Eat YOUR way to Depression Prevention & Treatment
With the rates of diagnosed depression continuing to rise in the United States, especially in our youth, FOOD – once again – can help! Simply put. “You are what you eat”. Our foods determine the makeup of our brains, and our brains determine our thoughts and actions, so of course our foods should influence out mood. And now you have a list to help…
Dr. Laura LaChance from the University of Toronto and Dr. Drew Ramsey from Columbia University research, published in 2018, looked at which foods had the highest density of the nutrients shown to prevent and reduce the symptoms of depression.
“Twelve Antidepressant Nutrients relate to the prevention and treatment of depressive disorders: Folate, iron, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), magnesium, potassium, selenium, thiamine, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and zinc. The highest scoring foods were bivalves such as oysters and mussels, various seafoods, and organ meats for animal foods. The highest scoring plant foods were leafy greens, lettuces, peppers, and cruciferous vegetables.”
Their research is synthesized into an easy to follow chart (reproduced below) of antidepressant foods.
The authors also call attention to the fact that intake of many of the most important antidepressant nutrients (like B12 – methylcobalamin and omega-3 fatty acids) may be inadequate in purely “plant-based diets,” though these can easily be obtained in supplement form. Visit STORE in the menu above to get access to professional grade supplements!
The Secret to a healthy metabolism and energy
There are eight B Vitamins including thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin (B7), folate (B9), and cobalamin (B12). B Vitamins are involved in many physiological processes including metabolism and energy production.
Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism. Metabolism can be conveniently divided into two categories:
Catabolism – the breakdown of molecules to obtain energy
Anabolism – the synthesis of all compounds needed by the cells
Metabolism is closely linked to nutrition and the availability of nutrients. B Vitamins are critical cofactors (assistants) in metabolism. B Vitamins play a vital role in the catabolic process to breakdown food into energy throughout your body. B Vitamins are essential for metabolizing carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
B Vitamin deficiency can disrupt your body’s ability to have a healthy metabolism. B Vitamins also help power your energy production cycle to provide you with immediate energy needs. During this cycle B Vitamins are essential co-factors that help produce what is known as ATP and is used for energy demand in all cells throughout your body. B Vitamins are used by every cell in your body and are a great supplement to add to your daily routine to support healthy metabolism and energy levels! But, there’s something to keep in mind when selecting a B vitamin supplement.
B Vitamin supplements are available in two different forms — their active form and their inactive form. The active form is already bio-available, meaning the vitamins are ready to be used by your body immediately. If it is inactive, the B Vitamin needs to go through the liver to be converted (or “methylated”) into its active form before your body can use it. Unfortunately, this process can be timely, require other factors and result in the inactive vitamins being eliminated from the body before they can be used.
Because B Vitamins are water soluble, which means they are easily eliminated from your body, you need a daily intake of these vitamins. Everyone will eliminate some of the B vitamin supplements causing your urine to look a bright yellow. Certain medications, including birth control pills, can affect the absorption of nutrients including B vitamins, so supplementation may be required. B Vitamins are your metabolism’s friend and helps provide energy for zest and vitality.
Time-Restricted Eating = Weight Loss
There is increasing evidence that time-restricted eating (TRE) can be one effective strategy in weight loss. What if someone simply limited the hours in the day in which they consumed food, reducing it from 15 hours per day to 8? Could suggesting that a patient only eat between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM, rather than the timeworn advice to simply eat less, be effective? A small randomized clinical trial of 21 overweight, nondiabetic adults examined the effect of TRE on body composition and glycemic measures. The TRE group—whose goal was an 8-hour eating window but whose average window was actually 10.4 hours—saw statistically significant reductions in weight (though this meant losses in both lean and fat mass), fasting glucose, visceral fat, and fasting triglyceride levels. Granted, it’s a very small study, but it adds to increasing evidence that narrowing the daily window for eating can result in weight loss as well as improvements in multiple health indicators, including insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease.