Re: seratonin reuptake inhibitors

[Guest guest]

I would recommend it. Potatoes not Prozac is the only book that talks

about how SSRIs reuse the low serotonin instead of making new.

Per nutrition it also talks about the whole context of being able to

make more serotonin - ie get enough protein, enough micronutrients to

make everything work, have periods of rest from eating so insulin can

go down prior to the controlled insulin rise you can manipulate to

make more serotonin.

>

> Hey folks,

>

> I have a friend who is on Effexor, a seratonin reuptake inhibitor.

> He's had major anxiety problems and he seems to get tossed from drug

> to drug -- xanax last time.

>

> He drinks a boatload of coffee and always has, and he doesn't eat

much

> in the way of unprocessed foods.

>

> I explained to him that his drug is just modifying a chemical

> situation that is nutritional in origin. That seratonin is made

from

> the tryptophan in whole protein foods, that coffee-stimulated

cortisol

> prevents it from getting into the brain while carbohydrates

encourage

> it t get in the brain, so long as your insulin system is working

> correctly, which requires zinc and so on, and that it was then

> converted to seratonin in a two-step conversion requiring niacin,

> iron, copper and B6.

>

> I'm hoping I can get him to look at it from a nutritional

perspective.

> Does anyone have anything to add? I've heard of the book _Potatoes

> Not Prozac_ which apparently addresses this issue but haven't read

it.

> Should I recommend it? Does it adequately address nutritional

> concerns aside from getting carbs?

>

> Chris

> --

> The Truth About Cholesterol

> Find Out What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You:

> http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com

>

[Guest guest]

> I'm hoping I can get him to look at it from a nutritional perspective.

> Does anyone have anything to add? I've heard of the book _Potatoes

> Not Prozac_ which apparently addresses this issue but haven't read it.

> Should I recommend it? Does it adequately address nutritional

> concerns aside from getting carbs?

You might want to go with her second book, the name of which escapes me

(Sugar Addicts? sorry); it's got some revisions in it. I don't bother

with the books and just work with her website.

http://www.radiantrecovery.com

Her program does really help and is very common sense though not

entirely WAP-ish. For instance, many of her adherents get their

morning protein in the form of soy protein powder smoothies (the

powders for which she sells). But you can just ignore those parts, she

doesn't prescribe it; it's just that the first step of her program is

eating breakfast within an hour of rising, which is often very hard for

people. She wants you to eat a dense protein and a " brown " --a complex

carb. The best breakfast she recommends, for sheer density of protein,

is cottage cheese with something like whole grain toast or oatmeal, but

some folks can't choke it down initially (it's what I eat almost every

morning) so they turn to smoothies. I don't even get into the argument,

it's not worth it.

That said, some people need some serotonin help. I'm one of them.

Fifteen years ago I was going through my sixth major clinical

depression and I got put on Prozac. It saved my life. I've been on and

off it ever since, mostly on, and just recently went back on a very low

dose (10 mg/day). Prozac and other SSRIs are widely over- and

mis-prescribed. But. For me and a few others, they really help. Your

friend, however, doesn't sound like one of those people or it would

have helped by now.

Lynn S.

------

Mama, homeschooler, writer, activist, spinner & knitter

http://www.siprelle.com

NOTICE: The National Security Agency may have read this email without

warning, warrant, or notice.

[Guest guest]

This might not be the complete answer to what you are looking for, but

maybe convincing your friend to take 5-htp instead of those nasty SSRI

drugs might help. I'm sure you are well aware of this, but in case you

are not, 5-HTP is converted straight into serotonin. This raises

serotonin levels more naturally, and if it does work for your friend

(it does work for alot of people), perhaps this can open his mind to

using a more nutritional approach to good health.

There is tons of info on the web about this stuff.