Vitaminwater Pressured To Pay People Who Thought It Was A Health Drink

Earlier this month, Red Bull agreed to pay up to $10 to anyone who's ever bought a Red Bull to settle claims that it misled customers into thinking the energy drink “gives you wings.”

Now a nonprofit wants Vitaminwater to offer a similar payout.

Truth In Advertising, a Connecticut-based group that fights against deceptive advertising, is trying to get compensation for people who bought Vitaminwater thinking it was more healthful than it actually is. To do this, the group is pressuring a judge to reject a class-action settlement over the brand's advertising.

Earlier this month, Coca-Cola, which owns Vitaminwater, agreed to pay $1.2 million to end a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of residents of Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and the U.S. Virgin Islands that said Vitaminwater was making exaggerated health claims on its bottles and listing calorie counts for an unrealistic serving size. The company also agreed to list the total calories per bottle and add “see nutrition facts for more detail” to Vitaminwater labels.

But the settlement's critics point out that Coca-Cola had already made these labeling changes, meaning the settlement won't make any difference to Coca-Cola. Truth In Advertising wants the company to do more. It wants a payout for customers in the class-action states who bought the drink, and it wants Coca-Cola to change Vitaminwater's name and sell it as a soda, instead of a hydration or sports drink.

“Ideally, what we want is for Coke to compensate consumers for being deceived, similar to the Red Bull settlement,” Bonnie Patten, the executive director of the group, told The Huffington Post on Wednesday. The group also wants Vitaminwater to end what it calls “deceptive marketing” by changing its name, Patten said.

A judge has to approve the current settlement on Dec. 2, but Truth In Advertising wants residents of the four states and territory listed in the lawsuit to send letters to lawyers for plaintiffs and defendants and court clerks in several locations before the Nov. 3 filing deadline and express opposition. Then, the settlement could be reconfigured, with a payout for those affected.

Coca-Cola may be eager to get the settlement approved because the case is similar to another one from 2009 that's still languishing in New York courts. The Center for Science in the Public Interest took Coca-Cola to court in 2009, accusing it of deceptive marketing and of violating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s rules against fortifying junk food with vitamins.

That lawsuit targeted Vitaminwater’s claims that its drinks could reduce the risk of chronic diseases, improve joint function and boost mental and physical wellness, according to court documents. The company has since replaced such blurbs with conversationally written anecdotes hinting at how the drinks, which contain about 33 grams of sugar per 20-ounce bottle -- or almost a third of the sugar in a bottle of Coke -- can improve focus, remedy alcoholic hangovers or boost immune systems.

Danielle Dubois, a Coca-Cola spokeswoman, said the company was “pleased to reach an amicable resolution” of the class-action suit, but declined to comment on the earlier New York case. She did not immediately respond to questions about what prompted the company to change the blurbs on its bottles.

Steve Gardner, who as litigation director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed the original lawsuit in 2009, told HuffPost on Wednesday that the class-action settlement isn't really punishing the brand because Vitaminwater had already changed its labels. He said his nonprofit group was considering filing an objection to accompany Truth in Advertising's efforts with the judge.

“All the things they said Coke has agreed to change, Coke has now put in writing, but in reality they had already done,” he said. “The settlement is worthless to anyone in the public interest, the class members and the consumers, but it’s very profitable for the lawyers who settled it.”

Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?

Why I Refuse to Let Technology Control Me.

You need not delete your social networks or destroy your cell phones, the message is simple, be balanced, be mindful, be present, be here. :)

http://domaze.net/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

Assalaamulekun I have added both do-maze link as well as youtube link so its easy for my brothers and sisters in Islam to access it.

God bless you all.....

Hurry up!!! Shine a light on Syria this Ramadan

9.3 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian aid. You can help. Shine a light on Syria this Ramadan. To send your gift please click on:

:http://www.razoo.com/story/Shine-A-Light-On-Syria-This-Ramadan

Dua’s to Remove Depression and Worries

Mankind comes across many afflictions and trials, sometimes in overwhelming sequences.  Removing the darkness of these Depression and Worries , distresses and grief is a very important matter to which Islaam gives serious attention…There are many authentic Dua’s and Supplication from Hadith which can help us remove anxieties, Depression and Worries according to Islam. If we are feeling depressed, we should strengthen our belief in Allah and predestination (Qada wa Qadar) and recite these supplication for depression and worries.

First of all we should know that the greatest darkness is disbelief in Allah and to associate partners with Him. Whoever associates partners with Allah will always remain in darkness and thus feel Depression and Worries . Allah says in Holy Quran:

“Allah is the Protector of those who have faith He will lead them from the depths of darkness into light. . As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are the devils: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the  fire, to dwell therein (for ever). ” (QURAN, SURAH AL-BAQARAH 2.257)

It was narrated that Suhayb said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all his affairs are good, and this applies to no one except the believer. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks, and that is good for him, and it something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience, and that is good for him.”

(Narrated by Muslim, 2999)

This world should not be the main concern of the Muslim. Worry about his provision should not find any room in his heart or mind, lest that make his sickness and his anxiety worse and make him feel depression and worries.

It was narrated that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allaah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allaah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.”

(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2389; classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6510).

The scholars of Islaam have extracted from the Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah many remedies and cures to help us in our daily affairs and remove our Depression and Worries .

1. It was reported that the Prophet (PBUH) used to recite this Dua:

اللّهُـمَّ رَحْمَتَـكَ أَرْجـوفَلا تَكِلـني إِلى نَفْـسي طَـرْفَةَ عَـيْن، وَأَصْلِـحْ لي شَأْنـي كُلَّـه لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أنْـت

“O Allah, I hope for Your mercy. Do not leave me to myself even for the blinking of an eye (i.e. a moment). Correct all of my affairs for me. There is none worthy of worship but You.” (Abu Dawud 4/324, Ahmad 5/42. Al-Albani graded it as good in Sahih Abu Dawud 3/959.)

2. In al-Saheehayn it was reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Messenger of Allaah (Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say, when he felt distressed or depression and worries:

لا إلَهَ إلاَّ اللَّهُ الْعَظـيمُ الْحَلِـيمْ، لا إلَهَ إلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ العَـرْشِ العَظِيـمِ، لا إلَهَ إلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَـوّاتِ ورّبُّ الأَرْضِ ورَبُّ العَرْشِ الكَـريم

“La ilaaha ill-Allaah al-‘Azeem ul-Haleem, Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb il-‘arsh il-‘azeem, Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Rabb is-samawaati wa Rabb il-ard wa Rabb il-‘arsh il-kareem”

“There is no god except Allaah, the All-Mighty, the Forbearing; there is no god except Allaah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne; there is no god except Allaah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth and Lord of the noble Throne.” (Al-Bukhari 8/154, Muslim 4/2092, )

3. It was reported from Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say, when something upset him:

“Yaa Hayyu yaa Qayyoom, bi Rahmatika astagheeth (O Ever-Living One, O Everlasting One, by Your mercy I seek help).”

