MacroLife: It’s All In The Family

The Green Foods/Superfoods section is a perennial favorite here at Evergreen, with its rows of nutrition and antioxidant-packed emerald-colored powders. The Green Foods category is also one of the fastest-growing categories in the natural products industry, as consumers seek to improve their nutritional health with products which are versatile, easy to take and portable. One of the most popular companies we carry is still family-owned after nearly 25 years, MacroLife. Their flagship products Miracle Reds and Macro Greens have become some of the best-selling whole food supplements in natural foods and supermarket retailers throughout the US.

About MacroLife

Company founder Sylvia Ortiz is a nutrition and health expert, entrepreneur and renowned fitness guru who has dedicated her life to helping others live healthy lives. A pioneer in the fitness industry, Sylvia had developed and introduced Rebound Exercise, an aerobics exercise program using a small, circular trampoline. In 1984, Sylvia founded Fit For You International, a fitness and health products company. She is an internationally recognized expert in fitness and health and established standards used worldwide for Rebound Exercise training and instruction. Together with chiropractor Dr. Edward Wagner, she created Macro Greens and Miracle Reds which led to co-founding the MacroLife company.

Macro Greens

Sylvia Ortiz came up with the Macro Greens product in order to help her son, JR Ortiz, who was suffering from depression and obesity among other health problems. Taking the newly created greens product, JR lost more than 65 pounds while lowering his body fat from 30 to 12 percent and regaining his health. Based on certified organic barley grass juice—no wheat or alfalfa grasses— and spirulina, the product also offers immune and detoxifying supportive herbs such as astragalus and milk thistle. The alkaline and cleansing properties are further augmented by chlorella, watercress, ginger, and dulse, among others. Included are blends of both probiotics and plant-based enzymes. Rounding out the formula is an anti-inflammatory/antioxidant mix of high-bioflavonoid herbs and fruits as well as a blend of stress-busting adaptogenic herbs such as eleuthero (Siberian ginseng). Macro Greens was voted “best-tasting greens product” in the natural products industry, and is sweetened with only a small amount of stevia herb. The product comes in assorted sizes ranging from single-serving packets to tubs of thirty, sixty or ninety servings. Macro Greens is non-GMO, gluten and dairy free, and contains many certified organic ingredients. According to Sylvia, the product is astonishingly good tasting when mixed with water or any non-citrus juice, and is completely nutritious, builds health and cleanses the system.

Miracle Reds

The accompanying superfood powder from MacroLife is called Miracle Reds. According to the company, it is much more than a fruit blend! It’s an advanced, non-allergenic, proprietary fruit blend. Miracle Reds has nutrient-rich, anti-aging anti-oxidants, polyphenols and heart-friendly plant sterols. Delicious and nutritious, great for anytime – perfect for post workout recovery. This formula may be considered highly anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, supporting cardiovascular health mainly, as well as joint and cellular support. Each serving surpasses the raw food nutrition of five servings of fruits and berries that contain the widest spectrum of antioxidants. Included are cherry, blueberry, blackberry, acai, elderberry, acerola and more: a veritable host of bioflavonoid/antioxidant wealth. As in the Macro Greens, this award-winning formula also contains an adaptogenic herbal blend, probiotics and enzymes. A heart-healthy blend of fiber rounds out this powerhouse powder. Miracle Reds is largely organic, and is non-GMO and gluten and dairy free. Serving-size options are the same as Macro Greens.

Please Note:

MacroLife products are not sold on our website; please stop by the store or call 541-485-5100 to order.

Fish Oil

Fish oil’s virtues are many. Clinical studies have shown decreased inflammation, benefits to the heart/cardiovascular system, brain/nervous system, immune system, eyes, kidneys and digestive system (especially for Crohn’s disease). Evergreen Nutrition features many excellent fish oils and we’d like to tell you about a few that have something special to offer. VECTOMEGA from EuroPharma stands out because the EPA and DHA are in a phospholipid-peptide complex, their natural state, making Vectomega more biologically active (up to fifty times more absorption than triglyceride fish oils). One small tablet has the same benefits as four to six grams of other fish oils. Solgar’s FULL SPECTRUM OMEGA and New Chapter’s WHOLEMEGA are from wild-caught Alaskan salmon and contain the well-known omega-3s EPA and DHA, as well as omega-5, -6, -7 and -9 plus Vitamin D3 and astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant. Renew Life’s NORWEGIAN GOLD fish oils include the fat-busting enzyme lipase (allowing up to three times more absorption) plus these enteric coated fish gels are burp-free. They come in several potencies from the small-sized FIRST OMEGA and DAILY OMEGA up to CRITICAL OMEGA and SUPER CRITICAL OMEGA. In addition they have two CRITICAL blends which are higher in EPA and DHA respectively. Garden of Life introduced “The Coolest Fish Oil on the Planet” by MINAMI NUTRITION. It is created using dual-process supercritical fluid extraction and supercritical fluid chromatography which yields a very pure fish oil without high heat or harsh solvents. Evergreen also offers a selection of fish oil products specifically for children including Nordic Naturals’ GUMMIES (Nordic’s yummy gummies are a favorite of the Evergreen staff.) Or, if you prefer to drink your omegas, try one of our flavored liquid fish oils — an easy way to get a high dose of EPA and DHA for children as well as adults.

From Evergreen’s Archives

Green Coffee Bean: Weight Loss & Longevity

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT HOW YOU LOOK, OBESITY DECREASES LIFE SPAN BY 8-10 YEARS, 33 EXTRA POUNDS EQUALS 30% INCREASE IN RISK OF EARLY DEATH

Adipose cells are not just innocent fat accumulation. They release substances that disrupt our endocrine, immune and pulmonary systems. This may eventually lead to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and liver disease as well as other serious health problems.

