Hi, I’m Linda,
I am a wife and mom to my 3 beautiful children. 🙂 

Once upon a dark time in my life
I struggled with depression, badly.
It is not a joyful recollection for me to look back upon,
Several years ago I went through alot of “life trials”.
Yes, I still have trials don’t get me wrong, it’s just that this was a particularly  bad season for me.   I lost my grandmother that I loved very dearly, 2 of my aunts, my uncle, almost lost my niece, and one of my three sisters was having serious health issues.  My diet at the time was not the best and knowing what I know now, that was a huge no-no also.  You see,  I was dealing with stressors, emotional ones and physical ones.  At the time I felt “stuck”, I felt I would  never again know what it is to feel joy.  Because I allowed myself to internalize all the terrible events that were going on in my life for sooo long  and wasn’t taking care of myself physically I came to a grinding halt!

I got so out of balance emotionally and physically
that I found myself kind of  morphing into  this person with extremely negative thinking.
Things that would normally not bother me, bothered me alot.
I couldn’t shake it off.
I kept “feeding” the negative thinking, in fact, I fed it so well that it grew and grew.
Much of the time our thoughts will precipitate emotions.
If I gave in to a certain negative thought and kept meditating on it, I got down, or I got fearful.
These are the emotions my thought life was growing.
So..watch your thoughts!  Proverbs 23:7   For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he….
When you starve something, it dies, when you feed it, it grows.

Well, one day I went to see my doctor and told him I was struggling with depression.
I sat in horror as I listened to him tell me (who came there very depressed already)
that one of the side effects of my anti-depressant was that I may feel like taking my life.
As I left the doctor’s office I felt my heart just sink.
Wow, is that the best he can offer me?
He didn’t run one single test to see what I was deficient in or where I was unbalanced, NOTHING!
He just threw a band aid at me that  maybe just maybe would cover up my symptoms.
That would be like my dash light in my car coming on indicating
I need oil and I just pluck the wire or pull the fuse so the light goes off and not giving it what it needs, oil.
But at least the light is off right?!  I was on the anti-depressant for nine days and got so sick from loss of appetite and dry mouth
I decided to go off of it.  My friend took me under her wing and saw to it that I was
eating and had help with my kids while my husband was working.
She helped me change my diet up which was pivotal in helping me win the fight with depression.
She was a huge blessing.
I found a doctor that tested my neuro-transmitters ( brain chemicals )
with a simple urine test to see where all my levels of serotonin, gaba, dopa, glutamate, etc…. were at.
Wow, what a concept!
My naturopathic doctor actually wanted to test me and not just throw a bottle of pills at me!
How  anyone can give a bottle of pills and not know where your brain chemicals are at is beyond my understanding.
After we figured out where my levels were at and took the right supplements
to help balance me combined with  starting to eat better, I saw great improvements.
That was  what helped me physically. it really took the edge off so I could get a handle.
Being a christian I also prayed that I would get victory over the negative thinking patterns that had to go.
As I increased my prayer life, the negative thinking decreased more and more, what a blessing!
So… now let’s look at seven things you can do to win the battle over depression!

               Diet  – Eat more healthy fats and proteins.

Your brain  contains about 60% fat,
it’s no wonder why you need GOOD and HEALTHY fats to keep your brain functioning optimally.
Healthy fats support neurological health and cellular function.
Some good healthy sources of fats are coconut oil, coconut milk, olive oil,  organic meats, raw nuts, avocados, organic grass- fed  butter, organic pastured eggs (yolks).
Be sure to include omega 3 fatty acids also from wild caught fish.
Protein provides energy.  Good sources of healthy protein are eggs, organic meats including wild caught fish and chicken,
nuts and seeds and organic grass-fed dairy.
Your brain needs amino acids (constituents of proteins) to make neuro-transmitters (brain hormones) .
Neuro-transmitters play a huge role when it comes to moods and emotions.
You may also consider staying away from wheat and sugar,
these 2 foods actually deplete serotonin, they are NOT  good mood foods.

                                   Exercise

When you exercise you release endorphins.
These endorphins are natural chemicals that behave like morphine and other pain killers but totally without the bad side effects.
They also create feelings of well being.
Exercising also increases blood flow to the brain.
There are multiple studies that have been done on how exercise affects depression.

                                 B Vitamins

– B vitamins (especially b-12) are very important
for helping your brain make chemicals or neuro-tansmitters ( serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine )
that have a huge impact on moods.
Some vitamin B rich foods to add to your diet would be spinach, bell peppers, turkey, wild caught fish, and cheese.
One b- vitamin in particular, vitamin B-12 is also known as the energy vitamin.
It is  very important for nerve function and regulating production of neurotransmitters.
Many people who have depression or memory problems are almost always deficient in b-12.
I take b-12 in the methyl-cobalamin form because it’s the active and natural form of the vitamin
and it is bioavailable and better absorbed.  B-12 can’t survive stomach acid.
Vitamin b-12 needs intrinsic factor which is a glycoprotein made in the stomach.
This glycoprotein allows the b-12 to pass through the stomach and into the small intestine and from there to the blood.
The b-12 sublingual spray I use bypasses the stomach and enters the blood stream quickly.
Much better than painful b-12 injections.  🙂
So, if you are someone who needs to supplement vitamin b-12, methycobalamin in a sublingual spray is a wonderfully efficient choice.
It is important that you don’t just take one isolated b-vitamin because you can throw of the rest of the b-vitamins.
I take a bioavailable, highly absorbable  b complex and as needed I will add extra b-12.
I take the b-12 in a sublingual spray to ensure I will be absorbing it.

