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Eating Your Way Out Of A Deep
Depression
I am known for my sunny disposition.
I've been the victim of a violent crime. I was a battered wife. I've
been so financially destitute I qualified for food stamps and welfare.
I've beaten cervical cancer. After all that, it takes a lot to make
me depressed.
Yet last month I suddenly became weepy. I had to drive to San Antonio
for a business meeting. En route I passed the University of Texas
football stadium in Austin where my son and I watched a game last
fall during parent's weekend. As I whizzed past the stadium, I started
crying inconsolably. Why? My son's star is shining at UT. I have
nothing to be unhappy about.
A week later I attended the Power Lunch at the Prestonwood Baptist
Church. The luncheon always starts with a song. It was a beautiful
duet. I started crying at a business luncheon with 500 people. Why?
I wasn't moved by the message. I'm Jewish!
That day I picked up my newest Tissue Mineral Analysis report. This
is a test which charts your biochemistry and then tells you what
to eat and what supplements to take to get back into biochemical
balance. The answer was right there in the report: I was going through
a calcium dump.
Heretofore, my body had been toxic with calcium. (I ate too much
sugar, which caused my body to rob my bones of calcium and to instead
deposit it in my soft tissues.) To halt this process, I had altered
my diet to mobilize the calcium out of the tissues to be excreted.
According to the report, I was currently undergoing this mobilization,
which for 90 days was flooding my body with excess calcium.
A calcium dump is a marvelous development. Since calcium typically
prevents you from losing weight, I always shed pounds after a calcium
dump. Right before bathing suit season. I'm living right.
So that's why I was weepy. Calcium toxicity is one of the primary
biochemical causes of depression.
Dr. Richard Malter, a clinical psychologist in Schaumburg, Illinois,
has studied the relationship between calcium toxicity and depression.
One of his patients, who had just turned 40, read in her local newspaper
about the dangers of osteoporosis at her age. She began to take calcium
supplements to protect her bones. (Sound familiar?)
Months later, according to Dr. Malter, she was engulfed in a deep
depression, coupled with fits of anger and crying spells for no apparent
reason. (I've been there, done that!) Dr. Malter discovered her symptoms
started after she began ingesting her calcium pills every morning.
He told her to stop taking the supplements.
Within two weeks the depression started lifting. Within 90 days she
returned to her normal, uplifting mental state. She also had a Tissue
Mineral test which quantified her calcium toxicity.
Both this woman and I are slow metabolizers, people I label as the "colds." Our
hands and feet are always cold and we put on excess pounds in our
hips and thighs. Almost 80 percent of the human population is a slow
metabolizer. We colds are extremely sensitive to excess calcium.
Given too much, we spiral down into a haze of unhappiness.
Milk and cookies have been a popular bed time snack for centuries.
That's because calcium is a natural sedative. It slows you down physically
AND mentally.
So, how can you eat yourself out of a deep depression?
First, stop putting calcium into your body.
- Do not take calcium supplements.
- Avoid all dairy foods.
- Eschew high calcium fish like sardines (no more Caesar salads)
and salmon (my fav). ):
- Do not ingest high calcium vegetables. These include mushrooms
and all cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.
Chard, kale and cabbage also are high calcium greens. (Boo all.)
Second, work hard to precipitate the calcium out of your system.
- Eat more lean red meat. This means sirloin and tenderloin only.
No greasy hamburgers!
- Eat more lean poultry protein like skinless chicken and turkey.
- Eat fresh fish that's not high in calcium like trout, halibut,
flounder and grouper.
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables that are not on the "do not
eat" list. Apples, peaches, oranges, strawberries and all melons
work wonders.
- Eat whole grains. Rye is best, wheat next.
- Sunflower seeds help rid the body of calcium. They are a great
snack.
How do you know if your depression is caused by too much calcium?
A Tissue Mineral Analysis test will tell for sure. Empirically, if
you answer yes to any of these questions, it's likely calcium toxicity
may be the reason you're depressed.
Do I eat a lot of sugar?
Do I take calcium supplements?
Do I eat a lot of high calcium foods?
For the record, I've had five women and one man stop their Prozac
treatments successfully after they conquered their calcium problem.
P.S. Of course, if you are grieving over an irreplaceable loss, depression
is a normal and healthy emotional reaction. That's a lot different
than weeping when driving by a manicured football stadium! We work
with physiology not psychology!
Freud once said ignorance is no excuse for dumb behavior.
In the Meltdown interpretation of those words, ignorance is a
choice we make to prevent ourselves from making difficult changes
in our lives even though we really know better. Now you have
no excuse not to get healthy!
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