GREEN COFFEE BEAN TO THE RESCUE

Green coffee bean decreases the metabolic processes that lead to obesity due to its high concentration of chlorogenic acid and polyphenols which are lost when the beans are roasted. It promotes weight loss by inhibiting the absorption of calories and fat, inhibiting the creation of fat cells, enhancing fat metabolism and lowering glucose levels. In addition, green coffee increases energy with no side effects. It is a safe and inexpensive way to lose weight and achieve longevity-enhancing metabolic health. In a three-part study at the University of Scranton, Green Coffee Bean Extract Study all participants received a moderate dose of 700 mg green coffee extract, a high dose of 1,050 mg or a placebo daily for six weeks (with a two-week washout period between each phase). 100% of the participants lost weight and 37% reversed their pre-obesity. They lost an average of 17.6 pounds, decreasing body fat by 16% and body weight by 10.5%. There’s more good news: 87.5% of participants kept the weight off after the study’s conclusion. If they could accomplish this without changing diet or exercise habits, just imagine what YOU can achieve by combining green coffee extract with a healthy diet and regular exercise! SOURCE: Life Extension, July 2012

THE CHOICES YOU MAKE CAN PREVENT CANCER:

• Maintain Normal Weight
• Eat a Healthy Diet
• Exercise Regularly
• Do Not Smoke
• Moderate Alcohol Intake (if at all)
• BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT!

From Evergreen’s Archives: June 2012

Novel Weight Loss Strategies

Lactobacillus gasseri Benefits In the last several years a lot of exciting new research has arisen on various health benefits of probiotics. One of the more interesting effects revealed recently was the possibility of certain probiotic bacteria strains to assist in weight loss. First of all, it has been shown that thin people tend to have different gut bacteria than overweight people. It is not known, however, if this is cause or effect. What is known are the results of several clinical trials suggesting that the probiotic strain Lactobacillus gasseri may help reduce abdominal fat and support healthy weight loss. A clinical trial published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2013 reported that 210 healthy adults with excess abdominal fat were given either milk enriched with Lactobacillus gasseri or a placebo milk for 12 weeks. At the study’s end, the participants given the probiotic-enriched milk showed a significantly greater reduction in abdominal fat compared to the placebo group. Another study from 2010 involved 87 adults with a high body mass index and abdominal fat. The participants were given the same gasseri-enriched milk as the study above, also for 12 weeks. Treatment with Lactobacillus gasseri led to a significant decrease in abdominal fat, waist size, and body weight. While these studies are impressive, there is more to the story involving this particular probiotic strain. Another study showed that gasseri may improve cholesterol levels, in concert with inulin, a prebiotic fiber (which may promote the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestine). One company has taken this science and created a wonderful probiotic supplement. Garden of Life’s Dr. Formulated Fitbiotic is a formula containing 14 probiotic strains featuring Lactobacillus gasseri along with 4 grams of prebiotic organic acacia fiber. This product is in single serving, shelf-stable packets for ease of use. Along with healthy weight management, this product promotes healthy digestion, elimination, and immune health. Berberine’s Benefits Another compound with new research showing applications for healthy weight management is the plant alkaloid berberine. This chemical is found in such well-known plants as goldenseal and Oregon grape, and is responsible for much of those plants’ medicinal properties. Reams of new scientific research is revealing previously undiscovered activity through a variety of physiological mechanisms as far as weight loss applications.

1. Blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance. Berberine decreases insulin resistance, making the blood sugar lowering hormone insulin more effective. Berberine increases glycolysis, the breakdown of sugars inside the cell. It also slows the breakdown of carbohydrates in the liver, and has been shown to increase the number of healthy bacteria in the gut.
2. Improvement of fat-regulating hormones. The precise mechanism is theorized, but it appears that in addition to regulating the hormone insulin, thereby improving blood sugar levels, berberine favorably impacts adiponectin and leptin, fat-regulating hormones. In one 3 month study, 37 men and women with metabolic syndrome took 300 mg of berberine 3 times a day. At study’s end, the participants had dropped their body mass index levels from 31.5 to 27.4, or from obese to merely overweight. They also lost belly fat and improved many health markers. Another 12 week study showed that 500 mg of berberine 3 times per day caused about 5 pounds of weight loss, and participants also lost 3.6% of their body fat.
3. Berberine also appears to inhibit the growth of fat cells. Multiple studies have shown that the compound inhibited adipogenesis in preadipocytes, meaning that at a molecular level, fat cells are prevented from forming.

Triphala: The Importance of a Mother

The Ayurvedic medicine system of India dates back thousands of years. The herbal pharmacopeia comprising these formulas thus has countless anecdotal testimonials, since borne out by modern scientific research. In this system of herbal medicine, the most important branch of substances, rasayanas, are tonics (meant to be consumed on a regular basis). Within this special group, one of the most revered tonics is called triphala. In India there is a saying that the importance of triphala is that of a mother. Its uses may be simplified as purification, cleansing, and detoxification, especially of the digestive tract. These actions affect health on many more levels, however

What is Triphala?

Triphala is a formula, composed of three different fruits, each with actions of their own, and when taken together providing incredible benefits. The Indian names of these fruits are amla, baheda, and harada, also known as amalaki, haritaki, and bibhitaki. In brief, the amla fruit is a powerful antioxidant, one of the world’s richest sources of vitamin C. It is known to reduce cholesterol and boost the body’s absorption of iron and calcium. Haritaki has an affinity for removing toxins from the urinary and intestinal tracts, reduces abnormally high blood pressure, and also boosts absorption of nutrients. Bibhitaki, or beleric, reduces excess mucus and also helps to relieve asthma and allergies.

Digestive Tonic

In India, Ayurvedic physicians often use triphala alone for healing patients, and recommend it for general health and disease prevention. In this country it seems to be known as a laxative, but this is not its true action. It benefits the digestive system on the whole by regulating the bowel, improving digestion and elimination. It detoxifies the digestive tract in this capacity. Efficient removal of toxins benefits health greatly. With regard to digestive issues, triphala may relieve colitis, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, constipation, diarrhea, and more.  

Additional Benefits

Triphala benefits more than the digestive system, as noted above. In addition to improving blood pressure and cholesterol levels, it may be beneficial for diabetes. Research has proven it to have strong antioxidant activity. It is considered a blood purifier, and benefits the liver as well. These effects improve the skin’s complexion. Vision may be strengthened and improved by triphala consumption. In fact, externally it may be used as an eyewash to relieve red, sore eyes.   Evergreen Nutrition has carried several triphala products for a long time, and recently brought in, in addition to Himalaya’s regular triphala product, an exciting new formula called Floravani. This product consists of triphala with a proprietary herbal blend benefiting digestion and so much more. In addition to the classic triphala effects of improved digestion, Floravani has been shown in clinical studies to promote healthy populations of beneficial bacteria. It supports your own native microbiome and the natural ratio of existing gut bacteria. This is a true health tonic, and Himalaya Herbal products have 80 years of experience in Ayurvedic wellness. Floravani is vegan, gluten free, and free of corn and soy.

Bacterial Defense- Powerful Protection Against Bad Bacteria

Evergreen Nutrition has a large immune support selection featuring supplements ranging from single herbs such as elderberry and echinacea to condition-specific blends of multiple nutrients, herbs and mushrooms. There are specific blends for anti-viral support, anti-bacterial support, or simply general immune support. In the anti-bacterial realm, one new (and improved) formula stands out for its sheer power. Vibrant Health‘s renamed Bacterial Defense, formerly Bulls Eye, is a blend of concentrated bioactive plant extracts with refined cinnamic acid, and has perhaps the broadest anti-microbial action in a blend of this kind. In Vibrant Health’s description,

“Bacterial Defense contains plants that naturally target and kill bad bacteria, and help maintain a healthful balance (homeostasis) among the bacteria that populate the interior and the exterior of the human body.”

This dynamic blend is not an antibiotic per se, but when taken daily can protect against (and maintain a balance among) some of the most virulent microbes surrounding us, whether in our food, water, or the air we breathe. Included are:

• Bacillus subtilis (causes various infections)
• Borrelia burgdorferi (causes Lyme disease)
• Borrelia mayonii (also causes Lyme disease)
• Candida albicans (causes yeast infections)
• Enterobacter aerogenes (causes various infections)
• E. coli (causes most urinary tract infections)
• Proteus spp (causes bladder infections)
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa (causes pneumonia and more)
• Klebsiella pneumoniae (causes pneumonia and more)
• Salmonella choleraesuis (foodborne illness)
• Shigella spp (intestinal disease shigella)
• Staphylococcus aureus (staph infections)

The Ingredients

Bacterial Defense includes clove buds, jambolan leaf, lemon balm leaf, pomegranate fruit, rosemary leaf, thyme leaves and flowers, cat’s claw, and eucalyptus leaves. These plants are a source of bioactive food substances that include flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, triterpenes, phenolic acids and essential oils. We will go into depth with some of these individual plants to see just what powerful allies they are in the fight against nasty bacteria.

Clove

Clove (Carophyllus aromaticus) is one of the most heavily researched botanical sources of antimicrobials. The volatile oils contain eugenol, carvacrol, and cinnamaldehyde, among other constituents. Clove’s activity has been investigated on pathogenic bacteria as well as Herpes simplex and hepatitis C viruses. In addition to its antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral activity, it is profoundly antiyeast, controlling Candida albicans. Some bacteria susceptible to clove include: Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus. Recent discoveries have shown that some bacteria showing resistance to certain antibiotics are sensitive to extracts of clove.

Cat’s Claw

The aptly named Cat’s Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) has alkaloids that influence the immune system’s fight response, as well as being directly antibacterial. They modulate and regulate the immune response to bacterial invasion by enhancing phagocytosis (the destruction of bacterial invaders by white blood cells and macrophages). Some of the microbes directly inhibited by Cat’s Claw include: Candida albicans, Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus. Research has also shown extracts to be effective Lyme disease microbicides.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) contains antimicrobials throughout, in the juice, the peel and the seeds. Whether in water or alcohol extract form, extracts from pomegranate exhibited antibacterial activity against: E coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella, Streptococcus, Clostridium difficile, Heliobacter pylori, Listeria monocytogenes (a particularly virulent, potentially lethal food-borne illness), and even Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition it has shown activity against the parasite that causes malaria.

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.), also known simply as Melissa, has a long history of affording protection. The essential oil contains more than 36 constituents. Extracts from Lemon Balm have shown activity against: Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria, E coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella, and also Candida albicans. In addition, Lemon Balm has antiviral activity against Herpes simplex virus. Vibrant Health suggests this product is great to bring when traveling, hiking in wild country, or on a camping trip. Let the power of plants protect you!

How Can Flower Essences Help Me?

Many people are familiar with homeopathy, the “energetic” or “vibrational” remedies for a wide variety of specific physical or emotional conditions. A lesser-known healing modality which is becoming more well-known is that of flower essences. Flower essence therapy may be likened to homeopathy in that the remedies used are not biochemical in the body, but rather vibrational, or subtle-energy. They work by the principle of resonance — the remedy must match a similar pattern within the individual to evoke a healing response. The flower essence healing modality addresses profound issues of emotional well-being to achieve overall mind-body health.

What Are Flower Essences?

The essences are liquid extracts, generally taken in oral form. They are made exclusively from the fresh blossoms of plants, and are a sun infusion in water, which is diluted and potentized then preserved with alcohol (brandy). They are not to be confused with essential oils, which are steam-distilled essences from a variety of plant-matter and are thus biochemical. Ingestion of those potent, concentrated oils may be very dangerous. Flower essences, on the other hand, are extremely safe. In their modern form, flower essences were developed by English physician Edward Bach, who originally prepared 38 remedies from English wildflowers found in the countryside near Oxford. Since Dr. Bach’s time, many more flower essences have been researched and prepared.

How Do Flower Essences Work?

