The UltraMind solution
How to pinpoint underlying biological problems to improve brain performance and allay depression, anxiety and more.
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What Hacker News says
- Yeah we wear too much sunscreen, a significant number of people are vitamin D deficient. From the UltraMind Solution book, you need the active form cholecalciferol in your supplements. You can safely take 5000-10000 IU a day for 3 months to get up to the optimal levels, then 2000 IU a day for maintenance. The Ideal range is 50 to 80 ng/ml in your blood tests. Also just minimal outdoor sun exposure is the best way to get it, no sunscreen. 15 minutes if you're light skinned, 35 if you're really dark.
- In my opinion, the best benefit of fish oil and Omega threes and vitamin D are in combating depression. This article did not touch on that. There is pretty good evidence that fish oil is one of the best supplements for combating depression because it is used directly in construction of neurotransmitter pathways.
I highly recommend reading Dr Mark Hyman's book the Ultramind Solution. It's loaded with great info regarding nutrition and how it affects your brain. It is truly life changing information. He also had a podcast called Broken Brain that is worth checking out.
Julia Ross' the Mood Cure is good too, the not as detailed (tho that can be good if you are feeling overwhelmed).
- Here is a lengthy compilation of ideas towards coping with depression that I submitted elsewhere but it unfortunately got flagged as spam by Disqus and so was not published in the original context: https://sbindependent.org/depression-and-anxiety-in-college/
It very much reflects your suggestion that there are many causes of depression and many possible coping and/or healing strategies, so I am posting it here. [It just got a "that comment is too long" error message on hn, so I need to split it up...]
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Hi Jennifer (and any SB Independent readers struggling with depression for themselves or a loved one),
Here is a collection of advice I've posted elsewhere for other people about overcoming depression and other forms of mental illness (or at least coping better with it). I hope this can help. I wish I had know this all when I was an undergrad at SUNY SB a long time ago. Perhaps it might overlap the readings you said a professor suggested to you.
First, remember, the brain is mostly fat. You need to be eating healthy fats (like walnuts, avocado, omega 3s, etc.) for brain health. But that is just a start on what good nutrition involves to get lots of micronutrients (more veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains as in "you can see the grain"). Be sure you are getting enough vitamin D3 (which is almost impossible for most people without supplements given our indoor lifestyle and other lifestyle factors). And get enough iodine, like from sea vegetables. And also enough high quality B-complex vitamins.
From Dr. Joel Fuhrman: "Depression doesn't have one specific cause; environmental and genetic factors may be at play, as well as psychosocial stressors, however, a major factor causing depression is unhealthy dietary factors. Fast-food and commercial baked goods are linked to depression in a dose dependent manner, and dietary excellence can be the solution for many suffering individuals. A feeling of a depressed mood can also be a symptom of other medical conditions or a side effect from a medication, so to be sure of what is causing your symptoms, you may need to discuss your depression with your doctor."
Search also on "The UltraMind Solution: The Simple Way to Defeat Depression, Overcome Anxiety, and Sharpen Your Mind" by Dr. Mark Hyman, again focusing on nutrition.
Water-only fasting helps in some cases of mental illness too (especially if brain inflammation is caused by some food allergy). The Russians did a lot of research and practice on that.
Obviously, good mood is more complex than just nutrition. Look at Dr. Andrew Weil for a broader perspective.
Or see an essay by Philip Hickey, Ph.D called: "Depression Is Not An Illness: It is an Adaptive Mechanism"; quoting from that:
[And when any one or more of those factors are missing -- it can lead to depression, with the likelihood increasing if multiple factors are missing.]"In order to feel good, the following eight factors must be present in our lives. * good nutrition * fresh air * sunshine (in moderation) * physical activity * purposeful activity with regular experiences of success * good relationships * adequate and regular sleep * ability to avoid destructive social entanglements, while remaining receptive to positive encounters"Also, check out: "The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time Paperback" by Alex Korb PhD.
There are lots more resources like that. There are lots of alternatives to placebo-like mental drugs...
Search also on "Sleep deprivation can effectively treat depression" for another option to consider.
Our society is also all too quick to label a "spiritual crisis" as mental illness (see Wikipedia on that term).