4. It was reported that Asmaa’ bint ‘Umays (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me:

“Shall I not teach you some words to say when you feel distressed, Depression and Worries ?

اللهُ اللهُ رَبِّ لا أُشْـرِكُ بِهِ شَيْـئاً

‘Allaah, Allaah, Rabbee laa ushriku bihi shay’an’

Allaah, Allaah, my Lord, I do not associate anything with Him (Abu Dawud 2/87. See also Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 2/335.)

5. It was reported from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No person suffers any anxiety or grief, and says:

للّهُـمَّ إِنِّي عَبْـدُكَ ابْنُ عَبْـدِكَ ابْنُ أَمَتِـكَ نَاصِيَتِي بِيَـدِكَ، مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ، عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاؤكَ أَسْأَلُـكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ 

هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّـيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أِوْ أَنْزَلْتَـهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ، أَوْ عَلَّمْـتَهُ أَحَداً مِنْ خَلْقِـكَ أَوِ اسْتَـأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الغَيْـبِ عِنْـدَكَ أَنْ تَجْـعَلَ القُرْآنَ رَبِيـعَ قَلْبِـي، وَنورَ صَـدْرِي وجَلَاءَ حُـزْنِي وذَهَابَ هَمِّـي

‘Allaahumma innee ‘abduka wa ibn ‘abdika wa ibn amatika, naasiyati bi yadika, maadin fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa’uka, as’aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw ista’tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghaybi ‘andak an taj’ala al-Qur’aana rabee’ qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa’a huzni wa dhahaaba hammi’

“O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your female slave, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every Name belonging to You which You named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Qur’aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety”

Dua for muslim brotherhood in Gaza

Allahumma aṣliḥ aḥwāl al-muslimīn fī filasṭīn wa fī kuli makān. Yā dhal Jalāli wal Ikrām.  Amīn Ya Rab al 'ālamīn.

O Allah!  Improve the condition of the Muslims in Palestine, and around the world.  O Possessor of Majesty and Honor!

Pray for Gaza

Assalaamulekum brothers and sisters in Islam lets join hands and pray for our brothers and sisters in Gaza and may Allah help them restore their peaceful lives.
Lets all help them by are most powerful weapon dua which is heard by the Almighty Allah and surly he is the powerful and merciful.
I surly think that the united voice of muslim ummah cant be stopped by any barriers.
May Allah bless all those who struggle to help their muslim brotherhood in Gaza.

Foods to eat at Suhoor for energy throughout the day

Visit this website to spend a healthy Ramadan.

http://muslimvillage.com/2014/07/02/55025/foods-to-eat-at-suhoor-for-energy-throughout-the-day/

JazakAllah 

The best way to Start Ramadan!!!

One question I get asked a lot is
"What is the best way to start Ramadān?"

I thought about this for sometime, and here is my answer:

"The best way to start Ramadān this year is the way you ended it last year."

Meaning: you should start Ramadān with the same passion, focus and commitment that you completed the last ten days of last year's Ramadān with. (if you didn't end it well last year, stay tuned for another short reminder soon: "How to fix a broken Ramadān?")

Do These Seven and Go to Heaven, Inshallah!
I know it sounds easy. But give it a try! Try having the same passion you had last year in the following areas today and see where it takes you tomorrow:

1. When you stand to pray, muster the passion you had a year ago as Ramadān came to a close. The concentration and taste of it should be in your heart, your body should be calm and your soul submerged in the light of prayer. The Prophet (sa) said, "Whoever prays and his/her soul does not disturb him/her during prayer, his/her sins are forgiven."

2. When you make dua, let it all out, give it to Allāh now, feeling impoverished to him like you did last year at the end of Ramadān. The Prophet (sa) said, "The supplications of a fasting person are accepted."

3. Let the tears flow now. Dry lands can't grow much and neither can dry hearts. A teacher once told me,

"Tears come from fertile hearts like springs come from fertile soil."

Sit alone with Allah and cry to him, seek him, beg him and flee to him "You will find him forgiving, merciful."

4. When you remember Allah, do so with the same focus you did last year. Know that "Remember be and I will remember you" is happening every time His blessed names flows from your heart and speech, and that wherever you remember Him (work, home, mosque, school, alone or in a group), He mentions you in front of the angels, says your name and they seek blessings and forgiveness for you saying as is mentioned in the Qur'an,

"Forgive those who believe, follow your path and save them from Hell."

5. Taste the sweetness of the hereafter, knowing the bitter taste of this life. Recall how your heart felt the last 10 days; there was nothing more valuable to you then drawing nearer to him and farther from excess here. Muster that passion now. Become a stranger in this life or a traveler because this is not your permeant abode!

In the Qur'an, Allah addresses Adam and his wife saying, "You two get out of here (Paradise)." In other places He says, "You (all) get out of here."

My teacher said, "You all" is all of us - Adam and his progeny. We were evicted from our real home and soon, God willing we will return to it if we lived good lives for Allah. This world is not it. Paradise awaits."


6. Guard your time now like you did last year. Ibn al-Qayyim said,

"I know people more cautious with their time, than bankers are with money."

7. Guard your tongue and your character now like you did the last ten days a year ago! Recall the statement of our Prophet (sa) regarding a person who fails to look after the outer aspects of fasting,

"Allah will say, 'I have no need that you left your food and drink."

Gain Infinite Openings
If you start this now, this struggle, God promises you openings and growth. He says,

"Those who struggle in our way, we will guide them to infinite ways."

High Intensity Taqqrub
What you are doing when you take on Ramadān like this is intense taqarrub (seeking nearness to Allah, distance from sins and Satan).

The Prophet (sa) said that Allah (swt) said, "A person does not come to me a hands length, except I come to him/her an arm's length. If he/she comes to me walking, I run to him/her."

If you take this bull by the horns and start this month off, with the same passion from a year ago, you are the person mentioned in the hadith above, inshallah.

Illuminated Endings are Rooted in Illuminated Beginnings
Remember! How you start now, tells a lot about last year and this year. Push yourself, asking God to dilate your heart and soul, filling it with guidance and light.

Sheikh al-Islām, Ahmed Zarūq (ra) said,
من كانت بالله بدايته, كانت إليه نهايته
"Who's beginning was with Allah, then his ending is to Allah."

Ramadan Mubarak

My Ramadan Prayer

As we stand on the verge of beginning the great fast,
let us pray that the blessings we enjoy are decreed to last.

Let us pray for the people, who have lost their homes, fields and cattle in the flood, that they are patient and see their sins washed away by torrents of forgiveness and divine love.

Let us pray for all of those living in lands that have been invaded and occupied, that their resolve for deliverance is not weakened nor their hearts rendered cold, callous and dry.

Let us pray for the elders who have seen only war as successive decades pass by, that they are not so traumatized that they cannot find tears to cry.

Let us pray for the fathers, who watch as their sons are mercilessly dragged away, that they will live to see the justice of a better day.

Let us pray for our sisters, who with such great dignity represent all of us, that they never lose sight of the fact that they are carrying a divine trust.

Let us pray for the teachers, who toil sometimes in unbearable situations, that they remain strong and undaunted in their commitment to future generations.

Let us pray for the believers everywhere,
that they are the recipients of divine aid and celestial care.

Let us pray for the babies, be they little boys or girls,
that they will be blessed to inherit a saner, safer and more secure world.

Let us pray for this troubled nation we live in,
to realize that we cannot forever escape the wages of our sins.

Let us pray for the children, whose mothers or fathers have been deported, that their dreams will not be deferred nor their hearts distorted.

Let us pray for the legions, who for someone’s profits have been incarcerated, that through the message of the Prophet their minds can be liberated.

Let us pray for all of the boys and girls in the ‘hood,
to learn that virtue is its own reward, and that its recompense is always good.

Let us pray for even the malicious fools, who picket Masjids and burn the Qur’an, that they repent, are guided, and come to know the blessings of Ramadan.

Ramadan Mubarak!

The MOST Effective Treatment for Depression Isn't Drugs... But You'll Never Hear That From Your Psychiatrist

Depression is a very pervasive health issue today, and it can be a terminal illness. People commit suicide, caused by depression, each and every day.
The traditional approaches have sought to use drugs to address this problem, but I believe there are far better alternatives. But before I get into that, what does the scientific literature show, in terms of short- and long-term effectiveness of the conventional drug approach?
In this interview, Robert Whitaker, who is a medical journalist and author of two books on this important topic, shares what he’s found after tremendous amounts of research.

How Effective are Antidepressants in the Short- and Long-Term?

When looking at the research literature, short-term trials show that antidepressants do NOT provide any clinically significant benefits for mild to moderate depression, compared to a placebo.
And as you know, all drugs have benefit-to-risk ratios, so if a drug is as effective as a placebo in relieving symptoms, it really doesn’t make sense to use them as a first line of defense. And yet doctors all over America prescribe them as if they were indeed sugar pills!
But what about their long-term effectiveness?
According to Whitaker:

“… that’s one of the things I looked at in this book and there are really two things that you find.
You find that even with major depression, in the pre-antidepressant era – and this is depression so severe people were hospitalized – they could expect to get better. The episode would eventually pass.
… So when antidepressants were introduced, the thought was okay, we really can hope to improve on this sort of natural recovery, but maybe we can help people recover quicker? So that really was the rationale for the use of antidepressants.
But it’s really interesting if you follow this course through, forward in history. The minute they start using antidepressants in any sort of large numbers, doctors start saying, “Well, you know, my patients may be getting better, the depression maybe lifting faster, but then we’re noticing that they’re also relapsing more frequently than before, back into depression.”
So right away you get this question: Does the drug treatment actually put people on a more chronic course than before?”

Long-term studies now indicate that of people with major depression, only about 15 percent that are treated with an antidepressant go into remission and stay well for a long period of time.
The remaining 85 percent start having continuing relapses and become chronically depressed.

“By the 1990s, this change in the long term course of depression was so pronounced that finally it was addressed by researchers,” says Whitaker.
“Giovanni Fava from Italy said, “Hey, listen, the course is changing with antidepressants. We’re changing it from an episodic illness to a chronic illness, and we really need to address this.”
Not only that, but the depression is sinking into people [on antidepressants] in a deeper way than before.”

According to Whitaker’s research, this tendency to sensitize the brain to long-term depression appears to be the same both for the earlier tricyclic antidepressants and the newer SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).
Another famous psycho pharmacologist named Ross Baldessarini at the Harvard Medical School also began asking whether or not these drugs may in fact be depressogenic (causing depression).
Unfortunately, the evidence points that way, and the long-term prognosis when taking antidepressants is quite bleak, as this type of drug treatment has a whopping 85 percent chronic relapse rate.
It’s time for this trend to be broken.
Every year, 230 million prescriptions for antidepressants are filled, making them one of the most-prescribed drugs in the United States. Despite all of these prescription drugs being taken, more than one in 20 Americans are depressed, according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The statistics alone should be a strong indication that what we’re doing is simply not working, and that instead, these drugs are contributing to other serious health problems.
Fortunately, there are other, safer, more effective ways, and some countries are starting to pay heed to the fact that  research is actually showing it to be beneficial, rather than bowing to the will of pharmaceutical companies.

What the Research Says about Alternative Treatments for Depression

One study conducted by Duke University in the late 1990’s divided depressed patients into three treatment groups:

1. Exercise only
2. Exercise plus antidepressant
3. Antidepressant drug only

After six weeks, the drug-only group was doing slightly better than the other two groups. However, after 10 months of follow-up, it was the exercise-only group that had the highest remission and stay-well rate.
Some countries are taking these types of research findings seriously, and are starting to base their treatments on the evidence at hand.
The UK, for example, does not routinely recommend antidepressants as the first line of therapy for mild to moderate depression anymore, and doctors there can write out a prescription to see an exercise counselor instead.

“With that prescription… you now get either a reduced rate or a free rate at a gym for six months,” Whitaker explains. “Part of the exercise might be “green gyms”… gardening outside, nature walks, repairing trails, hiking trails. And they are finding that people really like this. People comply with it…
People who have gone through this course and have been prescribed exercise, they say that rather than seeing themselves as a victim of depression, and helpless before it -- that they have this sort of biological problem they can’t do anything about -- they say, “Aha, I can make a change, I can do something. It’s in my willpower to do something that will help this problem lift.”
So it empowers the patient in a different way that drugs do not.”

Since 2007, when this new program was first introduced, the rate of British doctors prescribing exercise for depression has increased from about 4 percent to about 25 percent.
Studies on exercise as a treatment for depression are also showing that there is a strong correlation between improved mood and aerobic capacity. So there’s a growing acceptance that the mind-body connection is very real, and that maintaining good physical health can significantly lower your risk of developing depression in the first place.

Two Side Effects of Antidepressants You Need to Be Aware of

“There are two side effects or risks that really need to be addressed, and that everybody should be thinking about, that show up in the scientific literature,” Whitaker says.
“The first risk is that you’ll convert from unipolar depression to bipolar depression.
… One of the things we’ve seen with the use of the SSRIs is this incredible, extraordinary boom in bipolar diagnoses, and that is definitely tied to the widespread use of antidepressants.
Now, in kids, something like 25 to 50 percent of all kids placed on an antidepressant, who stay on that antidepressant for five years, will convert to bipolar illness. With adults, it seems like about 25 percent of long term of users that begin with a diagnosis of unipolar depression will convert to bipolar.
Bipolar used to be a fairly rare disorder but now it’s becoming much more common. Why is this so bad?
Well, when you convert from depression to bipolar, now you’re in a category where you’re often treated with a cocktail of medications including an antipsychotic medication, and long-term bipolar outcomes are really problematic in this country.
Only about 35 percent of bipolar patients are employed. So you see this risk of disability.
So my point is this, when you go on an antidepressant, you do have a risk of having a manic episode and that is a risk of becoming “a bipolar patient,” and at that moment you’re into a much more long-term problematic disorder that does not have a good outcome today.
The second real risk is that there is a lot of evidence compiling [showing] that if you stay on antidepressants for five, ten, fifteen years, there is some real worry with cognitive decline associated with that long term use.”