The essences contain only a minute amount of actual physical substance; they are vibrational in nature. They have no direct impact upon the body’s biochemistry and therefore are non-toxic. The remedies (essences) are catalysts for emotional change. With this awareness/change, transformation and healing may be achieved. The awareness enables the individual to understand and change existing physical conditions. Selecting an appropriate remedy involves assessing core emotional and mental factors. An emotional imbalance may then be matched to a specific remedy. An inappropriate remedy will not be harmful; it simply will not evoke a response. To assist with selecting a remedy, it may be helpful to study the Flower Essence Repertory from Flower Essence Services (FES).

What Can Flower Essences Treat?

Distinguishing specific issues to treat may require searching into the past, such as childhood emotional experiences. Self-reflection, questioning and even counseling may reveal goals as well. There are also lists or questionnaires available to help with selection. Below are some classic flower essences and attendant properties.

• Mimulus – One of the first Bach remedies developed in the 1930’s. A remedy for states of fear and introversion. May be helpful for fretful children and the elderly.
• Impatiens – As its name suggests, this flower may help with impatience: states of tension, irritation, and anger. Quiet calming.
• Star of Bethlehem – Inner peace and repose; soothing, meditative qualities. Useful for states of shock and trauma.
• Borage – Indicated for states of intense sadness or depression. Feeling discouraged or disheartened.
• Mariposa Lily – Feminine healing, especially mothers and children. Stimulates maternal warmth and nurturing.

Evergreen Nutrition carries over 140 flower essence remedies including Bach Rescue Remedy and FES Five Flower Formula to promote calm and balance during times of stress or trauma. We also have literature available on usage and selection. See what flower essences can do for you and your emotional and physical well-being. For more information on flower essences, see these other articles: Versatile Flower Essences Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions  

Zinc, Copper, and How Much is Too Much

In any event, people who are eating–well, let me back up. We’ll talk first about the main sources of copper because if you have excess copper, you’re gonna want to reduce your intake of copper from food, and you’re gonna want to reduce your exposure to copper in the environment. So, copper is mostly found in vegetarian or plant proteins like nuts and beans and seeds and grains, and meats do contain copper, but they’re balanced by zinc, which competes for the absorption of copper, so a Paleo, Weston A. Price type of diet that’s high in animal protein, it’s unlikely you would develop a copper-zinc ratio just from eating that way because the zinc competes with absorption for copper in those foods. Chocolate is high in copper, and actually, in some cases, when people are really craving chocolate, you often hear that they’re craving magnesium, and that may be the case, but they may also be craving copper. Drinking water that is in copper pipes can have copper in it, so if you test high in copper and you’re living in a house with copper pipes, that may be something you want to look into. There’s copper cookware, which I don’t recommend using. Some dental materials have copper in them. Certain vitamins have copper. If you like multi’s, you want to check and make sure your multi doesn’t have it if you have excess copper. Fungicides and pesticides have copper residue, and then IUDs and birth control pills have copper, as well. So, those are the primary sources of copper in the environment and food, and then there are some things that deplete zinc levels, like stress, for example. Any disturbance of homeostasis or oxidative stress will deplete zinc levels over time. So, it’s important to manage your stress if you’re dealing with copper imbalance. One of the first things I would do with patients like this is order a SpectraCell micronutrient analysis, which tests micronutrient levels within the white blood cell, and that can help determine if there are deficiencies of other micronutrients that help reduce copper buildup. So, these are things like vitamin B1, B3, B6, folate, inositol, and choline, and those are all antagonistic to copper, and then there are some minerals that are antagonistic to copper, like zinc, of course, which we’ve been talking about, manganese, iron, sulfur, and molybdenum. You want to be careful with the iron, though, of course, because if you are iron-loaded, you have too much iron, and you take iron to reduce copper, that may help solve one problem and cause another, or exacerbate another. And then there are some studies I’ve seen that suggest that copper might be excreted by binding with glutathione, so yet another reason to maintain healthy glutathione levels; and glutathione levels are often depleted in cases of chronic illness and stress, so that’s another thing to pay attention to. Then you want to improve the detox function of the liver and the skin. You can do things like sweats and saunas. And then, of course, you want to do a diet that is based on animal proteins and lower in the plant proteins that tend to be rich in copper, like the nuts and beans and seeds and grains, like I mentioned earlier. So, those are the basic steps. Steve Wright: To summarize those, it’s basically look for any environmental triggers that are adding a lot of copper to your diet, cut out the high-copper foods, and then look to possibly supplement with any other micronutrient imbalances you might have? Chris Kresser: Exactly. And on top of that, improving glutathione levels, improving the detox function of the liver, and improving adrenal function, and managing any form of stress, whether it’s dealing with inflammation or oxidative damage or psychological stress and adrenal stress. Steve Wright: OK, so let’s say that I find out that I have high copper and low zinc. Do I start supplementing with zinc right away? Chris Kresser: It’s probably best to get some help from someone who has some experience dealing with this, because it can get a little bit complex, depending on the status of other micronutrients, and you know, I mentioned Wilson’s disease before. That wouldn’t present with high serum copper. It usually presents with low serum copper, so they’re not often confused that way, but depending on how you tested for elevated copper, it may be something that you want to rule out, Wilson’s. But, in general, just following the steps that I outlined for a lot of people should be sufficient. Zinc is definitely one of the things you would supplement with, especially if the zinc is deficient. So, it’s important not just to test copper. You would test copper and zinc at the same time, and if zinc is low, then you definitely would want to bring it back up. Steve Wright: OK, so to wrap it up, it’s something you should definitely get tested if you’re exhibiting any of the problems that Chris was mentioning, and I think we’re gonna move on to the next question, unless you have anything, Chris? Chris Kresser: No, I think that’s it. Steve Wright: OK, copper and zinc. Got it done.

Is 5-HTP safer than SSRIs for anxiety and depression?

