Depression slippin in...

[kiwi]

My niece has depression and feels it beginning to creep in again. She will probably be getting her meds changed but that takes time. Does anyone here have some good smoothies recipes and other ideas to help smooth things out in the mean time? She is 23 and living at home - her mother will fix her food. When my niece is down she can't even peel a banana. This is so hard on the whole family - I want to help -- not sure how. Anyone with depression experiences?

[Vgirl]

Hi Kiwi,
Thanks for your help around detoxing - I'll definitely try some melons today. In terms of depression, Gabriel Cousins out in Arizona has actually written a book on depression and I'm sure he relates it back to raw food. I don't have any personal experience with depression so I can't give you the magic ingredient - good luck with your niece - it's not easy taking care of a depressive. Let me know what you find.
Hang in,
Vgirl :)

[LightLover]

avocado walnut hempseed- and flaxoil, anything which stimultates making omega-3 oil in your body , an anti-depression oil

LL

[kiwi]

Thanks for the tip on Omega 3's!

[jaurequi]

I absolutely agree about the efa's and I would suggest natural, unhindered sunshine for 15 minutes a day. If she can't get that, then absolutely get a Vitamin D supplement right away or a sunlamp which is designed specifically for this reason (depression) in this meantime.
I would hope she get professional help and not pin hopes on food healing depression.

Best,

[luckitri]

I think being raw helps alot. Also it is a full moon right now. If the moon can make the tides in the ocean it can also affect us. And it will affect women more than men as we have more water in our bodies. She may notice that her symptoms aggravate at the time of the full moon. It even gives me insomnia! She can prepare in advance for this time emotionally as well as with proper eating of raw if she know that it is the moon, seasonal affective disorder...etc. Its usually got these types of things associated with it....she needs to learn her triggers so that she realizes that it is not just her being defective or useless or a burden on everyone. (Although the way you mentioned how it affects the whole family I almost wondered if it was an attention getter - power - controlling thing. That is a tough call....) If she recognizes that it is partly environmentally related she can have a better attitude combatting it rather than getting stuck thinking that she is better off dead. We know so little yet - it may be totally environmentally related! Do they have support groups for people suffering this way I wonder? That would be a good way to fine tune one's knowledge as well as techniques.

[Mango]

My daughter suffered from very severe depression until we took her off of all gluten. The depression lifted within days and she continues to do great. It has been almost a year now.

[eatyourbroccoli]

My daughter suffered from very severe depression until we took her off of all gluten. The depression lifted within days and she continues to do great. It has been almost a year now.my depression im completely convinced was entirely grain-based. if i have a high-raw day rather than 100% and i eat any sort of grain, its immediately noticeable in my attitude. if i eat more than a little, i slip right back into depression for a good 2-3 days.

maybe try talking to her about her diet?

if its that disabling, im sure shell be more than willing to give diet alteration a try.

[QUAKER]

mangoes are a well-known remedy for depression

less well-known is brocolli. i find it best when its a glass of brocolli/carrot juice.

last november, the end of a relationship was causing me stress..i juiced two bunches of brocolli and around a kilo of carrots a day [to be drunk on an empty stomach, obviously]. its clearly not a cure, but i found it to be a very effective natural palliative. way preferable to pills..

btw i used to be a depressive at age 23 too. exercise [swimming] and an enforced radical rethink of every part of my diet have helped no end, not just with the symptoms of depression but to see clearly and unmistakeably the things/events that caused it. hopefully this clarity of vision will enable her to seek the professional help that is the true cure for the illness.

all the best

[rawnora]

Depression is like any other disease, in that its causes can be traced to unhealthy diet and lifestyle habits. It is diathesis that determines in what area of the body disease will strike. In your niece's situation, the systems and processes in her body that normally produce chemicals that would otherwise keep her in an energetic and joyful state are impaired. In another person, the same unhealthy lifestyle practices might produce diabetes or arthritis. In addition, depression is an energy-conserving device that the body uses when it must devote all its energy to simple survival. All one has to do to cure it is to stop assaulting the body with energy-depleting and life-threatening habits (mostly diet).

A friend of mine wrote a brilliant and extremely insightful article about depression's causes and 'cures'. He was diagnosed with clinical depression in his early 20s. He went raw after learning about the true causes of his disease and 17 years later is still 100% raw and is one of the most contented and balanced people I've ever known. I don't own the copyright on the article so I'd rather not post it here but I'll forward it to anyone who writes to me privately.

Nora
nmlenz@speakeasy.net
www.RawSchool.com

[spicyfull]

I wish you and her the best...........