Did you know that depression is the second leading cause of disability worldwide? Or that in the United States, antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drug? Yet research reveals that taking antidepressants is often no more effective than a placebo, and sometimes exceedingly dangerous. In 2009, researchers in Boston looked at more than 136,000 women between the ages of fifty and seventy-nine and discovered a clear link between those using antidepressants and risk for strokes and death in general. As if that weren’t bad enough, one of the common listed side effects of antidepressants are suicidal thoughts!
Instead of popping a pill with a dubious track record, what if we were to look deeper into the causes of depression? In fact, increasingly alternative medicine is uncovering underlying health conditions that trigger or contribute to depression–conditions which when resolved can lead to vastly improved mood.
People with depression often suffer from digestive imbalances (with or without digestive symptoms). An astonishing eighty percent of serotonin, the “feel-good” neurotransmitter that most antidepressants target, is located in the gut! The epidemic modern-day condition of “leaky gut” associated with food sensitivities causes the release of inflammatory chemicals that cross the blood brain barrier, leading to chronic brain inflammation and resultant depression and mood disorders. “Leaky gut” also triggers autoimmunity, including celiac disease, which includes an eighty percent higher risk of depression and a fifty-five percent increased risk in suicide!
Many know that frequent consumption of alcohol and sugar have been clinically connected to chronic depression, but what about a low fat or low cholesterol diet? Innumerable studies have demonstrated that depression runs much higher in people who have diets low in cholesterol and saturated fats. The brain holds only two percent of the body’s mass but twenty-five percent of the total cholesterol! Cholesterol and saturated fat are crucial components of the myelin coating around the brain cell, allowing quick transmission of information. Cholesterol is also essential for sex hormone production, and low sex hormones has been linked to—you guessed it—depression!
Acupuncture is a therapy highly effective for mood management. In a study at a German university in 2000, researchers looked at forty-three people with depression and thirteen with anxiety. The study found that 60.7% of the depressed experienced significant improvement in overall rating scores after ten sessions of acupuncture, and a whopping 85.7% of those with anxiety reported improvement.
Here at Vital Health, we seek to uncover the root cause of your depression with specialized testing, and use acupuncture, diet, supplements, and lifestyle to bring you back into balance. Whether you wish to wean off antidepressants, or simply seek help in finding the cause, we can help!
To learn more, attend our upcoming health class, Strategies for Overcoming Stress, Anxiety and Depression, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 7:30pm at Vital Health in CDA. Fee: $10. Attend in-person or online via Zoom. To register, call 208-765-1994 or go to vitalhealthcda.com/health-classes/
©2021 Darcy Greenwald, M.S.O.M., L.Ac. and Vital Health
