Most people feel down from time to time but those feelings tend to come and go with time. Depression is a common but serious illness, and most who have it need treatment to get better.” For those who struggle with depression, but would rather try natural depression remedies rather than take traditional, depression medications there are several holistic treatments they can try.
Diet
Cut back or eliminate the sugars, alcohol, caffeine in your diet and focus more on consuming more healthy, plant-based foods, lean proteins and drinking a lot of clean water throughout the day.
Increase your intake of the following nutrients, which have been shown to improve depression symptoms:
Omega 3
B Vitamins
Chromium
Vitamin D
Exercise
The Mayo Clinic has this to say about how exercise can help ease depression:
“Exercise probably helps ease depression in a number of ways, which may include:
Releasing feel-good brain chemicals that may ease depression (neurotransmitters and endorphins)
Reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen depression
Increasing body temperature, which may have calming effects.”
Yoga
Yoga, which helps to ease the body’s stress response, calm the mind and soothe the spirit can be a great natural depression remedy.
Meditation
Developing a consistent meditation practice can help ease depression symptoms. There are many different styles of meditation, but the common denominator is the practice of quieting the mind, focusing on the breath to bring about a sense of peace.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture, which is a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, uses hair thin needles along the body’s energy meridians to find the root cause of disease in the body. TCM believes that disease represents an internal imbalance, which is resolved by the use of the acupuncture, which is a natural, holistic remedy that carries no side effects.
Sleep habits
Getting adequate sleep is essential to your overall health. Those who do not get enough sleep can develop depression and become at risk for several other diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and some forms of cancer. Establishing good, consistent sleep habits can help ease depression naturally.
Herbal supplements
For mild, occasional depression these supplements have been tested and proven to treat depression:
Folic acid
Saffron
SAMe
St. John’s wort
Tryptophan
We’ve listed several natural depression remedies, but unfortunately, when you are feeling depressed you often lack the basic motivation it takes to do the things mentioned in this article. That’s why the best thing you can do if you are prone to bouts of feeling blue or depressed is to work with your doctor to make sure that you do not have any other underlying health problems. If you want to go the holistic route and avoid traditional depression drugs, work with a health coach or a nutritionist to help you design a healthy eating and exercise plan.
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