Enhancing Mental Health with Detoxification
In This Chapter
▶ Getting to know the causes and symptoms of depression
▶ Examining the toxic causes of autism spectrum disorders
▶ Relieving stress and boosting mental health with detox techniques
Most of the chapters in this book focus on various aspects of your physical health, but I couldn’t write a book about improving your total health with detoxification without a mention of mental health. When you get right down to it, mental health is just as important as physical health. You could be as physically fit and healthy as possible, but if your mind isn’t sound, you likely won’t lead a meaningful, fulfilling, enjoyable life.
Mental health and physical health are also incredibly interrelated. You can’t separate the mind from the body, after all. Decreased mental wellness has a profound effect on physical wellness, and lack of physical health creates mental unrest. Scores of studies show a very high correlation between mental health problems and cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, substance abuse, and many other chronic diseases.
The hectic world that we live in today puts a huge amount of stress on our minds, and the influx of toxins — which harm your brain’s delicate chemical balance — certainly don’t make things any easier. If you’re not careful, the combination of a stressful life and elevated toxicity can wear on your mind and end up causing a mental health problem. Depression (or non-traumatic stress syndrome, as I call it) is one of the most common conditions caused by increased stress on a number of levels, and it’s one that (thankfully) you can avoid or defeat by embracing several methods of detoxification.
Digging into Depression
Depression is one of the most common challenges to a healthy state of mind. The problem isn’t a small one. Estimates indicate that 80 percent of people who go to a physician are depressed and 80 percent of people with depression aren’t treated. (Keep in mind that chronic illness is a major stressor that can cause depression, and chronic illness is a top reason for physician visits.)
At any given time, almost 19 million people in the United States are living with depression, and the absenteeism cost of that problem alone is about $51 billion per year.
Depression is a very emotionally charged word. Historically, the word conjures images of weakness and an inability to get a grip on life. Many people think that those living with depression should be able to just straighten up and get over it. In fact, studies have shown that 54 percent of people still think that depression is a personal weakness. That’s an extremely discouraging statistic, especially because we now know that people who are depressed experience biochemical changes in the brain that can’t be changed with all the willpower in the world. We must get familiar with the real causes and symptoms of depression because we can’t do much about it if we don’t fully understand the problem. That’s what this section is all about.
Understanding the causes of depression
In my experience, the central cause of all depression is stress. I’ve never encountered anyone in or outside my practice with depression who didn’t have abnormally high stress. Stress is the common thread of depression, to the point where I think we should drop the term depression and call this complex of symptoms non-traumatic stress syndrome (NTSS). This term better represents what is actually happening, and it’s generally more acceptable to patients as an explanation of their problems. I use the two terms interchange- ably, and I think we’d all be better off if more people did the same.
When I use the word “stress,” I’m talking about social and mental stress — demanding jobs, big changes to your personal live, and so on — but I’m also talking about physical stress. Not surprisingly, elevated levels of toxins in your body can put a huge amount of physical stress on you, which can help push you toward depression.
Here’s another important aspect of depression: It isn’t caused by depressing situations. That statement may sound odd to some people, but it’s true. Consider this: If depression was caused by depressing situations, every person living on the street would be massively depressed. But that’s not the case; some street people are actually happy. And some people who have great jobs and steady paychecks and nice houses are among the most depressed.
All the stressors you face on a daily basis have a negative effect on how your body and mind function. The combined impact can be huge, even without the presence of a major stressful factor. A little bit of stress and toxicity here and there all add up to cause dysfunction and disease. Let me fill you in on some of the details of both mental and physical stress, so you can identify them easily and deal with them if you need to.
Changing brain chemistry
The chemistry of the brain is fabulously complex, and the balance of chemicals that play a role in brain function is a delicate one. You’ve probably heard of the importance of certain chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters, and for good reason: Most studies indicate that a depletion of neurotransmitters is one of the top contributing factors in people suffering from NTSS. They’re not the only important chemicals in your brain, but they’re near the top of the list.
What causes a depletion of neurotransmitters? A couple things. The first is stress. Stress causes an increased firing of nerves in the brain, which can’t take place without neurotransmitters. Too much stress means too much nerve firing, which uses up your brain’s supply of neurotransmitters. That’s a pretty simplistic description of a very complicated set of processes, but you get the idea.
The other side of the neurotransmitter problem is a dietary deficiency of essential nutrients that your body uses to make neurotransmitters. If you don’t get enough of the right kinds of nutrients, your body isn’t able to generate neurotransmitters, and your brain is left wanting.
