The Mood Cure: Take Charge of Your Emotions in 24 Hours Using Food and Supplements. Julia Ross

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СКАЧАТЬ you nourish your brain’s serotonin zone with these amino fuels, your serotonin levels will rise, eventually to capacity. After that you’ll be able to count on improved moods all the time, yet you won’t need any more supplements to keep them that way. At some point in the next few weeks or months, your brain will give you a signal to let you know that you’ve done it—you’ve filled up on serotonin. How will you know? Maybe you’ll get too relaxed, even sleepy during the day; maybe you’ll get a mild headache after a dose. Most people, though, just forget to take their 5-HTP or other supplements after a while and realize that they feel fine without them. Yet those same people, in the first few weeks, would immediately have felt their moods plummet if they’d skipped a dose. Carefully check your low-serotonin symptoms on the Mood-Type Questionnaire over the next few weeks and months to see if your brain has normalized. It could happen surprisingly soon. For example, we’ve had a few clients whose irritability disappeared on 5-HTP, only to come back a few weeks later. When they cut back on their 5-HTP, their mood improved again. Their serotonin depletion was minor, and the 5-HTP had corrected it very quickly. This reverse effect is called “serotonin syndrome,” but it’s actually a phenomenon that can happen with any nutrient: when you take the nutrient, at first, if you’re deficient, you feel better. Later, if you get too much of the nutrient, the symptoms that result are the same as those you had when you were deficient.

      Once something like this happens to you, you’ll take your pro-serotonin nutrients only on an as-needed basis. That’s assuming that you’ve been, and continue to be, eating plenty of tryptophan-containing protein foods. If not, you’ll end up taking supplements for a longer period of time, and your overall health will suffer from lack of protein. I suggest that you briefly stop taking your 5-HTP after you complete each bottle to see if you still need it or not. If your dark cloud rolls back in, you’re not yet ready to stop. Check again after the next bottle.

      If you get no reaction, good or bad, from these supplements, your thyroid may be too sluggish to perform its job of converting nutrients into serotonin in your brain. Low thyroid is a well-established factor in depression. To explore the possibility in your own case, read the thyroid section in chapter 4, on page 65. In this case you may do best on Saint-John’s wort, which, like antidepressant drugs, does not require the assistance of thyroid hormone to raise serotonin levels. If even Saint-John’s wort does not help, the only alternative I know of is antidepressant medication, which you might need to use at least until you get your thyroid repaired.

      You might also need to explore another condition called “pyroluria,” which can make it hard for the brain to utilize pro-serotonin nutrients. You can read more about pyroluria on page 303 in the “Resource Tool Kit.”

      Note: The solution to any adverse symptom that crops up after you’ve started a supplement is to stop taking the supplement right away and review the suggestions in chapter 10 on page 207.

      ACTION STEPS

      The Action Steps that follow will guide you in designing your serotonin building plan. Your dark clouds are doomed! The following steps recap all the specific suggestions made in this chapter. Check off the supplements that you feel you’ll want to try, and note the amounts and timing that seem indicated for your specific needs. Then insert them into a copy of the blank master supplement schedule on pages 202–205.

      Before you purchase or swallow any supplements, though, remember that your serotonin-enhancing supplements are only part of your Mood Cure; you’ll need to combine them with the basic supplements on that master schedule and good-mood foods to get the results I’ve promised.

      To check for any contraindications, study the “Caution Box” on pages 199–200 before you decide to add 5-HTP, tryptophan, Saint-John’s wort, or SAM-e to your master supplement schedule.

      Hormones, Sleep, and Panic

      If the following symptoms do not abate on the special repair supplements plus the basic supplements and good-mood foods, follow the directions indicated:

      Hormones: If PMS and menopausal moods linger, see the “Sex Hormone Tool Kit.”

      Poor Sleep: If you aren’t sleeping better immediately, and perfectly in two weeks, see chapter 12.

      Panic: Read chapter 5 if it continues.

      If you are generally disappointed in your response to your program, please read the section on low thyroid on page 65 in chapter 5.

      Light, Exercise, and Oxygen

      Exercise moderately for at least thirty minutes, outdoors, during the day, three to four times a week as you are able. If you have SAD, you may need to use a therapeutic lamp as well, especially in winter. (See the “Resource Tool Kit” for sources.)

      SUPPLEMENTS

      5-HTP

      Start with one 50 mg capsule in midafternoon. Go up to two (100 mg) if you don’t get much benefit from one in an hour. Add a third, if needed for maximum effect, in about an hour. Now you’ve established your dose. Take the same dose at nine-thirty at night if you have sleep problems. If moodiness (or craving for carbs or alcohol) occurs only in the evening before bedtime, move your midafternoon dose up closer to dinnertime or take your bedtime dose earlier (an hour or two after dinner). You can also take 1 or 2 more capsules if you wake up in the night and don’t drop right back to sleep or if you wake up anxious and worried in the morning. (More on sleep remedies in chapter 12.) Between 4 and 6 (50 mg) capsules a day is all that our clients typically require. Larger or more depleted people sometimes need more.

      *AM=on arising; B=with breakfast; MM=midmorning; L=with lunch; MA=midafternoon; D=with dinner; BT=at bedtime.

      Tryptophan

      The above directions apply to taking tryptophan, if you take it instead of 5-HTP, except that a tryptophan capsule contains 500 mg. It’s available only by mail order or on-line. Call my clinic at 800–733–9293 (www.dietcure.com), look at the Resource Tool Kit section on page 289 or Bios Biochemicals at 800–404–8185 (www.biochemicals.com) in the US.

      Saint-John’s Wort

      Take 1 capsule (300 mg) three times a day. This is the dose used in over twenty-five successful studies on Saint-John’s wort and mood. Use a glycerin tincture if you prefer drops. Drops seem to be more effective, as are all supplements that get absorbed through the mouth. For sleep problems, take your last dose by nine-thirty P.M.

      SAM-e

      If you get no improvement after one bottle, discontinue. If you do get improvement, you may be able to cut your dose in half after one or two bottles.

      *AM=on СКАЧАТЬ