Sex, Drugs, Bugs and Turmeric

Happy New Year! Chinese New Year, that is.

Being half Chinese, I have always looked forward to the Lunar New Year, which is also called the Spring Festival because it heralds the start of Spring and the end of the long, cold slumber of winter in the Chinese lunar calendar. It’s a time of hope when families clean their homes, buy new clothes, cut their hair and generally spruce up and put their best foot forward in anticipation of all that the New Year will bring. Having just returned from China a week ago, I have to say that I’m feeling quite optimistic about the next year.

But for many people, early February is a difficult time of year characterized by late sunrises and long, dark evenings. The lack of sunshine, one of our natural happiness triggers, can take its toll on everyone’s mood and immune system. This is partly due to decreased blood serum levels of vitamin D3 which our bodies synthesize when our skin is exposed to sunlight but also due to our natural inclination to hibernate when it’s dark outside. Our bodies produce melatonin, a sleep hormone, in response to darkness and being roused by a noisy alarm when it’s still dark is counterintuitive to our bodies’ Circadian Clock.

Less Sun = Less Vitamin D3 = More Mood Swings

Decrased levels of D3 are also related to reduced lowered mood [1] and even a 50% increase in suicide risk [2], so it was perhaps not surprising that over the past 8 weeks, I’ve had four friends confess to me that their doctors have prescribed them anti-depressants in response to lowered energy, mood and tearfulness. Of the four, two are entering menopause when fluctuating hormone levels are known to have an impact on mood [3]. One is dealing with a life or death issue with a family member, while another was extremely depressed by workplace bullying. Interestingly, three of them are people of colour living in cold, northern climes where they will be getting sub-optimal levels of vitamin D3 due to poor spectrum sunlight.

Common sense might say that putting these women on an adaptogen that rebalances hormones, or even bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (HRT) might be one solution [4]. The Ayurvedic medicinal herb, Ashwagandha, is one such staple that has been clinically shown to reduce anxiety and depression. [5]

We might also say that simply resolving the emotional issues at home and work would have helped. Even a holiday someplace sunny might have worked.

Which is why I was alarmed to discover that Prozac, Zoloft and other anti-depressant prescriptions appear to be the solution du jour. Blood tests to determine baseline hormones or systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein) perhaps? Thyroid function checks? Blood levels of Omega-3’s and vitamin B12? [6] [7] Cognitive behavioural therapy apps maybe? Nope, not a one.

In my mind, determining the underlying cause of the mood swings and treating that is preferable to simply hearing the patient say they are moody, tearful and depressed before moving them on to SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). Why? Because recent studies show that SSRI’s are no more effective at alleviating depression than TURMERIC. That’s right. The lowly brown tuber with the bright orange inside that you see in Indian markets is just as effective – if not more so – than Prozac.

And turmeric doesn’t have any of the side effects of anti-depressants either.

“Since I’ve started on Prozac 2 months ago, I’ve gained 15 lbs!” lamented one friend.

“It’s making my libido worse – and it was already bad,” complained another.

Indeed, loss of libido and inability to achieve orgasm in women and erection in men is a serious side effect of antidepressants like Zoloft – which is why it’s lucky that Pfizer, Zoloft’s manufacturer, also makes Viagra, used by both men and women to increase blood flow to one’s tender regions.

The result? By 2005, right before it went off patent, Zoloft sales were US$3.3b [8]. Viagra sales have been steady at US$2b annually since its introduction in 1998. [9] Annual sales of all anti-depressants in the US alone were at US$9.4b in 2013 [10].

So all this money and drugs thrown at the problem has surely improved things, right?

Actually, no.

According to John Whitaker’s book Mad in America,

“…mental illness outcomes in the US and developed world have plummeted to the same level they were at in 1900 – and worse than if there was no treatment at all.”

In fact, if you were diagnosed with mental illness – from depression to bi-polar to schizophrenia in Nigeria or India, which do not treat with anti-depressants or anti-psychotics – your lifetime outcome would have been better than if you had lived in the US[11]. This sounds pretty alarming so perhaps Whitaker’s book is biased? On the contrary, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the most widely circulated medical journal in the world, calls Whitaker’s book “a valuable and meticulously documented study.”

Turmeric, Mood & Sex

And turmeric? Is it too a multibillion dollar industry? Not even close – it’s been estimated that the US market alone is worth US$25m. [12] Why is that? Because turmeric can‘t be patented – it’s a tuber, like ginger or lotus root. And all are staples of Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine with no long term side effects or withdrawal symptoms if stopped based on centuries of use in Asia.

According to a 2014 study in which 3 groups of patients were given either anti-depressants + curcumin, curcumin in an effective dose and curcumin in a less effective dose, the curcumin groups found that their depression was lifted almost as much as the combination and Prozac only groups. The best performing group was the Prozac plus curcumin group.

“The study authors concluded that there was no statistically significant difference in outcomes between the three groups taking Prozac alone, Prozac and curcumin, or curcumin alone.“

In short, if you’re already on anti-depressants, you can safely take curcumin with it to reduce anti-depressant side effects, such as impaired thyroid function [13] but, more importantly, it appears that you may be able to gradually taper fluoxetine and move on to high dose curcumin alone. [14]

Indeed, curcumin can be topically applied as part of a cream to the groin and belly area where it is more effective than Viagra or Cialis at improving blood flow to the groin and curing male sexual dysfunction. [15] [16] Given efficacy in male rats, it would be fair to surmise the response in female rats would be the same. [Warning: if you are tempted to open a curcumin capsule and mix it with your cream, just be careful about any staining from the bright yellow substance - it will fade but not quickly!]

