Many Causes of Depression

Depression is a name given to a set of symptoms consisting of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings and physical well-being.

But there are many different causes that can produce this depressive state. Here are just a few of the many causes (listed in no particular order) with links to references…

Omega-3 deficienciesVitamin D deficiencies, magnesium deficiencies, vitamin B deficiencies, etc.

Cholesterol deficiency and low-fat diet may cause depression.[reference and here]

Mercury toxicity and mercury dental fillings.

Emotional Trauma

Stress and burnout

Low Testosterone in Men

Thyroid imbalance

Hypothyroidism (as mentioned in Dr. Lo Podcast) can result in depression.

Dementia associated with Depression

Calcium Toxicity or Calcium deficiency

Concussion and brain trauma

In the book Digestive Health with Real Food (page 45), it writes …

“People with fructose malabsorption don’t have enough tryptophan, even though they eat enough of it, and therefore can’t produce enough serotonin to feel good … in their study, reducing dietary fructose resulted in a 65-percent improvement in depression score in only four weeks.”

Here is a video of a lecture that explains the biology of depression and the affects of stress.

The video says that depression may be a whole body disorder and that more Americans suffer from depression than coronary disease, cancer, and AIDS combined. It is the leading cause of disability in North America.

The biogenic amine theory of depression is the idea that there is a deficiency of certain neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine.

Types of Diet

There are so many types of diet out there.  Here are just a few of the popular ones listed in no particular order with links to learn more about them …

Ornish Diet

DASH Diet

Atkins diet

Low Carb Diet

Mediterranean diet

Paleolithic diet

Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD Diet)

GAPS diet – pioneered by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

ZONE Diet

Raw Food Diet

Dukan Diet

Which diet is the best?

The answer to that question is up for debate.   And it really depends on the particular individual and conditions.  Here are some references …

US News

How Types of Dietary Fat Affect Risk of Heart Disease

Good article in Journal of the American College of Nutrition titled Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review

It has a chart shows how LDL and HDL is affected by the various types of fat. Interestingly, certain saturated fats raises the good HDL cholesterol by the same amount that it raises the bad cholesterol LDL. So it balances out and may not be as bad as some people think.

Good reference.

It is possible to drink too much water

Dr. Ben Kim writes article explaining why a person can die from force drinking too much water.

Unfortunately, it was reported that someone did die in a water-drinking contest called “”Hold Your Wee For A Wii” in which she drank 2 gallon worth of water.

This is due to consuming too much water in a too short amount of time and not allowing your bladder to empty. The circulatory system gets diluted with water, reducing electrolytes level.   And the cells in the brain swell with water causing cranial pressure.