This
study, which was published in theJournal
JAMA Network Open,
investigated 40 physiological factors, or biomarkers, of women who consumed the
Mediterranean diet and compared these with the biomarkers of women who did not.
They
observed 25,994 American women who participated in theWomen’s Health Studyfor a period of 12 years.
The
information they collected included food intake questionnaires, as well as
blood samples, to test for blood fats, cholesterol,
blood glucose, glucose processing, insulin resistance, inflammation,
and other amino acids and metabolites.
Based
on the food intake questionnaires, the researchers categorized them into three
groups: a low, a medium, and a high Mediterranean diet intake.
Compared
to the low Mediterranean intake group, the medium intake participants were 23%
less likely to have a cardiovascular event and the high intake participants
were 28% less likely to have one.
The
researchers emphasized that this is better than, or at least as good as other
ways to drop cholesterol,
one can expect in the case of statins and other heart medications.
The
largest physiological factors that gave rise to this reduction in heart disease risk of the high Mediterranean dieters over the low dieters
were:
1.
Biomarkers that indicated inflammation were reduced by 29.2%.
2. Biomarkers that indicated better insulin sensitivity and better glucose
processing were 27.9% higher.
3. Their body mass index was 27.3% lower.
4. Their blood pressure was 26.6% lower.
5. Their blood fat was 26.0% lower.
6. Their high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (good cholesterol) was 24.0% higher.
7. Their very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 20.8% lower.
8. Their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 13.0% lower.
9. Their branched-chain amino acids were 13.6% higher. These included leucine,
isoleucine, and valine, all of which were essential protein components that
build muscle and is obtained through food.
Other
biomarkers were also healthier by an amount lesser than 10%.
The
Mediterranean diet involves a high intake of nuts, seeds, olive oil, fish,
vegetables, and fruit; a medium intake of whole grains and dairy; and a low
intake of red meat, sugar, and processed grains, like bread and pastries.
As
this study has shown, if this diet is adopted, you will be healthier and have a
reduced risk of heart attacks and strokes.
This post is from the
Oxidized Cholesterol Strategy Program. It was created by Scott Davis. Because
he once suffered from high cholesterol, so much so that he even had a severe
heart attack. This is what essentially led him to finding healthier
alternatives to conventional medication. Oxidized
Cholesterol Strategy is a unique online program that provides you
with all the information you need to regain control of your cholesterol levels
and health, as a whole.
Depression is an awful illness.
If you suffer from it and can’t find a cure for depression,
it can make your life a living hell. Thoughts of self-doubt, feelings of helplessness
and hopelessness, insomnia
or oversleeping, feelings of anger or irritability, loss of energy, strong
feelings of self-loathing, worthlessness or guilt, problems concentrating and
suicidal thoughts are all common symptoms and can all make life seem pointless.
Then
there is the stigma, that even in the 21st century is still attached to mental
illness. People with depression
are sometimes thought of as weak and stupid and told to “just get over it”,
which of course just makes the depression
worse. 350 million people suffer from depression
globally, and less than half of them get any cure for depression
because of this stigma, which is just terrible.
Then,
those that seek treatment are given antidepressants to treat their illness. The
trouble is, antidepressants have a very low success rate, and even what is
considered to be a ‘success’ is just a lessening of symptoms – they don’t cure depression
at all.
Plus,
these pills come with awful side effects. These include a risk for increased
hostility, agitation, anxiety and sexual dysfunction. The worst side effect has to be a risk that suicidal
thoughts will increase.
Yes,
that’s right, for a depressed person who may be having suicidal thoughts, the
usual course of action is to prescribe them a drug which is known to increase
suicidal thoughts! Antidepressants can also cause severe withdrawal symptoms if
you stop taking them abruptly.
These
drugs also cost a small fortune. Even if you are lucky enough to live in a
country with a National Health Service like the UK, you still need to pay for
the prescription to get them from the pharmacy. That’s around $15 every 2
weeks, or roughly $400 a year – all without any guarantee of success.
The
other options people with depression have are talk therapy, counselling or
psychotherapy. While these sessions are known to have a better success rate
than antidepressants, they have one major drawback: They cost a fortune!
It
is not unusual for a top psychiatrist to charge over $800 for an hour of their
time, and will usually mean a visit every week. And do these forms of treatment
come with any guarantees of getting your money back if they fail? Of course
not!
There
has to be a better way to treat depression than just throwing pills at the
situation or charging ridiculous amounts of money for an hour of someone’s
time. There has to be a cure for depression rather than something that ‘might’
lessen the symptoms.
We
put a man on the moon, we invented the Internet where the answers to almost any
question mankind has ever asked can be found at our fingertips, we live in the
21st century for Pete’s sake! There has to be a way to actually cure this
illness doesn’t there?
Fortunately,
there is….
A
guy from the UK called James Gordon believes he has found the cure for
depression. He had suffered from depression for over 20 years, and had
previously spent years on antidepressants which gave him all manner of side
effects without helping, and spent thousands on therapy sessions without
success. He finally snapped one day and decided to find a cure for depression
himself.
He
then spent years researching everything about depression that he could possibly
find. He trawled the Internet and read thousands of articles on the subject,
searched through dozens of medical books and consulted countless specialists.
He even downloaded dozens of e-books and systems written by life coaches and
gurus, watched hundreds of hours of videos, talked with people who battled with
depression themselves who had recovered, and even met with people who had
attempted suicide and survived to hear their stories.
What
he ended up with was a 7-step plan which eliminated depression from his life
completely in just 8 weeks, and never returned. He has now packaged it into
what is called The Destroy Depression System™ and made it
available to everyone with an Internet connection. And he also GUARANTEES it
will work. When was the last time a drug company or therapist did that?
Why
is it, instead of trying to cure depression
naturally, that people assume the answer to every illness, especially depression,
is a drug? Is it because, every single day, we are bombarded with
advertisements and news articles that pills made in laboratories by men in
white coats are the way to “cure” any ailment we have.
“Overweight?
Take this pill. Can’t sleep? Take that pill! Struggling to concentrate? Take these pills,
Got depression?
Take Prozac, or Fluoxetine, or Wellbrutin, or Ketamine, or whatever other pill
and potion we can throw at you to make money!….and oh by the way, you’ll have
to take these pills every day for the rest of your life, and they have side
effects, so you know what? You’ll have to take a bunch of other pills every day
of your life to combat them!”
Every
day we are exposed to news and commercials that there is a new wonder-drug
which will cure your depression.
Every day we are told to take a pill or potion which will magically transform
our lives and make us happy.
They
show us images of a man or woman deep in a pit of despair, struggling with life
because of depression,
then give you the sales pitch on why their revolutionary wonder-drug will
“cure” you, and show you images of that same man or woman running on a beach or
riding a horse, happy and content with life.
Those
images all look wonderful, they make you think that your life will be
everything you dreamed it could be if you just take a pill every day. There is
a huge problem with the perfect images they show you and the wonderful things
they tell you.
NO DRUG “CURES”
DEPRESSION!
In
fact, when you think about it, when was the last time a drug cured anything?
Polio perhaps?
The
truth is, pharmaceutical companies don’t want to cure depression
naturally. They make too much money by just giving you pills that help you to
live with your illness.
You
see, there is no money in treating healthy people, and there’s no money in
treating dead people either – but there’s BILLIONS to be made from illness and
suffering!
All
any antidepressant will do, at best, is lessen your symptoms of depression. For
the majority of people, they do not help at all. The facts and figures show
that in most cases, taking an antidepressant drug is only slightly better than
taking a placebo.
I
would stand almost as much chance of treating your depression if I told you
“Here, this drug is awesome and will cure you…” then gave you a sugar pill.
