Beating Depression

The following information is not for the fainthearted. 

It contains the latest, untested (non-peer-reviewed) suggestions that may help fast track recovery where the underlying cause of the depression is well understood and is being addressed. 

There is growing evidence from authors such as Dr Georgia Ede (Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind) and Dr Robert Lustig (Fat Chance and Hacking The American Mind) that you can reset your neurotransmitters with a determined  shift to a ketogenic diet.  Be aware that it is risky.  It could you set you back for a few days.

Suggested steps:

1.  Stop eating ALL carbohydrates and processed foods.  No bread, rice, oats, sugar, soda, diet-soda, cereal, fruit, cooked veggies, honey and no artificial sweeteners.

2.  Shift to a high protein and high fat diet for at least 5 days.  Eat fatty meats, avocadoes, cheese and take MCT oil.

3.  After five days, fast for 3 days and reset all your dopamine and serotonin receptors.

4.  IF you struggle in days 1-2 ... snack occasionally on small portions of avocado, dark chocolate or tasty cheese.

5.  At the end of your fast, slowly reintroduce protein.  If you feel low, try fatty meats.  You will be very surprised at the healthy choices you start to make.

6.  Super-men could introduce a cold water plunge each day, too.

7.  Thereafter, repeat a 2 day fast each week.
   
   

Remember to balance the above with the suggestions below ... morning sunlight, vitamin D, aerobic exercise, good sleep in a cold room, no screens after 7pm, take a good quality multi-flora probiotic ... give your body a serious reboot.

The link between gut health and brain health is indisputable. We're going to rebalance both.

Eliminate highly processed foods ... no bread, flour, biscuits, pizza, burgers, take away foods, sugar, diet drinks, sweets and alcohol. NONE!

Eat:

1.  shift to a ketogenic diet - beef, lamb, eggs, fatty fish and turkey

2.  fat is your friend especially PUFAs and MUFAs.   Use olive oil, avocado oil and butter.  No seed oils, rice-bran, canola, peanut or vegetable oils. 

3.  consume/devour fermented foods - Greek yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut etc

4.  eat steak for breakfast, salmon for lunch, eggs or turkey for dinner

5.  introduce SMASH fish into your lunchtime salad - Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, Herring

6.  nuts, beans, pulses and home-made hommus (made with olive oil and tahini)

7.  snack on very dark chocolate if needed

No coffee or tea after 10am.

See 6. Hormones and Neurotransmitters below

Establish a routine ... every morning and evening.

Sunrise

1.   lift some weights to raise your testosterone levels
     - ideally in bare feet on bare earth for grounding 

2.   go for a 20-30 min walk

3.   build up to a brisk walk and then a jog or a bike ride

Noon

4.   throw or hit a tennis ball against a wall outside in bright daylight for 15mins

Sunset

5.   go for an easy 20-30min walk before or after an early dinner
   
   

Reset your body clock  ...

1.   head outside at sunrise and exercise in bare feet on bare earth

2.   go to bed at a regular time

3.   leave your phone outside the bedroom and read a good book - ideally, inspiring fiction

4.   create a dark, quiet, cool bedroom - cover the windows

5.   sleep cool, not hot, and change the air if you wake during the night

6.   set your alarm for the same time every morning

7.   try swapping out your LED globes for incandescent bulbs

Mental fitness takes a little bit of extra effort during depressive episodes.  It's not easy and our mood can keep dragging us down.  The steps presented here are geared to breaking emotional thinking patterns in your limbic system and shifting you back into your logical, pre-frontal cortex.  It takes time and practice to break bad thinking habits ... but it can be done with tools like Mel Robbin's 5 second rule.

Clear out the circular thinking ...

1.  Find a quiet, safe place to write each morning and evening

2.  Relax and breath slowly and deeply for a few minutes

3.  Turn your attention inside and start listing the fears most prominent in your mind. Use short phrases, you don’t need long sentences.

4.  After 5, 10, maybe 15, minutes turn your attention to your resentments.

5.  Resentments are typically written in the following form …
   I am resentful at [name/group/God] because I fear they will [action].