Steve Wright: All right, this one’s from Breaking All Illusions. “What do you think about the use of 5-HTP as a natural supplement for anxiety and depression? Do you consider it safer or more effective than SSRIs? And do you consider it safe/effective at all? If so, how would you recommend using it?” Chris Kresser: OK, so 5-HTP is an intermediate in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, so tryptophan gets converted to 5-HTP, and then 5-HTP gets converted to serotonin. As I’m sure many people know, some people who are depressed have issues with serotonin synthesis or metabolism, and that can cause depression, and in those cases, 5-HTP might be helpful. There is some research that’s fairly promising, but I think the jury is still out on it. But as I pointed out, I wrote an entire series on depression, ChrisKresser.com/depression. Hopefully that will be updated soon because there’s a lot that I’ve learned since I wrote that. It’s all still completely valid, but I want to add some information about the inflammatory cytokine model of depression, which I’m gonna talk about in a minute. But in that series, I pointed out that not all depression is as simple as being a serotonin deficiency, and that is really just a convenient fiction that’s been manufactured by drug companies to sell more antidepressants. Doctors in 2009 wrote 235 million prescriptions for antidepressants, which is just a mind-boggling number. It’s a 14 billion dollar market for antidepressant drugs, so it’s a huge business, and the drug companies know that if they create a really simple model for depression, which is basically depression equals serotonin deficiency; therefore, if you take a drug that raises serotonin, that will cure and treat depression. But the reality is a lot more complex than that, as anybody who works with depression knows or who has experienced it knows, and the drug trials on antidepressants, when you really look at them and you look at careful meta-analyses that have been performed by Kirsch and colleagues and others, you see that for mild to moderate depression and even fairly severe depression, antidepressants are often no more effective than placebo. And a lot of the natural treatments, which we’re gonna talk about here in a second, are just as effective as antidepressants, with far fewer side effects. So, 5-HTP may be one of those, but it doesn’t have the research behind it that some of these other natural therapies do. So, if you’re gonna try 5-HTP, I would recommend starting with a pretty low dose, which would be maybe 20 mg in the morning, and it’s important to take it on an empty stomach. And then you can continue to increase your dose every few days up to 100 mg, and I wouldn’t go above 100 mg. Some people out there, some of the studies recommend 200 or 300 mg, but I don’t recommend that for a number of reasons. So, somewhere between 20 and 100 mg. If you take it before bed, it can sometimes help with sleep, so that’s another possibility, but I’ve found with patients that it’s more effective for depression if you take it in the morning. But that’s not the first thing I would try with depression, and in fact, these days I’m looking at it much more as an inflammatory condition, which again I’ll come back to in a moment. I wanna talk a little bit about some of the natural treatments that have been proven to be effective. Psychotherapy is, of course, one of them, and it’s often left out when we talk about natural treatments for depression because I think a lot of times we’re thinking of, you know, nutrients or herbs or pills or things that we can take, but psychotherapy, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a specific type of psychotherapy, has compared favorably with antidepressant drugs in a lot of trials, especially in the short term, even when the depression is severe, and over the long term, it actually appears to be superior to medications. And then some studies have looked at medication plus psychotherapy versus just medication alone, and of course, that’s almost always more effective, so that’s something to certainly consider, and I would definitely recommend it as part of a protocol for depression in any case. Steve Wright: When you say medication, are you talking about SSRIs and SNRIs? Chris Kresser: I’m talking, yeah, about both, but primarily SSRIs. They’re the bigger drug class by far still even though there has been more of a trend to SNRIs lately, but a lot of the research that has been done in the comparisons has been more with SSRIs. Exercise is at least as effective as antidepressants in treating depression, according to the research literature, and the good news about exercise is the only side effects of exercise are usually other health benefits and reducing your risk for a number of other diseases. Light therapy, and there was a study in 2005 in The American Journal of Psychiatry that found that it was just as effective as antidepressants. One of the arguments about that study was that it could have been placebo, and that’s true, but if that’s the case, you know, who cares? If there’s no negative impact other than spending the 75 bucks or whatever on the machine, actually maybe we can put that in the show notes. There’s a machine that I recommend on Amazon; I think it’s about 75 bucks. You know, the only thing you might lose is a little bit of time in the morning and a little bit of money to buy the machine, but there really aren’t any significant side effects associated with it. St. John’s wort, which I’m sure a number of people have heard of, it’s probably the most popular treatment for depression in Europe. It’s just as effective as antidepressants in clinical studies, but it has 10 times fewer side effects. One important thing to keep in kind with St. John’s wort is that it takes several weeks often for the effect to come on fully, so it’s not something that you just start taking and you feel the benefit right away. It takes about three to four weeks to really get the effect. Another thing I’ll mention is not to mix these treatments together with drugs. I mean, exercise and psychotherapy, of course, is fine, and even light therapy, but I would not recommend combining St. John’s wort with antidepressants without supervision. That can be dangerous. And the same with 5-HTP and any other nutrient-based or herbal-based remedy. Acupuncture has been shown to be pretty effective for depression. In fact, there was a Cochrane review, Cochrane being one of the prestigious group that does meta-analyses of available research on a particular subject. They found, “There is no evidence that medication was better than acupuncture in reducing the severity of depression.” And again, just like exercise, acupuncture has very few side effects except feeling better in other ways. So, those are a number of options for someone who is dealing with depression and doesn’t want to take the drugs or eventually wants to get off the drugs. Again, it’s really, really important if you are taking a medication for depression not to stop taking it abruptly and to do it under the supervision of someone who is experienced in getting people off SSRIs and other forms of antidepressants, because stopping them cold turkey can really wreak havoc with your brain chemistry, and the problems with suicide that are associated with antidepressants most often occur when people are just starting the medication or just coming off of it. So, it’s not something to play around with, and it’s really important to find someone who has experience getting people off of those drugs, if you choose to come off of it.

