The last few years have been stressful for all of us and if you feel you need some extra nutritional help then Patrick Holford is an expert.

This is particularly true for mental health as he started in the field of psychology and then became a student of two of the leading pioneers in nutrition medicine and psychiatry – the late Dr Carl Pfeiffer and Dr Abram Hoffer.

In 1984 he founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION), and his mentor, twice Nobel Prize winner Dr Linus Pauling  was patron.

So I am happy to share here an abridged version of his report with tips on how to get out of negativity and start enjoying life again.

6 essentials to improve your mood

If you find yourself becoming enthusiastically negative, not happy most of the time, stuck in a black hole, not enjoying your life and not seeing a way forward read on to discover the six essentials to improve your mood.

A staggering, and increasing, number of people feel like this with one in six being prescribed anti-depressants.

I strongly believe the combination of psychological and nutritional solutions is the way up from down, not drugs. The biggest problem with anti-depressants, apart from their poor effectiveness compared to some of the natural agents I’ll be discussing, is you can’t get off them.

According to Professor John Read from the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, up to 46% of people experience withdrawal effects, half of which are severe, not uncommonly for several months – and GPs have no idea how to help them.

The importance of nutrition and mood

Nutrition has a profound impact on the chemistry of mood and, as I will show you, brain chemistry and what you eat has everything to do with how you feel, your ‘get up and go’ and both your physical and mental energy and ability to think straight.

In fact, you cannot separate psychology from brain chemistry. Social media addiction, for example, which can be a cause of depression, with everyone creating a ‘false self’ that looks fantastic, reinforcing the idea that you are a loser, or cyber-bullying as an extreme example of this, depletes the ‘reward’ system of the brain that runs on dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) found within the brain and is made directly from the amino acid tyrosine. It has a variety of influences on brain function and when you run out of dopamine you feel down.

At the Brain Bio Centre in Putney, part of the charitable Food for the Brain Foundation, we help many people come out of low mood by tuning up their brain chemistry, not with drugs but nutrients.

Holly, who had been plagued with anxiety, low moods and indecisiveness for years derived clear benefit from a nutritional upgrade.

 ‘It’s made a substantial difference. I feel much more balanced and have a much more positive, rather than negative, outlook on life.’

How did Holly turn her mood around?

By correcting one of six critical factors. Lets start at the beginning.

1. Omega-3 and marine food nutrients

Essential omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring, as well as providing iodine and selenium, B12 and vitamin D – all of which are found in abundance in a marine food diet.

The science says, beyond a shadow of doubt, quoting the most comprehensive study of all of the studies to date:

‘the use of omega-3 fats is effective’ both in patients with major depressive disorder and milder depression’.

The lowest level of effect was in supplements providing 300mg of combined EPA and DHA, while 1,000mg a day was the ‘optimal’ dose. Study after study have shown that the combination of EPA and DHA means less aggression, less emotional and physical outbursts and, generally, a calmer outlook.

There is no possibility of achieving these levels on a plant-based diet without also taking supplements. Every day I supplement 574mg (DHA plus EPA) as well as eating oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herrings, taramasalata) three times a week. I recommend you do the same.

2. Serotonin – the enlightener

How does omega-3 improve your mood? The best evidence to date is that it improves how brain cells (neurons) communicate and raises serotonin – a hormone found naturally in the brain and digestive tract.

It is often referred to as the ‘happy hormone’ as it influences mood and is the brain’s feel good neurotransmitter – a chemical messenger that carries signals between body cells.

Serotonin is what’s called a tryptamine and from it we also make melatonin, another tryptamine, that controls the sleep/wake cycle but, in effect, keeps you in sync with the earth’s day/night cycle.

SSRI anti-depressants (the Prozac generation) block the re-uptake or recycling of serotonin, which gives you more in the gap between neurons, where serotonin sends its feel good message, but gradually depletes your serotonin stores. That is why withdrawal effects are so severe.

The new SNRI (serotonin and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors) do the same thing but also manipulate noradrenalin, made from tyrosine.

But what is serotonin, melatotonin and all the brain’ tryptamines made from?

The answer is the naturally occurring amino acid tryptophan, and specifically a form of this called 5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP for short.

People, deprived of tryptophan, become depressed, and depressed people given 5-HTP get significant relief. As good as if not better than anti-depressants, but with a fraction of the side effects and no withdrawal problems.

There have been 29 studies using 5-HTP for the treatment of depression, involving 1050 people to date, most of which proved effective.

Are there any downsides? Most serotonin is made in the gut from tryptophan, or 5-HTP, and some people experience mild to moderate nausea or stomach cramps when starting to take 5-HTP. This often resolves if they continue or lower the dose.

Two studies report that enteric coated or slow-release 5-HTP capsules substantially reduces gastrointestinal adverse events.

This suggests a direct irritating effect of 5-HTP on the stomach. The slow release form also has the added advantage of increasing the length of time 5-HTP is effective.

