Nutrition and the spirit

Orthomolecular nutrition and psychiatry have a lot to say about achieving and maintaining mental health through nutrition.

"Spiritual Crisis" is an alternative stance to psychosis and offers a very differring approach to treatment.

Just throwing out a couple of topics for investigation and discussion.

Moss

It's important to eat a diet with lots of fruit and vegetables. I use fish oil and a multivitamin daily. Since psychosis runs in my family I feel it is important for me to eat fish oil.

The theory is that for every unnatural drug there is natural equivalent. I agree with this. For example: Chinese Herbal medicines help with cancer treatment.

Also, I think it is best to try the natural alternate before risking conditions like Serotonin Syndrome, Mania and TD.

I don't believe in orthomolecular medicine, but I do believe in fish oil and walnuts as great "brain food". Walnuts are shaped like little brains, which is said to be another indicator of how good they are for that organ. Enjoy!

Fish oil and nuts to contain essetial brain fatty acids. And so aid in maintaining sound mental health. Glad you find benefit in them.

Well, belief or no, lithium therapy can be considered orthomolecular therapy. Lithium easily loses an electron (being negatively charged) and that free electron bonds to other atoms. While the exact method of action in lithium treatment for the suppression and prevention of mania is not recognized by "western traditional" pharmacologists, it is supposed by some that lithium works through elimination of other toxic metals (such as lead, mercury or copper) in ionic reactions. The threshold between efficacy and toxicity is thought to depend on factors such as the level of other toxins, the kidneys ability to eliminate exess lithium, as well as the health of the patients thyroid among others and unknowns.

JMIO,

Moss

Yeah..fruits and vegetables are healthy. It helps you to have a strong immune system to fight on diseases as well as it won't make you fat even in large amounts of it.

Just as good support networks and low-levels of social stress can work to relieve mental illness, so can nutrition; it's another aspect that proves the interdependence of existence. I think it's important not to get hung up on just nutrition, just as it's important not to get hung up on any method of healing at the risk of forgetting the other methods that are just as important.

With that said, I do think that a balanced diet -- and especially supplementing -- are very important for mental stability and coping with mental illness.

Sugary foods, for example, tend to overload the system as there's too much being absorbed into the bloodstream at one time -- so the pancreas scrambles to secrete insulin to pull it out, and what happens then is your brain has just lost its only supply of energy. Far as I remember, neurons can't store glucose; they need a continual source from the bloodstream to work properly, and overloading the system with starches/simple carbs/sugars can lead to 'crashing,' which is when, at least in my experience, some of the worst things happen. Brain goes haywire, like it's gasping for air; and though it's not the diet's fault all the time, I certainly believe that diet can be an unnecessary cause for at least a part of those episodes. Choosing a piece of fruit instead of eating a candy bar is an example of something simple that can really help a lot.

In addition to that, poor diets can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies over time, which can be disastrous to mental health; just looking at it logically, your body can't do what it's supposed to do if it isn't supplied with the fuel to do it, right?

Fruits, nuts, vegetables and eggs -- and a good amount of yogurt on occasion -- are what I mainly started eating after breaking away from junk food. I also started taking a whole food multivitamin and mineral supplement, which helped immensely. B-vitamin deficiences and trace mineral deficiencies can be huge problems, especially since they can so easily go undetected. Ah, well, instead of rambling, here's a little list:

-Sunlight
-Abdominal breathing
-Multivitamin and mineral supplement
-Magnesium supplement and Selenium supplement (some multivitamins don't have adequate amounts of these)
-Ground flaxseed (good for using in yogurt/oatmeal/cereal, and it works in baking too)
-Eat more fruits and vegetables and nuts -- especially walnuts and almonds -- cut back on sugary 'dessert' foods, and incorporate seafood into your diet if possible (I like canned tuna a lot, canned sardines, and if you can afford it, salmon is one of the best)
-Exercise regularly (and if you can't, remember, doing something is better than doing nothing)
-Cut back on vegetable oil use, and use virgin or expeller pressed coconut oil instead, especially for baking (balancing omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids is hugely important, and vegetable oil contributes a lot of omega 6 fatty acids that can easily throw the ideal 1:1 or 1:4 ration of omega 3-6 into the 1:20 or 1:50 range, which is not good!)

These are just some ideas...I'd like some more discussion in here too, as this definitely is an important issue. Nutrition isn't everything, but it's as much a part of everything as everything else, you know?

I think nutrition is absoutely key to optimal health on all levels and areas. I myself am a raw fruitarian, and it helps me immensely, both physically and spiritually. I don't even have to consume pure water as far as I can tell; I had a sip today, after going nearly a month without it, because I get all my water from the raw fruit, and my body isn't becoming dehydrated from all the poisons others so readily consume.

Exercise, at least to me, is also very important. I go for long walks, because it helps me keep myself together. I've heard people say that exercise releases endorphins or some brain chemical(s), which is apparently a pleasure chemical. I perfer to exercise to keep myself together, rather than building so much muscle. I think when some people envision exercise (only in america lol), they imagine things like long strenuous runs. I myself rather dislike running; I've heard that you can get quite the same benifit from long-distance walking (at least several miles), unless maybe you want to train your body for something more intense or specific. I worry, however, about breathing in the polluted air while exercising.

Hello Friends...

Nutrition tips to aid healthy vision

1. Eat plenty of dark-coloured fruits and vegetables.

2. Eat vegetables and fruits raw or lightly cooked.

3. Up your family's intake of omega-3 fatty acids

Thanks

There are many health benefits that make consuming http://www.flaxseedoil.info/ on daily basis a wise and healthy addition to any diet.
One of these are :
Anti-inflammatory
Natural laxative
Helps glucose control in diabetics
Softens dry skin
Reducing psoriasis
Lowering Cholesterol
Lowers Risk of breast cancer
Protects against cardiovascular disease

thanks for help