Keeping Monaco Healthy
tion between nutrition and depression. It’s
usually thought of as a strictly biochemi-
cal-based disorder, or emotionally-rooted,
triggered by a major stress or trauma.
The medical establishment is now acknowl-
edging that food and mood are inextrica-
bly connected and that nutrition plays a
key role in the onset as well as severity and
duration of depression.
There are several nutritional imbalances
that can make you prone to depression
such as:
v Essential fats: Do you need more Ome-
ga 3s or 9s?
v Homocysteine: Is it too high?
v Serotonin levels: Do they need boost-
ing with amino acids?
v Blood sugar: Is it in balance?
v Vitamin D and chromium: Are your lev-
els high enough?
v Food intolerances: Could they be bring-
ing you down?
Multiple Medications
Yet there is still a strong trend among psy-
chiatrists to treat depression with different
types of drugs, including selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), atypical antide-
pressants, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).
Side effects are common in all these medica-
tions, and for many people, these effects are
unpleasant enough to make them stop tak-
ing the medication.
Eat your way to a better state
of mind
Many people mistakenly think that de-
pression comes from external sources —
things that happen in our lives. While
this is sometimes true, the reality is that
what we eat and drink plays a key role in
our mood and the way we see the world
around us. Here are a few tips from a nutri-
rus
Депрессия — это общее состояние всего
организма, затрагивающее людей всех
возрастов и слоев общества, оказыва-
ющее влияние на их настроение, мысли
и поведение. Она напрямую влияет на
то, как мы едим и спим, как относимся к
самим себе и как общаемся с окружаю-
щими нас людьми. Понимание природы
депрессии является первым шагом на
пути предотвращения и лечения этого
состояния, а также избавления от свя-
занных с ним стереотипов.
Находитесь ли вы в депрессив-
ном состоянии?
Депрессия в корне отличается от слу-
чайной хандры. Она характеризуется
tionist to help ease depres-
sion and boost your mood:
1. Eat some form of protein
at each meal. This ensures
you have plenty of trypto-
phan, the amino acid that
is neede d to make seroto-
nin — the feel-good hor-
mone.
2. Have a complex carbo-
hydrate (with NO protein)
three hours after your pro-
tein meal. This boosts tryp-
tophan to your brain (e.g.
a wholegrain cracker or
baked potato before bed).
3. Reduce or eliminate re-
fined sugar and «white»
foods to minimize the dip in endorphins
that comes after the sugar high.
4. Make life changes that include medita-
tion, music, orgasm, yoga, prayer, danc-
ing — things that evoke or support the pro-
duction of your own endorphins in a steady
and consistent way.
5. Avoid all forms of sugar (including nor-
mally «good» sweeteners such as honey,
molasses and fruit juice). They deplete
mood-enhancing B vitamins.
6. And another reason to avoid all refined
sugar is that it causes your blood glucose
levels to plummet, resulting in a sugar
hangover that disrupts your mood, de-
pletes your energy, and is linked to sleep
disorders.
7. Reduce or omit wheat products from
your diet – wheat gluten has been linked
to depressive disorders.
8. Avoid diet drinks and other products
(like yogurt) that contain the artificial
sweetener aspartame. This additive
can block the formation of serotonin
and cause headaches, insomnia and
depression.
сильным желанием уйти и скрыться от
общества, потерей интереса к обычным
удовольствиям и деятельности. Среди
распространенных симптомов также на-
блюдаются хроническая усталость, на-
9. Light therapy can help. Exposure t