The other concern has been the theoretical possibility of ‘serotonin syndrome’ – an overload of serotonin – if 5-HTP is taken with anti-depressant drugs. But, according to a comprehensive review ‘5-HTP has never been associated with serotonin syndrome in humans. Even in combination with anti-depressants it has a low propensity to cause severe adverse events in humans.’

Even so, I generally advise people not to take it with anti-depressants but certainly to start slowly easing in 5-HTP when you are weaning out anti-depressants, and take a decent dose (300mg daily) when stopping an anti-depressant. The lowest viable amount is 100mg which I recommend taking twice a day, in the morning and evening.

Since 5-HTP helps make melatonin, which helps you to sleep, there is a good reason to take it an hour before bedtime if you have difficulty sleeping, or don’t appear to dream.

I would say take the first supplement at least 15 minutes before breakfast and the last an hour before bed.

3. Tyrosine – the motivator

The reason the new generation of ‘SNRI’ anti-depressants are serotonin and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors and while low serotonin is associated with the depression, low dopamine or noradrenalin is associated with the lack of drive to do something to make yourself feel better.

We know that almost any addiction – social media, gambling, sugar, alcohol, sex, cocaine etc is associated with dopamine depletion because they target the brain’s ‘reward’ system to make you feel good about yourself.

But, instead of blocking the noradrenalin reuptake channel with an SNRI drug, why not provide the nutrient from which dopamine and noradrenalin are made?

Why not indeed. This is the naturally occurring amino acid tyrosine.

While I love the combo of 5-HTP with tyrosine I want to emphasise that there’s not a lot of point taking tyrosine if you keep eating loads of sugar, drinking loads of coffee, being addicted to social media and using alcohol to calm down and go numb in the evening.

Although I won’t go into it here, eating a low GL diet as all my books recommend, and weaning yourself off dependency to coffee and alcohol, is the way to go.

4. Chromium – the instant anti-depressant and help for weight control?

Anyone who knows about blood sugar control knows that this essential mineral helps balance blood sugar, normalise hunger and reduce cravings, improves lifespan, helps protect cells and is essential for heart function.

But few know that it has been shown to relieve depression in 6 out of 10 people in placebo controlled trials suffering from ‘atypical’ depression. What is also remarkable about chromium is that it tends to work within 3 days, if not 3 hours.

Two other studies have reported significant mood improvements: one giving chromium to women with premenstrual mood disorders and another to women prone to binge eating. Both reported clear benefits.

The second found ‘greater reductions in bingeing, weight, and depression’ on chromium versus placebo. The lowest amount I’d recommend is 100mcg, although most studies have used 600mcg.

5. Methyl magic and B vitamins

The word you often hear in relation to feeling down is ‘disconnected’ in terms of social, love, spiritual, meaning  and not feeling part of life, friends and society.

The biochemical equivalent of connection is methylation, which is what occurs when the body takes one substance and turns it into another, so that it can be detoxified and excreted.

It’s a process that is occurring a billion times every few seconds that fine-tunes your brain’s chemistry, making important neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, as well as neurons themselves.

Methylation is dependent on B vitamins, especially B6, B12 and folate, each of which if supplemented have been shown to improve mood.

Actually,  zinc and TMG (tri-methyl glycine) are also vital, so keep your intake of all these nutrients high, ideally both by eating wholefoods and supplements. B12, especially if you’re vegetarian, is key to supplement.

6. Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin

Generally speaking, the lower your vitamin D the worse your mood so that makes vitamin D especially important to supplement from October to March when the angle of the sun is too low and you’re less likely to get outdoors exposing your skin to sunlight.

It’s best to assume that we are all deficient in winter, unless you travel to the sun, and need to supplement at least 15mcg (600iu), although twice this may be necessary to correct deficiency.

Some studies show that supplementing vitamin D improves mood, but not all, and it isn’t just vitamin D we need – it’s sunlight.

Canadian researchers compared the effects of an anti-depressant (fluoxetine), placebo or 30 minutes daily of light therapy as soon as possible on waking for people with major depression.

Light therapy was both superior to placebo and anti-depressants, which were also no better than placebo. I have a full spectrum light in my study, which I put on in the winter, when I’m writing in the early morning before the sun comes up.

Helpful information:

So to sum it up: the best plan is to eat a low GL diet, with plenty of oily fish, avoid sugar, cut back on stimulants and alcohol.

Plus make sure your daily supplements include omega-3, vitamins B and D, zinc, chromium, plus the amino acids 5-HTP, tyrosine and TMG.

Stress and anxiety, and particularly depression, can impact every single one of our bodily functions and our hormones are no exception.

We know progesterone helps boost mood but for more severe anxiety and depression you may find a combination of both progesterone and oestrogen more effective.

Talking of nutrition – could your diet be contributing to your low mood?

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/5-everyday-items-to-avoid-if-you-have-anxiety-or-depression/