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Nutritional Magic For Anxiety, Depression, And Stress!
Modern medical science has found that low serotonin levels (the brain chemical influenced by drugs like Prozac®) can lead to a huge variety of symptoms and complaints.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that you don't necessarily need to take a powerful, and potentially risky, drug to correct low serotonin levels. There are several very effective—and side-effect free— nutritional approaches to enhance serotonin, including a unique new formulation that utilizes all the most powerful supplements available. Furthermore, we'll show you solid scientific evidence that these nutritional approaches may actually work as well as (or even better) than Prozac® or similar types of drugs known as SSRI's, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.
You may recognize the symptoms of low serotonin. They can affect anyone with anything from common, garden-variety malaise to serious emotional disorders. Here are some of the symptoms:
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Pre-menstrual syndrome
- Problems in thinking, concentrating, and decision making
- Low self esteem
- Needless feelings of unworthiness and guilt
- Loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities
- Sleep and appetite disturbances
- Chronic depressive disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Bulimia
- Alcoholism
- Violent temper and poor impulse control
- Panic/agoraphobia syndrome1
Research indicates that proper nutritional supplementation may also help with aggressive and violent behavior (including suicide), migraine headaches, and even heart disease related to stress and depression.
But you wouldn't know this if you only followed mainstream information. And here's why…
The Prozac Landscape
Prozac® has quickly become one of the most widely prescribed medications on the market. About 35 million people worldwide have taken Prozac®. In fact, the drug produced a profit of about $2.5 billion dollars for Eli Lilly in 1999.2 But the news isn't all good.
"Drug interactions may occur when Prozac® is taken with a number of other medications, with effects including confusion, poor coordination, restlessness, shivering, diarrhea, fever, sweating, trembling or shaking, stomach or intestinal problems, extremely high blood pressure, and severe convulsions. Even without interactions, Prozac® itself can cause side effects including depression of the sex drive, anxiety, trouble sleeping, chills or fever, joint or muscle pain, breast enlargement or pain, overactive reflexes, mood or behavior changes, vomiting, hair loss, trouble in breathing, and convulsions."3
Prozac® has been implicated in a number of lawsuits—over 200 of them according to one article.4 Prozac® has also been specifically implicated in suicidal behavior. Internal memos from Lilly were obtained that made numerous references to suicide and depression, even urging Lilly scientists to change mentions of suicide attempts to "overdose" and suicidal thoughts to "depression."5
Other SSRI's Are Equally Questionable …
Other SSRI's have been implicated in suicide attempts also.6 And withdrawal symptoms include hallucinations, nervousness, melancholy, flu-like symptoms, nausea, tingling and electric shock sensations, and vivid dreams.7
Unfortunately, these drugs are big, big business —reaping billions a year in profits for the big drug companies. There is an interest in keeping them on the market.
According to one report, Lilly contributed $2.87 million to The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), a nonprofit support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders. The report also states that Jerry Radke, a Lilly executive, is on loan to NAMI, working out of the organization's headquarters.8
Is it a coincidence that NAMI gives Prozac® a friendly review, saying, "Prozac® is popular because it is effective in relieving symptoms of depression with fewer, milder side effects than other antidepressants"? NAMI also plays down the side effects, saying most of them subside in a few weeks "for some people." And that "smaller numbers of people may find Prozac® inappropriate because it inhibits orgasm or causes craving for alcohol."9 However, other reports indicate that loss of sexual desire and/or nausea and vomiting can occur in as much as 30% to 40% of users.10
What the Pharmaceutical Giants Don't Want You to Know …
Fortunately, there are alternatives to these drugs. Researchers have found that certain powerful supplements work not just on depression and anxiety, but on the broader problem of serotonin deficiency syndrome, which manifests in depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, aggressiveness, agitation, obsessive-compulsive traits, migraines, and other common behavioral disorders—in other words, the host of illnesses that SSRI's are used to treat.11 Studies have even found some of these supplements to be superior to SSRI's in treating depression.
And besides being alternatives for the more serious illnesses we've discussed, these supplements are blessings for the tens of millions of people who are not clinically depressed or anxious, but who simply—often—don't feel well emotionally.
(Of course, these nutritional supplements can't be patented, so they'll never receive the marketing and press the giant pharmaceuticals invest in their proprietary products.)
Editor's Note:
The natural health solutions described in this article are available through many on-line retailers including those listed below. By clicking these links you help support the important alternative health research we provide.
Visit www.amazon.com – a great way to find competitive deals on supplements offered by many different manufacturers.
Visit www.hfn-usa.com – when commitment to quality and freshness is important, this factory direct solution is preferred by many of our readers.
This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult with a physician before embarking on a dietary supplement program.
References
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National Alliance for the Mentally Ill website: http://www.nami.org
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Prozac Defense Hits Home, Boston Globe, 12/30/2000, page B4
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U.S. National Library of Medicine website:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus
druginfo/fluoxetinesystemic202247.html -
Prozac: Unsafe At Any Price, Arianna Huffington,http://www.ariannaonline.com
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Prozac Revisited, Boston Globe, 5/7/2000
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Emergence of Antidepressant Induced Suicidality, David Healy, Primary Care Psychiatry 2000, vol. 6 No. 1
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Getting Off Antidepressants, http://pssg.org/#Antidepressants
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Prozac.org, Mother Jones Magazine, November, 1999
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National Alliance for the Mentally Ill website: http://nami.org
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5-HTP: The Natural Alternative To Prozac, by John Morgenthaler & Lane Lenard, PhD
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Poldinger W, Calanchini B, Shwarz W. A functional-dimensional approach to depression: serotonin deficiency as a target syndrome in a comparison of 5-hydroxytryptophan and fluvoxamine.Psychopathology. 1991;24:53-81
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5-HTP: The Natural Alternative To Prozac, by John Morgenthaler & Lane Lenard, PhD
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Poldinger W, Calanchini B, Shwarz W. A functional-dimensional approach to depression: serotonin deficiency as a target syndrome in a comparison of 5-hydroxytryptophan and fluvoxamine.Psychopathology. 1991;24:53-81
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Asberg M, Thoren P, Traskman L, et al. Serotonin depression: a biochemical subgroup within affective disorders. Science. 1976;191:478-480.
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5-HTP: The Natural Alternative To Prozac, by John Morgenthaler & Lane Lenard, PhD
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5-HTP: The Natural Alternative To Prozac, by John Morgenthaler & Lane Lenard, PhD
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SAMe: A Supplement for the 21st Century, by Hyla Cass, MD,Vitamin Products Research Newsletter, June 2000.
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SAMe A Supplement for the 21st Century, by Hyla Cass, MD,Vitamin Products Research Newsletter, June 2000.
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Linde K, Ramirez G, Mulrow C, Pauls A, Weidenhammer W, Melchart D. St John's wort for depression - an overview and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials, BMJ No. 7052 Volume 313 Saturday 3 August 1996.
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