Mental Depression and Nutritional Deficiency

Copyright (c) 2007 Stephen Lauand magnesium is a critical co-factor in more than 300
Your mental depression may be related to your diet, inenzymatic reactions in the human body. In addition,
particular, your nutritional deficiency.magnesium is responsible for neurotransmission
Mental depression and many autoimmune problemsabnormalities - the precursors of different types of
are chemically and environmentally related. Specifically,mental disorders.
your mental depression may be due to the chemicalsTo reverse magnesium or nutritional deficiency, you
in your foods and the environment, which upset theneed to change your diet. Magnesium is a
normal functioning of neurotransmitters, resulting inyouth-preserving mineral. As you age, your magnesium
imbalance of brain chemicals.level declines due to poor absorption and inadequate
Unfortunately, many people with mild depression simplydiet. Two-thirds of elderly Americans eat less than 75
ignore their mental disorder, thinking their depressivepercent of the RDA for magnesium, and only 25
episodes are no more than "seasonal blues"; whilepercent of Americans meet the RDA for magnesium.
those with major depression are more likely to lookMagnesium is found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, and
upon medications as their "magic bullet."legumes.
Of course, mental depression, which is a complexIf necessary, take a supplement of 200-300 milligrams
mental illness, may be due to many factors. However,of magnesium. Given that you are living in a highly
one common cause of mental depression is diet.polluted environment, you should take a high dose of
Nutritional deficiency may play a pivotal role inmulti-vitamins and multi-minerals, and large doses of
manipulating the chemicals in your brain, which areomega 3 fatty acids, if you are not consuming a great
implicated in different types of depression.deal lot of fish, such as salmon.
To illustrate, magnesium deficiency is prevalent amongDr. James D. Gordon of Georgetown University
the Americans. Why is that? Due to lack of funding toSchool of Medicine recommends:
support studies in this seemingly unprofitable area of"Eliminate foods that are heavily processed and have
research, there have not been many studies on thebeen adulterated in any way with any kind of food
impact of magnesium deficiency on the Americanadditive, preservative, coloring, artificial flavoring, artificial
health.sweetener. Aspartame has been shown to cause
Magnesium deficiency is responsible for many healthserious brain damage in animal. . ."
problems, including allergies, panic attacks,The rule of thumb, according to Dr. James Gordon, is
cardiovascular disease, hypertension in children, andsimple: Eat whole foods. You were created to eat
premenstrual syndrome. In particular, those individualswhole foods, not pop tarts.
who are low in magnesium tend to be more likely toIf you think you can eat a whole food, and then a
have emotional problems. If your brain chemistry isprocessed food occasionally, you will still be getting the
balanced, you can handle almost any type of stress. Ifnutrients from you whole food, think again! The
not, then stress can exacerbate your emotionalchemicals, hormones, and antibiotics from a processed
problems to the breaking point.food may have significant long-term biological effects
Physical symptoms of magnesium deficiency includeon your intestinal functioning, and thus preventing you
twitches, cramps, muscle tension, muscle soreness,from taking in nutrients from you whole food.
backaches, neck pain, constipation, urinary spasms,According to Dr. James Gordon, you should eliminate
menstrual cramps, and difficulty in swallowing. Otherall types of sugar, except honey or rice syrup. Look at
common mental symptoms are insomnia, anxiety,the concentrated sugar content in every Coke and
hyperactivity and restlessness with constantother carbonated beverages that flood the consumer
movement, panic attacks, and premenstrual irritability. Ifmarket. Remember, food manufacturers have
you sigh a great deal, or have frequent headaches,everything to gain, and you have everything to lose,
you may be deficient in magnesium too.except your weight.
Magnesium deficiency plays a critical role in mentalYour mental depression may be a diet-related mental
depression. All chemical reactions in the body requiredisorder.
an enzyme system to initiate the biochemical reaction,