Most of you have probably heard that depression is due to a “chemical imbalance in your brain,” which these drugs are designed to correct.
Unfortunately for anyone who has ever swallowed this marketing ploy, this is NOT a scientific statement.

“The low serotonin theory arose because they understood how the drugs acted on the brain,” Whitaker explains.
“But it was just a hypothesis borne to try to explain why the drug might be fixing something. They investigated whether people had low serotonin…[But] in 1983, NIMH concluded that there is no evidence that there is anything wrong in the serotonergic system of depressed patients. And this was in 1983 before Prozac was released.
So there was never evidence that people with depression characteristically had low levels of serotonin.
As one doctor I interviewed about this who did some of this research said, “The serotonin theory of depression is comparable to the masturbatory theory of insanity.” It’s just not a scientific statement.”

Making matters worse, if you do not have low serotonin levels when you’re depressed, but you start taking an SSRI drug that blocks the normal reuptake of serotonin, you end up with the very physiological problem the drug is designed to treat –low serotonin levels. Which, ironically, is the state hypothesized to bring on depression in the first place.
In 1996, neuroscientist Steven Hyman, who was head of the NIMH at the time, and is today Provost of Harvard University, published the paper Initiation and Adaptation: A Paradigm for Understanding Psychotropic Drugs, in which he explains this chain of events.
According to Dr. Hyman, once your brain has undergone these compensatory adaptations to the drug, your brain operates in a manner that is “both qualitatively and quantitatively different than normal.”

“So these are not normalizing agents, from a scientific point of view,” Whitaker says.
Really they are abnormalizing agents, and once you understand that, you can understand why maybe they might provoke a manic episode; why they might be associated with sexual dysfunction or violence, acathisia, etcetera.
It’s because they in fact are abnormalizing agents.”

Whitaker discusses numerous other areas of confusion and shares many additional facts about the treatments for depression in this interview, so please, if you or anyone you know suffers from depression, do listen to the entire interview, or read through the transcript.
This is vital information that could very well save your life, or the life of someone close to your heart.
Finding an effective treatment for depression is not something to approach lightly, and having the facts about what actually works, and what doesn’t, is imperative.
In addition, below you will find the four cornerstones of healthy living that would be part of any successful treatment plan.

Other Key Factors to Overcoming Depression

Address your stress -- Depression is a very serious condition, however it is not a “disease.” Rather, it’s a sign that your body and your life are out of balance.
This is so important to remember, because as soon as you start to view depression as an “illness,” you think you need to take a drug to fix it. In reality, all you need to do is return balance to your life, and one of the key ways to doing this is addressing stress.

Meditation or yoga can help. Sometimes all you need to do is get outside for a walk. But in addition to that, I also recommend using a system that can help you address emotional issues that you may not even be consciously aware of. For this, my favorite is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). However, if you have depression or serious stress, I believe it would be best to consult with a mental health professional who is also an EFT practitioner to guide you.
Eat a healthy diet -- Another factor that cannot be overlooked is your diet. Foods have an immense impact on your mood and ability to cope and be happy, and eating whole foods as described in my nutrition plan will best support your mental health. Avoiding sugar and grains will help normalize your insulin and leptin levels, which is another powerful tool in addressing depression.
Support optimal brain functioning with essential fats -- I also strongly recommend supplementing your diet with a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat, like krill oil. This may be the single most important nutrient to battle depression.
Get plenty of sunshine – Making sure you’re getting enough sunlight exposure to have healthy vitamin D levels is also a crucial factor in treating depression or keeping it at bay. One previous study found that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who had normal levels. Vitamin D deficiency is actually more the norm than the exception, and has previously been implicated in both psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Want a Good Night's Sleep? Then Never Do These Things Before Bed

Sleep is one of the great mysteries of life. Like gravity or the quantum field, we still don't understand exactly why we sleep—although we are learning more about it every day.
We do know, however, that good sleep is one of the cornerstones of health.
Six to eight hours per night seems to be the optimal amount of sleep for most adults, and too much or too little can have adverse effects on your health.
Sleep deprivation is such a chronic condition these days that you might not even realize you suffer from it. Science has now established that a sleep deficit can have serious, far reaching effects on your health.
For example, interrupted or impaired sleep can:

• Dramatically weaken your immune system
• Accelerate tumor growth—tumors grow two to three times faster in laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions
• Cause a pre-diabetic state, making you feel hungry even if you've already eaten, which can wreak havoc on your weight
• Seriously impair your memory; even a single night of poor sleep—meaning sleeping only 4 to 6 hours—can impact your ability to think clearly the next day
• Impair your performance on physical or mental tasks, and decrease your problem solving ability

When your circadian rhythms are disrupted, your body produces less melatonin (a hormone AND an antioxidant) and has less ability to fight cancer, since melatonin helps suppress free radicals that can lead to cancer. This is why tumors grow faster when you sleep poorly.
Impaired sleep can also increase stress-related disorders, including:

• Heart disease
• Stomach ulcers
• Constipation
• Mood disorders like depression

Sleep deprivation prematurely ages you by interfering with your growth hormone production, normally released by your pituitary gland during deep sleep (and during certain types of exercise, such as Peak Fitness Technique). Growth hormone helps you look and feel younger.
One study has even shown that people with chronic insomnia have a three times greater risk of dying from any cause.
Lost sleep is lost forever, and persistent lack of sleep has a cumulative effect when it comes to disrupting your health. Poor sleep can make your life miserable, as most of you probably know.
The good news is, there are many natural techniques you can learn to restore your "sleep health."
Whether you have difficulty falling asleep, waking up too often, or feeling inadequately rested when you wake up in the morning—or maybe you simply want to improve the quality of your sleep—you are bound to find some relief from my tips and tricks below.
**If you are interested in more information about sleep or any of the 33 items listed, I invite you to delve into the links that follow, which are grouped by subject.

