Nutriceuticals: Supplements and Herbs

Nutriceuticals are natural foods, nutritional supplements and herbal products that are used to treat illness.

These natural alternative solutions provide options for treating anxiety and depression that are not only comparable with mainstream medical treatments, but are also genuinely safer, healthier... and in many cases more effective than any drug you can buy.

Orthomolecular medicine has proved the value of many of these natural substances. Nutriceutical solutions deserve to be a foundational aspect of most alternative treatment regimens for anxiety and depression.

Why Nutritional Supplements Like Amino Acids and Some Herbs Work for Anxiety and Depression

The reason is simple: the neurotransmitters in your brain control your mood. They are produced by your body largely out of amino acids, B vitamins and minerals. Taking the right amino acids and vitamins increases the production of these neurotransmitters.

For example, if you take an SSRI to increase the neurotransmitter serotonin, then you are unnaturally blocking the process by which the serotonin breaks down and is re-assimilated. But if you take 5-HTP, it will covert into the serotonin in which you are deficient, and the increase in that neurotransmitter will be generate a better mood.

Here are the amino acids and amino acid derivatives that act as precursors of the neurotransmitters that establish whether you are depressed and anxious... or happy and relaxed:

• 5HTP is converted into serotonin and then melatonin (for sleep).
• Phenylalanine is converted into tyrosine,
• tyrosine is converted into dopamine, (L-Dopa)  which is converted into norepinephrine, and the lastly epinephrine.

Therefore, taking high-quality 5-HTP will lead to more serotonin, the same neurochemical targeted by most antidepressants. Taking the amino acid tyrosine or SAMe will generate more dopamine, which is crucial to both mood and pain relief, and which later becomes norepinephrine, another important mood neurotransmitter.

What Works for Both Anxiety and Depression:

Herbs:

• St. John’s Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) is a mild sedative that has been shown to be as effective as mainstream antidepressant drugs in the treatment of many forms of depression. St. John’s Wort acts to increase seritonin the same way an SSRI does: by chemically blocking the re-absorption of serotonin into the body. This herb is the natural "first line of defense" against anxiety and depression. Look for products with 3% to 5% Hyperforin and .3% Hypercin. May take several weeks to take full effect.
• 5-HTP (1-5-Hydroxytruptophan from Griffonia Simplicfolia) generates a pleasant mood and helps you relax and/or sleep. 5HTP is a metabolite of the amino acid tryptophan that is a precursor to seritonin and then melatonin.  Usually works within a few hours. Best taken at night.
• Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) is a mild muscle relaxant and sedative that has become an important anti-anxiety herb. It has a rapid calming effect that generates a pleasant and even euphoric effect. Kava has been used by Polynesians for centuries in social rituals because of its convivial effects. Usually works within a few hours.
• Passion Flower (Passiflora) is a pleasant and quite mild anti-anxiety herb. Because it breaks down in the body within a few hours it is used as an anti-anxiety aid that does not accentuate depression.
• Magnolia Bark (Magnolia officinalis) is useful not only as a sedative, but also for it's powerful anti-cortisol effects.

Functional Foods

• EPA/DHA from omega 3 oil helps stabilize mood by easing the flow of neurotransmitters in the brain. Is used in Europe to treat bipolar disease. EPA/DHA from fish oils is becoming a crucial part of any alternative mental health regimen. Be absolutely positive that you buy pure arctic fish oils with no dangerous mercury contaminants.
• Flax Seed Grind several tablespoon of flax seed a day for the omega 3 oils and other benefits. Flax seed oil is also excellent but beware of rancidity.

Vitamins and Minerals:

• B6 (pyridoxine) must be present in the brain for enzymes to convert L-tryptophan to serotonin and L-tyrosine to norepinephrine. B6 deficiency may result in depression.
• B12 deficiency may also generate depression.
• Folic Acid a B vitamin essential to mood regulation. It is absolutely crucial to mental health and heart health, in that it counters the effects of homocysteine and stress. Studies show that antidepressants do not work well in patients with low levels of in folic acid. Up to 1600 mg a day is usually recommended.
• C works as a cofactor with 5-HTP to turn tryptophan into serotonin. Vitamin C may help depression involving low levels of serotonin, (which includes most depressions).
• Magnesium is an essential mineral that can act as a sedative and muscle relaxant, but which also is necessary for stable mood. Magnesium deficiency can cause depression and other problems including poor attention, memory loss, fearfulness, restlessness, insomnia, tics, cramps and dizziness.  
• Lithium as natural lithium orotate or lithium aspartate can be soothing to the nerves, as well as a powerful antidepressant and anti-anxiety treatment. Lithium Carbonate (Lithobid or Eskalith) is the pharmaceutical medication most commonly prescribed for bipolar disease. Lithium has been a highly successful treatment in it's carbonate form, which lasts longer in the body than the natural forms but can damage the liver and kidneys. If you are bipolar, do not transition from your prescribed medication to natural substitutes without a knowledgeable physician's assistance.
• Chromium picolinate may help alleviate depression and improve the response to antidepressants. It is important in sugar metabolism, which influences both anxiety and depression.

