Healing Depression: Part 1 Food + Supplements
Depression.
It's not the easiest topic to discuss, but considering recent events and the fact that suicides now outnumber car accident deaths and murders nationwide, I'd say it's crucial to start talking about it.
I recently did a FB + Instagram Live about my recent experience with depression and how I focused on food and supplements to help myself heal without having to take prescription medication. It was so scary for me to do, but the messages and comments I received, an outpouring of gratitude and love for speaking out about this widespread epidemic, made it so worth all the fear I had felt going into it. As I said in my Live, if I am able to help just ONE person feel a little less alone and maybe give them information that can help them heal too, the fear I feel flies out the window. It's worth the fear if I can help save someone else's life the way this information has saved mine.
Before I go any further, let me just say, that I truly believe there is a time and a place for Western medicine and prescription meds. Prescriptions can be very helpful in some situations, but since I believe so strongly in the healing power of food and have been able to heal so much by changing the way I eat and live, I wanted to explore the natural route in healing depression. I had nothing to lose after all, so why not try? If it didn't work, I could always try a prescription.
I used myself as an experiment to see if bringing in certain healing foods + supplements would help me feel better.
SPOILER ALERT: They did!!
The information I gathered about the foods + supplements that help heal depression is from Anthony William's "Healing Depression Naturally" radio show. You can listen to the full show here.
In the radio show, Anthony mentions many different foods + supplements that help heal depression. I chose to focus on the foods + supplements that I had already or could easily find at the grocery store or farmers market. When experiencing depression, it's best to lower the amount of stress in your life, so for me, that meant using what I had or could easily get, without spending a lot of money.
Here is a list of the foods I brought into my daily diet to help heal depression:
1. Cilantro
2. Wild blueberries
3. Oranges
4. Spinach
I actually had already been eating all of these foods, but not every day. The change I made that really made a noticeable impact on my mental and emotional well-being was eating these foods every day, multiple times a day. For example, I now put cilantro in my smoothies AND my salads, sometimes even in my juices. Instead of eating cilantro once a day, I now eat cilantro 2-3 times a day. I snack on oranges and spinach, I put them in my smoothies AND I have spinach in my salads for dinner. I eat double the amount of wild blueberries, either in a smoothie or I'll let them thaw and make a meal out of them with sliced strawberries, banana, mango and honey. As far as the spirulina goes, I just make sure I have it every day :)
Here is a list of the supplements I brought in:
I was already taking B-12 every day, so I just increased the amount for a while. I had been taking Liposomal Vitamin C every day since December, but I learned in the radio show that the ester-c is better for healing depression. Once I finished the liposomal vitamin c, I switched back to taking ester-c every morning.
Lemon balm can be taken in a tincture or tea. I had the tea on hand, so that's what I've been using. I also have a lemon balm plant that I'll use for making tea or I'll munch on the leaves sometimes! I just ordered this Lemon Balm tincture, which is on Medical Medium's supplement list, so if a tincture sounds more appealing to you, check this one out!
I'm going to be sharing a lot more about how I'm healing depression, because there are so many different facets to healing, so stay tuned for more blogs like this one. I'll also be sharing tons of information on my Instagram page and stories, so follow me there as well to continue this conversation ;)