Optimizing Your Sleep Sanctuary

1. Sleep in complete darkness, or as close to it as possible. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your internal clock and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin. Even the tiniest glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your sleep. This will help decrease your risk of cancer.  Close your bedroom door, and get rid of night-lights. Refrain from turning on any light at all during the night, even when getting up to go to the bathroom. Cover up your clock radio. Cover your windows—I recommend using blackout shades or drapes.
   All life evolved in response to predictable patterns of light and darkness, called circadian rhythms. Modern day electrical lighting has significantly betrayed your inner clock by disrupting your natural rhythms. Little bits of light pass directly through your optic nerve to your hypothalamus, which controls your biological clock. Light signals your brain that it's time to wake up and starts preparing your body for ACTION.
2. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees. Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep. When you sleep, your body's internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. Scientists believe a cooler bedroom may therefore be most conducive to sleep, since it mimics your body's natural temperature drop.
3. Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). These can disrupt the pineal gland and the production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To do this, you need a gauss meter. You can find various models online, starting around $50 to $200. Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house.
4. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet. Remove the clock from view. It will only add to your worry when you stare at it all night... 2 a.m. ...3 a.m. ... 4:30 a.m.
5. Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm clock years ago and now use a sun alarm clock, an alarm that combines the features of a traditional alarm clock (digital display, AM/FM radio, beeper, snooze button, etc.) with a special built-in light that gradually increases in intensity, simulating sunrise.
6. Reserve your bed for sleeping. If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may find it harder to relax and drift off to sleep, so avoid doing these activities in bed.
7. Consider separate bedrooms. Recent studies suggest, for many people, sharing a bed with a partner (or pets) can significantly impair sleep, especially if the partner is a restless sleeper or snores. If bedfellows are consistently interfering with your sleep, you may want to consider a separate bedroom.

Preparing for Bed

8. Get to bed as early as possible. Your body (particularly your adrenal system) does a majority of its recharging between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder dumps toxins during this same period. If you are awake, the toxins back up into your liver, which can further disrupt your health. Prior to the widespread use of electricity, people would go to bed shortly after sundown, as most animals do, and which nature intended for humans as well.
9. Don't change your bedtime. You should go to bed and wake up at the same times each day, even on the weekends. This will help your body to get into a sleep rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in the morning.
10. Establish a bedtime routine. This could include meditation, deep breathing, using aromatherapy or essential oils or indulging in a massage from your partner. The key is to find something that makes you feel relaxed, then repeat it each night to help you release the tensions of the day.
11. Don't drink any fluids within 2 hours of going to bed. This will reduce the likelihood of needing to get up and go to the bathroom, or at least minimize the frequency.
12. Go to the bathroom right before bed. This will reduce the chances that you'll wake up to go in the middle of the night.
13. Eat a high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the L-tryptophan needed for your melatonin and serotonin production.
14. Also eat a small piece of fruit. This can help the tryptophan cross your blood-brain barrier.
15. Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. These will raise your blood sugar and delay sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you may wake up and be unable to fall back asleep.
16. Take a hot bath, shower or sauna before bed. When your body temperature is raised in the late evening, it will fall at bedtime, facilitating slumber. The temperature drop from getting out of the bath signals your body it's time for bed.
17. Wear socks to bed. Feet often feel cold before the rest of the body because they have the poorest circulation. A study has shown that wearing socks to bed reduces night waking. As an alternative, you could place a hot water bottle near your feet at night.
18. Wear an eye mask to block out light. As discussed earlier, it is very important to sleep in as close to complete darkness as possible. That said, it's not always easy to block out every stream of light using curtains, blinds or drapes, particularly if you live in an urban area (or if your spouse has a different schedule than you do). In these cases, an eye mask can be helpful.
19. Put your work away at least one hour before bed (preferably two hours or more). This will give your mind a chance to unwind so you can go to sleep feeling calm, not hyped up or anxious about tomorrow's deadlines.
20. No TV right before bed. Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom or even completely out of the house. It's too stimulating to the brain, preventing you from falling asleep quickly. TV disrupts your pineal gland function.
21. Listen to relaxation CDs. Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep. An excellent relaxation/meditation option to listen to before bed is the Insight audio CD. Another favorite is the Sleep Harmony CD, which uses a combination of advanced vibrational technology and guided meditation to help you effortlessly fall into deep delta sleep within minutes. The CD works on the principle of "sleep wave entrainment" to assist your brain in gearing down for sleep. 
22. Read something spiritual or uplifting. This may help you relax. Don't read anything stimulating, such as a mystery or suspense novel, which has the opposite effect. In addition, if you are really enjoying a suspenseful book, you might be tempted to go on reading for hours, instead of going to sleep!
23. Journaling. If you often lay in bed with your mind racing, it might be helpful to keep a journal and write down your thoughts before bed. Personally, I have been doing this for 15 years, but prefer to do it in the morning when my brain is functioning at its peak and my cortisol levels are high.

Lifestyle Suggestions That Enhance Sleep

24. Reduce or avoid as many drugs as possible. Many drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, may adversely affect sleep. In most cases, the condition causing the drugs to be taken in the first place can be addressed by following guidelines elsewhere on my web site.
25. Avoid caffeine. At least one study has shown that, in some people, caffeine is not metabolized efficiently, leaving you feeling its effects long after consumption. So, an afternoon cup of coffee or tea will keep some people from falling asleep at night. Be aware that some medications contain caffeine (for example, diet pills).
26. Avoid alcohol. Although alcohol will make you drowsy, the effect is short lived and you will often wake up several hours later, unable to fall back asleep. Alcohol will also keep you from entering the deeper stages of sleep, where your body does most of its healing.
27. Make certain you are exercising regularly. Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day can improve your sleep. However, don't exercise too close to bedtime or it may keep you awake. Studies show exercising in the morning is the best if you can manage it.
28. Lose excess weight. Being overweight can increase your risk of sleep apnea, which can seriously impair your sleep. Please refer to mynutrition plan forrecommendations.
29. Avoid foods you may be sensitive to. This is particularly true for sugar, grains, and pasteurized dairy. Sensitivity reactions can cause excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, bloating and gas, and other problems.
30. Have your adrenals checked by a good natural medicine clinician. Scientists have found that insomnia may be caused by adrenal stress.
31. If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, get checked out by a good natural medicine physician. The hormonal changes at this time may cause sleep problems if not properly addressed.

If All Else Fails

32. My current favorite fix for insomnia is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Most people can learn the basics of this gentle tapping technique in a few minutes. EFT can help balance your body's bioenergy system and resolve some of the emotional stresses that are contributing to your insomnia at a very deep level. The results are typically long lasting and improvement is remarkably rapid.
33. Increase your melatonin. Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night. If that isn't possible, you may want to consider a melatonin supplement. In scientific studies, melatonin has been shown to increase sleepiness, help you fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep, decrease restlessness, and reverse daytime fatigue. Melatonin is a completely natural substance, made by your body, and has many health benefits in addition to sleep.

How Can a 4000% Increase in Bipolar Disorder Be Possible?

The number of American children diagnosed with bipolar disorder increased 40-fold over the past decade. But now many psychiatrists are backing away from the diagnosis.
Many are worried that thousands of children may have been mistakenly diagnosed with the disorder. Overzealous doctors, quirks in the health insurance system and aggressive marketing by drug companies all contributed to the explosion of bipolar diagnoses.
According to the Star Tribune:

"The profession's about-face could help the next generation of troubled children, but it also raises questions about the harm done to children who shouldn't have received either the diagnosis or the potent drugs used to treat it."

