Depression ? Can I use this diet to get off my meds?

[ontheroadnyc]

I know there was a thread on this before but it'd be great to get some fresh input.  I'm thinking between this raw paleo diet and eating high-meat I can get off my meds.  Has anyone had good results in this area of health?

I take a very low dose of Effexor XR for depression.  37.5 mg.  I've tried to go off a few years ago but was absolutely miserable. But that was before I was doing this Raw Paleo.

Also, I'm about a month into the Raw Paleo and in some ways I feel great, better than before, in other ways I'm more tired.  Have anyone found they feel worse in the short term but stick it out to really get the benefits long term.

Lastly, I wonder if I should stop eating fresh raw coconut cream I make with my green power juicer.  It's so tasty and I eat a few tablespoons a day, but I wonder if it's de-toxing me too much and contributing to my depression and anxiety.

[goodsamaritan]

I believe the correct variant of raw paleo diet for you is intended to cure every disease.
You need to see how you feel and progressively lower the doses of your drugs.
You probably need a buddy to view you objectively.

[MoonStalkeR]

I would eliminate the meds ASAP, the long-term effects are not worth it.

What does your diet consist of right now? High meat as you mentioned is the quickest way to improve symptoms re depression.

[raw]

I know there was a thread on this before but it'd be great to get some fresh input.  I'm thinking between this raw paleo diet and eating high-meat I can get off my meds.  Has anyone had good results in this area of health?

I take a very low dose of Effexor XR for depression.  37.5 mg.  I've tried to go off a few years ago but was absolutely miserable. But that was before I was doing this Raw Paleo.

Also, I'm about a month into the Raw Paleo and in some ways I feel great, better than before, in other ways I'm more tired.  Have anyone found they feel worse in the short term but stick it out to really get the benefits long term.

Lastly, I wonder if I should stop eating fresh raw coconut cream I make with my green power juicer.  It's so tasty and I eat a few tablespoons a day, but I wonder if it's de-toxing me too much and contributing to my depression and anxiety.

sorry, green juice and raw coconut cream are not helpful for depression. my 23 yrs old brother has bunch of mental problems, including depression. with high meat, he shows positive signs. also long time ago, one of those chinese doctors recommend him planty of red meat in his diet. when he depends on green juice, he acts total crazy.

[TylerDurden]

Yes, veggie juice and coconut oil/cream should be avoided like the plague  unless you are absolutely certain beyond any reasonable doubt  that they don't cause you any harm.

Other solution:- krill oil is very good re depression/anxiety, apparently.Mercola's krill-oil is supposed to be the best. I take it as I occasionally have only  grainfed meats available on some holidays etc., so that the extra omega-3s help counteract the lack thereof in grainfed meats.

As for the fatigue, people do experience minor detoxes in the initial stages of healing which often includes fatigue. You shouldn't worry too much re this issue. If the fatigue is continuous, then it may be a problem and cutting out coconut cream/oils and veggie-juice might be an option to see if they are the problem.

[Josh]

5htp is not great for you in the long term, but I did a course for a while and found it has left me permanently a bit happier and more stable. It might help to buffer the transition. Raw paleo is ace but some people have found it problematic to switch...I don't know if it's a good idea to drop all meds and then try and go low carb, raw paleo straight away.

[TylerDurden]

Slowly reducing dosage should work.

[RawZi]

I take a very low dose of Effexor XR for depression.  37.5 mg.  I've tried to go off a few years ago but was absolutely miserable. But that was before I was doing this Raw Paleo.

Also, I'm about a month into the Raw Paleo and in some ways I feel great, better than before, in other ways I'm more tired.  Have anyone found they feel worse in the short term but stick it out to really get the benefits long term.

Lastly, I wonder if I should stop eating fresh raw coconut cream I make with my green power juicer.  It's so tasty and I eat a few tablespoons a day, but I wonder if it's de-toxing me too much and contributing to my depression and anxiety.

    I think coconut cream does detox too quickly.  I think too, it's good to buffer the detox of psychotropic medicines.  I felt depressed a few months before I started RAF.  I had just started reading about it too, but I wasn't ready to try eating it.  I asked my internist for antidepressants.  He prescribed one to me, not effexor.  I still felt somewhat depressed and told him I need more.  He doubled my dose.  That was ok, but it was a little weird.  It was the best I could do.  I had never been on antideppressant more than a couple of weeks before.  This time I really needed it so it lasted months.  Then I felt ready to jump into RAF.  I did, with (raw grassfed cultured) butter being my predominant food.  Within a couple of weeks it felt like I didn't need the anti-depressant any more.  I checked with my doctor (who was fully aware all along of my past and present diet), and he had no problem with me dropping that medicine.  I've never taken any (psychotropic) again.  If I were you, I might get professional advice.  I know it's a hard road for some people to come off psychotropics onto RAF or any raw food.  

[ontheroadnyc]

Thanks folks for all your comments.  I really appreciate it.

[cwilson00344]

very useful post!

