Little Known Cause of Depression

The average American's diet is less than optimum. And this can effect a wide range of things such as productivity levels, how the body processes things, weight gain and the function of the colon.

The colon is about five to five and a half feet long and contains just about 60 different kinds of microflora and bacteria which help digestion, maintain acidic-alkaline balance, prevent harmful bacteria to expand and grow, as well as promote nutrient production.

What makes an unhealthy colon? Well, you are what you eat!

Things that are tough to digest will get stuck about this area, such as white flour products, red meat, fast food, processed food, and so on. It will cling to the walls of the organ, as well as grasp at other bits of food passing by. This leads to weight gain. The average American, of normal weight and height, could carry 10-25 pounds of impacted fecal matter just in their colon.

The first signs to look out for is constipation. Ideally, a person should experience two to three bowl movements a day, and it should not be a strenuous workout either.

When fecal matter sticks to the walls of the colon it can create a very wide variety of problems for a person including asthma, chronic fatigue, insomnia, bad breath and body odor, backaches, skin problems, arthritis, hemorrhoids and depression.

Somethings to try before you go onto medications (with a doctor's supervision) firstly is a change of diet. This is not as taxing as it may sound.

A really simple and easy thing to do is make the switch from white flour products and white rice to whole grain, whole wheat - any flour products, pasta or rice that hasn't been bleached and "enriched". These bleached foods have had all the nutrients stripped of them, and then synthetic ones that our bodies cannot process have been re-placed back into them. Whole wheat flour product and brown rice will have the opposite effect white flour/rice in that they contain a lot of fiber, and will help to break through and break away fecal matter stuck to the colon wall.

The next step simply is to cook at home. By cooking at home I mean to make things from scratch whenever possible, allowing for you to have complete control over your food. If it's a lasagna night, make the lasagna from scratch, allowing the noodles to be whole wheat, and the ground meat to be turkey instead of red meat.

Detoxifying the colon involves a good amount of fiber. The National Caner Institutes recommends 20-30 grams a day in the diet. Fiber helps your body through the process of elimination from the digestive system. It's easily obtained through whole grain foods, flax, dark, leafy greens, fruit, beans, and oats.

To fully detox, it is recommended to eliminate from the diet all processed foods, sugar, white flour products, most dairy, any produces that has been treated with pesticides, additives, preservatives, and of course, alcohol and caffeine. This may sound like I've just robbed you of food, but it is easy to replace these things with organic fruit and vegetables, home cooking, soy, rice, and almond milk products.

Drinking lots of water can help with detoxifying as well. When the colon "goes bad" it becomes toxic, and releases these toxins throughout the body, which is why there is such a variety of symptoms. Drinking plenty of filtered water can help eliminate the toxins from the rest of the body through other forms of elimination, such as through the urine and sweat glands.

Teas from dandelion root will help with this as well as support the liver and kidneys, which greatly suffer when there are toxins in the body. Garlic will cleans your entire system, though it is suggested that it is eaten raw or as close to raw as possible (a personal favorite of mine is brown rice, black beans, and finely chopped raw onion and garlic. It's cheap, healthy and tasty). Cayenne pepper added to your food will help the blood to circulate more efficiently, helping the elimination process.

When you can, make sure your vegetables are raw, and try and incorporate wheatgrass (that amazing super food) into your regular diet. You only need an ounce or two a day of wheatgrass juice to be set.

The liver is very important, as it's the organ that sorts through all that which your put in your body and gets rid of the toxins. A strong liver support is crucial to your over all well being and happiness. As mentioned before, dandelion is the liver and kidneys' ally, along with kelp, burdock root and a whole mess of vitamins: vitamin A, C, E, all the B's. Zinc and Selenium engaged with the mentioned vitamins act as antioxidants for the liver, protecting it from damage and will help to neutralize toxic substances.

Niacin is my personal best friend. It is actually simply B3 and acts as a powerful flush. I take two in one go for the intensity of the flush, which causes me to turn red all over and itch and itch and itch as the toxins rise to the surface of my skin and are released. THe itching is good as it helps to rid the toxins faster.

No body likes to hear it, but it's true: exercise will help with depression.

If you are in fact detoxing, then it will help move your blood and sift through all the toxins, opening up your sweat glands and allowing them to be expelled that way as well.

Movement helps to pump blood to the brain and cut through the thick cloud that has infiltrated. When the brain is more alert, the mood elevates.

Exercise doesn't have to be an extreme work out regiment or mile long jobs. It can be as simple as a swift paced walk down a trail you like, bouncing on a yoga ball and moving your arms while doing it. Hula hooping in your living room or with friends is fun and easy to do as well - and if you're particularly creative you can easily create your own hula hoop as well.

Hobbies are important. Sometimes the drive to do that hobby is blocked by depression. The best thing to do is force yourself to do what you enjoy doing, even if you don't want to do it.It occupies the mind and allows a person to feel like they have a goal or a purpose - to finish knitting that sweater, building that boat in a bottle, to draw that oak tree, to perfect the banjo.

Do not neglect yourself. By this I mean don't forget who you are, what makes you you. For me, this means to write a lot. When I was depressed I couldn't bring myself to write or express myself. As soon as I began to force myself to write again, glimmers of my me-ness slowly returned.

Most importantly, smile. You don't have to do it for other people, but just smile. The act of smiling triggers a subconscious response in the brain and will help you actually want to smile. Go on, give it a go.

One last tip - look up. I don't mean walk around with your head in the clouds, but rather, look forward instead of down at the ground as you walk. This helps your chakras to align and energy through the body to move better. It helps to awaken the crown chakra (the one just above your head). The best part about it is that you will notice more. You will notice the leaves on the trees and how they contrast with the color of the sky, the architecture of the surrounding buildings, and somehow the world looks slightly better.

And the most important thing to remember that I cannot stress enough:

Mind, Body, Spirit are all connected. Keep a healthy body and a healthy atmosphere to keep a healthy mind.