 

Articles like these make it very clear to me that the frighteningly "routine" practice of prescribing potent antipsychotic drugs to children is, in the majority of cases, an ill-conceived scam originating with the drug industry. In this case, a backlash against the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children may be one of the best things that could happen.
Now, it does seem like the incidence of very real emotional- and/or mental problems are increasing in children.
However, the so-called 'solution' offered is likely doing double harm. Not only are these troubled children not receiving appropriate and effective treatment, but the drug therapies prescribed are further compounding their health issues.

The Astounding Rise of Bipolar Diagnosis in Children

This is why statistics can be so important: The fact that the number of American children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has increased by 4,000 percent in a mere 10 year span (1994-2003) leads you to quickly realize that something must be askew…
The possibility of such a radical increase being medically valid is close to nil. Another telltale sign that Big Pharma is behind much of this growth is the fact that four times as many children covered by Medicaid receive antipsychotic drugs, compared to children whose parents have private health insurance. One of the reasons for this is because it can be difficult to find a psychiatrist that accepts Medicaid. As a result, many of these children get the medication from a pediatrician or family doctor, who may or may not be fully qualified to make a proper psychiatric evaluation. All they're going by is what they've been told by pharmaceutical reps.
The cost of "medicating away children's problems" goes far beyond dollars and cents, although that price tag is staggering in and of itself. For example, according to the Star Tribune, the cost of treating children with antipsychotic drugs exceeds $6 million annually in the state of Minnesota alone! 

New Label for Troubled Youngsters is Being Defined

It has now become quite apparent that the diagnosis of bipolar disorder is heavily misused, and that many children are being mislabeled—and subsequently drugged without meeting the criteria for the diagnosis. As mentioned in the featured article, this rise in erroneous diagnoses is being blamed on a combination of:

• Overzealous doctors
• Desperate parents
• The insurance system (a doctor or hospital cannot bill without a diagnostic code, which requires a diagnosis of some form of established disease or disorder)
• Aggressive (and sometimes illegal) marketing by drug companies

These factors conspired to create what Dr. Stephen Setterberg, a child psychiatrist with Maple Grove-based PrairieCare calls: a "diagnostic fad."  Unfortunately, this is a "fad" that has the capacity to destroy lives.
A primary difficulty here is the fact that most psychiatric diagnoses are entirely subjective, based on a set of behavioral symptoms. However, the bipolar profile found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was written for adults, not children. Symptoms of (adult) bipolar include long bouts of depression and mania, delusions and self-aggrandizement, hypersexuality and other risky behaviors that impact their work and social lives.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), about 7 percent of all children seen at psychiatric facilities fit the bipolar disorder criteria (much of which originated from Dr. Biederman at Harvard, whose influence on this 'epidemic' I'll discuss in a moment).
The backlash against the over-diagnosing of bipolar disorder has now led the psychiatric profession to reconsider the diagnostic criteria. According to the Star Tribune, a new diagnosis will soon be 'field-tested' that may replace bipolar in many cases. The new diagnosis, called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, would apply to "grade-school children who suffer frequent outbursts in more than one location and remain irritable between outbursts."
However, unless they also change the way they're treating these children, the label change won't do much good.
I firmly believe we will not get a handle on these mental health problems until we make a concerted effort to make drug therapies the LAST resort, instead of the go-to solution. This will require an open-mindedness that is rare today. And it will require a drastic change of lifestyle in most cases.
Unfortunately, the diagnosis of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder will likely be classified as an "affective" disorder, meaning it has a biological origin, and as such it will inevitably "require" a drug treatment. It's highly unfortunate, but conventional medicine still struggles with the idea that your body is capable of self-healing and proper function given the right environment (proper nutrition, exercise, and limited exposure to toxins)…

The Dangerous Side Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs

The drugs given to children diagnosed with bipolar disorder are typically:

• Lithium
• Anticonvulsants (e.g., Depakote or other valproate products)
• Atypical neuroleptics (e.g., risperidone, olanzapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole, quetiapine)

Even though atypical neuroleptics are approved only for adults, the rate of children treated with atypicals is growing dramatically faster than the rate for adults. I don't even advocate giving children cough syrup, Tylenol or antibiotics, as these alone can be harmful. But when you're talking about powerful psychotropic, mind-altering drugs, you're entering an entirely different ballgame.
Aside from the immediate risk of death, another serious and widespread problem caused by these drugs is excessive weight gain and metabolic problems like diabetes. The effect varies by drug, but children typically gain TWICE as much weight in the first six months on these drugs as they should through normal growth, adding an average of two to three inches to their waistline. A lot of this is abdominal fat, which also increases their risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Some experts claim that the weight gain and metabolic problems caused by the drugs make it difficult to conclude that the medications actually improve children's lives in the long run.

Side Effects Often Lead to Polypharmacy, and Compounded Health Risks

While some experts believe the benefits of antipsychotics outweigh the health risks for those who truly are bipolar, they can wreck the lives of those who receive them unnecessarily.
Additionally, the practice of prescribing two or more drugs in combination has increased as well. Children may receive different drugs to treat a panoply of physical-, mental- and behavioral symptoms. Oftentimes drugs are added with the emergence of each new symptom—symptoms that are misconstrued as signs of a worsening or additional problem. However, many of these may actually be side effects of the drug itself.
Dr. Carrie Borchardt, a child psychiatrist with Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota states in the featured article:

"A substantial number of those kids, if you take them off the problem medication, those symptoms go away… and then they don't have bipolar, they just had a medication-induced problem."

The Undue Influence of Drug Companies on the Rise of Psychiatric Diagnoses

Dr. Joseph Biederman of Harvard Medical School is a world-renowned child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel the explosion of antipsychotic drug use in children. Between 2000 and 2007, he earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers. However, he did not report a large portion of this income to university officials.
Biederman and other researchers may have violated federal and university research rules designed to police potential conflicts of interest. His consulting arrangements with drug makers were also controversial because of his advocacy of unapproved uses of psychiatric medicines in children. But it may be even worse than that. According to the Star Tribune,

"Documents produced in state lawsuits against drug companies suggested that he promised a positive study -- before doing research -- to Johnson & Johnson regarding the use of its antipsychotic, Risperdal, in preschool kids." [Emphasis mine]

In the past decade, Dr. Biederman and his colleagues promoted aggressive diagnosis and drug treatment of childhood bipolar disorder, maintaining that it was underdiagnosed in children and is treatable with drugs. I'd say they succeeded in their mission, considering there's been a 40-fold increase in bipolar diagnosis. But Dr. Biederman's questionable ethics only strengthens my suspicion that this increase in diagnosis stems more from greed than any real increase in childhood bipolar disorder.

