Doctors have known for years that prescription antidepressants often don’t work any better than a placebo.
But that hasn’t stopped them handing these drugs out like candy. If you have ever gone to your doctor because you’re concerned about stress, anxiety, or depression, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Maybe you’ve even scheduled a “session” with a psychiatrist. You go expecting to talk about your impossible boss, difficult relationship, financial woes, or your moods. Instead, what you get is 15 minutes of working out which pill and dosage you should take.
And there’s a 72% chance you won’t even be diagnosed as depressed — but you’ll still be prescribed antidepressants.1
I’m not saying that antidepressants aren’t helpful — or even necessary — for some people.
But the truth is, it’s only in the last two or three decades that we have begun to learn about the complexities of brain chemistry — and depression is still a long way from being fully understood.
So when psychiatrists dole out these Big Pharma antidepressants, it’s little more than a guessing game. I see more and more people in my clinic with depression — but I don’t prescribe these dangerous drugs.
I do know that when depression is treated the right way, it doesn’t have to be a crippling, life-ruining condition.
In a minute, I’m going to reveal to you how depression can be treated — and, in some cases, even cured — by restoring the right balance of key nutrients in your body.
The fact is, there’s no single prescription that can “fix” something like depression. But steps like adjusting your diet, your exercise routine, finding the right therapist and the right balance of vitamins and other nutrients can offer a great deal of relief.
One of the Biggest Frauds in Medical History
When it comes to mental health, the medical industry, Big Pharma and the FDA have pulled off one of the biggest frauds in the history of medicine.
I’ve been trying to get my patients off antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, and Cymbalta for a long time.
You see, Big Pharma isn’t trying to cure depression. They just want you to keep filling your prescriptions every month — for years, or even decades.
Today, Americans spend more than $70 billion on antidepressants every year — and that number is rising.
Not only do they often not work, there is a huge downside to taking them. They poison your brain and your liver — and affect the rest of your body, too.
And the FDA approves these drugs in spite of serious side effects. They cause nausea, weight gain and loss of sex drive. Depression drugs can numb you and they’re also strongly linked with violent behavior. I’m talking about homicides, suicides, assaults and physical abuse.2
I’m worried about more and more people ending up on prescription antidepressants — and spending the next 30 or 40 years taking a dangerous drug that either doesn’t work or they don’t need.
If you’re one of the millions of Americans taking these scary and addictive drugs — or know someone who is — please keep reading.
I’ve had great success treating patients who come to my clinic with a safe, natural approach to mental wellness.
Three Ways to Support Mental Health Naturally
It’s no coincidence that the number of people with mental illness has skyrocketed as key nutrient levels in your diet have plunged.
And the link between these drastically lower levels of nutrients in your food and the rise of depression is shocking.
A hundred years ago, the occurrence of depression was extremely rare. Among Americans born in 1905 or before, only 1% developed depression before they turned 75. Today, there is a 40% depression rate among the elderly and a near-25% depression rate among those between the ages of 15 and 29.3
Commercial farming and processing are producing low-nutrient qualities in our food that have never been seen before in history.
But that’s why I’ve seen depression reversed once nutrient levels are raised again to where they’re supposed to be.
Here’s what I recommend:
• Omega-3s: As the rates of depression have surged, our consumption of omega-3s has rapidly declined.
The native diet of our ancestors was loaded with healthy omega-3s from wild plants and fish. The animals they hunted fed naturally on healthy, vitamin-rich plants.
Now, we eat fish raised on toxic food pellets and unnatural, corn-fed beef. These food sources have just a fraction of the omega-3s that a natural diet once contained.
And the link with depression is easy to see. The human brain is 60% fat, almost entirely made up of omega-3 fatty acids. Without these omega-3s, the brain cannot build or maintain high-quality cells.
I usually prefer to recommend dietary sources of nutrients — but when it comes to omega-3s, it’s almost impossible to get enough of them from food without exposing yourself to the danger of high mercury levels found in large fish.
I recommend omega-3 supplements for my patients with depression — and the results are nothing short of transforming. And there are plenty of studies out there that back up my findings.4
But pay attention to which supplement you’re taking. Because omega-3s are so important to your health, almost everyone is selling them.
If you take fish oil, you’re likely to run into the same toxicity problems as you would eating fish every day. Fortunately, there are better alternatives.
I recommend krill oil and squid oil to my patients.
Krill and squid aren’t exposed to the same toxins as salmon and tuna. The bigger the fish, the greater the toxins. Krill are tiny and shrimp-like, and completely safe. Squid are big, but they live so far beneath the surface of the ocean, and they aren’t exposed to the pollution that exists at shallower depths.
Nevertheless, there’s another reason I recommend krill oil for patients with depression. Its omega-3s cross cell membranes more easily, which is why it is so good for brain function.5,6,7
I recommend taking 500 mg of omega-3s every day, preferably from krill oil or squid oil.
• Magnesium: This essential nutrient has also been dramatically reduced in the average diet over the past century.
Leafy, green vegetables were once a rich source of magnesium. But over the past 100 years, farmlands have been depleted of minerals, because of industrial toxins, pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Magnesium levels have also plummeted in an American diet that’s composed largely of fried and processed foods and refined grains.
Many of you also consume large amounts of dairy products. These and other calcium-rich foods can lower magnesium levels.
