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January Health Hunter Newsletter »

Feed the brain and lift the mood
By REBECCA K. KIRBY, M.D., M.S., R.D.

Sometimes after the holidays, people have a sense of slump. It may be just a change from the flurry of the holiday season or it may be an ongoing feeling of depressed mood. More work days are lost due to depression than to hypertension and heart disease combined. What is depression? Depression is a disturbance in normal daily activities which may be accompanied by feelings of hopelessness or guilt; there is a familial pattern.
         Since the brain and the body are connected, depression may cause changes in appetite, sleep, energy, and concentration with headaches, backaches, or gastrointestinal disturbances. It may be which comes first (the chicken or the egg) because the body chemistry creates brain chemistry. The famous Nobel Laureate, Linus Pauling, said, "The function of the brain is affected by the molecular concentration of many substances that are normally present in the brain."
         In fact, the brain is the biggest user of nutrients of all the organs in the body. Our founder, Dr. Hugh D. Riordan, always said, "Find out what the brain needs and feed it."
         Studies have shown an association between nutritional status and cognitive functioning (thinking). Researchers found that when looking at healthy subjects (not on medications), those who did poorly with abstract thinking and memory had low levels of vitamin B2, vitamin C, and vitamin B12.

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