Alternative Treatment for Anxiety and Depression

First rule in medicine: All symptoms and all diseases are caused by either 1) protein deficiency, or 2) inflammation. Second rule in medicine: All symptoms and diseases start in the digestive track. Third rule in medicine: All symptoms and diseases are caused by pathogens according to holistic medicine (suggested reading).

With that said. . .

It is miserable being shy, excessively worrisome, obsessive or depressed. High anxiety runs in my family. My father is a nervous fellow who has had a couple of ulcers. His sister was a worrywart and had cancer 4 times in her life. Their father was also a worrywart and had ulcers and stomach cancer which killed him. I had an aunt (in-law) and cousin who were both very anxious. She hardly left their home the last 20 years of her life, and he drank hard liquor to get relief from his shyness which resulted in liver problems which killed him.

Anxiety disorder and depression are associated with a deficient level of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are proteins that carry signals across nerve endings. There are three neurotransmitters which work together in our thought processes:

norepinephrine- fear and worry messages (anxiety, phobia, panic, obsessing when deficient)

epinephrine- panic messages (depression when deficient)

dopamine- excitement and enthusiasm messages (hyperactivity or tourettes when deficient)

Increased levels of gaba and serotonin reduce anxiety and depression. Many of the drugs used to treat mood and anxiety disorders target serotonin - our feel good, self-confidence transmitter - increasing serotonin activity which overrides depression or anxiety. Hyperactivity medicine stifles the dopamine transmitters (dopamine problems are associated with lead toxicity, see my blog about iodine deficiency/fulfillment for heavy metal detox info.). All pharmaceutical drugs have side affects.

These three transmitters are regulated by a protein called gaba. One solution to anxiety/depression is to build more gaba by flooding your body with B vitamins and the amino acids, mainly gaba (or theanine). There are many nutrient combinations that will build the gaba protein, plus herbs which will calm the brain. Plus it will probably cost less per month than the co-payment on a pharmaceutical product. The average markup on a pharmaceutical product 30-day supply is $110 which is prepaid by your monthly premiums. Go to iherb.com and do a search for "anxiety", "depression", "calm", etc. and check out the products that come up.

LOW THYROID

Anxiety and depression can be symptoms of low thyroid. Almost 70% of people with bi-polar and schizophrenia have been diagnosed with low thyroid (and for every person diagnosed with low thyroid there are two others who are undiagnosed). Proteins don't do anything until a hormone binds with them and stimulates them into action, so low hormone means low protein. I believe bi-polar is based on depression and schizophrenia is based on anxiety. See my blog about iodine and the many jobs it does in our bodies and how we have been deficient since the 1970s.

Iodine fulfillment therapy with Iodoral Iodine (not the wimpy stuff at the drug stores) will saturate the thyroid and all other tissues with potassium iodine and iodine, respectively. This was the main treatment for low thyroid until synthetic hormones were invented in the 40s and 50s. There is one precaution, it clashes with a heart medicine (caused by low thyroid). There are many websites which outline this history of iodine and therapy with iodine. Iodoral 50mg iodine is required for about three months to saturate all iodine receptor sites in the body.

YEAST OVERGROWTH - LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

Correcting your chemistry at the root cause produces the best results in eliminating anxiety and depression by allowing your body to build more proteins in the intestines when you eat. Also, eating healthy foods with nutrients and staying away from junk food will make a difference in the amounts of proteins you build. The more nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, oils, water and oxygen) you have sloshing around in your intestines, the better.

Every living organism has amino acids. Humans have 22 amino acids all of which you get from meat, some we produce and some we get from plants. When you digest proteins into amino acids, they start the protein building process. Each amino acid binds with enzymes and other nutrients in order to form a complete protein.

Most people who suffer from neurological problems have a defiency of B vitamins, and probably essential minerals. A lack of proteins can lead to many other physical problems as well, which is why some depressed people also have physical problems.

B vitamins come from the beneficial bacteria in the digestive track. Therefore, if you are deficient in beneficial bacteria, you will not build as many proteins as you should. This is the root cause of many (or perhaps all) neurological disorders (other than physical injury).

The main reason people are deficient in their beneficial bacteria is that they have too many pathogens in the digestive track, mainly candida yeast which is a fungus. ALL SYMPTOMS AND ALL DISEASES ARE CAUSED BY PATHOGENS according to holistic health care. Plus ALL DISEASE STARTS IN THE DIGESTIVE TRACK according to western medicine.

Yeast overgrowth causes damage to the intestinal lining which allows junk to leak out of the intestines. These particles become foreign bodies and have to be handled by the rest of the body's immune system enzymes and proteins. Some of these particles cannot be stopped (namely milk and wheat proteins which are practically indigestible) and they will get into the blood stream and find a weak organ and impact themselves causing inflammation.

The protein deficiency from yeast overgrowth and lack of beneficial bacteria causes over 600 symptoms. The inflammation from leaky gut syndrome causes over 5,000 symptoms and 80 serious diseases.