Environmental toxins — from heavy metals to chemical toxins — can have a major negative effect on your neurotransmitters. Increased exposure to toxins can cause a range of mental health conditions, including (but definitely not limited to) NTSS. Heavy metals are among the worst, with lead and mercury leading the way.
Stress on stress on stress
Mental stress is the kind of stress that you suffer from as a result of events that cause change in your life. Stressors vary from person to person, and they can include almost anything. Here’s a list of some of the most common stressors:
✓ Death of a spouse
✓ Marital separation or divorce
✓ Marriage
✓ Sexual dysfunction
✓ Loss of a job
✓ Change in working conditions, including increased responsibility
✓ Monotony
✓ Change in financial status
✓ Personal injury or illness (especially chronic illness)
✓ Pain
✓ Change in the health of a family member
✓ Hormonal changes such as puberty, premenstrual syndrome, menopause, or pregnancy
✓ New babies or departing children (empty nest syndrome)
✓ Vacation
✓ Retirement
✓ Fear of aging
✓ Moving or buying a new house
✓ Excessive time demands of daily schedule
✓ Difficulty with sleep
✓ Alcohol or drug abuse
✓ Imagined changes in life or fear of possible negative changes in life
✓ Very hot or cold climates
✓ Chronic allergies
This isn’t a complete list, but it does include some of the more common causes of stress. And stress certainly isn’t the same for everyone. One person may thrive on having a packed daily schedule, while that same schedule could completely overwhelm another person.
Did anything about that list surprise you? How about the fact that some of those things are traditionally thought of as happy life events? Did you expect, for example, to see “vacation” on the list?
Stressful events or changes don’t have to be sad or depressing. Many things that are usually thought of as positive — like marriage or new babies, for example — can create a huge amount of stress. Sometimes happy events are even more stressful for certain people than sad events.
The stress of positive life changes
It’s difficult to think of positive life changes as being a cause for depression, but the situation is very real. Not long ago, a 23-year-old woman came to my practice as depressed as anyone I have ever seen. She had just gotten married, and the event was grand at all stages. There were lots of wedding showers; a big, flashy ceremony; and an incredible honeymoon on a Caribbean island. After her marriage, she moved to a new town where her husband lived. They got a new house and started very lucrative, challenging jobs. I could barely hear all the details of her story because she just couldn’t
stop sobbing. She was afraid that she was going crazy because she couldn’t function and she wanted only to stay in her bedroom and cry.
All the recent events in her life were positive and happy, but they all involved big changes in her daily life, which created stress. Stories like hers are very common, but they’re often ignored and the resulting conditions untreated because many people can’ t understand how it’s possible to be depressed with so many good things happening in life.
Seeing the symptoms
The symptoms of depression are wide ranging, and they can sometimes be difficult to identify. The problem is further complicated by the fact that all psychiatric diagnoses are manmade. The same isn’t true in other areas of medicine. Take orthopedics: A broken leg is a broken leg. That sort of diagnosis isn’t subject to personal opinion, and it isn’t likely to change over time.
But psychiatric diagnoses just aren’t as clear cut because the symptoms and conditions can be a moving target. For a mental health condition to be identified, a group of psychiatrists sit down and decide on the symptoms that make up that illness. The symptoms and their order of importance may
change over time and can be subject to social pressures. These types of diagnoses aren’t an exact science by any means.
Depression diagnoses are a classic example. Psychiatrists have developed a group of symptoms that they lump together and call depression. How does it work? It’s actually pretty simple. You must have five or more of the following symptoms during the same two-week period, and those symptoms must be accompanied by a depressed mood or a loss of interest in pleasure:
✓ A depressed mood for most of the day, nearly every day.
✓ Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities most of the day, nearly every day.
✓ Significant (more than 5 percent) weight gain or loss without dieting, or change in appetite nearly every day.
✓ Insomnia or hypersomnia (constant sleepiness) nearly every day.
✓ A feeling of restlessness nearly every day.
✓ Fatigue or loss or energy nearly every day.
✓ Feelings or worthlessness or guilt nearly every day.
✓ Diminished ability to think or concentrate.
✓ Recurrent thoughts of death.
To me, the logic of that kind of diagnosis is a little flawed. For example, what happens if you have only four of the symptoms (not the required five), but your symptoms are severe? I’m also not convinced that these symptoms cover all the bases of depression or NTSS. I have a few other things I look for when I’m figuring out if a person may be suffering from the condition. Here are the other questions I ask:
✓ Do you feel depressed, sad, and melancholy?
✓ Have you lost interest in hobbies?
✓ Are there things that used to be fun that are not fun now, like keeping the house clean or doing routine maintenance on the car?
✓ When you get home do you see several things that need to be done but you can’t decide what to do? Do you just sit down or have to force your-self to get up and do those things?
✓ Is your overall motivation to do things decreased?
✓ Does it take you a long time to go to sleep?
✓ While you are waiting to fall asleep does your mind go on fast forward hopping from topic to topic?
✓ Do you wake up frequently during the night?
✓ Do you wake up early?
✓ Could you sleep much longer if you had a chance?
✓ Do you have trouble with focus? If you are doing something boring does your mind wander?
✓ Are you having trouble with your memory?
✓ Is your sex drive decreased?
✓ Have you developed new pains?
✓ Do little things seem to hurt worse than they used to?
✓ Do you have trouble making decisions about small things?
✓ When was the last time you felt so full of joy you thought you would jump out of your skin?
✓ Do you get angry over things that didn’t bother you before?
✓ Do you lose your temper or hold it in more than you used to?
✓ Do you feel overwhelmed?
✓ Do you ever feel that if you could just run away everything would be better?
✓ Do you ever think of suicide?
As you can see, NTSS can include many different changes in behavior. In my view, when a patient answers yes to several of these questions, it can be a definite cause for concern. When your neurotransmitter levels are depleted, you soon start to exhibit some of the behaviors in these two symptom lists, which can further elevate your stress levels, creating an escalation in your NTSS that can turn dangerous very quickly.
If you or someone close to you begins experiencing some of the symptoms I list in this section, get professional help right away.
Analyzing Autism Spectrum Disorders
While depression or NTSS has become extremely common, another set of complex biochemical changes in the brain has reached epidemic status: autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Autism now affects 1 in every 91 children born in the United States, and that statistic doesn’t include children with ADD or ADHD. In my opinion, ASD is a continuum that runs from ADD on one end to profound autism at the other.
Fingering the cause
The cause of autism spectrum disorders? Toxins, and a variety of biochemical alterations that affect the brain as a result of increased toxicity.
It has taken many years for even the basic causes of autism to be identified. Over the decades, the disorders have been attributed to everything from inattentive mothers to psychiatric disorders. But the root of the problem is a biochemical disorder that involves the kind of toxicity I discuss in many areas of this book. As with any controversial disease or condition, plenty of naysayers refute this line of thinking, but the evidence is growing and enforcing it more and more every day.
Figuring out the best treatments
Effective treatment for ASD requires a range of efforts, the scope of which is too broad to cover in this chapter. The best treatments involve clearing up the gut to get rid of yeast, parasites, abnormal bacteria, and viruses; detoxifying heavy metals; making dietary changes that focus on wholesome, organic, healthful food; supplementing with the essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids; and eliminating wheat and milk products.
We don’t have all the answers, but data collected by the Autism Research Institute has shown these changes to be effective in improving the behaviors and life of children on the spectrum. Seventy-four percent of parents of ASD children report that their children are improved after having heavy metals removed; 72 percent are improved after receiving methyl-B12 injections; and 65 percent show improvement after being on a gluten-free, casein-free diet.
If you or someone you know suffers from an autism spectrum disorder, be sure to talk to your doctor about the importance of detoxifying and avoiding toxic influences. For more information, visit the Web sites of the Autism Research Institute and Defeat Autism Now! (www.autism.com) or Generation Rescue (www.generationrescue.org).
Busting Stress and Anxiety through Detoxification
The stress put on our bodies and minds as a result of changes in our lives and the presence of toxins can lead to behavioral changes, including depression or non-traumatic stress syndrome (NTSS). That’s the bad news, and you can read all about it in this chapter’s earlier sections. The good news is that you can harness the power of a few detoxification techniques to curtail stress and head off these types of mental conditions at the pass.
The toxins that you bring into your body through environmental exposure and food decrease its ability to conduct the normal chemical reactions that need to take place millions of times each day throughout your many systems to keep you healthy. Your brain — with its delicate balance of neurotransmitters and other vital biochemistry — is no exception, so it’s easy to see how increased toxicity can throw off your brain’s regular functioning.
If you want to stop this trend before it begins to have devastating effects on your brain health and mental state, or if you want to slow or reverse a condition that you’re already suffering from, start by employing some of the basic detoxification measures that I describe in detail in Part II of this book. For example:
✓ Undertake basic bowel detoxification against yeast, abnormal bacteria, and parasites.