[kurite]

My brother use to be depressed so he started taking some meds. Now if he goes off of them he is absolutely horrible, much worse than he was  pre meds. In other words going cold turkey on the meds could yield some negative results.

[Angeline]

Depression runs in my family (myself, my father, my brother, my 5 children) and over many years of experimentation we have come upon a program that has proven very effective. I know that depression can cause suffering from mild to unbearable, so I would not say taking antidepressants is not worth it. Some levels of depression are so excruciating that it can be equated with not using painkillers for surgery. As your health improves and you feel better, you can gradually reduce your antidepressant dose. This will avoid unnecessary suffering. The following is the approach my family has used to effectively eliminate depression and get off medications: Start by healing the gut. Without a healthy gut it is not possible to optimally nourish your body. The best program we have found for this is the GAPS Diet. (www.gapsdiet.com) The diet is based on bone broths (cooked) and probiotic foods. You can't eat bone broths raw, but you can incorporate a lot of raw foods. The book does a fantastic job of showing you how the gut affects moods, the brain, etc. Next, go to www.truehealth.org (The Daily Seafood Diet). Our bodies need every one of the 72 + trace minerals that are no longer found in our soils. Some soils never had them. Wildcaught seafood has them. My family eats wildcaught (no farmed or lake fish) salmon every day (other seafood will work). This seems to be the most important factor for one of my sons. If he eats fish every day, he feels normal. If he stops for more than a few weeks, his symptoms of anxiety and depression start to come back. Back on the fish, those symptoms disappear. Finally, look up the Homo Optimus diet. (homodiet.netfirms.com) This can be converted to primarily raw. The ratios are the key. I hope this helps you feel better. 

[Cinna]

Depression runs in my family (myself, my father, my brother, my 5 children) and over many years of experimentation we have come upon a program that has proven very effective. I know that depression can cause suffering from mild to unbearable, so I would not say taking antidepressants is not worth it. Some levels of depression are so excruciating that it can be equated with not using painkillers for surgery. As your health improves and you feel better, you can gradually reduce your antidepressant dose. This will avoid unnecessary suffering. The following is the approach my family has used to effectively eliminate depression and get off medications: Start by healing the gut. Without a healthy gut it is not possible to optimally nourish your body. The best program we have found for this is the GAPS Diet. (www.gapsdiet.com) The diet is based on bone broths (cooked) and probiotic foods. You can't eat bone broths raw, but you can incorporate a lot of raw foods. The book does a fantastic job of showing you how the gut affects moods, the brain, etc. Next, go to www.truehealth.org (The Daily Seafood Diet). Our bodies need every one of the 72 + trace minerals that are no longer found in our soils. Some soils never had them. Wildcaught seafood has them. My family eats wildcaught (no farmed or lake fish) salmon every day (other seafood will work). This seems to be the most important factor for one of my sons. If he eats fish every day, he feels normal. If he stops for more than a few weeks, his symptoms of anxiety and depression start to come back. Back on the fish, those symptoms disappear. Finally, look up the Homo Optimus diet. (homodiet.netfirms.com) This can be converted to primarily raw. The ratios are the key. I hope this helps you feel better. 

Coolio... thank you so much for sharing. I will check these sites out. The cool part about forums is that you often end up helping a lot more people than you think you are and helping out people more than you could know.

[Angeline]

If anyone would like further tips or details about methods that have worked for my family to eliminate depression and antidepressant medications, I would be happy to provide them.

[BakeyMan]

Hi Angeline,  I can't think of anything specific to ask you right now, but could you go into more detail about your method to cure depression?  My depression disappears whenever I eat raw meat but i am still  transitioning and still get depressed.

[TylerDurden]

Homo Optimus Diet is problematic as it contains a hefty amount of dairy.

As regards depression, the one thing that really works re relief is, of course, "high-meat".

[BakeyMan]

Homo Optimus Diet is problematic as it contains a hefty amount of dairy.

As regards depression, the one thing that really works re relief is, of course, "high-meat".

Hey Tyler,
oh haha I unknowingly tried that diet out a few months back then.  atleast raw dairy led me in the right direction.  are there any recipes or videos online that explains how to prepare high meat? 

[goodsamaritan]

I never interpreted Homo Optimus Diet as dairy based.
Where does it say its?

[TylerDurden]

Hey Tyler,
oh haha I unknowingly tried that diet out a few months back then.  atleast raw dairy led me in the right direction.  are there any recipes or videos online that explains how to prepare high meat? 

  http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/high-meat-recipe-preparation-for-more-advanced-rafers/

[TylerDurden]

I never interpreted Homo Optimus Diet as dairy based.
Where does it say its?

It is primarily fat-based. and dairy provides a large proportion of that fat as many muscle-meats, these days, have their fat automatically removed before sale. Dairy is mentioned on various sites re the homo optimus diet. The trouble is that it's a diet of primarily Polish origin, so most such websites are in Polish, I think.

[BakeyMan]

  http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/high-meat-recipe-preparation-for-more-advanced-rafers/

cool, i'll try it out soon Tyler.