But curcumin isn’t the only food-grade nutrient that appears to have an effect similar to that of a drug. It turns out that at least two different strains of bacteria - bugs for your gut - work just as well as Valium [17]

Gut Bugs & Mood

In addition to this novel use of food as medicine, something Hippocrates endorsed 2,000 years ago, scientists are beginning to think about the impact our gut microbiota has on our behaviour, including depression, bi-polar and schizophrenia.

“The Gut Brain Axis: The Missing Link in Depression” proclaimed the journal Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience in a study of the same title in 2015. [18] It went on to discuss the use of a new class of drug, the psychomicrobiotic, and concluded:

“Regulation of the gut microbiota using diet, probiotics and FMT [fecal microbiota transplantation] may have important benefits for preventing and treating depression. The gut-brain axis could aid in understanding and treating neuropsychiatric disorders, especially depression.”

Research into probiotics in the last 10 years has shown that Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum both improve anxiety, stress and depression. [19]

Britain is itself a pioneer in the field of FMT with the Taymount Clinic near London offering services for neurological conditions, including MS, Parkinson’s and autism. The treatment has proven so popular that Taymount has opened international clinics in Canada, Slovakia and the Bahamas.

Internationally, the Chinese appear to be at the forefront of FMT, with studies showing wide acceptance for reversing mostly gastro-intestinal diseases, as well as Type 2 diabetes [20].

Is Weaning Possible?

So what if you are already on anti-depressants and want to taper off? Unfortunately, it’s a delicate business as your dopamine, serotonin and other receptors (depending on the cocktail of drugs you are on) may have become hyper-sensitive due to the drugs artificially dampening down their abilities. This is how the body works – if receptors that previously were getting these neurotransmitters are completely shut off from them, your brain looks to find ways to circumvent the drugs.

If you went cold turkey off your medication, you are more likely to induce a seriously depressive, psychotic or even suicidal event as a result.

So are you on these drugs for life?

Like so many things, it depends. The best course of action is to find an integrative psychiatrist who is experienced with how diet, lifestyle, sleep and stress interventions can help support you emotionally while also carefully monitoring your blood, urine, amino acid and stool panels to correct any underlying nutritional imbalances, cases of gut dysbiosis such as Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) or Candida, and other changes as you very slowly and cautiously reduce your meds.

It is possible you may never get off them, but at lower levels they are less toxic to the body. Your doctor may even switch you to lithium orotate, a mineral naturally found in food and soil which many of us would have ingested in greater amount before mono-cropping and over-farming became prevalent.

The Future

So should we all be getting our pitch forks out for Big Pharma and allopathic medicine?

Actually no.

From a business and logistical point of view, Big Pharma has done an outstanding job of creating an efficient distribution system for products to patients as well as messaging and education to doctors and consumers. Many of their products are life-changing and -extending. Indeed Eli Lilly, manufacturer of Prozac, also produced the life-saving polio vaccine which eradicated a disease that robbed many of mobility and health if not their lives. I personally will never forget that when suffering from placenta previa in hospital with my second child, it was traditional allopathic medicine and drugs that saved my and my baby’s life.

But this does not preclude getting safer, more effective drugs with fewer side effects and at lower cost into the hands of patients.

Terrible for shareholders? Not necessarily.

Patients who live longer, healthier lives thanks to drugs, nutriceuticals or other therapies are also consumers for longer periods of time. It is my personal hope that pharmaceutical companies explore the array of new molecules and therapies that support the body in healing and even regenerating itself rather than simply masking or managing symptoms. I realize the latter may be the best possible outcome for some disease states, but over time and with scientific breakthroughs, we can dream of a day when psychiatric and other diseases have been eradicated, in the same way that polio was.

Resources

The best guide on how to do this has been written by Dr Kelly Brogan, an American Board Certified Psychiatrist with degrees from MIT and Cornell Weil Medical School. Kelly was a psychiatric patient herself and knows first hand what a blunt instrument psychiatric drugs can be. She learned to wean herself off of her meds and using a combination of diet and lifestyle interventions has kept her moods in check.

If you’d like to learn more, I urge you to read both her book for patients, A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives, as well as looking into the integrative psychiatry textbook she edited and contributed to, Integrative Therapies for Depression: Redefining Models for Assessment, Treatment and Prevention.

The Inflamed Mind: A Radical New Approach to Depression by Cambridge University Professor Edward Bullmore is a brilliant book that de-stigmatizes mental illness from depression and bipolar to schizophrenia by laying out the evidence that these are inflammatory conditions where the body’s immune system runs wild and creates a cytokine storm in the brain that should be treated with anti-inflammatory protocols (which I would argue would include turmeric!). This is an empowering book for anyone who has ever felt the medical label of ‘mentally ill’ meant that they were somehow less than others.

You can also visit Dr Brogan’s inspiring website for more resources , especially for women. And if you want to tap into some more resources for men, women and children, as well as some righteous anger, you can read Robert Whitaker’s blog, MadInAmerica.com, curated by some of the leading lights of the global integrative psychiatry movement today, including Dr Brogan.

The Overcoming website and app which accompanies the Overcoming series of books on managing anxiety and positive mental health is a good source for CBOT and other resources.

Medical disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion of the author and is not intended to replace one-on-one care with a medical professional. Please consult your medical professional or integrative medicine practitioner before making changes to any medication you might be taking.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202994/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3537724/

[3] https://womensmidlifehealthjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40695-015-0002-y

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4540404/

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573577/

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5067138/

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15671130

[8]https://money.cnn.com/2006/04/04/news/companies/antidepressants/

[9] http://fortune.com/2018/03/27/viagra-anniversary-pfizer/

[10] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/many-antidepressant-studies-found-tainted-by-pharma-company-influence/

[11] Robert Whitaker, Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill, Basic Books, revised version 2010

[12] https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/curcumin-market