All industrialized nations have had a yeast epidemic since the mid 1970s. This is our health epidemic. There are plenty of books on Amazon about yeast overgrowth. The yeast epidemic started when iodine was removed from our diets in the 60s and 70s (see my other blog about iodine) and high fructose corn syrup, superfood for yeast, was added.

WHERE TO START

First make sure you aren't doing something which irritates the intestinal lining and kills the beneficial bacteria, therefore causing yeast to overpopulate. Many things can irritate the lining: hormones during hormone change, stress, food allergy, anti-inflammatory medicines (including OTC), steroids, birth control pills, street drugs, colic, alcohol, etc. It takes anywhere from 1 day to 3 months to get enough yeast overgrowth to cause symptoms depending on your age, dosage of meds, etc. Broad spectrum antibiotics will kill beneficial bacteria and cause yeast overgrowth faster than anything else. Babies under 3 months should not be given broad spectrum antibiotics for any non-emergency reason.

The main thing to do is to purchase a yeast cleansing product which will be a combination of herbs such as grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, garlic, pao d'arco. Take these for 3 to 6 weeks along with a probiotic with at least 1 billion live organisms. The goal is to kill the pathogens and restore beneficial bacteria levels to normal. This is a cleanse which everyone should do periodically. Prebiotic fiber can also be used.

After killing the pathogens, continue the beneficial bacteria but increase the dosage to 20 billion live organisms for a couple of weeks. This is when you will feel the difference in how many proteins you are building and therefore, how many neurotransmitters you have in your brain. This treatment is outlined in many books such as: Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Disorders.

You can continue taking a probiotic every day for the rest of your life to help maintain high levels if you want to. Also, to maintain a healthy intestinal flora, stay away from sugar and fermented drinks which are high in sugar as this will feed the yeast and encourage overgrowth again. Wheat also turns into sugar after it is digested.

The pathogens will build up a resistance to an herb after a couple of weeks which is why several herbs are used together in a yeast killing product. The exception to this is garlic (and coconut oil). Garlic kills fungus (yeast and mold), bacteria and virus. You can take a garlic pill every day for life for pathogen control (and the sulpher) along with a probiotic for good intestinal health.

LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

Leaky gut syndrome can also be a part of the root cause of your symptoms, especially if you have any symptoms which are chronic.Leaky gut syndromeISauto-immune disorder. Pathogens damage the intestinal lining which allows junk to leak out and become foreign bodies which will get into the blood and find a weak organ in your body and impact themselves causing inflammation.

The factors that determine which organ will be targeted include: age, sex, vitamin or mineral deficiency or toxicity, heavy metal toxicity, genetic weaknesses, chromosome abnormalities, injury, etc. Lack of iodine in the thyroid gland makes it the weakest for 30 percent of the population (only 10 percent are diagnosed with low thyroid). 5,000 people can have yeast overgrowth and each one can have a different symptom.

To heal the leaky gut after completing the yeast cleanse, you need to stay away from carbohydrates as much as possible and avoid red meats and coffee. L-glutamine is an amino acid that will help the enzymes do their repair work to the intestinal lining. Vitamin B-2 also helps repair the intestinal lining. These should be taken along with a complete vitamin/mineral supplement and fish oil, vitamin E and vitamin C. Any symptoms caused by inflammation will not go away until your intestinal lining is completely healed, which will take 3 to 6 months if you stay on the diet. Otherwise it can take up to 18 months. There are digestive enzymes (which iherb sells) for gluten, peptides and casein proteins which are the most inflammatory particles that leak out of the gut. Take these enzymes with every meal and snack for immediate relief of symptoms until the lining is healed. It might take 5 days or more before the inflammation subsides and you can tell which symptoms are caused by leaky gut.

OTHER

Basic cleansing of internal organs may also be necessary to bring your health and mood up to optimal levels. Probably the most important detox is the intestinal tract including the colon. The liver can take a couple of years to detox the first time. Kidneys and gal bladder need to be cleaned also. Go exploring in iherb and read the customer reviews for ideas on basic detoxing.

Consider balancing your minerals with sea kelp and getting a head start with iodine therapy for healthy thyroid function and heavy metal detoxing. I believe all neurological problems are associated with low thyroid or a heavy metal toxicity. See my blog about Iodine.

PRODUCTS

Check out these products at www.iherb.com:

Candida Clear, Now Foods, $8.82

Iodoral 50mg, Optimox Corporation, 90 tablets for $69.60

Plus many other products, just go exploring. Read customer reviews for more insight.

REVIEW

I did all of this and felt that my life was finally catching up with the rest of the world. I've also explored homeopathy with good results and now I'm looking into essential oils. Other alternative health care can help clear up your symptoms, but the basic yeast cleanse, leaky gut healing and iodine therapy is where to start. Another thing to detox is estrogen dominance (affects 95% of the population), which can be the root cause of low thyroid for some people.

This information is not to be mistaken for medical advice. Please be proactive in your quest for good health and research this information for a well rounded education before you take action. Also, consider paying a holistic practitioner for advise and guidance. Good luck and thank you for reading my blog.