Why antidepressants could permanently alter your brain chemistry… in a bad way

Steve Wright: Is there also a long-term consequence of staying on the drugs for a number of years? Chris Kresser: I think there is, and I wrote about this in my series. There’s a lot of pretty disturbing research that shows that SSRIs can cause permanent changes in brain chemistry, and it’s difficult to talk about this because, you know, a lot of people are on antidepressants, and some people are helped by them. Even though the research is pretty equivocal, you have to consider that research is about averages. You know, when you do a study and statistically at the end of the study there was no difference between placebo and the intervention, in this case an antidepressant, it doesn’t mean that there weren’t some people that benefited from the antidepressant in the study. It just means that on average, when you take all the results together, there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatments. I know people that have taken antidepressants and that have benefited from them, and of course, I know people that haven’t, so I’m not saying they never work. I’m just saying that statistically speaking, from a research perspective, they are not better than other treatments, in general, except in the cases of very severe depression. So, I’m not making any judgements of anyone who chooses to take antidepressants, and it’s a little bit scary to tell someone that a drug that they’re taking can cause permanent changes in brain chemistry, but I also feel it’s important to get the word out about this so that people think really carefully about going on these drugs before they choose to do so. So, the research shows essentially that those changes that are made in the brain can basically predispose you to depression more for the rest of your life. So, they create changes in the brain that make it more likely that you’ll need to be on an antidepressant or have some other kind of treatment for depression indefinitely, and that’s what scares me the most about these drugs, and unfortunately that is not, you know, very few patients are told that before they go on a drug. I think very few doctors even know about that research, but I wrote about it pretty extensively in the Depression Series. There are a lot of references there, and there are some great books that I linked to as well, where you can read all about that research if you’re interested in it.

The surprising cause of depression (and no, it’s not low serotonin)

Chris Kresser: So, before we finish up with this question, I want to talk a little bit about a newer perspective on depression that we discussed in an earlier show. We talked about it in the gut-brain axis program, and this is known as the inflammatory cytokine model of depression, and the theory essentially is that inflammation, which often originates from the gut, produces inflammatory cytokines, and these cytokines travel through the blood, they cross the blood-brain barrier, and then they suppress activity in the frontal cortex, and then that, of course, causes depression, the frontal cortex being responsible for some of the higher brain function. So, one of the most important things you can do if you’re dealing with depression, if you haven’t already done this, is eat an anti-inflammatory diet and fix your gut. Anti-inflammatory diet being a Paleo-ish diet, a Personal Paleo Code-ish type of diet, and then all of the steps that we have discussed lots of different times towards healing your gut, and I think that those are kind of the first steps that should be done when somebody is dealing with depression, and then if you eat that diet and you fix the gut and deal with any other potential sources of inflammation like a chronic infection; for example, a viral infection or a bacterial infection that may not be in the gut but outside of the gut. So, if you deal with all of those sources of inflammation and you’re still experiencing depression, that’s when I would turn to some of these other natural remedies. Steve Wright: So, when you start fixing the gut, it’s not necessarily advisable to look towards trying to replace any neurotransmitter losses in the dopamine or serotonin areas? Chris Kresser: That’s kind of the last step, maybe. You know, it’s like fix the gut, reduce inflammation, any other sources of inflammation, then consider some of these other natural treatments that we just talked about that would indirectly regulate brain chemistry: psychotherapy, acupuncture, St. John’s wort, light therapy, exercise, possibly 5-HTP. And then there are some products that I might use that improve serotonin or dopamine or acetylcholine or GABA synthesis and metabolism, but even then, they’re a milder, safer, and more natural approach than SSRIs or SNRIs. I consider those drugs to be a last resort.

Are chocolate cravings related to magnesium deficiency?

Steve Wright: All right. Well, let’s roll on here. You mentioned it earlier in the show, but chocolate cravings — both Martin and Evan were asking about magnesium, and so here’s Evan’s question: “What are your thoughts about chocolate cravings being related to magnesium deficiency? As a raw vegan, I didn’t touch chocolate for two years probably, and now I can’t get enough of it. I’m way beyond your recommendation of a piece about the size of a silver dollar. A full bar or more is reasonable,” and I think that’s on a daily basis, so he would like to know more about the topic of magnesium, chocolate, and magnesium oil applied topically. Chris Kresser: Yeah, OK, so one of the easiest ways to figure that out is just start doing some fairly high-dose magnesium glycinate or malate supplementation. So, you know, take 600 mg a day for three or four weeks, and if the craving for chocolate disappears, then you could suspect that it had something to do with magnesium deficiency. But if you’re still eating that full bar of chocolate every day after a month of that kind of magnesium supplementation, then I have a feeling that it has something more to do with something else in the chocolate, maybe the sugar or the caffeine or, you know, some other substance or combination of substances. Perhaps copper. I mean, we mentioned that earlier, although copper deficiency is fairly rare in people who are eating a — I just don’t see copper deficiency very often, but you can check for it. Transdermal magnesium oil — it’s another one that I’m a little bit uncertain about, and when you look in the scientific literature, there are no studies other than studies that are done by companies that sell magnesium oil that show that it’s an effective way of delivering magnesium. However, I have patients who have not experienced any benefit from taking even the chelated forms of magnesium, like glycinate and malate, but have experienced a fairly dramatic change after using transdermal magnesium oil. So, I don’t see how it could do any harm, and if you try it and it helps improve your symptoms, then maybe it does work. And, you know, lack of proof is not necessarily proof against, so it’s possible that we just don’t have the research on this yet. I remember trying it a while back, and I didn’t really notice that much of a difference, but I don’t think that I was significantly magnesium deficient either, so I’m probably not the best test case. Steve Wright: Were you eating a bar of chocolate a day? Chris Kresser: No, I wasn’t. You know, I’m irritating to some people in my discipline around those things. It’s not even discipline. I just don’t crave it. I have sometimes a little piece that size after a meal, and that’s all I really need to satisfy the craving, so I’m no hero of discipline. I just, for whatever reason, don’t have that kind of relationship with it. Steve Wright: It’s interesting. So, with the magnesium supplementation, would you recommend that before bed? Is there a certain time there? Chris Kresser: Yeah, two times a day usually, so in the morning and then in the evening. If people are using it for constipation and they want to promote a healthy bowel movement in the morning, you could take two times the dose in the evening and maybe a smaller dose in the morning. Or, you could even take it all in the evening, maybe with dinner as a good approach. If you’re using it for muscle pain, muscle fatigue, and just general health, it doesn’t really matter as much when you take it. Steve Wright: OK, and with magnesium glycinate, just to remind everyone that there is gonna be an upper level for them at which they’ll start to cause loose stools probably, right? Chris Kresser: Yeah, it’s a higher upper level than with oxide or citrate, which is one of the reasons I recommend it, but one approach is dosing intolerance, just like you do with vitamin C. So, you can keep increasing the dose until you hit the loose stools, and then you can go back a little bit, but I find that for most people, unless they’re severely magnesium deficient, a dose of somewhere between 400 and 600 mg a day will be sufficient. Steve Wright: OK.

