Important Factors to Consider When Using Nutrients to Assist with Depression and Anxiety.

Important Factors to Consider When Using Nutrients to Assist with Depression and Anxiety

Anxiety and depression are easily the most prevalent psychological disorders today and commonly coexist in people who are afflicted.

They are epidemic.

According to the Institute of Functional Medicine, major depression alone is expected to be the second-leading cause of disability by 2020 worldwide second only to ischemic heart disease.

In the United States, one-quarter of the population is at risk for major depression.

We’re drained of our reserves.

The brain suffers.

Energy plummets.

We see the entire world around us through this chaotic biochemical lens.

Life looks bleak, if not overwhelming.

For some people, this is entirely identifiable as a state of chronic anxiety.

For others, it spirals and descends into depression or some combined state of misery.

A common misconception about depression is that it is somehow a lazy person’s disorder and that all people have to do is simply pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get it together.

Depression is in actuality a state of chronic effort without result.

It’s a state of spinning one’s wheels in the freshly fallen snow or when stuck in mud.

Your wheels spin and spin until smoke starts coming from the transmission.

Eventually, you run out of gas or fuel and wear down the engine.

For too many people, the solution is simply to get more gas when what you need is to stop, let the tires cool, and then ease gently out of the ditch.

For some, they need nutritional regulation and support.

Here are some of the things to consider when using nutrients to help a depressed individual or individual with an anxiety disorder.

#01

Among amino acids, competition with each other for metabolic transport sites across the blood-brain barrier tends to make supplementation of amino acids most effective when specifically desired amino acids are taken in isolation from one another, on an empty stomach, and in the absence of dietary protein.

#02

The transport of amino acids across the blood-brain barrier is blocked by elevated glucose levels.

#03

Most amino acids require the presence of cofactors and accessory nutrients to make their proper conversion into neurotransmitters.
Vitamin B6 (also known as pyridoxine; the bioactive form known as pyridoxal-5- phosphate, or P-5-P) is most often needed, and it is depleted by all antidepressant medications.
Other commonly needed nutrients for proper neurotransmitter conversions include iron for both serotonin and dopamine and folic acid, which is commonly deficient.
Always be sure you are supplementing with B-complex vitamins at mealtime and that you are not

#04

The symptoms that you have experienced are probably the best indicators of which amino acid is likely to work best for you.
Although urinary neurotransmitter testing has gained some popularity, the approach is deeply flawed, inaccurate, and very
It is far better to rely on symptoms as the most accurate (and affordable) available indicators of neurotransmitter deficiency.

#05

Amino acids tend to be self-weaning over time and are far safer and faster-acting than nearly all prescribed medications used to treat the same
In most cases, the effects are readily experienced within minutes to hours, rather than days or weeks.
Long-term, a better diet, and improved digestion are likely to be your best insurance for sustained mental health.