                                   Sunlight

Sunlight has a huge impact on your mental health.  Sunlight = vitamin D 🙂
The research shows that if your vitamin d level is below 20 nanograms per milliliter  (ng/mL)
this can raise your risk for depression as much as a whopping 85%!
Besides the vitamin d, did you know that sunlight helps you to release serotonin?
That’s right!
In fact,  Sunlight and darkness cause your brain to release hormones.
While sunlight can cause your brain to release the hormone serotonin ( the happy feel good hormone),
the darkness triggers your brain to make the hormone called melatonin
( the hormone that makes you feel sleepy and helps you go to sleep).
Not every one is always able to get out into the sunshine because it depends on what time of the year it is and where you live.
I have chosen to supplement with vitamin d when I am not able to get enough vitamin d from the sun.
This is one I really like.
 It is wise to get your blood levels checked from time to time to see where your vitamin d levels are at.
A very trusted source, “The Vitamin D Council” now has made it possible for you to get your vitamin d levels
tested from the comfort of your own home by getting this home test kit.
I don’t have to pay for a doctor visit just to see where my vitamin d levels are at, YAY!
Tweaking your vitamin d levels is crucial for good health.

A few other important things to consider are to make sure you are getting ample amounts of  magnesium each day or if you are not getting enough from your diet it would be wise to supplement with a bio available magnesium supplement each day.
I try to make sure I am getting anywhere from 800- 1000 mgs. a day in diet and supplements combined. This helps huge with depression and anxiety.

Also probiotics help support gut health which is where the neurotransmitter serotonin is made. A good healthy balance  of  serotonin will help modulate your moods and help ward off depression. So it stands to reason a healthy gut will help protect against  depression.

You can either buy your own probiotics (this is a good one here)  which I will say are quite pricey for a good one that has multiple strains of good bacteria and are guaranteed to survive the stomach acid and are shelf stable with a guaranteed potency upon ingestion.  Or you can easily make your own here. Making your own fermented foods are way more plentiful in good bacteria for your gut , and virtually I believe the best and most affordable way to go. They beat out the best bottled supplemental probiotic on the market.

                                     5- HTP

5-HTP –   This is a natural supplement that comes from the seeds of  a climbing shrub  called griffonia simplicifolia  that is native to Africa.  Your body converts this natural supplement called 5-HTP  into serotonin which increases the overall serotonin levels in the brain.  After I got my neuro-transmitter test results back showing I was low in serotonin my natural practitioner put me on 5-HTP.  This  supplement along with diet changes and exercise  was without a doubt very helpful for me.  5-HTP has been used by many as an alternative to drugs for depression. It is very helpful for regulating your moods, getting better sleep, calming anxiety, and elevating serotonin levels in the brain.  It would be a good idea to discuss this supplement with your natural practitioner.  The usual dose of 5-HTP is 150-300 mg. a day in divided doses.  Some people have started on 50 mg. 3 times a day and if they don’t notice improvement after about 1 month increase to 100 mg. 3 times a day.  Work with your practitioner on adjusting your dose.  Look for a high quality 5-HTP such as this one.

                       Food Allergies

Yes, you read that right, food allergies.
There are a number of people who get depression, anxiety, and fatigue
that is caused from an allergic reaction to some foods.
Main culprits are usually wheat, dairy, corn, and eggs.
These “trigger” foods you are allergic to cause inflammation that eventually can mess
with hormone levels and key chemicals in the brain,
resulting in symptoms ranging from depression to schizophrenia.
Several people have reversed their depression just by removing foods they are allergic to!

                             Spiritual Health

Proverbs 17:22  A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

I am a firm believer that our spiritual health can have a direct effect on our physical health and vice versa.
As I used natural methods to address imbalances in my body to help me physically
and sought the Lord to help me spiritually in places where I struggled such as my thought life,
I saw some real changes. They were good changes.
I would encourage you to read the scriptures and see what it can do for you, for there is power in the word!
Life can be filled with lots of physical and mental stressors.I can testify personally that by implementing all of the above,
it made a huge difference in my life.  I can also testify that when I don’t, I can certainly tell the difference.

We will always have “stressors” in our lives (physical and emotional)
but we don’t have to allow these stressors to own us.
When we start to make  good changes in our lifestyle habits (deposits)
we will reap the benefits physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

This book “The Mood Cure”  was very instrumental in helping me to understand
how diet has an important role in mental health.  It also explains in greater detail about your
neuro-transmitters and how they work, how to balance, and what supplements along with diet
will help you to overcome depression and anxiety.
This is an invaluable resource for helping you to OVERCOME imbalances in your moods!

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