Study Suggests A Simple Method for Regulating Depression, ADHD, and Other Disorders

By John Michael

A new study proposes an easy and inexpensive way to regulate conditions like depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia. In the study’s abstract, Dr. Rhonda P. Patrick and Dr. Bruce N. Ames note that at least seventy percent of Americans suffer from a lack of this readily available treatment.

Their simple solution?

Get more sunshine. Eat more fish.

 In their study, Vitamin D and the Omega 3 Fatty Acids Control Serotonin Synthesis and Action, the doctors link the neurotransmitter serotonin to the regulation of executive function in the brain. Then they suggest that vitamin D and the two marine omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) encourage our brains to produce serotonin, thereby improving executive function in most people.

We propose a model whereby insufficient levels of vitamin D, EPA, or DHA, in combination with genetic factors and at key periods during development, would lead to dysfunctional serotonin activation and function and may be one underlying mechanism that contributes to neuropsychiatric disorders and depression.

The doctors conclude that increasing the intake of vitamin D, EPA, and DHA can enhance serotonin synthesis and reduce the severity of conditions in which poor executive function is characteristic, like ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia.

Whether or not you’re affected by these disorders, the fact that two-thirds of Americans suffer from a lack of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids suggests we might all benefit from taking this study’s advice. EPA and DHA are generally found in fish like salmon, sardines, cod, roe, mackerel and herring. Vitamin D is best obtained from sunlight.

So get outside and enjoy the sun! And if you live by the beach, take a fishing pole with you.

Rosie's "miraculous" results

"The results I experienced from 26 days at the Perfect Health Retreat were nothing short of miraculous. I had been struggling with chronic fatigue for probably a decade or more. I’d been gaining 5-10 pounds a year and was up to 240 pounds at my heaviest. My sleep cycle was chaotic. I was tired so much of the time that when I did get a burst of energy (usually late at night) I’d often stay up all night at the computer to try to be productive. But then I’d sleep through the entire next day. And some days I’d force myself to function on only 2-3 hours of sleep. I was keeping myself going with Diet Coke, drinking up to 2 liters or more a day. I had been told by my doctor that I was pre-diabetic, my triglycerides and bad cholesterol were too high, my good cholesterol and Vitamin D were too low, and several hormones were out of whack."

Read More: October-November at the Perfect Health Retreat

John Durant: Rickets & "blue blood"

"In 1651 a British physician named Francis Gibson published the world’s first comprehensive treatise on rickets, an “absolutely new disease … never described by any ancient or modern writers.” Now seen the world over, it was dubbed “the British Disease.” Rickets is a childhood condition characterized by skeletal deformities, twisted bones, bone pain, dental problems, and muscle weakness. Left untreated it will disable a child for life. Rickets is caused by a vitamin D deficiency, resulting from a lack of sun and poor diet – two things for which Britain has long been known."

"Though most people associated rickets with the urban industrial poor, holed up in windowless tenements, rickets started out as a disease of the proto-industrial rich. The rich were wealthy enough to avoid the most widely available cure for rickets – sunlight – because they didn’t have to work in the fields. Pale skin even became fashionable. Rickets emerged just decades after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was famously pale; the aspirational merchant class mimicked the high status behaviors of the hereditary elite. The very term “blue blood” is a reference to paleness so extreme that a person’s veins are visible through the translucent skin."

Source:The Paleo Manifesto

Vitamin D and Depression

By Gerard Guillory, M.D.
The Care Group 

A study published in the November 2011 issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that low vitamin D levels are associated with depressive symptoms; these symptoms are especially likely in persons with a history of depression. The study included 12,594 participants between November 27, 2006 and October 4, 2010. Serum vitamin D levels were analyzed and patients were screened for depressive symptoms. The results of the study lead the Mayo Clinic to conclude that, "Higher vitamin D levels are associated with a significantly decreased risk of current depression", giving even more evidence that vitamin D is a beneficial supplement. Many experts feel that the higher incidence of depression in the winter months, so-called seasonal affective disorder or "SAD" occurs as the result of lower vitamin D levels as a result of less sun exposure.  If you are feeling a little blue around the holidays don't forget to take your vitamin D or take a vacation to a warm, sunny destination. Doctor's orders.