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Are you prone to a problem with 'Depressed'?
Find your imbalances and create a diet for your Mind Stress Sleep by taking the
free mind stress sleep quiz:
Depression is a common and serious mental illness that is, fortunately, very treatable. It is characterized by feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities generally. These feelings can decrease your ability to function at work and at home. Depression can vary from mild to severe:
Sadness
Loss of pleasure or interest in previously enjoyable activities
Restlessness, pacing, or hand wringing, or slowed movements or speech
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
Thoughts of death or contemplating suicide.
Depression can be triggered by 1) mental outlook or difficult circumstances or 2) the physical condition of the nervous system.
Therapy is often highly effective for depression. A strong spiritual practice keeps one's circumstances in perspective, and reveals the broader picture and the redemptive quality of suffering. How is God trying to transform you through these circumstances? It is helpful to contemplate, what is your true source of hope? If you have feelings of suicide, called suicide ideation, seek help immediately by calling 911 or the suicide help hotline (988).
Depression & Ayurveda
Depression, in the most fundamental sense of the word, is a stagnation (Kapha in nature) and is closely associated with Cold biocharacteristic.
However, mental stagnation can result from any of the doshas, from stress and overwhelm, or feelings of failure or shame. Thus depression can be multifactorial, involving all of the body types.
Exercise and sunlight are great mood lifters, especially during the winter when vitamin D stores may be low and Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is causing depression.
Stagnation can be cleared through aromatic, mood lifting herbs like lemon balm. