How Come They're Happy and I'm Not? (5 page)

What many people do not know, however, is that cows that eat grass also accumulate the same essential fatty acids that wild fish do. However, when range animals are fed grains and corn, they do not collect the same healthy fats in their muscle tissue, and instead collect more saturated, unhealthy fats. Meat that is labeled “natural” or “antibiotic free” simply means that the animals were not treated with nasty hormones or antibiotics to help them grow faster (by the way, 70 percent of antibiotics used in the world are used specifically to make livestock grow faster). Even meat that is labeled “organic” typically comes from animals that were fed grains—not
grass. At the health food store, look for “grass fed,” not just “natural,” “organic,” or “antibiotic free” for your meats—your brain and heart will thank you.

One study researching thirteen countries revealed that nations with a high intake of fish have very low rates of depression. There are two main types of healthy omega-3 fatty acids in fish: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA), which are especially high in wild salmon, striped bass, mackerel, rainbow trout, halibut, and sardines. While lower DHA content in breast milk and lower seafood consumption are both associated with higher rates of postpartum depression, geographic areas where consumption of DHA is high are associated with decreased rates of depression. Individuals with major depression have marked depletions in omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA) in blood cell fats compared with people who do not have depression.

The standard American diet (SAD) we discussed earlier tends to be low in healthy omega-3 fish oils and high in omega-6 fats, which are found in saturated fats and red meats. It's well established that diets with high omega-6 to omega-3 ratios increase risk of heart disease and contribute to low mood. Researchers in one Swedish study found that that depressive symptoms and markers of inflammation in senior patients increased with higher omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratios. They concluded that such diets increase not only the risk of cardiovascular disease but also depression.

Because your brain and nervous system are made of fats and water, the fat you eat is very important for your mood. Healthy oils such as cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil (which are called omega-9 fats or oleic acids) and flax oils (omega-3 fats) are highly recommended to put on foods (although flax oil should never be heated). Organic, natural foods and wild fish are a preferred source due to the lower levels of pesticides and neurotoxins that may play a role in some depressive illnesses (see
chapter 4
for more about toxins). Hydrogenated oil, fried foods, and non-grass-fed animalbased saturated fats, all of which promote inflammation, are not mood-friendly.

The Horace Fletcher quote “Nature castigates those who do not masticate” is the perfect reminder for how detrimental eating on the run can be. For your best digestion and mood, it's important to do your best to eat in a quiet environment and to chew your food well. Given that most of us skip meals or eat in the car (eating in the car, by the way, accounts for an astounding 80 percent of car accidents), this healthy act alone can be quite an impressive accomplishment. In the past, Americans typically chewed a mouthful of food as many as twenty-five times before swallowing. Currently, the average American chews only ten times before swallowing.

When the food is not broken down well, the immune system in the digestive tract sees larger-than-normal substances that are
not ready to be absorbed. This triggers the immune system to create inflammation, making factors called cytokines. Cytokines are basically cells that like turning up the flame—they create inflammation and can even cause fever. When this cytokine cascade is turned on, the blood supply that pumps through the intestines carries cytokines that tell the liver to get inflamed too. In the liver, the cells that do this are called Kupffer cells. The liver releases these to the general circulation, and some reach the brain. In the brain, the signal is received by glial cells, which are specialized brain immune cells that make the brain inflamed and unhappy. Brain inflammation is a major contributor to depression.

Poor Digestion → Gut Inflammation → Liver Inflammation → Brain Inflammation → Depression

We talk more about gut inflammation in the digestion section in
chapter 4
. In the meantime, remember that as part of any healthy eating program, you want to first create a moment to take a deep breath and then eat your food in a relaxed environment. Now try to chew approximately twenty-five times per bite, until the texture of the food is unrecognizable. Proper chewing allows for significantly better digestion, which encourages better nutrient absorption and lower inflammatory reactions in your digestive tract.

Typically, the foods we find most tasteful are those with generous amounts of fat, sugar, or salt. I notice my own three-year-old daughter, Sophia, gravitates toward fries, cookies, and chips despite the fact that both her parents are naturopathic doctors. Why is that? It's because she is wired to like them.

These fats, sugars, and salty food components stimulate the brain to secrete dopamine, the neurotransmitter of pleasure, as an evolutionary survival mechanism that our ancestors needed to keep weight on during lean times. In the short term, this dopamine
boost makes us feel pretty happy—the same way cocaine can give a person a temporary high. But, like cocaine, long-term consumption of these foods is a health disaster. Because we have plenty of food available, this evolutionary mechanism to protect us from starvation is now increasing rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, cancer, and many other common conditions fueled by the foods of our modern age.

As you continue to eat these tasty fatty, sugary, and salty foods, a learned behavior response ensues—even the mere suggestion of the desired food (such as a clever billboard ad or a slick TV commercial) spurs a desire to eat them. Once the food is consumed, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. In other words: you are addicted. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that activates every time you are reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether you are hungry or not.

Most of us are vulnerable to conditioned overeating. There's a lucky 15 percent of the population that do not have the mechanism of overeating built in to their system, so they are less affected. In primitive times, these people probably would have starved, but now they have the advantage that they can control their response to food.

Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are powerful contributors to the food addiction phenomenon—so much so that HFCS in soda is the number one source of calories in the United States! These sugars have a direct detrimental impact on your brain function and an indirect effect on your body through its ability to make you fat. So both thin and thicker persons alike need to stay away from these sweet temptations.

Foods with a lower glycemic load (less sugar per weighted amount of food) should be central to the diet. Vegetables, fruits, and beans; lean organic, grass-fed meats and cold-water fishes; and whole grains are at the top of the list.

With the “progress” of modern medicine and society over the past hundred years, lifestyle changes that alleviate depression have all but gone by the wayside. The ability to patent and sell medication has trumped all other forms of medical intervention. About 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates recommended regular exercise as treatment for depression. Since then, many common-sense and learned people, both ancient and modern, have used exercise as a means of preventing disease and promoting health and well-being.

Exercise is possibly the strongest single antidepressant we have. Known to elevate mood by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and increasing self-esteem, exercise also improves a number of biological risk factors for depression. It balances blood sugar, raises good cholesterol (which you will learn more about in
chapter 4
), and improves heart and blood vessel health.

So how does exercise accomplish all these great feats? Modern research shows that when we exercise, our bodies produce helpful molecules which can fix a broken brain. One such molecule is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a key player in stimulating the growth of new neurons and pathways that the nerves use to communicate and create better mood.

The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is a key for memory, mood, spatial relationships, and much more. The hippocampus has also been shown to shrink in people who are stressed out much of the time. Exercise, however, can reverse this shrinkage. Collaborative studies between the Salk Institute in California and German universities in the early 2000s found that animals that voluntarily ran wheels showed increased cell building and growing in the hippocampus.

This has been shown not only in animals—this almost magical effect has also been shown in human beings. One 2008 Dutch study of almost six thousand twins found that the more that people
exercised, the happier they were. The first-ever proven neurogenesis (nervous tissue generation) within a living human brain was accomplished by exercise. The study, published in 2003, followed eleven people of below-average fitness as they trained four times a week for twelve weeks using the exercise regimen given below. The results showed that exercise targets an area of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus, which is very important for mood and memory as you age. Some research has shown that when antidepressant medications work, they're likely building up the hippocampus—something that exercise effectively does without drugs.

To compare the benefits of exercise versus medication, researchers assigned 156 adults with major depression aerobic exercise or Zoloft, or a combination of both. After four months, patients in all three groups exhibited improvement, but after ten months, the exercise group had significantly lower relapse rates than the medication group. Additionally, patients who exercised on their own during the follow-up period were less likely to experience depression again. A second study of 156 patients at least fifty years old were prescribed exercise or antidepressants. Initially, the antidepressant group
displayed a quicker improvement. But after sixteen weeks, exercise was equally effective as drugs in reducing depression.

If you have not exercised before, start with gentle walking outdoors for thirty minutes every day—and you can add more if you like. Walking outside in the morning sun is especially beneficial, for you absorb sunlight, training your biorhythms to help you have more energy during the day and better sleep at night. Exercising outdoors also supports vitamin D levels.

If you have exercised before and would like a stronger plan, you can start the “Beginner's Guide to Growing Your Brain's Hippocampus” regimen (see page 32).

If you are already using the Beginner's Guide and would like more, start a resistance program using free weights and resistance machines two days a week. One day you can exercise your chest, back, biceps, thighs, and abdominals. The second day, you can work out your shoulders, triceps, hamstrings, calves, and again, abdominals. If it's at all possible, I highly recommend working with a trainer for at least a few sessions to teach you proper techniques and the best exercises for your body. You can work out following the Beginner's Guide four days a week, your resistance workout two days a week, and take a day off to relax.

* * *

You may be thinking, I am stuck. What kind of exercise can I do? Even if you have physical ailments that do not allow you to walk outside, there are still ways you can exercise. One sixty-year-old
patient, “Marge,” came into my office on two diabetes medications, and her blood sugar level was still around 300 (normal range is between 70 and 100). She was experiencing depression, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Supported and balanced by her husband, she walked, inch by inch, into my office.

She had come because her quality of life was reduced to nothing—she was too dizzy to walk more than a few steps. It stopped her from visiting friends and family, and doing anything that made life enjoyable. We decreased Marge's carb intake and increased her water intake. Of course, I recommended exercise and gave her some naturopathic herbs and nutrients for the diabetes issues. Knowing her severe physical limitation for exercise, I recommended she purchase a tabletop arm/leg cycle and exercise her arms for ten minutes twice a day. Over the course of a few months, we included some leg movement with that. That transitioned into walking outside a little bit and then to walking outside more and doing some indoor light resistance work.

Today, Marge is on a low dose of one diabetes medication, has normal blood sugar, and can take full walks outside, visit her friends, and even can go out and “cheat” on occasion when enjoying a nice restaurant with her husband. If someone is in a wheelchair, there are even versions of these cycles that a wheelchair can pull up to. No matter the situation, if there's a body part that can move, there's a way to start exercising and feeling better.