We typically view depression as a lack of elevation, a lack of potential to soar to our proper heights, or to achieve a sense of stability. We view it solely as a “mental health” concern – as sort of a downtrodden mood. What many people fail to understand is that several biochemical imbalances can lead to these feelings of depression, imbalances that are the root cause of our inability to go above and beyond. Given the global effects of COVID and the resultant rise in the number of people struggling with depression, it is important to have a clearer understanding of this challenge, its causes, and strategies to overcome it.
Biochemical Connections
Those of you who follow this blog know that my “favorite” nutrient is zinc. Many people, medical practitioners included, don’t realize that a deficiency of zinc can actually lead to depression. Zinc is critical for the production of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that helps regulate our sense of happiness. Many of the medications that we use to treat depression are designed to increase levels of serotonin. Interestingly, these meds work by trying to stop serotonin from being broken down and destroyed. They are called serotonin-specific reuptake Inhibitors. They stop the “reuptake” of serotonin which results in the neurotransmitter’s breakdown. Some of these SSRI medications actually rely on zinc or work better when zinc is present. So, if you’re low in zinc, you can’t produce serotonin very well and you can’t support the reaction that stops serotonin from being destroyed in the first place. From the pharmaceutical side, we look at trying to stop zinc from being destroyed. From the orthomolecular side, we look at trying to get more serotonin to be produced. Either way, if you are low in zinc, you have a very strong tendency to be depressed.
Another very important nutrient is vitamin B6, as low levels of B6 can also lead to low production of Serotonin. In fact, those with low vitamin B6 levels tend to follow the same progression of impaired chemical reactions leading to depressive symptoms as those with zinc deficiencies. Thus, both zinc and vitamin B6 are key to happiness because they both lead to the production of serotonin.
Now not too long ago in this blog space, we talked about copper toxicity and how high levels of copper can cause very strong depression. In fact, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis are both highly correlated with toxic levels of copper in the system. As my partner, Dr. Judy Bowman, would say, copper “…does a tap dance on your brain,” and this can lead to severe depression. Now, how does copper do this? Copper turns dopamine into norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is produced in the adrenal gland, and copper-heightened production burns out the adrenal gland. This causes fatigue to set in, which then leads to depression.
Yet another biochemical imbalance that is clearly linked to depression is Pyrrole disorder. Pyrrole molecules bind to zinc and vitamin B6 and then are eliminated from the body through urine. If your body has an excess of pyrrole molecules floating around and stealing your zinc and B6, this leaves you with little biochemical support for producing your serotonin. Excess Pyrroles also stop you from being able to produce your calming neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid, also known as GABA. If your body can’t produce these calming agents, anxiety tends to rise. And typically, when there is Anxiety, there is also depression.
Now, let’s talk about methylation disorders. Methyl molecules are carbon atoms with three or four hydrogen atoms attached. This particular molecule works like a light switch. It turns on and turns off enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters. It even regulates your DNA. So even if you have plenty of serotonin in your system, if you don’t have methyl molecules attached to that serotonin, the serotonin will not activate. Similarly, methyl molecules are needed to turn off, or deactivate, those neurotransmitters that may be negative for you. So methyl molecules are extremely important in terms of regulating your mood. If you have too few of these methyl molecules, which we call being under-methylated, you’re going to get lots of systemic dysregulation that can lead to depression. If you’ve got too many of these methyl molecules, you are over-methylated, and that too can lead to depressive tendencies.
Dietary Connections
Several other biochemical agents can impact depression, including vitamin D levels, thyroid disorder, and insufficient calcium, but let’s move away from the molecular side and look at the dietary choices we make that can lead to depressive tendencies. I hate to say it, but fatty foods can make people very depressed. Unfortunately, I speak from experience. I am a pizza-holic. I love my pizza. But I know that if I am going to indulge in my pizza addiction, I need to go hide myself away for a while. Otherwise, I risk impacting the mood of friends and family and anyone else around me because of my own, post-pizza depressed and irritable state. And you all know I’m not just talking about pizza – this also includes your burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, and most other fast food. Not to mention the sugary drinks that typically accompany our fast food binges.
We also need to understand that it is not just the junk food in our diets that can lead to depression. Pastas are often inflammatory foods, as are most any other foods made with gluten, including one of my (and many people’s) biggest temptations, bread. The problem with all of these sugar and carb-laden foods is that they trigger the body to release the hormone insulin, which makes the body absorb all of that sugar. We get a sudden energy spike from all that sugar, but then the body crashes (and often our mood along with it) when there is no more excess sugar to be absorbed.
COVID Connections
Depression is clearly caused by more than just biochemistry. It’s caused by more than just diet as well. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resultant struggles we have faced over these past three years, demonstrate how some external factors can trigger internal reactions, and some internal factors can produce external manifestations that can lead to depression. We recently hosted a Webinar with esteemed psychologist Dr. Mike Lukens (you can find a video replay on the Mensah Medical YouTube channel and Journey’s Dream’s online mental health support community, Amity) in which we talked about the interplay between the mind, the brain, and the body. COVID has given us clear examples of how the three are interconnected.
The stress, the mental strain, that COVID has caused is unprecedented. We’ve all had changes in our lifestyle, our livelihood, our family interactions, and so much more because of COVID. We’ve stayed inside, we stopped traveling, and we limited our interactions with others. Man is a social creature. We were designed to engage with one another. Even the wearing of masks, which we at Mensah Medical certainly supported and recognized as very necessary to slow the spread of the virus, had the negative impact of altering, and even hindering, some of that necessary human interaction.
These “mental” consequences of COVID were depressing in and of themselves, but they also had physical impacts on our bodies and brains. The stress of COVID increases our bodies’ production of Pyrrole molecules. As noted above, Pyrroles steal zinc and vitamin B6 needed to make neurotransmitters like serotonin, and low serotonin can lead to depression. Those same COVID stressors can also cause spikes in cortisol and get our adrenal glands firing, which leads to the burnout and adrenal fatigue we discussed earlier as well. And COVID also impacted our diets, with many people turning to the potential depression triggers of fast food for comfort or convenience. COVID attacked us from all sides, changing everything from our biochemistry, to our mental perception of the world around us, to our need and desire for certain foods that might not be very good for us – all of which can (and did) lead to depression.
Overcoming Depression
The good news in all of this is that these things are correctable. Especially now that we are starting to see some relief from the pandemic, there are steps we can take to get out of any COVID-caused depression that we may still be struggling with. You can certainly seek out Dr. Lukens or some of his psychologist or life coach colleagues to address some of the mental health challenges and triggers that COVID has caused. You can take it upon yourself to make changes to your diet and try to resume (or start for the first time) eating a healthy and balanced diet. And now is a really good time to get your chemistry checked out if you haven’t recently done so. A few simple tests can give us the information we need to develop (or enhance) a nutrient program that will help balance your biochemistry and overcome that depression.
Remember, depression is not just a mental health diagnosis per se. It is not a reflection of your character in any way. Depression is a reflection of mind, body, and biochemistry challenges that you are facing, and that are surmountable. And always remember that we are here to help.