And
by the way, that would be a much better thing to take every day, as sugar pills
do not come with side-effects. All antidepressants come with side effects
though, one of which might make you commit suicide!
Taking
all this into consideration, you may ask “If the big pharmaceutical companies
are lying to us, why doesn’t the government step in and do something?”. If so,
good question, however the answer may frighten you.
The
government subsidizes illness, they have to, there is too much money in it.
Antidepressant
drugs are worth over $10 BILLION to the American economy alone and that figure
is rising year on year. The government knows this, and will do all they can to
keep that figure rising.
For
instance, in 2007, Hilary Clinton’s Health bill proposal mentioned the words
“nutrition” and “exercise” just once – the word “drugs” however, was mentioned
14 times – just like the pharmaceutical companies wanted!
The
government is not your nanny, the government is your dealer!
The
worst thing about the lies that you are being told though, is that while the
drugs companies are making billions from depression without offering a cure,
and the governments of the world are encouraging and enabling them to do so,
there is a cure.
A
natural, holistic cure that anyone can do extremely cheaply and without the
need for pills or potions. They won’t tell you about it though, and it won’t
gain much press, because they won’t be able to make any money from trying to
cure depression naturally!
It
is called the “Destroy Depression System™” , a simple, 7 step
guide to self-curing depression naturally. The products creator, James Gordon,
spent 20 years of his life with depression and many of those years on
medication. He decided to do something about it by himself, and using an
amalgamation of years of research he has done in the area, together with his
own self-experimentation, came up with a system that GUARANTEES success..
If
you would rather wait for a drug that “cures” depression though, that’s fine. I
doubt a drugs company will ever release one though – they are still mad at all
the money they lost by curing Polio!
Destroy Depression™ –
The Depression
Cure That Big Pharmaceutical Companies Don’t Want You to Discover!
Depression is an illness that
has become one of the most widespread disorders in the world today. It
currently affects about 350 million people worldwide – and the problem is
getting worse.
Around
one million people every year commit suicide because they are suffering from depression,
and year on year that figure rises at an alarming rate. By the year 2020, depression
will have become second only to heart disease as a cause of premature death.
In
the United States and Northern Europe, around 10% of people over the age of 12
are currently taking antidepressant medications to ease their depressive
symptoms.
Just
think about that for a second – If this is the case, if so many people are
taking antidepressant medications and these drugs are so easily available, then
why is the problem getting worse?
Well,
it’s quite simple. It is because antidepressant medications for depression
are notoriously expensive, ineffective and associated with a high risk of
sometimes horrifying side effects – including increasing suicidal thoughts.
Unfortunately,
people with this condition are often desperate for a cure, and are willing to
pay any price tag, even when they are told about the problems and limitations
of the medication.
Every
year, the pharmaceutical industry keeps rolling out new, more expensive and
still ineffective antidepressant medications. And every year, the profits for
the industry keep increasing…
In
fact, according to NIMH.com, in 2011 the antidepressant medications market was
estimated to be worth $10 billion in America alone. Every year since it has got
bigger and bigger, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Meanwhile,
the number of people suffering with depression
grow at an even more rapid rate. Why is that? Pharmaceutical companies will
tell you, “more antidepressants are being sold because more people have
depression” – but that is just casting a veil over the truth.
The
truth is this; The numbers of people with depression should be coming down if
more people are taking drugs to help them, the reason the problem is getting
worse is these antidepressant medications are not working!
Knowing
this, if I told you that there was a way to cure depression naturally, without
using any useless antidepressant medications which makes pharmaceutical
companies fistfuls of money, and without any weekly sessions with a therapist
which will cost a small fortune…would you be surprised that no doctor or
therapist is telling you about it?
Of
course not! In fact, each patient that a doctor treats for depression is worth
around $300 to the medical and pharmaceutical profession each year – it is no
wonder they hand out antidepressants like skittles!
Well,
guess what, there is such a cure! And it only involves the use of CBT (Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy) techniques which can be done at home, and some dietary and
lifestyle changes.
