Do you use supplements? (Mood Cure related Qs)

[Astrea]

As discussed in this thread, I'm working on implementing the suggestions in the book The Mood Cure while trying to also transition to a TF diet as much as possible (whew!). The book suggests a lot (and I mean a lot) of supplements. Some of them are things like 5-htp, which you can't get from food, and I'm OK with that. A lot of the others, though, are your basic vitamins and minerals. She says that in addition to specialized amino acid supplements that are geared to various mood problems, everyone needs to take the following things: A multivitamin/mineral, plus 250-500mg calcium 2x/day, Magnesium 200-400mg 2x/day, 400 IUI Vitamin D 1x/day or possibly a lot more, B complex 10-25mg 2x/day, Vitamin C with bioflavonoids 1000mg 2x/day, and fish oil 1200-2400mg 6x/day. Even when the mood problems are dealt with and the person is no longer taking the amino acids, she says you should keep taking all of these supplements (and that's along with promoting a TF diet in the book).

Now, I went out and bought all this stuff, and then when I got home I figured out the cost. Yikes. We're talking $150 per month, maybe more. I could buy a lot of grassfed meat and raw dairy and pastured eggs and wild seafood for that cost. My impression is that the vitamin and mineral content of those foods is exponentially higher than that in conventional foods.

And I started wondering--if I spent that money on true TF animal products, would I really need all those supplements? Would it be possible to get them from my diet instead, and just take the amino acids and maybe the fish oil, the Vit. D (I also use a sun lamp in the AM) and a good whole foods multivitamin/mineral? I'd really prefer to do that and it seems more healthy and holistic. Heck, for $150 I could buy a wheatgrass juicer and grow wheatgrass in kelp extract (super high in minerals) and supplement with that, too.

I'd love to hear some thoughts, especially ideas of how to replace those supplements with FOOD!

[newcastlemama]

I had some signifigant health problems (mainly severe PPD) and I did the Mood Cure plus TF back in 2006. I did so much for me. I went to the clinic in SF because I was so depressed I could not do it myself and they got me on a program.

Anyway, I do think you need food plus supplements because you probably have very bad defiencies and those will take much longer to fix without supplements and you probably want to start evnjoying you life soon I used conventional foods because I could not afford organic but I still did bone broths, HVCLO, ect.

I still think even if you all organic you would still need to supplement to get out of the hole. Amanda Rose, the author of Rebuild from Depression (she has a blog too), did organic and supplements as far as I can recall to recover from her PPD. We were online friends and kind of went through healing together and whever I thought about switching over to be "more natural" she would encrouage me to stick to the program. Julia Ross told me even with all organic she thinks soil depleation, inherited nutrient defiencies, ect makes just about everyone need supps. Maybe after yuo feel better you could just take the ones that benefit you the most. For example I still take B-complex because I seem to have a very high need for Bs...most of my health problems to to be linked to that deficiency. I take other stuff too because it really seems to help me and I don't want to go back!

BTW, at Julia's clinic the nutrionist now puts everyone on 4,000ius a day of D (unless you are a lifeguard in Mexico) since their has been so much research on that since the book was published to support that general practice.

I found that www.iherb.com and www.vitacost.com are great places for supps. Vitacost has house brand amino acids (and other supps). Many people have better success with trytophan rather than 5-htp.

Best wishes

[newcastlemama]

I saw a little of your thread and you got some good advice. I did better eating lots of meat and low-ish carb too....I had to recover from low-fat and vegan eating as well so I craved all the meat and fat.

[Astrea]

Thank you so much, that's wonderful information to have! So to summarize, in your opinion it's better to do conventional foods + all the recommended supplements, instead of grassfed etc. minus the supplements in this type of situation--did I understand that correctly? It's really helpful to hear this from you since you've actually been to the clinic!

[newcastlemama]

In my personal opinion, yes. Because the supplements will still have higher amounts of nutrients and you can target them.I would do the broths because it is a good cheap way to get in absorbable minerals and other good things. When you are healed then switch your money over. Some supplements you maybe able to drop after short while freeing up more money. I DO think good TF food is the best way to get nutrients, it will just take longer and we live in an imperfect world with budgets and deleated soil.

[FairyRae]

I totally think its possible to supp w/ food, just takes a bit more diligence (esp if you have imbalances/deficiencies that you're working to correct). This thread is all about getting nutrition/supplementing for specific vits/minerals w/ foods.

That being said, I *still* supplement. I just find it hard to be so diligent w/ food, and am still working to overcome some nutrient deficiencies and optimize my health. (It's something I've gone back and forth on _a lot_.) I think its really up to *you*. I personally use Thorne basic nutrients III as a multi, as the vits are very bioavailable/highly absorbable (and contain things I want, and not things I don't want), along w/ fish oil, extra zinc, vit D drops and magnesium chloride oil, and raw liver 'pills' *or* a dessicated organ blend pill supplement. (You can learn about mag oil and some of the others from the above thread.)

HTH! Good luck figuring out what works best *for you*!

[Magelet]

I didn't do the mood cure supps, and found a huge improvement in my depression from eating TF. We do pastured raw dairy, pastured meat, and pastured eggs, etc. (and yes, it costs a large fortune. We don't eat a ton of meat, more veggies and grains to keep us able to afford it)

I've found that between removing situational stressors (changing my living situation), my DP's help, and a TF diet, I've improved so much. I'm never too depressed to get out of bed, even in the midst of winter, and other than winter, I haven't been much depressed at all.


I don't really beleive in supping unless you have a specific need. I'm just now starting a regime of cal/mag (the one I bought has D3 in it and zinc because that's what I could find but I don't think that's a bad thing.) and B6 for menstrual issues (though I know many of those can help with depression as well). I do CLO/BO and this winter will add D3 seasonally (just the winter) for depression because I do get more depressed in the winter.

To me, the pastured meat is very important (on so many levels. health, supporting local farmers, ethics, spirituality) that I couldn't possibly exchange pastured meat for larger amounts of conventional with supplements unless I really really had to.

I think if your trying to address certain issues/deficincies then supplements are the way to go, but I really don't beleive in across the board supplementation for everyone.

[ginnybee]

How about having your blood levels (vitamins, hormones) checked by a naturopath? I recently had that done + having my adrenals checked by saliva test. I had assumed I was anemic and had depressed adrenal function. Nope. I learned that I was low in B vitamins, Magnesium, and gluten-intolerant - all things that were off my radar.
Checking your baseline seems like a prudent course to take before investing in a ton of supplements. You may find that you only need some of them, or another issue is the cause of your imbalances (for me - gluten). I had the tests run without insurance and spent a bit over what you did for a month of supplements.