6.  When you’ve finished writing for the day, stop and close the note-book.

7.  Relax and breath slowly and deeply … then put the note-book away.

8.  When the circular thinking returns, remind yourself that that thinking is done, it's recorded, it's finished. I don't have to think about that stuff any more.
   
   

Learn to manage stress through breathing

1.  Box breathing through your nose
  -  count in for five, hold for five, exhale for five ... or ...

2.  Double-breath breathing through your nose
  -  breath in once, breath in twice, hold for 3 and exhale slowly

Start a plan 

1.  write a plan to address the stress and run it past a good friend

2.  create a vision for the future and pray it through 

3.  when you're ready, head to www.PragmaticPlanners.com and start your Ikigai journey.
   
   

Read

1.   a good novel in bed with an incandescent light globe

2.   Norman Vincent Peale's - The Power of Positive Thinking
     - one chapter per day and take notes

5 Second Rule - Mel Robins

When faced with a conundrum ... or a blockage ... or even a fit of rage or despair:

1.   stop

2.   inhale once and top-up even more with a second inhale

3.   breath out slowly through your nose counting backwards from 5

4.   then ask "what is the very best outcome here?"

and you will move back into your pre-frontal cortex and come up with a constructive course of action.

There are lots of opinions out there on nutritional supplements, vitamins and trace elements. Please note, in the long term, NOTHING beats a diversified diet rich in quality ketogenic meats, salads, fruits and nuts.

In the short term, the most important thing to focus on is your gut flora ... your microbiome ... followed by good food, good exercise and good sleep.

Take a multi-flora probiotic and eat lots of plain Greek yoghurt, kimchi and sauerkraut.

Magnesium is a good investment but be aware there are lots of magnesium compounds and lots of dubious products. Some compounds will speed you up, others will slow you down.

1.  Mornings - Magnesium aspartate dihydrate taken in the morning will improve cognition and metabolism. eg.  Caruso's Super Magnesium

2.  Evenings - Magnesium L-threonate taken at night will produce a deeper sleep eg. Bulk Nutrients - MaxSleep ... but use occasionally and avoid creating a dependency.
   
   

Vitamin C taken first thing each morning helps lower cortisol, moderate insulin levels and help reduce anxiety.

Vitamin D is a good investment and each morning.  It's fat soluble and best taken with a piece of tasty cheese.  It's important to get natural sunlight on your skin for 10-15 mins each day.

Omega 3s from fresh SMASH is ideal.  SMASH = Salmon, Mackeral, Anchovies, Sardines, Herrings.  Fish oil capsules are not recommended due to heavy metals and staleness.

Creatine - there is growing unofficial evidence that creatine may be a magic elixir that lifts your cognitive mood.  It's early days.  To my knowledge there is no downside and it may be worth experimenting with a hit each morning.

IF you need a short-term lift, eat:

• avocado

• tasty cheese

• dark chocolate

Our hormones and neurotransmitters are thrown out by diet, stress, trauma, computer screens, alcohol and subcutaneous body fat.

Briefly ...

1.   invest in good quality sleep and reduce ghrelin production

2.   reduce cortisol through vitamin C, exercise AND learning to breath

3.   diet and/or fast to reduce your belly fat

4.   rebuild your testosterone levels with AM weights

5.   reset your serotonin and dopamine levels with fasting

6.   introduce food high in tryptophan to increase serotonin production.
     - eggs, salmon, cheese, pineapple, tofu, nuts and seeds, and turkey.

7.   snack on tasty cheese occasionally; it contains casein, a casomorphin, that triggers dopamine production.

and slowly rebuild your serotonin and dopamine baseline with all of the above.

Going Deeper ... 

Conditions like advancing age, exposure to constant stress, unresolved grief and certain environmental factors can inhibit production of these essential hormones and neurotransmitters.

Low dopamine levels can cause depression, loss of motor control, loss of satisfaction, addictions, cravings, compulsions, low sex drive, distracted attention and poor focus.

Foods such as sugar, grains/flour, saturated fats, corn syrup, seed oils and highly processed refined foods interfere with proper brain function and can cause low dopamine levels triggered through the insulin pathway. Consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol should also be reduced because they can clog the arteries to the brain, heart, and other organs.

