Depression: Can a Healthy Lifestyle Fix My Depression?

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Many people who struggle with depression pay physicians and therapists thousands of dollars to cure their depression. The solution offered them is often—if not usually—drugs.

But research tells us that depression is not the result of a deficiency of Prozac! Or some other mood altering drug.  

Add to that the fact that those drugs often do not work. And that they sometimes work adversely. In fact, two of the side effects listed for some of them are suicide and homicidal tendencies. Hardly something we want to add to our list of problems!

Plus they have adverse physical side effects.

However, we must take prescribed medication until our health care professional agrees that we no longer need it. It is extremely important to stay under the care of our doctor. Then, as you regain your health, he or she can work with you to gradually lower the medication. Never stop taking any drug without the advice of your physician.

Having said that, let’s look at how to genuinely recover from depression so that pharmaceuticals are no longer necessary for you.

Our brain is an organ just as our intestines, kidneys, liver, etc., are organs. Our brain is affected by a lowered immune system and poor health just as our blood pressure and our cholesterol levels are.

So if we want to feel happy instead of depressed (and don’t we all?) let’s start today to do something about it. Other people have done it. So can we. Just imagine for a few minutes being completely free from those negative feelings.  Waking up happy and going to bed happy. Is it worth it? I think it is.

So how does good or poor health affect our mood?

When we are depressed, we tend to crave certain foods or drinks like chocolate, coffee, even alcohol. We may not realize that this craving is not just our lack of self-discipline and some people think. It is often—if not always—tied to a nutritional deficit.

Science tells us that our mood is largely determined by something called serotonin in our brains. When our bodies are in good nutritional balance, and we have sufficient serotonin levels, we feel good emotionally. But when serotonin levels are low, we feel depressed.

Therefore, it is logical that—when we are deficient in nutrients that make up the building blocks of serotonin, we are likely (if not certain) to have too little serotonin. And o suffer from the depression that goes with it.

So what determines the levels of serotonin in the body? Next . . . diet.

Arlean Kelley © June 21 2009 All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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