Naturally treating depression is an important treatment option for me. I’ve read about depression patients taking drugs to help ease the negative thoughts, but instead of easing the thoughts it just leaves them in a fog. As a writer, living in a mental fog is detrimental to my career. Although I exercise and eat healthy, sometimes more is necessary. I researched some natural methods for overcoming depression. What I found was an article that describes patient approved natural supplements for depression. This is extremely important since its effectiveness isn’t just theory. It’s backed up by real people that have experienced depression. Who better to test and approve?
According to the article on Everyday Health, seven supplements were approved for naturally treating depression. Before you dive into this list, remember not all supplements are made equal. That just means that some companies aren’t as truthful with the amount of the ingredients inside the pill. Even if a pill bottle says it’s magnesium, doesn’t mean the pill is pure magnesium. It could have some added ingredients as a filler. You should stick to companies that are better known to provide pure and safe products, such as the companies tested by third parties. The most reliable companies can be found on ConsumerLab.com.
Now the seven supplements that are recommended by Everyday Health are:
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Along with the probiotics, the article describes these two supplements as the most effective in naturally treating depression. I already knew from prior research that omega-3 helps improve brain function. If you read my previous blog post, you will find that it also helped me to focus and improved my mood. I can agree from experience that this works.
Probiotics
According to the article, the nerve cells in the intestines create quite a bit of chemicals, like serotonin, which the brain needs in order to function. It also creates a lot of neurotransmitters which helps transmit chemical messages within the brain.
SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine)
Sam-e is a naturally occurring amino acid that’s involved in creating neurotransmitters. The studies on this supplement suggest that it’s just as good as traditional anti-depressants, but when added to medication, it significantly improves results.
Vitamin B-12
This vitamin was suggested because it was found that severely depressed women were all deficient in B-12. The scientist that did the study believes that vitamin B-12 goes beyond naturally treating depression to possessing the power to cure it.
Vitamin D
A deficiency results in poor cognition, neurological function, increased the risk of Dementia and of Alzheimer’s. A decline in brain health was three times more likely due to a vitamin D deficiency than that of healthy adults. You can see why it’s important to have this vitamin and how hard it would be to turn negative thoughts into positive ones without it.
Turmeric
This is actually a spice used in Chinese and Indian food. However, it also has medicinal properties and was used in their medications as well. It forces our genes to create antioxidants. I’m not sure how that helps depression, but what it does is naturally increase the body’s energy. Depression takes so much out of you physically, just as it does mentally. This spice can turn things around.
Amino Acids
According to the article, there are only eight amino acids that the body builds thousands of proteins from. The amino acids aren’t created by various chemical processes, but rather from our diet. If we aren’t eating the right foods then our brains can decline and slip into depressive thoughts.
There were a couple of supplements that were in the article that I didn’t add because I didn’t see the value for effectively treating depression. Naturally treating depression doesn’t have to be difficult. Consult a holistic physician in order to confirm that you can take these supplements and how much you need. You may also need to talk to your regular doctor to make sure it is okay to take these supplements.