How to get your Vitamin A and D ratio within healthy ranges

Chris Kresser: So, I think we have time for one more short one. How about the vitamin A-D ratio question? Steve Wright: Sure. This comes from Michel, and he or she, I’m sorry, is asking about the ideal ratio between vitamin A and vitamin D. Should one be higher than the other, and by how much? They’re worried that vitamin D is being hyped so much that people are going to tend to consume too D and not enough A. Chris Kresser: Yeah, I think that’s a valid concern, and one of the reasons that I like the Weston A. Price Foundation approach is they put a lot of emphasis on the importance of fat-soluble vitamins, and that’s not something that’s really discussed in the Paleo world very often. Fat-soluble vitamins — we’re talking about A, D, K2, and E — they play so many crucial roles in health, and they’re difficult to obtain from food in most cases, particularly K2 and A, you know, and D, if you’re not eating seafood. But there has been a lot of hype about vitamin D, and then there’s been a lot of hype in the other direction about the danger of vitamin A, particularly for pregnant women or women who are trying to get pregnant; they’re really freaked out, unfortunately, about vitamin A because it’s a crucial nutrient for healthy development of the fetus, which I talk about in The Healthy Baby Code. The important thing to understand about these fat-soluble vitamins is they exist in a synergistic relationship, and when you have problems with toxicity of one of them, it’s almost always contributed to by, or even only possible in the face of, a deficiency of one of the others. So, for example, all of the problems with vitamin A toxicity that people are afraid of are only really possible in the presence of concurrent vitamin D deficiency, and Chris Masterjohn has done some great work on this. I think there’s an article on the Weston A. Price website that he wrote called — I think if you search for vitamin A / osteoporosis in the search engine on their site, you’ll find it, but he talks about a study, and I mention this in The Health Baby Code, too, where when people are supplementing with vitamin D or they have adequate vitamin D levels, the toxicity threshold for vitamin A goes up to like 200,000 IU a day, which is an absurd amount of vitamin A. Like to put that in perspective, 3 ounces of liver have about 27,000 IU of vitamin A, so you’d have to eat 30 ounces of liver every day to exceed the toxicity threshold, and I don’t know anybody who is eating 30 ounces of liver a day, so that’s just not going to happen. And likewise, vitamin D toxicity will happen at a lower level if vitamin A and vitamin K2 are deficient, because vitamin A and K2 protect against vitamin D toxicity. So, as I’ve said on the show before, I think an ideal range for vitamin D is somewhere between 35 ng/mL and maybe 60 or 65 ng/mL. I don’t see any reason to go higher than that. I don’t agree with, you know, some of the people pushing vitamin D levels above 100 ng/mL. Studies show that you’re at risk for hypercalcemia because vitamin D regulates calcium metabolism, so you start to get issues with kidney stones and stiffer arteries, which, of course, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Whereas, vitamin K2, which also has an effect on calcium metabolism, it makes sure that the calcium ends up in the bones and teeth and the hard tissues, and not in the soft tissues. So, the key thing here is balance and making sure that you have enough of these fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin A is only really found in significant amounts in organ meats and cod liver oil. It’s found to a lesser extent in grass-fed dairy, and that’s why I’m always talking about cod liver oil, especially for people who are on a strict Paleo diet and who aren’t eating grass-fed dairy or organ meats, like liver. So, getting back to the question, which I’ve kind of gone off on a tangent from, there’s not a lot of research on the ideal ratio between vitamin A and vitamin D, but there was a recent paper by Dr. Holick that suggested that ratios between 4 and 8 times as much vitamin A as D would be ideal, and then the lead author on that paper, Dr. Linda Linday, had used cod liver oil with a ratio in that range to successfully protect against upper respiratory infections, and then there was some other research showing that that range of ratios is ideal in chickens. I don’t know how applicable that is to humans, but if you look at the amount of vitamin A and D in foods like cod liver oil, then it’s a roughly similar ratio, and that’s, I think, a good ratio to shoot for, and if you eat liver, 2 to 3 ounces of liver once or twice a week, or you’re taking cod liver oil on a daily basis, and then you’re getting exposure to sunlight and maybe taking some supplemental D in the winter, then that’s probably where you’ll end up. Vitamin K2 you can get from butter oil or ghee and smaller amounts from all grass-fed dairy. Cheese is actually a particularly high source of vitamin K2, hard cheeses, and goose liver, which is I don’t think a very commonly eaten food, which again, if you’re on a Paleo diet and you’re not eating dairy and you’re not eating goose liver or natto, it’s probably a good idea to supplement with K2. Steve Wright: I usually eat natto and goose liver every night. Chris Kresser: I bet. Natto is one of the nastiest things I’ve ever tasted. Have you tried it? Steve Wright: No. It’s on my list for 2012 to explore. Chris Kresser: Oh, God! Yeah, it’s wrong. But it’s one of those things where people either like it or absolutely can’t stand it, and that’s kind of what liver is, I think, too. You know, either people were raised on it and they have a taste for it, or they weren’t and they can’t stand it. Steve Wright: Yeah, I think there’s a lot of things you can do to liver to make it taste pretty good. I started off being a little squeamish with it, and now I actually enjoy it. Chris Kresser: Incidentally, I just published an article today, I mean, you won’t hear this podcast for a little while longer, so on Friday, the 6th, about why you should eat more cholesterol, and the article is about choline and the importance of choline, but at the end of the article there are several recipes for liver from some great blogs. So, check that out if you want to get some more liver in your diet and you’re wondering about some ways to make it more palatable. There are some good recipes there on that blog post. Steve Wright: So, the biggest takeaway of this A-D conversation is that if you’re just taking a D3 pill, you need to look at adding some liver or some cod liver oil to your diet? Chris Kresser: Yep, that’s it, and K2 also, if you’re not doing that. Steve Wright: All right. Well, I think that brings us to the end here. Chris Kresser:

Psychobiotics for Mood & Stress Support

It is accepted science that the digestive system is linked to the immune system. Probiotic bacteria, in addition to supporting digestive health, also are critical to a healthily functioning immune system. Studies have found that certain probiotic strains actually boost immune response. (See other articles on probiotics.) In the last several years, research has focused on a different gut-body connection, which we are just beginning to understand: the gut-brain axis.

Gut-Brain Axis

Like the immune system, the brain and central nervous system are linked to the the gut. Biochemical signalling occurs between the enteric nervous system in the digestive tract and the central nervous system in the brain. The longest nerve in the body, the vagus nerve, is the main information channel between the gut and the brain. Interestingly, the gut produces many of the same neurotransmitters that the brain does. Serotonin and dopamine, for example, involved in mood, are produced in the gut. Gut flora imbalances have been linked to such conditions as anxiety, autism, depression and dementia. How digestive health and the balance of gut bacteria may affect brain health has led to research on specific bacteria strains. The term “psychobiotics” was coined for prebiotics and supplemental probiotic bacteria thought to have a positive effect on both digestive health and brain function.

Psychobiotics

These psychobiotics may help boost mood and cognitive function and lower stress and anxiety. One study found that Alzheimer’s patients who took milk made with four probiotic bacteria species for 12 weeks scored better on a test to measure cognitive impairment compared with those who drank regular milk. Another clinical trial randomly assigned patients with major depressive disorder to receive either probiotic supplements or placebo for eight weeks. The probiotics consisted of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium bifidum (2 billion CFUs each). After eight weeks, patients who received the probiotic had significantly decreased total scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, a widely used test to measure the severity of depression, compared with placebo. In addition, they had significant decreases in systemic inflammation as measured by hs-CRP, significantly lower insulin levels, reduced insulin resistance, and a significant rise in glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant. The strain Lactobacillus helvetica combined with Lactobacillus rhamnosus normalized anxiety-like behavior and learning and memory impairments in immune-deficient rats with HPA-axis dysfunction.

Probiotics For Mood

Evergreen carries probiotic mood formulas from several companies. Genuine Health offers their women’s advanced gut health probiotic Mood, featuring 10.5 billion CFU Lactobacillus rhamnosus combined with Extramel, a patented SOD (superoxide dismutase, a powerful, natural antioxidant enzyme) from melon which itself has been clinically shown to reduce stress and fatigue. The very popular Dr. Formulated line of probiotics from Garden of Life has their Mood+ formula, with 16 probiotic strains including helvetica and rhamnosus with the addition of stress-busting superstar ashwagandha. It is available in both refrigerated and shelf-stable forms. Both New Chapter and Megafood have new additions to their probiotic lines. From New Chapter comes Mood Support Probiotic which contains Lactobacillus rhamnosus along with a mood-enhancing herbal blend featuring passionflower and lavender. And Megafood’s Probiotic Mood offers 15 acid-resistant strains plus the Extramel mentioned above. All of these products are shelf-stable making them easily portable and ideal for travel. As well, all of these contain a prebiotic fiber of some sort to enhance the efficacy and activity of the bacteria. Feel better, mind and body, with these psychobiotics.

100 % Whole-Food Supplements

At Evergreen Nutrition we know that many of us lead such busy lives that we often don’t have time to eat as well as we should. That’s why we carry three excellent brands of 100% whole-food supplements. 100% whole-food supplements contain nutrients the way they exist in nature: complete phytonutrients with synergistic cofactors intact which you don’t get from isolated fractions. These whole-food products are processed at such low temperatures that the enzymes are still viable and they contain active probiotic cultures including the nutrient powerhouse Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a non-candida yeast. Whole-food supplements are gentle on the stomach and easily digested and utilized by our bodies. Because they are real food, they are recognized as nutrients and are easily utilized by our bodies which means they may be taken in lower potencies. And 100% whole food supplements can be taken on an empty stomach, any time of day. (Please do not confuse 100% whole-food supplements with “food-based” supplements which may contain as little as 2% actual food.) NEW CHAPTER’s Probiotic Nutrients are created using a two-stage culturing process which yields 100% whole-food complexed nutrients complete with enzymes and naturally occurring phytonutrients. MEGAFOOD FoodState concentrates are made from fresh, raw organic foods, delivering 100% whole-food nutrients and protective antioxidants. GARDEN OF LIFE’s raw-food-created supplements are also cultured to contain live probiotics and bioactive nutrients. They are raw and organically grown. NATURALLY OCCURRING PHYTONUTRIENTS FOUND IN 100% WHOLE-FOOD SUPPLEMENTS: Amino Acids, Essential Trace Minerals, Bioflavonoids, Isoflavones, Beta-glucans, Glutathione, CoQ10, Lipoic Acid, SOD, Glutamine, Glucomannan, Polysaccharides, Glycoproteins, Lipoproteins.

From Evergreen’s Archives: August 2011