[Angeline]

The first thing I tried with my children and myself was the Daily Seafood Diet. I came upon the site when I was desperately searching for something to help with my depression during a very bad time. Every day was torture. I've had problems with depression for 20 years (3 episodes of severe postpartum, and then a chronic depression which came and went and was mild to moderate). Then, at the age of 48, I had an episode of psychosis. I was told it was very rare for someone of that age with no history. That changed my diagnosis to bipolar, but the psychotic episode lasted only a few weeks. It was then followed by a very severe depression which I was battling for over a year. I was hospitalized 3 times. Searching under "natural cure for bipolar disorder" I came upon a site with the story of a man who was bipolar, started the Daily Seafood Diet, and within 5 months was off meds and had been doing well for a year. The theory behind that diet is that there are 72+ trace minerals that are necessary for our cells to function properly and which are no longer in our soils. Foods from the ocean are the only sure source of them. At that time my son was unable to attend school because of a severe episode of depression/anxiety, and all 3 of my daughters were experiencing some level of chronic depression. The trace mineral theory sounded plausible so we started that day. We all felt a definite improvement within a few months, and after 5 months or so my son was feeling completely normal. I quickly tapered him off the meds (3 different meds) and he was fine. He started the next school year a happy, healthy kid. (At that time, the rest of our diet was whole organic foods including grains and grassfed beef). For him, the seafood is the key. Going into the 2nd semester of school, he stopped eating the fish after a month of fighting me about it. He was convinced the fish had nothing to do with how he was feeling. I stopped battling him and decided to see what would happen. Within 5 weeks or so weeks his symptoms were coming back, he was missing a lot of school, and his grades had dropped to mostly Fs. He decided to accept the seafood diet, and within another 4 to 5 weeks he was attending school regularly and was bringing up his grades. He now eats wild salmon every day and is healthy and happy. I've removed grains from our diet, but he does drink raw goat's milk and eats butter. He eats fish, meat, and eggs lightly cooked and sometimes raw. Also fruits and vegetables keeping his carbs under 100 grams. 

[Angeline]

One of my daughters did very well with just the seafood addition. She's been eating it regularly and has been depression free since 4 or 5 months into that. She eats all food groups, focusing on organic and raw, but she doesn't eat her meat raw. For me and my 2 other daughters, the seafood brought definite improvement, but it wasn't enough. We were working with a naturopathic doctor and based on several tests were diagnosed with intestinal candida overgrowth and leaky gut syndrome. She treated us with herbs and probiotics but we didn't feel better. I did my own research on gut problems and what looked most promising to me was the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet. Also the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet). Those diets focus on autism, but from what I see, would apply to all psychiatric disorders as well as many other health issues. The theory behind these diets is that the gut flora is abnormal and does not have a healthy population of beneficial bacteria to keep the pathogenic bacteria under control. The pathogenic bacteria damage the gut lining, making it leaky and unable to digest food properly, causing nutritional deficiencies.  Instead of being properly digested, the food gets digested by pathogenic bacteria and converted into toxic substances which get through the damaged gut lining and up into the brain. The GAPS diet is a program to heal the gut by eating certain foods and avoiding others. When we added this program to the daily seafood diet, we felt dramatic improvement in mood and other areas within 6 to 8 weeks. At this point I was gradually reducing and eliminating medications. I had been on 8 medications. Every time I put them in my mouth I'd be thinking I'll be lucky if I live 5 years.

[Angeline]

After several months on the GAPS program (with the seafood), I was down to 3 medications and my mood felt normal most of the time, but there were times during the day when mild depression symptoms set in. The GAPS diet allows fruit and some honey, but in time I could see that these foods were a problem for me. I started researching low carb diets. I had tried a high protein diet in the past and didn't feel well on it. I did some research on high fat diets and ordered the Homo Optimus book. The reported results were certainly impressive. I take the approach that I won't know how successful a diet will be until I try it. The Homo Optimus diet is based on a specific ratio of protein to fats to carbs. I don't embrace the entire approach as the doctor thinks all foods are best eaten fried and pork is the best food for humans. He does use milk products, but I see the main point to the diet as being the ratio of the macronutrients. This is a high animal fat, adequate animal protein, low carb diet. Within 2 weeks on this diet (a seafood, GAPs, Homo Optimus combination), a severe skin problem that I have battled since I was 12 was completely healed. I was eating about 80% - 90% raw, but this week started 100% raw. I'll see how that goes. Grassfed beef bone marrow and suet (as well as fatty pork products) are available by mail order. You can eat high animal fat without milk products. Another aspect of the Homo Optimus Diet that I have found to be excellent is its emphasis on organ meats. I have experienced immediate changes in my feelings of well being after eating liver. As I do myself, I would encourage you to try approaches that make sense or look promising to you. Also, if they have worked for others, they might work for you. If not, make adjustments or try something else. The theory is only useful if it brings results.

[Angeline]

I'm now down to 1 medication, 1/4 of original dose. I just might have more than 5 years ahead.