The primary foods for triggering healthy neurotransmitters are proteins like tyrosine. Increased consumption of fish, eggs, chicken, turkey and red meat will help increase tyrosine levels. Dairy products, like cheese and cottage cheese are also high in protein and help raise your baseline.

Other sources include almonds, avocados, bananas, dairy products, lima beans, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.

As well as ...

• Apples

• Almonds, Walnuts

• Beets

• Blue-green algae

• Capsicum

• Celery

• Cucumber

• Ginseng

• Green leafy vegetables

• Tofu

• Watermelon

• Yoghurt - Greek, unsweetened

Alcohol and sugar all decrease dopamine activity in the brain.

Aspartame (found in Diet Coke and Pepsi Max etc) also depletes dopamine production.
  

Several thoughts from personal experience ...

1.  Mood-lifting music is good for the soul.

2.  Listen to inspiring contemporary music, great classical pieces, big hymns, Broadway musical hits, stirring praise help lift the spirit and shift your mind from circular thinking.

3.   Some people believe the Solfeggio frequency of 396Hz will help address anxiety.  Experiment with all 9 frequencies (sometimes known as whole tones) and see if they lift your mood after several days. It did nothing for me.

4.   Binaural beets does have peer-reviewed science to support its use.
   40hz (Gamma waves) will give you a cognitive lift and extra focus
   5-8hz (Theta waves) will induce relaxation.
   0.5-5hz (Delta waves) will help induce deep sleep
     I have used stereo speakers in my bedroom to generate the required interference patterns.

5.   I use binaural beats at my desk for focus sessions.

I encourage you to experiment with good quality music.  It helps.

The internet is full of porn AND YouTube has numerous life coaches, psychologists and neurologists teaching various methods to overcome the addiction.

Watching porn is a dopamine addiction.  It's a huge dopamine hit and conditions us for big/bigger hits that are just not natural.

Porn robs you of your spark, your creative energy and often fuels depression through feelings of guilt or isolation.

It erodes your spiritual life and deprives you of true intimacy in all your relationships.

Like any addiction we learn to recognise the triggers and develop the discipline/courage to avoid them.  The addiction industry uses the acronym HALT - you're most vulnerable when you're Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.  You know it.  You know the triggers.  You know there are better things to do with your time.  Invest in exercise, weights, writing to your children (current or future), renovations, education, friendships or community causes.  It's a much better use of your time.

You will be surprised at the physical and spiritual energy you get back by giving up porn.

Give it the flick.

God can seem miles away when we're going through depressive episodes.  Trust me, He's not.  That feeling of isolation and aloneness is a lie. 

Spiritual fitness has multiple levels.

At a superficial level you can adopt the spiritual practices of the new-age ... meditation, affirmation, manifestation and visualisation.  Meditation is useful if we want to explore and compartmentalise the sources of stress in our lives.

Unfortunately, inner-focused meditation has no objective truth and is subject to exogenous spiritual influences.  Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 6:12, that we could be messing with principalities, powers, and demons that openly lie and seek to lead us away from a relationship with God.  It's quite common for those demons to tie us up in obsessive, circular thinking. 

At a deeper level you can step outside your own self-proclaimed deity (strongly recommended) and claim the promises that the God The Father offers us in the Bible.  You can hold Him to His word and He will deliver.  I promise.

At the deepest level you can walk daily in the Holy Spirit.  God gives His Spirit to indwell us and guide us into a healthy relationship with Him and the people he gives us to serve.

Walking in the Spirit will involve:

1.  being open to the Word of God

2.  being open to the Spirit's correction

3.  being open to the Spirit's indwelling

4.  being open to the Spirit's healing

5.  walking daily in prayer

To embark on a level 3 relationship, I'd book some time with the healing rooms at Tolga Community Church and start to clean out your psychological and spiritual demons.  There could be both.

I'd start by using the A5 notebook from the "Mental fitness" section above and write on a clean page: "Father, please guide me into a deeper walk with you" and see what the Spirit touches in your life.

It is very important to understand that you and you alone are responsible for your relationship with God.   No-one else is to blame for you not walking in God's healing love.

