Anti Depressants..... SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

I'm back... I know you missed me!

So good question.... Why is a trainer writing about this? What business is it of mine and how can I know much about this. Well the truth is i probably still don't know that much, but I am learning. What i have learnt so far has helped my clients so I thought I'd share.

A tiny portion of why I blog is to spread the word about what i do. Its a difficult thing for me sometimes being categorised as a Personal Trainer, because to many people,  that's just a sergeant major who gives you a kick ass workout with 100 press ups. This isn't me, and I feel I do so much more for my clients than just help them improve the way they look.

Working in the business district of central London has helped me work with a huge variety of clients, and as I've said, it doesn't matter the issue people come to you with, whether it's physical/nutritional/lifestyle etc..... Everyone just wants to lose weight, tone up and look better. 

I've had a lot of clients (sadly) on anti depressants and it's a growing issue, especially in America. Its estimated that 1/10 people in America is on Anti Depressants ( REF http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/astounding-increase-in-antidepressant-use-by-americans-201110203624)

Since 2002 there has been a lot of research on the adverse effects of SSRI's. Some include: liver failure (serzone, it was pulled from the market), breast cancer (paxil esp), suicidality and self harm (6x more likely on SSRI's), increasing violence and aggression (especially prozac), birth defects (40% increase), premature births (up 20%), still birth (2x), slowed growth, pulmonary hypertension (6x)...and more. Then there are the side effects that the manufacturers have admitted: sexual dysfunction and decreased libido, headache, nausea, jitters, fatigue, sleep disturbance, weight bain, anxiety, increased depression, mania and bipolar symptoms, lowered male fertility....and more.

Again this is just my take of things, from health perspective, and from the education I have given myself.

If you are on an anti depressant (Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, Paxil, Zoloft) or you are working with a client on them, then I strongly recommend reading the work of Julia Ross. She is one of the foremost experts I've read on the topic and helped me, help my clients, enormously. 

Now the first thing I do with my clients on anti depressants is to NOT try and take them off them, or say stop. This can create huge issues! People get hugely dependant on these, just to feel good each day of simply get out of bed. Taking this away suddenly can have drastic effects in every area of their life.

Julia Ross assesses people by a whole lot of fairly subjective criteria---the quality of the depression, is it negative or is it apathetic? She said that negative depression (obsessing, suicidal thoughts) is caused by low serotonin, whereas flat depression is caused by insuficcient catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine). The other two possible deficiencies she deals with are GABA and endorphine deficiencies. 

Anti Depressants work in many ways, but the way I follow is by keeping Serotonin in the brain, helping you to feel good. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain that helps you feel good.

So this in essence is how the depressants work, they give you the Serotonin to feel good and if you suddenly stop that, people feel very bad!

Now Serotonin is an interesting neurotransmitter. It's made by the body in the sequence below....

L-Tryptophan -> 5 HTP -> Serotonin -> Melatonin 

I have Blogged this before so forgive me if I'm boring you!

So you can see that you make Serotonin from the Amino Acids, 5 HTP and L-Tryptophan. L-Tryptophan is found in Chicken, Turkey, Eggs... Basically protein sources. This is SUPER DUPER important people ...... You MUST intake quality protein sources in order to make these Neurotransmitters and feel great.

Now the flip side....

When you eat Carbs/sugars, the body releases Serotonin, and this in my opinion is one of the main reasons people get so addicted to Carbohydrates. The short term buzz they get helps them feel good but they can't make any more Serotonin from the Carbs. Enter... Anti Depressants.

Yes it's slightly extreme to link the 2 but every client I've seen on Prozac etc, is on a "low fat", zero meat, high carb diet and it makes them worse. Sugar is an addictive drug in itself and adding it to the drugs just exacerbates everything. 

I'm not writing this claiming to be Buddha, and suddenly eating Meat and not sugars, will completely heal the issue, but it's will help immensely and I've got the results with clients to prove it.  

Help your body to make its own Serotonin by eating more Grass Fed meats, healthy fats (did someone say Coconut Oil!) and the right type of natural sugars. Start to heal your gut and reduce inflammation in the body which will lower stress levels and help balance your hormones. Start Tai-Chi, Oi-Gong, go for walks, take time to yourself.... There is so much you can do but everything starts with a choice. And this is, for you to WANT to slowly come off the Anti Depressants and change your life.

It's a big, tough subject this. I hope I have given you some ideas and insight. Once again we see, that everything starts with Nutrition, Lifestyle and a positive attitude.  

Thanks for reading !

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