Before 1905, most Americans consumed around 400 mg of magnesium per day, thanks to vegetables grown on nutrient-rich farmlands and the consumption of unrefined grains.
Now, only 16% of the magnesium found in whole wheat remains in refined flour. This has driven the average dietary intake of magnesium to just 250 mg per day.
Magnesium also used to be in your drinking water, but water with high mineral content — hard water — fell out of favor because most people don’t like the taste.
Then add in Big Pharma’s hand... Water pills, which are most often prescribed as a treatment for high blood pressure, are another major cause of magnesium deficiency. These medications often leech magnesium from the body with the fluid they help release.
You see, more than 300 enzyme systems in your body need magnesium to regulate its biochemical functions.8
And magnesium enhances the effect of tryptophan, a natural amino acid that produces the sleep hormone, melatonin.
Without tryptophan, your body can’t manufacture the neurotransmitter serotonin, which plays a key role in mood balance. Too little serotonin often leads to depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders.
At the same time, magnesium is essential for the function of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors — better known as GABA receptors.
When functioning properly, all neurotransmitters and receptors calm the brain. I recommend a magnesium-rich diet to most of my patients. You can get more magnesium by eating nuts, seeds, dairy products and dark green, leafy vegetables.
However, the average diet doesn’t provide enough magnesium to maintain a healthy body and mind. That’s why I recommend taking a supplement.
Start by taking 600 mg a day and build slowly to 1,000 mg. Take it with vitamin B6, which will help increase the amount of magnesium that accumulates in your cells.
If your depression is causing sleep disorders, I recommend a powdered magnesium citrate formula. This should be taken an hour before bedtime. The solution dissolves in water. That means it gets absorbed by your body much better than it would with capsules or pills.
I recommend up to 420 mg a day of magnesium citrate.
• Vitamin D3: There is a reason why you feel happy when you are sitting by the pool on vacation. Vitamin D3 — that wonderful vitamin that is synthesized in your body once sunlight strikes your skin — fights off depression by helping your brain make serotonin. In fact, vitamin D3 can boost serotonin by anywhere from double to 30 times.9
Our native ancestors never had to worry about getting enough vitamin D3. They got all they needed from sun exposure, and their native diet.
Our ancestors lived outdoors every moment of their lives… and they didn’t use sunscreen.
Plus, they lived off a diet filled with the vitamin D-rich organ meat of animals. But modern society does neither. Most people now work indoors. And many people avoid the sun completely because an alarmist media and misinformed doctors have scared us to death about the effects of sun exposure, such as skin cancer and premature aging.
But in Norway, doctors found taking large amounts of vitamin D3 improved the symptoms of depression.10
In my patients, I recommend a daily intake of 8,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day.
Here are the best ways to get it…
• Get out in the sunlight. As long as you don’t get burned, getting some midday sun for about 10 to 15 minutes a day is good for you. It will give you between 3,000 and 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3. Be sure to expose some skin when you’re outside. If you are all covered up, or slathered in sunscreen, the sun can’t do its job.
• Eat the right foods. Make sure you add food rich in vitamin D3 to your diet. Wild salmon provides roughly 350 IU vitamin D3 per serving. Sardines and tuna in oil provide about 225 IUs of vitamin D3 each.
• Take a supplement. Your food probably won’t give you all the vitamin D3 you need. I recommend taking a supplement of vitamin D3 called cholecalciferol. It’s the same vitamin D3 that your body produces. Just be sure to avoid the synthetic form of vitamin D2 in most multivitamins because it is less potent and less absorbable
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
References
1 Mojtabai R, Olfson M. “Proportion Of Antidepressants Prescribed Without A Psychiatric Diagnosis Is Growing.” Health Aff. August 2011 vol. 30 no. 8; 1434-1442.
2 Moore TJ, Glenmullen J, Furberg CD “Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others.” PLoS ONE 2010: 5(12): e15337.
3 Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment by, George A. et al. Medical Hypotheses , Volume 67 , Issue 2 , 362 – 370.
4 Preventative Strategies for Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder: Towards a Clinical Staging Model. McNamara, Robert K; Nandagopal, Jayasree J; Strakowski, Stephen M; DelBello, Melissa P. CNS Drugs 24.12 (Dec 2010): 983-96.
5 Bazan N, Musto A, Knott E. “Endogenous signaling by omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid-derived mediators sustains homeostatic synaptic and circuitry integrity.” Mol Neurobiol. 2011;44(2):216-22.
6 Tan Z, Harris W, Beiser A, Au R, Himali J, Debette S, Pikula A, Decarli C, Wolf P, Vasan R, Robins S, Seshadri S. “Red blood cell ω-3 fatty acid levels and markers of accelerated brain aging.”Neurology. 2012;78(9):658-64.
7 Cao D, Kevala K, Kim J, Moon H, Jun S, Lovinger D, Kim H. “Docosahexaenoic acid promotes hippocampal neuronal development and synaptic function.”J Neurochem. 2009;111(2):510-21.
8 Institute of Medicine (IOM). Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D and Fluoride.Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997.
9 P. Patrick, B. N. Ames. Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1: relevance for autism. The FASEB Journal, 2014; DOI:
10.1096/fj.13-246546. 10 Jorde, M. Sneve, Y. Figenschau, J et al. Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial. J Intern Med. 2008;264(6):599-60