Fasting resets all your hormones and neurotransmitters

  2 x 36 hour fasts  or 
1 x 72 hour fast every week,
will reset your serotonin, dopamine and testosterone.

Grounding declutters your blood cells.

Step outside every day in bare feet and walk on soil or sand for five minutes.

Box breathing reduces anxiety and cortisol

In for five, hold for five, out for five, rest for five
-  nice and slow
-  through the nose
will reduce anxiety attacks and cortisol production.

Take quality time out every week ...

•   go for a long walk in a green forest - "Shinrin-yoku"

•   sit beside a babbling stream

•   go paddling on a lake

•   repeat positive bible verses

•   listen to inspiring music

Expand your horizons  ...

•   find a cause that 's bigger than you, and commit

•   take up a creative hobby like gardening, piano, guitar or even golf

•   grow your own chemical-free fruit and vegetables

Connect with good people - family and friends ...

•   maintain your family connections

•   invest in a men's action group 

And remember to ...

•   journal your inner thoughts/doubts/fears

•   hand your concerns to God in prayer

•   periodically review your journal and thank God for His answers.

IF you need an emergency serotonin fix, then dark chocolate, avocado or a bowl of complex carbs will improve your sleep and tomorrows mood: 

• sweet potato

•  100% natural ice cream eg. Bulla, or even better, Mungalli Creek biodynamic ice cream before going to bed.

•  eat some organic rolled oats for dinner (avoid glyphosate)

Pick one.

If you are feeling genuinely suicidal, then it's time to reach out to family, friends, LifeBlood, Life-Line or Beyond Blue.  Don't be embarrassed. You are not alone.
 

Objective ...

Re-balance brain chemistry

 - increase serotonin naturally 

 - increase dopamine spikes naturally

Develop better, longer, deep sleep to clean the brain

Retreat to a journal for 20-30 minutes each day ...

Get all the rubbish out of your head and onto the page

Write about your fears

Write about your resentments

Hand it all to God and claim His promise in Philippians 4:6-7

When you're ready ... create a realistic image of a fresh/new future.

Starve bad gut flora ...

No sugar 

No alcohol

No flour - bread, toast, oats, rice, cakes, pizza, pies etc
No breakfast cereals - they're rubbish - vitamins and minerals are sprayed on after baking.

Reduce gluten

Avoid antibiotics

Grow good gut flora ...

Eat Greek yoghurt

Eat fermented foods - kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir

Include prebiotic foods - onion, garlic, bananas, artichokes

Eat good food ...

Start your day with grass-fed beef

Fish - salmon, tuna, ocean fish for lunch

Eggs (ideally free range) or turkey for dinner with garlic and onions

Accompany with fresh whole foods
-  vegetables, salads, legumes, beans, lentils

    -  garlic, onions, leaks, spring onions

    -  almonds, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, pistachios

Increase polyphenols - dark chocolate, rooibos tea, red grapes, dark plums

Increase your tryptophan - turkey, yoghurt, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts

Fruit in the afternoon - stone fruit, apples, watermelon, blueberries,

Experiment with what works for you.  Food is medicine.

Build physical fitness ...

Use sunrise and sunset to improve mood and sleep regulators

 -  go for a walk early morning AND late afternoon 

Build up to longer rhythmic exercise like swimming, cycling, jogging

Eliminate subcutaneous (toxic belly) fat.

Increase testosterone production with weights.

Heavy weights with fewer (5) reps once a week

Light weights with lots (15) of reps twice a week 

Build mental fitness ...

Stop procrastinating.

Read the Power of Positive Thinking

Do the most important things each day first.

Repeat positive bible verses or affirmations

Overcome every excuse in your mind and connect with one or two people

Stop watching porn ...

Just stop

It's a trap

Don't go there 

Use the time to get out and exercise, walk or weights

AND, in time, invest in healthy, real, relationships.

Develop good sleep ... 

10-15 mins in bright sunlight each morning - no sun glasses

Leave your phone outside the bedroom.

No screens (TV, PC or phone) after 6pm 

No caffeine after 10am including tea, coffee, coke, red-bull etc

Read a good book with a steady warm incandescent light (no white CFLs or LEDs)