Treat Depression Naturally

Would you like to treat depression naturally?  Depression has become one of the biggest health concerns in our country today.  Prescription drug orders for depression are at an all-time high.  Suicide is as well.  We need help, but where do we begin?  First off, please let me begin by saying to all involved with depression, see your healthcare provider first.  Nothing should replace professional help.  So with that being said, below are five possible natural choices for treating depression:

1. Curcumin (Turmeric) –  There is a recent study in PubMed.gov entitled, Efficacy and safety of curcumin in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled trial.   It states that at the conclusion of their research, “This study provides first clinical evidence that curcumin may be used as an effective and safe modality for treatment in patients with MDD without concurrent suicidal ideation or other psychotic disorders.”  For those of you who like more detail, this is what they found:

What is curcumin anyways? Curcumin is an active ingredient of Curcuma longa Linn (Zingiberaceae) or Turmeric.  Turmeric has been used for thousands of years and it is antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-bacterial and antiviral. It has been used to treat skin conditions (made into a paste), such as eczema, scabies, chicken pox, shingles, also aches, pains, wounds, sprains, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, gastro and pulmonary issues and even allergies.  If someone has a fever, turmeric can be mixed with milk and taken.  It is also said to help stop bleeding when made into a paste and applied to the wound.  (See the resources and extra links below.)

2. Brewer’s Yeast – (See my post regarding Brewer’s Yeast and its benefits.)  According to a study, Brewer’s yeast made a difference: “Improved depression scores have been demonstrated after two weeks among healthy volunteers using 200 and 500 mg doses of yeast hydrolysate as a gum. Brain mapping after 3 days showed a profile of a stable psychological state.” ( Lee HS, Jung EY, Suh HJ. Chemical composition and anti-stress effects of yeast hydrolysate. J Med Food . 2009;12(6):1281-1285.). Also see this study on Chromium which is in Brewer’s Yeast and is one of the best nutritional sources for it. Low levels of B6 is also associated with depression.  See this study and this site.

3. Ashwagandha –  is an adaptogen and balances the mind and body, is another option.  In recent trial studies they found that ashwagandha reduces anxiety and that this extract also lowered the subjects’ cortisol levels.  Some patients use this as an alternative to Xanax.

4. Rhodiola – is an herb that is also an adaptogen and can also lower the stress hormone cortisol and relieve stress-induced fatigue.  Dr. Melissa Young, an integrative specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, says that she uses rhodiola specifically for patients who are having fatigue and memory issues from stress.  Both ashwagandha and rhodiola should be supported with vitamins C and B.

5.  “The neurotransmitter serotonin may be one of the main mechanisms by which vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) help improve mental health,” according to a paper authored by researchers from Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute and published in FASEB Journal and quoted by Natural News.  To read more about this, click here.

6. One last thing to address regarding depression, may be the spiritual piece, more specifically forgiveness.  Tom Valeo wrote an article for WebMD and he says, “Forgiveness can bring enormous benefits to the person who gives that gift, according to recent research*. If you can bring yourself to forgive and forget, you are likely to enjoy lower blood pressure, stronger immune system, and a drop in the stress hormones circulating in your blood, studies suggest.  Back pain, stomach problems and headaches may disappear.  And you’ll reduce the anger, bitterness, resentment, depression and other negative emotions that accompany the failure to forgive.”  I wrote a post that speaks to this that you may want to review.

 I wish you well in this very difficult journey to recovery.

PANIC ATTACKS:  If you are someone who also suffers from panic attacks, try frankincense essential oil.  Some have reported it to be beneficial for them.  If you have severe attacks, apply frankincense with perhaps a base oil like olive oil all over the body, which makes it go farther.  One can also inhale the oil on your hands and then start a warm bath, putting 5 or more drops into the water. 

 *Sources supporting Curcumin:

There is much more evidence that supports the use of curcumin or turmeric as indicated in just some of the studies below:

1. A Simple Spice That May Battle Cancer
2. John Hopkins Reports on Their Study on Turmeric
3. Liu, Kai; Zhang, Datong; Chojnacki, Jeremy; Du, Yuhong; Fu, Haian; Grant, Steven; Zhang, Shijun (2013). “Design and biological characterization of hybrid compounds of curcumin and thalidomide for multiple myeloma”. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 11 (29): 4757. doi:10.1039/C3OB40595H. PMID 23784627.
4. Bartik L, Whitfield GK, Kaczmarska M, Lowmiller CL, Moffet EW, Furmick JK, Hernandez Z, Haussler CA, Haussler MR, Jurutka PW. (2010-12-24). “Curcumin: a novel nutritionally derived ligan of the vitamin D receptor with implications for colon cancer chemoprevention [J Nutr Biochem. 2010] – PubMed – NCBI”. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine) 21 (12): 1153–61. doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2009.09.012. PMID 20153625. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
5. “Clinical trials on turmeric”. National Institutes of Health, Clinical Trials Registry. December 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
6. Mishra S, Palanivelu K (Jan–March 2008). “The effect of curcumin (turmeric) on Alzheimer’s disease: An overview”. Ann Indian Acad Neurol 11 (1): 13–9. doi:10.4103/0972-2327.40220. PMC 2781139. PMID 19966973.
7. Boaz M, Leibovitz E, Bar Dayan Y, Wainstein J (2011). “Functional foods in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: olive leaf extract, turmeric and fenugreek, a qualitative review”. Func Foods Health Dis 1 (11): 472–81.