Now,
you may expect such great findings to make big news right? Not so. You see, the
pharmaceutical and medical industry is driven by profits, not benefits to
patients. That’s why they keep designing drugs that are expensive, of limited
effectiveness, and that need to be taken continuously for years. That’s
the perfect combination for ensuring ever-increasing profits.
An
example of such shameless profiteering on a large scale is the wide
prescription of statins for anyone with even borderline high cholesterol.
Statins actually have very limited effectiveness, are associated with a number
of side-effects, and…guess what…once a person starts taking them, they will
need to keep taking them for their whole lives! Not so surprising is it? If you
think about it, when was the last time a pharmaceutical company cured anything?
It
is the same with the drugs they prescribe for depression – no medical professional
or anyone involved in the industry will want you to discover that you can cure
yourself of depression for just a few dollars, when they can get you to pay
thousands upon thousands in your lifetime for their “latest wonder-drug”, or
charge you a small fortune just to sit in a leather chair and listen to you
talk for one hour a week, without ever offering any solutions or guarantees.
If
you want to know more about the natural cure for depression that the medical
industry is striving so hard to keep hidden from you, the go-to guy is James
Gordon.
Gordon
is an independent researcher and former depression sufferer, who in recent years
has been working hard to expose the medical industry’s unscrupulous tactics. He
has also published the highly acclaimed “Destroy Depression System™”, which you
can order directly from his website www.destroydepression.com
Depression is a mental disorder
which affects about 350 million people worldwide.
Its
symptoms include, but are not limited to; feelings of helplessness and
hopelessness, loss of interest in daily activities, appetite or weight changes,
insomnia
or oversleeping, anger or irritability, loss of energy, self-loathing, reckless
behaviour, concentration problems, unexplained aches and pains
and also suicidal thoughts.
Current popular treatments for depression
include antidepressant medications and talk therapy such as counselling or
psychotherapy.
Unfortunately,
these treatments for depression
have many drawbacks. Antidepressant medication is associated with a high risk
of side effects and a low success rate, while therapy sessions are notoriously
expensive, and often unaffordable or unobtainable for most people.
Medication
for depression
comes in the form of antidepressants. There are typically 4 classes of antidepressant
medication, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), atypical
antidepressants, tricyclics antidepressants and MAOIs (monoamine oxidase
inhibitors).
The
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the most commonly
prescribed class of antidepressants. They act on a chemical in the brain called
serotonin. The SSRIs include drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil.
SSRIs
are preferred over older classes of antidepressants because their adverse
effects are less severe, however, like all antidepressants, SSRIs can cause an
increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviours. They also carry a risk for
increased hostility, agitation, and anxiety.
In
adults 65 and older, SSRIs increase the risk for falls, fractures, and bone
loss. SSRIs can also cause severe withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking them
abruptly.
Atypical
antidepressants are a variety of newer atypical antidepressants which target
other neurotransmitters either alone or in addition to serotonin.
For
example, Wellbutrin blocks the reabsorption of the neurotransmitters dopamine
and norepinephrine, while trazodone affects both norepinephrine and serotonin.
Again, as with all antidepressant medication, there are many possible side
effects.
Tricyclics
are among the oldest antidepressants. They work by inhibiting the brain’s
reuptake or serotonin and norepinephrine. They also partially inhibit the
reabsorption of dopamine.
Because
tricyclics have such a broad mechanism of action, they tend to cause more side
effects than the other classes of antidepressants. For this reason, the SSRIs
and the atypical antidepressants are usually prescribed first. Again, side
effects are usual and severe withdrawal symptoms are often the case if you stop
taking them abruptly.
MAOIs
(monoamine oxidase inhibitors) are the oldest class of antidepressants. MAOIs
have severe interactions with certain foods, drinks, and medications.
Combining
MAO inhibitors with foods or drinks containing tyramine can result in
dangerously high blood pressure, which can lead to a stroke or heart attack.
