Omega-3s, Mood, and the Biochemistry of Depression Several years ago, Spanish researchers followed more than 12,000 European university graduates over a period of 6½ years, tracking diet and mental health outcomes. Their findings were striking: Diets high in trans fats increased depression risk by 50% Diets rich in fish oil were associated with a significantly lower risk of depression This wasn’t a subtle effect—and it points directly to the biochemical role of dietary fats in mental health. Why Omega-3 Deficiency Affects Mood Fish oil is a concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) Deficiency in omega-3s has been linked to: Reduced stress resilience Increased anxiety and depression Hostility and aggression Impaired emotional regulation In one randomized controlled trial, medical students who supplemented with EPA/DHA experienced a 20% reduction in anxiety—despite being…

It’s Heart Month at Beyond Health. We recently wrote about magnesium and the heart—that magnesium is essential for a healthy heart, and that magnesium deficiency is often the real cause of cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, and even heart attacks. Unfortunately magnesium deficiency is epidemic today! It has been estimated that 3/4 of the US population doesn’t consume the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for magnesium. So 75% of us may not even be getting enough magnesium in our diets to prevent severe deficiency disease, let alone achieve optimal health. But add to that the many factors that prevent full utilization of the magnesium we consume (see article below) and you’ve got a real problem that affects almost everyone. But how can you tell if you’re deficient? The blood test most doctors will give you won’t tell you very much.  The body does everything it can to keep blood levels consistent, and will keep pulling magnesium out…

Feeling tired all the time? Cold intolerant? Depressed? Constipated? Losing your hair? Do you gain weight easily, or have muscle or joint pain, or are you forgetful and unable to concentrate? These are some of the major symptoms of hypothyroidism, a condition in which your thyroid gland is not producing enough thyroid hormone or not enough hormone is getting into your cells to do its job. If hypothyroidism is a problem for you, you may be surprised to learn that fluoride, which is dumped by the ton into much of our public water, was once used as a medication for deliberately suppressing thyroid function in cases of overactive thyroid. Why are we dumping a thyroid-suppressing drug into our public water?  Good question! Even the government’s National Research Council voiced concern about fluoride’s effects on the thyroid in a 2006 report. They found “clear evidence” that amounts of fluoride at or near levels added to US water present potential risks to the th…

As we envision a healthy future for ourselves, our children, and our planet this month, let’s take a look at cell phones. Although more than 90% of the US population now owns one, cell phones have never been proven safe.  In fact, evidence for their ability to harm continues to accumulate. Although it’s too late to put the genie back in the bottle—we’ve become too dependent on our cell phones to give them up—both adults and especially children must limit cell phone use if we want a healthy future. Nutritionist Anne Louise Gittleman has pointed out that the kind of electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit causes subliminal stress that raises blood pressure and cortisol (a stress hormone) levels, alters blood sugar regulation, lowers thyroid hormone output and can interfere with getting a good night’s sleep. Cell phones also affect fertility and have been linked in children with behavioral disorders, learning difficulties and depression. Of particular concern have been…

While the world’s attention is riveted by COVID-19, pervasive magnesium deficiency has been an ongoing health crisis for at least sixty years, causing death, disease, and reduced quality of life. Magnesium plays many important roles in heart health, and a deficiency of this important mineral is a major risk factor for having a sudden, fatal heart attack! As one of the body’s most significant anti-inflammatory compounds, magnesium also helps to prevent the chronic diseases that plague our time, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other “co-morbidities” that increase chances of being hospitalized with and dying from COVID-19. In fact, virtually every known illness can be associated with magnesium deficiency.  Magnesium plays many essential roles in the immune system. It contributes significantly to anti-viral immunity, and has other properties that may make it especially useful for COVID-19. Meanwhile, low magnesium levels can seri…

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to soaring rates of depression in the US. A study in JAMA Network Open found that the number of people reporting depressive symptoms has tripled compared with pre-pandemic levels, with more than 25% of our population now affected. Indeed depression has become a second pandemic.Depression is more than being unhappy. Its symptoms include a hopeless outlook and thoughts of suicide; feelings of worthlessness and guilt; a loss of interest in life and in things that used to provide pleasure and comfort; trouble concentrating, deciding and remembering; increased fatigue and sleep problems; anxiety and irritability; unwanted gain or loss of weight; uncontrollable, roller-coaster emotions; and sometimes unexplained physical pain. It often leads to substance abuse, which, although a temporary escape, makes the depression worse. Although the researchers in the above study found increased stress leading to depression at all income levels and in all demograph…

"Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours"  – William Wordsworth, from his poem “The World is Too Much With Us”The English poet William Wordsworth wrote these lines around 1802 at the time of the first industrial revolution, when he felt himself and the people around him to be out of tune with nature. If “the world”—the worldly world of making money so we can spend it to buy more things—was too much with him in 1802, what would Wordsworth have thought about life in the 21st century?Not only are we immersed in overwork and commercialism, but we choose to spend a good part of our discretionary time glued to mobile phones, smartphones, computers and TVs. A 2018 Nielson report found the average US adult spends 11 hours a day listening, watching, reading or interacting with electronic media.Studies have shown that heavy tech use can be addictive, and that it increases stress and anxiety levels, interferes with sleep, and fosters depressi…

When I first found the second-floor flat in San Francisco that I’ve called home for the past 25 years, I was thrilled that it had a backyard and that I could see neighboring yards with trees and gardens as well as distant green hills from my back windows. I didn’t know then that scientists had begun investigating the benefits of nature and greenery to the human body and psyche. I just knew that looking out on or being in my backyard fed my soul.More recently, when a Chinese Massage (Chi Nei Tsang) therapist found my liver was tight and congested, she recommended a daily practice of looking at something living and green—as close as possible to the color of new grass—with my palm over my liver, and visualizing inhaling the color into my liver to soothe and heal it. Was it just my imagination or could I actually feel the color filling my liver, releasing and revitalizing it?As the world’s population has exploded, cramming more and more of us into crowded cities, we’re getting less and les…

Years ago we heard an intriguing story. A frail, elderly gentleman in India, bent over with age, left his village to wander into the woods to die. Several years later he returned, vigorous, upright and tanned from the sun, claiming he had been rejuvenated by communing with the rocks, the trees, and the mountain streams.This story came out of Asia’s ancient tradition of nature therapy recently revived in Japan under the name of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing.” Forest bathing is immersing yourself in a forest environment. This means leaving your cell phone and daily concerns behind and spending several hours deep in the woods, walking on trails or sitting with no other purpose than to experience your surroundings through all five senses: smelling the woodsy air; feeling the ground beneath your feet or the bark of a tree or the texture of a leaf; tasting a blackberry or wild mint; listening to bird calls and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees; and taking in the varied si…

If you want to maintain your best health or fight back against a wide range of common health complaints, you should consider taking curcumin. This natural component of turmeric has a distinguished history in folk medicine for its many health benefits. Modern studies have associated curcumin with a variety of healing benefits.The more you know about curcumin, from its effects on the human body to the best ways of obtaining and consuming it, the more effectively you can incorporate it into your daily health and wellness routine. Take a look at the answers to these frequently asked questions about curcumin.Where Does Curcumin Come From?Curcumin occurs naturally in the rhizome—or root-like underground stem—of the turmeric plant. The substance gets its name from turmeric's botanical classification, Curcuma longa. Turmeric has become a staple of kitchens everywhere for its bright yellow color and distinct flavor, especially in Indian cuisine.Ancient healers saw more in turmer…

According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, approximately 10 percent of Americans are taking antidepressant medications.This means that over 31 million Americans are gobbling Prozac, Zoloft, Norpramin, Luvox, Paxil, and other antidepressant psychiatric drugs like M & M's. This drug use accounts for billions of dollars in pharmaceutical sales annually. Yet according to a landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association say that antidepressant medications work - as well as placebos and not more. In other words, people in depression studies who are given sugar pills instead of antidepressant drugs do as well as the group who gets the drugs. Before you ask yourself whether you should simply take a Tic Tac instead of a Paxil, there is more disheartening news about these drugs. Many Americans are taking antidepressant medications instead of changing their own behavior or life circumstances. According to Maryland medical doctor Ronal…

Gloria Swanson is known for playing the delusional Norma Desmond in the movie “Sunset Boulevard.” But in real life, she was a very sane and smart woman, and an early convert to the natural health movement. In the 1970s she toured the US helping her husband William Duffy to promote a book he authored that became a dietary classic, Sugar Blues. Sugar Blues is an indictment of refined sugar as a dangerous and addictive toxin with disastrous effects on the brain and mental health (both Linus Pauling and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who agreed with Duffy about sugar, are cited in the book). Although Duffy’s book has had a significant impact on a health-conscious minority, sugar consumption continues to ravage the mental health of millions of Americans in minor and major ways. It has been linked with all kinds of mental distress, from depression to schizophrenia, while sugar and a high-glycemic diet have been linked specifically with depression. As noted in a recent Newsclips article,…