Drugs are Not the Answer to Children's Behavioral Problems

I realize that many parents decide to put their children on a psychotropic drug because they believe it will help them and that they have no other choice. In no way do I underestimate the challenges that many parents go through, or the torment that so many troubled children suffer. However, even the experts can't agree on the proper way to diagnose children with bipolar and other mental disorders, which means the chances of your child being misdiagnosed and subsequently harmed by these potent drugs are high.
Unfortunately, the issue is further complicated by the fact that there can also be extreme pressure to give your kids prescription drugs. In some instances parents have even been accused of child abuse when they resist drugging their kids, and parents who try to resist this insanity in their own homes can even have their children taken away...
So yes, it can be quite complicated, and there are no hard and fast answers that will apply in every case.
However, I sincerely believe that what we're seeing in many of these "troublesome" children are the effects of inappropriate or deficient nutrition, combined with toxicity—the sources of which are countless today, from electromagnetic fields, to food additives and excessive vaccine exposures, just to name a few. I have treated many hundreds of children with varying levels of behavioral problems and disorders and have consistently seen them improve once the underlying toxicities and food changes were addressed.
So parents, I believe there is hope!

Correcting Behavioral Problems Without Drugs

Behavioral problems in children—including what might appear to be serious mental disorders—are very frequently related to improper diet, emotional upset and exposure to toxins. Most people fail to realize that your gut is quite literally your second brain, and actually has the ability to significantly influence your mind, mood and behavior. Therefore, it stands to reason that supporting gut health is incredibly important whenever you're trying to address any kind of mind- or mood disorder.
One of the best books I ever read on this subject is Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.  I recently interviewed her on this topic and would strongly recommend her book be required reading for anyone interested in this topic as I have never seen a better description of the problem, and more importantly, comprehensive strategies for correcting it.
Here are a few additional guidelines to help you address these underlying toxins in your child, without, or at least BEFORE, you resort to drugs:

1. Severely limit or eliminate fructose from your child's diet as sugar/fructose has been linked to mental health problems such as depression and schizophrenia.
2. Avoid giving your child ANY processed foods, especially those containing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. This includes lunch meats and hot dogs, which are common food staples in many households.
3. Replace soft drinks, fruit juices, and pasteurized milk with pure water. This is HUGE since high fructose corn syrup is the NUMBER ONE source of calories in children.
4. Eliminating the sugars and processed foods are key but following close behind are to make sure your child is getting large regular doses of healthy bacteria, either with high quality fermented organic foods and/or high quality probiotic supplements.
5. Give your child plenty of high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil. Also, make sure to balance your child's intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, by simultaneously limiting their intake of vegetable oils.
6. Include as many whole organic foods as possible in your child's diet, both to reduce chemical exposure and increase nutrient content of each meal.
7. Also reduce or eliminate grains from your child's diet. Yes, even healthy organic whole grains can cause problems as they too break down into sugars.
   
   Additionally, whole wheat in particular contains high amounts of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), which can have adverse effects on mental health due to its neurotoxic actions. Wheat also inhibits production of serotonin. Neurotransmitters like serotonin can be found not just in your brain, but the largest concentration of serotonin, which is involved in mood control, depression and aggression is actually found in your intestines, not your brain. Try eliminating them first for 1-2 weeks and see if you don't notice a radical and amazing improvement in your child's behavior.
8. Avoid artificial sweeteners of all kinds.
9. Make sure your child gets plenty of exercise and outdoor playtime.
10. Get them out into the sun to help maintain optimal vitamin D levels. Scientists are now beginning to realize vitamin D is involved in maintaining the health of your brain, as they've recently discovered vitamin D receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and central nervous system. There's even evidence indicating vitamin D improves your brain's detoxification process. For children and pregnant women, getting enough vitamin D is especially crucial, as it may play a major role in protecting infants' brains from autism.
    
    If natural sun exposure is not feasible, for whatever reason, you can use either a safe tanning bed or an oral vitamin D3 supplement. For more details on how to safely optimize your and your child's vitamin D levels, please see this previous article.
11. Give your child a way to address his or her emotions. Even children can benefit from the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which you or an EFT practitioner can teach them how to use.
12. Prevent exposure to toxic metals and chemical by replacing personal care products, detergents and household cleaners with all natural varieties. Metals like aluminum, cadmium, lead and mercury are commonly found in thousands of different food products, household products, personal products and untold numbers of industrial products and chemicals. The presence of toxic metals in your child's body is highly significant for they are capable of causing serious health problems by interfering with normal biological functioning. The health effects range from minor physical ailments to chronic diseases, and altered mood and behavior.

The Links Between Sugar and Mental Health

Noted British psychiatric researcher Malcolm Peet conducted a provocative cross-cultural analysis of the relationship between diet and mental illness. His primary finding was a strong link between high sugar consumption and the risk of both depression and schizophrenia.
There are at least two potential mechanisms through which refined sugar intake could exert a toxic effect on mental health. First, sugar actually suppresses activity of a key growth hormone in the brain called BDNF. BDNF levels are critically low in both depression and schizophrenia.
Second, sugar consumption triggers a cascade of chemical reactions in your body that promote chronic inflammation. In the long term, inflammation disrupts the normal functioning of your immune system, and wreaks havoc on your brain. Once again, it’s linked to a greater risk of depression and schizophrenia. 

It’s already known that many additives, preservatives and food colorants can cause behavioral changes, and sugar should definitely be on this list as well. One of the most recent and highly plausible theories that explain sugar’s impact on your mood and mental health is the connection between sugar and chronic inflammation.

The Central Role of Inflammation in Depression

Chronic inflammation in your body disrupts the normal functioning of your immune system and can wreak havoc on your brain.

Chronic inflammation is also associated with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. So consuming excessive amounts of sugar can truly set off an avalanche of negative health events – both mental and physical.
Keep in mind that “sugar” refers not only to refined sugar, but to many other sources as well, including high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and starches in the form of grains and potatoes. (Following my nutrition plan is a simple way to automatically reduce your intake of all these sugar sources.)
Another major culprit that encourages inflammation in your body is rancid or oxidized omega-fats (think trans fats), whereas a diet rich in omega-3 fats helps to reduce inflammation. Healthy omega-6 fats like gamma linoleic acid (GLA), found in evening primrose, black currant seed and borage oil can also help counteract inflammation.
As you may already know, I recommend taking animal-based omega-3 supplements for many types of inflammation, and for optimal brain health. Most alternative health practitioners are also well aware of the benefits of omega-3’s for depression.
While all omega-3 fats possess immune-boosting qualities, omega-3 fats from marine sources (EPA and DHA) are more biologically potent than omega-3 fat ALA found in plant sources such as flax seeds, and are more potent inflammation fighters.
My favorite source of omega-3 fats is krill oil, as it has several advantages over fish oil.
The importance of reducing inflammation when dealing with mental health issues is also evidenced by another recent study.
Published in the International Breastfeeding Journal, the study entitled “A new paradigm for depression in new mothers: the central role of inflammation and how breastfeeding and anti-inflammatory treatments protect maternal mental health” discovered that inflammation may be more than just another risk factor. It may in fact be THE risk factor that underlies all others.
The researchers’ stated:

“The old paradigm described inflammation as simply one of many risk factors for depression. The new paradigm is based on more recent research that has indicated that physical and psychological stressors increase inflammation. These recent studies constitute an important shift in the depression paradigm: inflammation is not simply a risk factor; it is the risk factor that underlies all the others.
Moreover, inflammation explains why psychosocial, behavioral and physical risk factors increase the risk of depression. This is true for depression in general and for postpartum depression in particular.
Puerperal women are especially vulnerable to these effects because their levels of proinflammatory cytokines significantly increase during the last trimester of pregnancy--a time when they are also at high risk for depression.