✓ Conduct a heavy metal evaluation and detoxification if necessary.
✓ Make smart dietary choices (which I discuss in the next section).
✓ Supplement to ensure the proper intake of key nutrients.
✓ Make sure you sweat heavily on a daily basis through exercise.
That’s a quick rundown, but I also want to make sure you get a full sense of how you can focus on a few detoxification standards to improve your mental health. So please keep reading!
Beefing up your brain
Elevated levels of stress and toxins can give your brain and its delicate chemical balance a real beating. But you don’t have to simply roll with the punches; you can do a number of things to help knock out those damaging effects.
Antidepressant drugs do have a place in the treatment of depression, particularly when the symptoms are life-threatening or when a patient refuses to use more natural measures. However, it’s unfortunate when the latter hap-
pens, because natural measures are effective in most cases. I am often able to effectively treat NTSS in my patients when I put them on a regimen of supplements that provide them with the building block chemicals their bodies use to make neurotransmitters. In many cases this kind of treatment works even when antidepressant prescription drugs have failed.
Here are some of the supplements that have really worked for my patients. (It’s also worth noting that solid scientific studies support the idea that these substances are helpful in treating depression.)
✓ Folic acid: This vitamin is required for the development of nerve tissue in the developing brains of babies in the womb, and it’s also necessary for the production of a naturally occurring and very important com- pound in your brain called S-Adenosyl methionine. (You may want to call that one by its nickname, Sam-E, and you can read more about it in this list.)
✓ Inositol: This compound, found in most of your body’s cells, is involved in cell signaling, which is transmitting information between cells. (That’s, right, your cells talk to each other!) Studies have shown that inositol is as effective as antidepressants in treating depression.
✓ Omega-3 fatty acids: I talk about these crucial substances quite a lot throughout this book. Omega-3s have been shown to produce antidepressant effects in multiple studies, and you can get them in fish oil or through supplementing.
✓ Phosphatidylcholine: In addition to being a real mouthful to pronounce, this one is part of the chemical mix that results in acetylcholine, which is a major neurotransmitter in the brain.
✓ S-Adenosyl methionine: Also called Sam-E, this chemical is a precursor of serotonin and dopamine, which are two of the most important neurotransmitters.
I’ve found these substances to be really useful in treating NTSS in my patients. Another added benefit is that they have no side effects, and they’re not known to cause any toxicity.
The substances I list in this section are terrific at helping to boost the brain and fight off NTSS, but don’t try to use them on your own to treat that condition. Be sure to consult a physician who’s familiar with these kinds of treatments before starting any kind of regimen.
Managing stress with what’s on your plate
You can’t do much good cutting out the stress that threatens your mental state if you aren’t committed to good health, and you’re going to have a very hard time achieving good health if your diet isn’t good. If you haven’t already done so, take a few minutes to look through Chapters 6 and 7 so you can understand what you need to include in your diet to give yourself the best possible foundation for health. It all starts with your diet.
In addition to the general food choices and eating behaviors I describe in Chapters 6 and 7, you really want to focus on a few diet specifics in order to reduce the stress you’re putting on your body and mind. In particular,
✓ Don’t eat anything white. That includes sugar, sugar substitutes, and flour, for starters. Cauliflower is an exception.
✓ Avoid processed foods. Processed foods are lousy with toxins, and they don’t provide you with any of the nutrients your body really needs. Be sure to read food labels and don’t eat anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
✓ Cut out the trans fats. This step is critical in any healthy, detoxified diet.
✓ Load up on B vitamins. Get B vitamins with lean beef (100 percent organic, of course), lentils, bananas, avocado, clams, oysters — even octopus!
Using natural supplements to stave off stress
Natural supplements — particularly those that are herb-based — have been used for thousands of years to help boost mental health and relieve stress. Most of these are available at your local vitamin or health food store, and several have been verified by a variety of scientific data over the years. Here’s the cream of the crop:
✓ Chamomile: I recommend chamomile tea as a delicious way to reduce anxiety and aid sleep.
✓ Kava kava: Used for centuries as a calming supplement, the root of the kava kava plant — available at health food stores in capsules and liquids — can also be very effective in reducing anxiety and decreasing the effects of depression.
✓ Lemon balm: Part of the mint family, this herb has shown some effectiveness in treating anxiety when taken as a tea or in capsule form.
✓ Passionflower: Made from a common plant found in the southeast region of the United States, this supplement can be found in capsule or liquid form.
✓ Rhodiola: Europeans have embraced this herbal supplement for many years, and it’s starting to see an increase in popularity in the United States. Use it to help relieve depression symptoms and to bust stress and anxiety.
