while being exposed to all of the side effects of classes of medication, such as the Prozac-style drugs, that are ineffective for serious illness" (Link). My Experience
I have some personal experience with this as I was was wrestling with depression and decided to take different SSRI's over a 2-3 year period during my early 20's. While the antidepressant initially helped, I eventually found myself becoming more depressed over time, even more depressed than I was before I started taking the medication. During this time, the FDA came out with a breaking new statement about antidepressants, stating that they can potentially lead to "...increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment..." (link). This news confirmed that the life-threatening side effects that I experienced were not limited to just me.
From this moment on, I decided it would be beneficial actually research the medications I was being prescribed, and I found that Paxil’s known “adverse drug reactions” – according to the drug’s FDA-approved label – can include “mania,” “insomnia,” “anxiety,” “agitation,” “confusion,” “amnesia,” “depression,” “paranoid reaction,” “psychosis,” “hostility,” “delirium,” “hallucinations,” “abnormal thinking,” “depersonalization” and “lack of emotion,” among others (Link). I began to wonder what other life-threatening side effects they might not yet know about...
Note - Please contact your physician before quitting any medications. Ask him or her for medical advice.
After gradually weaning myself off of the medications, I decided to try and make some changes to my life. These changes, for me, brought about some of the positive results I was looking for.
First of all, I began taking 2 herbal supplements called kava kava and ashwagandha. I experimented with many herbal supplements, and these two just worked the best for me, in regards to "taking the edge off." They helped me to function as I searched for more answers.
Kava kava and ashwagandha truly worked wonders for me personally, although everyone is different. Some supplements work for some people and not for others. Other herbal supplements such as 5htp, valerian root, St. John's wart, Chamomile, Bach flower remedies and many others can prove helpful.
Second, I began taking essential vitamins and nutrients in supplement form, including vitamin D, vitamin B12, and Omega 3 essential fatty acids. This proved to be extremely beneficial for me, revealing that I had specific deficiencies that were greatly contributing to my anxiety and depression. For example, there has been much medical research to prove that vitamin D and Omega 3 deficiencies can lead to anxiety and depression (Link) (link). Despite this, my doctor did not ask about my vitamin D levels or even perform a blood test before prescribing Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro or Zoloft, and then wanting to double the dosages after having not worked effectively! Sadly, I believe that this is standard procedure within today's medical community. (Note: for a list of essential vitamins that fight and reduce stress and depression, Click Here)
Third, I found tremendous help eating a diet that is high in organic whole foods, cutting out processed junk foods and eating mostly plant-based. For evidence that a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables can help prevent and decrease depression and anxiety, check out these studies HERE.
I do not intend to come off as completely "anti-medication". Yet I do believe that medications are sometimes prescribed too early before trying other routes. My problem is when doctors prescribe a cocktail of five or six different medications to "balance" out the side effects of each other, before even addressing any deficiencies!
While I think that most people in the health system have good intentions, there is also money to be made. As a result, I believe that many drug companies are more concerned with gaining financial wealth than helping people. And since a lot of the medications that are prescribed are new and therefore relatively untested, I think a healthy dose of skepticism may be just what the doctor ordered.