Moreover, common experiences of new motherhood, such as sleep disturbance, postpartum pain, and past or current psychological trauma, act as stressors that cause proinflammatory cytokine levels to rise. “

In the case of post partum depression, breastfeeding is the most obvious remedy of choice as it naturally eases stress and modulates the inflammatory response.

Improve Your Mental Health by Ditching Sugar

Other studies have also found significant links between high-sugar diets and mental health problems such as depression and schizophrenia, even though they were not focused on the presence of inflammation per se.
For example, a 2004 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that a higher dietary intake of refined sugar and dairy products predicted a worse 2-year outcome of schizophrenia.
In addition, a low dietary intake of fish and seafood (sources of healthy omega-3 fats) predicated high prevalence of depression.
The authors also pointed out the link between depression and physical illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, stating that they all share epidemiological features.
And what do diabetes and heart disease have in common?
Both are caused by and/or worsened by a high intake of sugary foods.
It is a proven fact that sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging, and many more negative side effects.
Sugar can also cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, which leads to hyperactivity, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating.

Reduced-Sugar Diet Also Shown to Decrease Anti-Social Behavior

As explained by Dr. Russell Blaylock, high sugar content and starchy carbohydrates lead to excessive insulin release, which can lead to falling blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia, in turn, causes your brain to secrete glutamate in levels that can cause agitation, depression, anger, anxiety, panic attacks and an increase in suicide risk.
Two studies that confirm this theory go back several years.
A 1985 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that reducing sugar intake had a positive impact on emotions:

“… Subjects reported many symptoms and/or presented a distressed profile during baseline assessment. However, following a 2-wk dietary change symptoms declined, and the MMPI or POMS profiles reflected a more stable and less distressed individual.
Results suggest that a dietary change can remediate the emotional distress exhibited by some individuals...”

The dietary change consisted of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet void of sucrose and caffeine.
The other, the Los Angeles Probation Department Diet-Behavior Program: Am Empirical Analysis of Six Institutional Settings, was published in 1983.
This study included a before and after comparison of 1,382 juveniles who were detained in three juvenile halls, and a before-after comparison of 289 juveniles who were confined in three juvenile camps.
The dietary modifications were designed to lower the daily consumption of sugar in all six settings to see if it had an impact on behavior.
In the three juvenile halls, a 44 percent reduction in the incidence of antisocial behavior was found during the subsequent 3 months. And the 289 juveniles in the probation camps showed a 25 percent reduction in the incidence of antisocial behavior during the 9 months after the implementation of the revised diet.
The authors concluded:

“Although it is clear that the diet change caused the improvement in behavior, it remains to be determined if the relationship between sugar and antisocial behavior is causative.”

The Most Powerful “Drug” to Heal Depression

If you are following the traditional paradigm you will most likely receive a prescription for antidepressants. Unfortunately, most of the time they simply don’t work any better than placebos, and there are many studies that clearly document this.

Physical exercise, on the other hand, is one of the most powerful anti-depressants there is. Numerous studies show that aerobic exercise can improve your mood and is an antidote for mild depression and anxiety.
Dr. James S. Gordon, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, uses exercise extensively when treating depression.

“What we’re finding in the research on physical exercise is that physical exercise is at least as good as antidepressants for helping people who are depressed. And that it’s even more important for older people,” Dr. Gordon says.

Physical exercise changes the level of serotonin in your brain. It changes, increases your levels of “feel good” hormones, the endorphins. And also, it can increase the number of cells in your brain, in the region of the brain called the hippocampus.

These studies have been first done on animals, and it’s very important because sometimes in depression, there are fewer of those cells in the hippocampus, but you can actually change your brain with exercise. So it’s got to be part of everybody’s treatment, everybody’s plan.”
If you’re not sure how to use exercise like a drug, including the correct variety, intensity, and frequency, please review my Exercise page for more in-depth recommendations and guidelines on how to incorporate it into your life.

Please, don’t delay starting an exercise routine. Many Americans don’t get enough exercise, but this problem is easily remedied if you view exercise as a crucial part of getting healthier and happier.

Other Key Factors to Overcoming Depression

Clearly by now you will have realized that radically reducing or eliminating all forms of sugar is an important step to address the root problem in your body that may be significantly contributing to your depression.

That, plus exercising, may bring you a lot more relief than most conventional strategies used against mild to moderate depression.
Here are four additional strategies that can help you even further:

1. Address your stress -- Depression is a very serious condition, however it is not a “disease.” Rather, it’s a sign that your body and your life are out of balance.
   
   This is so important to remember, because as soon as you start to view depression as an “illness,” you think you need to take a drug to fix it. In reality, all you need to do is return the balance to your life, and one of the key ways to doing this is by addressing your stress levels.
   
   Stress can produce depression of all kinds by affecting your neurotransmitters, but stress is also a contributor to inflammation, which may be one of the most significant risk factors for depression.
   
   There are many ways to address stress. Meditation or yoga works for many. Sometimes all you need to do is get outside for a walk. But in addition to such stress reduction strategies, I also recommend using an energy psychology system that can help you address buried emotional issues that you may not even be consciously aware of. For this, my favorite is the Meridian Tapping Technique (MTT).
   
2. Eat a healthy diet – As discussed, foods have an immense impact on your mood and ability to cope and be happy, and eating whole foods as described in my nutrition plan will best support your mental health.
   
3. Support optimal brain functioning with essential fats – Again, I strongly recommend supplementing your diet with a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat like krill oil. This may be the single most important nutrient to battle depression.
   
4. Get plenty of sunshine – Making sure you’re getting enough sunlight exposure to have healthy vitamin D levels is also a crucial factor in treating depression or keeping it at bay.
   
   One previous study found that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who had normal levels. Vitamin D deficiency is actually more the norm than the exception, and has previously been implicated in both psychiatric and neurological disorders.
   

These six primary strategies – avoiding sugar, exercising, addressing emotional stress, eating right, and optimizing your omega-3 and vitamin D levels -- are the lifestyle changes that offer you the greatest chance of restoring and maintaining your mental health.