✓ Skullcap: This herbal supplement has a funny name, but its capacity for decreasing stress is serious business.
✓ St. John’s wort: You may have read reports that St. John’s wort’s potential for treating depression isn’t quite as impressive as everyone once thought, but I’m still a firm believer that it can be a very powerful means for helping those with mild to moderate depression. Most negative stud- ies on St John’s wort focused on patients with major depression.
✓ Valerian root: Many people know this supplement as a useful remedy for insomnia, but it’s also good for relieving stress. It comes in liquid or tablet form.
Considering a few other ways to deal with stress
Today, you can find a stressor just about everywhere you look. Most of us live in a hectic, frenzied environment where big changes happen all the time, and it can be difficult to keep up and prevent stress from really wearing us down. You need to tackle the wide variety of stressors with an equally varied arsenal of stress-busting methods. Many of these methods are completely toxin free, so I support them enthusiastically. I’ll start with some quick ones and then get into a little more detail on exercise and sauna:
✓ Personal time: This sounds so simple, but when was the last time you turned off your phone, pushed back from the computer, and asked the kids to play quietly by themselves for an hour or so? You need to find time in your daily life to relax and clear your mind. Try a bubble bath or some deep breathing, or maybe just find a comfortable corner of your home and dive into a good book for an hour or so. (Just make sure the book isn’t a spy thriller or a horror novel — remember that we’re trying to eliminate stress here, not create it!)
✓ Sex: Sex is one of our most basic methods for stress and anxiety relief.
Do whatever you need to do to maintain a healthy sex life.
✓ Yoga: You can read study after study that supports the use of yoga for stress relief. It’s also great for your physical health, so roll out the mat and get started!
✓ Meditation: This practice has also been used for stress relief and enhanced mental clarity for thousands of years. It doesn’t require any fancy equipment or expensive memberships — just a little time and some quiet.
✓ Journaling: So many people don’t take the time to reflect on their days. You need to savor your accomplishments and work thoughtfully through your problems, and writing in a journal is a great way to do so. Few other methods are as effective for getting feelings and concerns off your chest.
Exercise
I’ll tout the benefits of exercise as long as I have breath in my lungs, but special consideration needs to be given here to the mental health benefits of regular exercise. Getting 30 minutes of exercise each and every day is a terrific way to enhance your health in a way that isn’t possible through any other means, and it’s also a proven way that you can boost your mind. Here are just a few of the ways that exercise can help your mental state:
✓ Endorphin release: These “feel good” neurotransmitters are released when you exercise, and they’re great at elevating your mood.
✓ Decreased anxiety: This wonderful effect is due to a combination of physical and mental factors.
✓ Increased stamina: More stamina means more energy, which allows you to accomplish more without fatigue.
✓ Sense of accomplishment: Whether you’re walking briskly for a few blocks or running a marathon, you’re doing something good for your body and mind. That feeling of accomplishment can really boost your sense of self worth.
✓ Improved pain threshold: Constant pain can have a devastating effect on your mental health, and exercise helps your body deal with pain much more effectively.
✓ Decreased impotence: Especially in men, exercise can help thwart impotence, which helps you unlock more of the stress-busting benefits of a healthy sex life.
✓ Increased fun: Going out for a jog with your spouse or playing a few good-spirited sets of tennis with a buddy can be a lot of fun, and it’s tough to argue that having fun puts you in a better, healthier state of mind.
Exercise every day! Just 30 minutes of daily physical activity will have a fantastic effect on your health — both physical and mental. Check out Chapter 13 to figure out which kinds of exercise will work best for you.
Sauna
Many of the toxic chemicals that put stress on your body and harm your brain function are packed away in fat cells. You can flush out these toxins by spending time in a sauna, because the intense sweating works to shuttle the toxic chemicals out through your skin. Doing so will help to decrease your toxic load, and it’s also extremely relaxing. What’s better for eliminating anxiety and stress than sitting in a nice hot sauna with a fluffy towel and a big bottle of water? Sauna is truly a great way to reduce the physical and mental causes of stress. I explain all your options for sauna in Chapter 18.
Recipes for Improving Your Mental Health
Diet is an important aspect of mental health. The chemical processes that take place in your brain are complex and wondrous, and they require a lot of key nutrients. The recipes here are chock-full of healthy ingredients that will help to give your brain the good stuff it needs. They’re also fun to make, and whipping up something tasty in the kitchen can be a pleasant, stress-busting experience!
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