Because of this danger, MAOIs are not typically chosen as a first-line
depression treatment.
As
is usually the case with medication, antidepressants cannot cure depression. At
best, they will lessen the symptoms of depression.
However,
success rates are notoriously low, not much better than a placebo in most
cases, while the risk of side effects is extremely high. This is the reason
many people in the medical industry refer to antidepressants as “sugar pills
with side effects”.
Although
very few doctors or medical professionals will know or tell you about it (there
is too much money involved in conventional treatment methods), you can actually
cure yourself of depression using only CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
techniques combined with some dietary and lifestyle changes.
Indeed,
in the past, a number of doctors and scientists had reported such successes in
medical journals, but this research is now kept hidden by the pharmaceutical
industry.
For
the first time ever, this research has been dug up and used to compile a
comprehensive step-by-step guide on exactly what you need to do to naturally and
safely cure your depression in just a few weeks – without any medication or
expensive therapy sessions.
For
more information on treatments for depression, visit James Gordon’s “Destroy Depression System™”, where he explains exactly why and how this system
works.
Depression is a mental disorder
where a person has a prolonged period of sadness, unhappiness, helplessness,
hopelessness or worthlessness. These feelings often get worse over a period of
time, causing a person to have feelings of self-doubt, severe despondency and
dejection.
Depression is an extremely
common illness. There are approximately 350 million people living in the world
today who are affected by it and it is the leading cause for a visit to see a
GP or doctor.
Depression also has a stigma
attached to it that people who suffer from it are weak which leads to them not
seeking treatment – less than half of all of the people with depression are
currently engaging in any kind of treatment for it.
Long-lasting
and moderate or severe depression
can be a serious health condition. It can cause an affected person to suffer
terribly, leading to problems with work, breakdowns in close relationships and
lead to poor physical health.
The
worst cases of depression can lead to a sufferer taking his or her own life. An
estimated 1 million people worldwide every year commit suicide because of
depression. Half of all the people who die by suicide have major depressive
disorder.
The
World Health Organization have reported that by the year 2020, depression will
be the second biggest cause of premature death in the world, heart disease will
be the only illness or disease that causes more.
What Causes Mental Depression?
There
are many different causes of depression. It has many different triggers and
there are multiple reasons it can develop.
Personal
Factors are known to trigger depression. Those who have a tendency to worry a
lot, have low self-esteem, are sensitive to personal criticism, are severely
overweight, perfectionists, or those with a self-critical and a negative
mindset all have a higher risk of developing the condition.
Depression
has been known to run in families and some people will be at an increased
hereditary or genetic risk. This does not mean that a person will automatically
experience depression if a parent or close relative has had the illness though.
Life circumstances and other personal factors are still likely to have an
important influence.
Having
a serious medical illness can trigger depression in two ways. Serious illnesses
can bring about depression directly, or can contribute to depression through
associated stress and worry, especially if it involves long-term management of
the illness and/or chronic pain.
Drug
and alcohol use can both lead to and result from depression. Many people with
depression also have drug and alcohol problems.
Symptoms of Mental Depression
Signs
and symptoms of depression include:
·Feelings
of helplessness and hopelessness.
A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to
improve your situation.
·Loss
of interest in daily activities.
No interest in former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You’ve lost
your ability to feel joy and pleasure.
·Appetite
or weight changes.
Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight
in a month.
·Sleep
changes.
Either insomnia,
especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping.
·Anger
or irritability.
Feeling agitated, restless, or even violent. Your tolerance level is low, your
temper short, and everything and everyone gets on your nerves.
·Loss
of energy.
Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel
heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete.
·Self-loathing.
Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You harshly criticize yourself for
perceived faults and mistakes.
·Reckless
behavior.
You engage in escapist behavior such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling,
reckless driving, or dangerous sports.
·Concentration
problems.
Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.
·Unexplained
aches and pains.