Amino Acids:

• SAMe (S-Adenosylmethionine) is is a form of "activated" methionine that has successfully undergone hundreds of clinical trails involving thousands of patients. Important in many bodily processes including joint strength, liver function, cellular energy production, and DNA metabolism. In the brain SAMe contributes to the production of key neurotransmitters and hormones such as L-dopa, dopamine, nor-epinephrine, and phosphatidylcholine. Dosage is usually 100-200mg per day, taken in the morning on an empty stomach. A fragile molecule, SAMe is best purchased in a pharmaceutical grade within enteric coating.
• Theanine is an amino acid derived from green tea. Induces relaxation without causing drowsiness, and may even have a positive impact on serotonin and dopamine in the brain. Improves learning and memorization.
• Inositol is a sugar molecule that can have long-term mood brightening effects for some people. Appears to make the brain’s receptors more sensitive to serotonin. Has both anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects if used in high dosages (1 to 10 grams a day). In higher doses, should be take taken under a orthomolecular psychiatrist's supervision. May even be valuable in the treatment of bipolar disease.
• Glycine is particularly fast acting, soothing, and helpful in countering irritability in some people. Helps the pituitary gland secrete essential hormones.
• GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid) is an amino acid derivative and the nervous system's most important inhibitory neurotransmitter. Useful for racing thoughts or fearfulness, or any form of anxious over-stimulation. There is considerable debate as to whether it can be absorbed in the stomach and make it though the blood-brain barrier (it can). Taking it with B6 is helpful. GABA can be taken instead of a tranquilizer to calm the body with no fear of addiction. Taken with the B-vitamins B-6, niacinamide and also inositol, it prevents anxiety messages from reaching the motor centers of the brain by filling the brain's GABA receptor sites.

What You Need To Watch Out For:

One of the main problems with combined anxiety and depression is that some treatments for depression can make you anxious, and some treatments for anxiety can make you depressed. This is true for most treatments and therapies that address these conditions. In regard to nutraceuticals, the rule is to follow the middle path. For example, don't use herbs for depression that end up making you anxious. Don't use amino acids for anxiety that end up making you depressed.

Most importantly, don't use so much of any treatment that you become unbalanced. The only way to know how much is too much is to learn by experimentation, and use the guidance of a health care professional to discover best for your own body and brain.

Don't over-stimulate yourself:

• High dosages (500 mg. and up) of SAMe will definitely kick anxiety into overdrive. Even St. John's Wort in high dosages can sometimes make you restless. These are great treatments, don't over do them.
• Other stimulant herbs include gingko, ginseng, schizandra, astragalas, cordyceps, rhodiola, and ephedra (which is now banned in the U.S). They are powerful and useful herbs... but not if you have anxiety.
• The important amino acids L-Phenylalanine and L-Tyrosine convert to norepinephrine and are used successfully as antidepressants. However, they can be dangerous to anxious brains in high dosages, and should probably be avoided in those with anxiety-related depression, except in small amounts.

Don't over-sedate yourself:

• Valerian is a sedative herb that works chemically much like valium  (a benzodiazepine). For many people with anxiety related depression this herb may be too powerful. Stick with Passion Flower or Theanine, and don't overdo any sedative herb.

Here's the bottom line: If you don't like how it makes you feel, don't take it.

Buying Supplements:

Your #1 concern should be quality and safety. Buying supplements can sometimes be challenging because the industry is not as well-regulated as the pharmaceutical industry (where the are problems with quality as well).

TIPS: Buy products marked "pharmaceutical grade" when possible. Look for products whose ingredients have been independently verified. Inexpensive products from obscure manufacturers can sometimes contain inferior ingredients.

WARNINGS:

SAMe, Kava Kava and St. John's Wort should not be used with any antidepressant medications, except under the guidance of an experienced licensed healthcare professional.

These powerful herbs essentially function as drugs and should be treated with respect. Please consult your prescribing doctor and pharmacist about their use and possible interactions with any medications you have been prescribed.

Kava will also potentate alcohol just as any antidepressant would. Do not take kava or other herbal relaxants, then drink alcohol and assume that your ability to drive will not be unusually impaired.

Blood thinning effects: please note that St. John's Wort and fish oils have blood thinning effects and may not combine well with any aspirin or pharmaceutical blood thinning agents such as Plavix used by heart patients.

Note: St. John's Wort can render contraceptive pills ineffective.

LIFESTYLE CHOICES:

A great deal of success in handling anxiety and depression comes from making the right lifestyle choices. If you suffer from anxiety-related depression, avoid all antihistamines, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and narcotics. You should also avoid most recreational drugs, including alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, sedatives, opiates, marijuana and ecstasy. And for anyone with anxiety and depression, daily caffeine and sugar foods will undermine your progress.

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