Thanks for your series of essays on these mental health topics. I learned something from them, especially about how depression and anxiety can cycle together, where anxiety becomes the only force that can counter depression as far as getting anything done. That doesn't mean that is a happy or health way to be -- but it is informative to understand that cycle, and in that context of depression, the "benefit" of anxiety.
As with Chester Bennington (who I learned about from the article you posted for someone else on that, leading me to your series -- and then watched his band's "Numb" video and a couple others), sometimes if we dwell on the negative, it does not really get us healthier overall. As in helping create the "Numb" video, Chester built on his strength of music and it at least sustained him for a time and helped him help others and in other ways connect with other people like with the rest of the Linkin Park band. And in that "Numb" video, one might hope for the same for the protagonist as there are certainly a lot of people out there who do appreciate art or can be moved by it or who take joy in creating it together with others.
For my generation, Robin Williams is a bit of the same symbol as Chris Bennington -- although he used humor instead of music to connect to people and to manage pain (but not totally cure it). Like all helpful drugs, music and humor can make a difference in sustaining us as we cope with pain, but we still need to address the underlying issues as best we can. And even if both artists lost that battle with pain in the end, they at least had much longer and better lives from building on those strengths -- and the community around them was much better for their long-term willingness to do what they could with what they had. While most of us may never have that level of comedic or musical talent, or the opportunities to refine that talent by years of practice, "the woods would be pretty quiet if no bird sang there but the best". Someone with even a fraction of their level of talent could make the lives of many people around them a lot better with just a little humor or song added to every-day interactions. You can also use a talent as a volunteer or as a hobbyist sharing with others even if you do something else as a day-job.
[continued in a part 2 reply to this...]
- But that's sort of is my point, it's all statistical, that's why they have medical trials for years before FDA approves new drugs. We sort of know what is happening in the brain, it's lacking one neurotransmitter or the other and all the drugs/supplements basically either provide it or pretend to be one. Another approach I've seen is to stimulate certain hormones, but again it's individual because some people might have excess of one hormone and lack of the other. Relaxation and meditation is basically natural way to balance certain hormones (reduce cortisol in particular). Or sun exposure gives you vitamin D (which is technically a hormone) and it's been studied to help with depression, but some people need more of it than others etc. I recommend you to pick up a book on nutrition before jumping into this space, one of the easy to read books is Ultramind Solution by Dr Hyman. Hope this helps.
- Like the article says: "“It’s too soon to make any firm conclusions about a lot of this stuff, but it sure looks like the mitochondria are disrupted in many kids with autism,” Frye says. “And environmental exposures, especially early on, may be programming the mitochondria to have different types of respiratory physiology.”"
You might find this of interest too from eleven years ago: https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/12/09/breakthrough-discovery-o... "Let’s look more closely at what this new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association tells us about mitochondrial dysfunction and how this may lead us to new methods of treatment—methods similar to the ones I used to help reverse Jackson’s autism. ... This study forces the question: How do children acquire energy deficits that affect their whole system, not just the brain? The causes of mitochondrial dysfunction are well known, specifically as it relates to metabolism and the brain, and I have documented them in my books UtraMetabolism and The UltraMind Solution. They include environmental toxins(iv)—mercury, lead and persistent organic pollutants(v)—latent infections, gluten and allergens (which trigger inflammation) sugar and processed foods,(vi) a nutrient-depleted diet,(vii) and nutritional deficiencies.(viii) These are all potentially treatable and reversible causes of mitochondrial dysfunction that have been clearly documented. I found all these problems in Jackson, and over a period of 2 years we slowly unraveled and treated the underlying causes of his energy loss which included gut inflammation, mercury, and nutrient deficiencies. Over time, the tests for his mitochondrial function and oxidative stress (as well as levels of inflammation and nutrient status) all normalized. When they became normal, so did Jackson. He went from full-blown regressive autism to a normal, bright beautiful 6-year-old boy. This is just one story, but if autism can be reversed in one child, if there is any possibility of effective treatments or a potential cure, it forces us to ask critical questions: How did this happen? Can it happen in other children? What were the biological patterns found and how were they treated?"
And if it applies to young brains, why would it not apply to older brains?
- Can you recommend any books similar to Ultramind Solution but with more helpful info, in your opinion?
