Christmas is the time of the year when we are most likely to experience depression. Christmas also has the highest level of suicides on the calendar. The psychological aspects of seasonal depression are well known. But does it have to be this way? What role does nutrient depletion play in increasing ones susceptibility to depression at this time or at any time of year? 
There are two important things to make note of here; 1. Lack of either a single nutrient — or several — can lead to depression. Hence, proper diet and supplementation can help to guard against depression at any time of year and at Christmas can presumably help moderate seasonal depression for those so affected; i.e. one may experience Christmas depression but not as severely. 2. The Christmas holidays are a time of consuming too much sugar and alcohol — both of which are known to deplete the body of key nutrients, hence either setting off or worsening depression. In other words, what you eat can mean the difference between no depression and major depression — depending on your particular situation.
If you are prone to depression during the holidays or at any time, nutrient deficiency and the role your diet may play in any such deficiency is something to look into. I want to share with you today an article by Hugh D. Riordan, M.D. on this very subject from Orthomolecular.org, an organization which promotes “therapeutic nutrition based upon biochemical individuality.” Similarly, orthomolecular medicine Orthomolecular medicine “describes the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of substances which are natural to the body.” In other words, for the body to function normally, it requires optimal levels of nutrients without which such things as depression can, and do, happen.
The article, entitled “Overcoming Depression,” discusses the role nutrient depletion plays in depression and the role nutrient restoration plays in its treatment and reversal. It begins:
Did you know every medical text book, at least up until a few years ago, indicated that one of the most common effects of inadequate vitamin C is depression? We very seldom go to a psychiatrist who measures our vitamin C level. Many years ago, I had a lady who was a teacher and she was profoundly depressed. She had three years of psychotherapy prior to coming to The Center. She had profound fatigue and was barely able to function at all. Our testing revealed she had no detectable vitamin C, so we gave her 500 milligrams of vitamin C a day-not very much by our standards. In a couple of weeks, she thought a miracle had occurred. No miracle had occurred. She was low on vitamin C and depression is the natural consequence of that. She had very good insurance. A psychotherapist could have seen her every week for two years and the i nsurance company would have paid the entire bill. Our bill was for two office calls and three vitamin C levels. The company would not pay because vitamin C had nothing to do with depression, according to their payment schedule. If you are depressed, vitamin C is worth considering.
In studies at two area health care centers, 30% of new admissions with a diagnosis of depression had low plasma vitamin C levels. Actually, we did this study a number of years ago and found that if you took a hundred people who are depressed without checking their level and gave them all vitamin C, 30% would get better. Statistically that would be below the placebo level. That is why it is important to separate out the 30% from the large group, so the people who are low in vitamin C will obviously respond more to the vitamin C than the people who are not.
Of course, man and woman does not live by vitamin C alone. It is possible to become depressed because of the lack of a sufficient amount of a single trace element. The following is from an audio tape of a person who had this problem: Go to Overcoming Depression by Hugh D. Riordan, M.D
The article goes on to discuss serious Zinc deficiencies, food stressors, deficieny of necessary dietary fats and even proper breathing for stress relief. This last one is easy to dismiss but is incalculably MORE IMPORTANT than most people even begin to realize. Click here to read the rest of Overcoming Depression.
To sum up, depression may be caused, exacerbated, prevented, alleviated, vanquished — by what we put in our mouths. That is something to remember as we face those Christmas “treats” and drinks this season.
http://orthomolecular.org/library/articles/ocdepression.shtml
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