An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back pain, aching
muscles, and stomach pain.
How is Mental Depression
Treated?
The
most common form of treatment for depression is the use of Antidepressant
medication. Nobody can say for sure at this moment why antidepressants can
alter a person’s mood, because nobody knows for certain exactly how AD
medication works. It is only thought that by increasing or decreasing certain
chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin, that this has an effect on the
brains neurotransmitters.
Currently,
10% of all Americans over 12 years old take antidepressants daily, and among
females in their 40’s and 50’s, that figure increases to 25%. Approximately 254
million prescriptions were written for them in America in 2010, resulting in
nearly $10 billion in costs. This figure is also expected to have risen
dramatically in the following years.
However,
antidepressants do not cure depression, they only lessen the symptoms for a
minority of people who take them. A recent report published in The Journal of
the American Medical Association stated that the drugs work best for very
severe cases of depression, but have little or no benefit over a placebo in
less serious cases.
It
is extremely difficult to put an exact figure on the percentage of people who
experience decreased depressive symptoms as a result of AD medication, as
reports and results vary wildly depending on the people in the study and their
severity of depression, and whether a study is done by an independent body or
by a pharmaceutical company. It is thought though, that the overall “success”
rate of the drugs is approximately 36% – slightly higher than that of a placebo.
Antidepressants
are also known to have side effects for the majority of people who take them.
Patients will usually experience one or multiple of the following; nausea,
increased appetite and weight gain, loss of sexual desire and/or other sexual
problems such as erectile dysfunction and decreased orgasm, fatigue and
drowsiness, insomnia, dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, dizziness,
agitation, irritability, anxiety, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and
behavior – especially during the first month of treatment.
Antidepressants
come with no guarantee that they will work, on any level of success.
Further
treatment options include counselling, psychotherapy or talk therapy. This has
a much higher success rate than antidepressants overall, but again the figures
at hand vary wildly.
The
cost of seeing a councillor, therapist or psychiatrist is also very high – the
average is around $150-$200 for a 60-minute session. It is not unusual for
these professionals to charge upwards of $500 for an hours’ session though –
and the sessions usually need to be on a regular weekly basis to have maximum
chance of success.
It
is thought though, that because has a higher rate of success than
antidepressants, that it is more cost-effective as a result. Again though,
there are no guarantees of success.
It
is interesting to note, that many health professionals believe there are much
better ways to treat depression.
Irving
Kirsch, the Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies and a lecturer
in medicine at the Harvard Medical School is quoted as saying; “Depression is a
serious problem, but drugs are not the answer. In the long run, psychotherapy
is both cheaper and more effective, even for very serious levels of depression.
Physical exercise and self-help books based on CBT can also be useful, either
alone or in combination.”
CBT
(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) has a much higher success rate than medication.
Studies have shown it decreases severity of depression in most patients who
maintain a CBT course, with many patients reporting they never relapsed into
depression.
CBT
based self-help books sees an even larger percentage of success rates and
numbers of people reporting to be cured, with very little cost involved – so
why is this form of treatment not more widely used?
It
seems the answer is quite simple – there is nowhere near as much money to be
made from curing depression as there is from helping people live with it. There
is little money to be made from a healthy person, or indeed a dead person –
however in sick people there is billions of dollars to be made.
Due
to the pharmaceutical and medical industry’s wide-reaching influence and the
money involved, and due to health professionals who deal with depression and
other illnesses being afraid of offering a treatment which may upset those
powerful companies, very few are willing to publicize findings that depression
can indeed be treated naturally, safely, extremely cheaply and in just a few
weeks.
One
of these few researchers who dares to go against the current trend is James
Gordon, a UK-based researcher and former depression sufferer, who is doing a
lot of work to try to make these findings available to the general public. He
is the creator of the “Destroy Depression System™” , a simple, 7 step
guide to self-curing depression naturally using an amalgamation of all the
research done in the area, together with his own self-experimentation with
which he cured his own depression.
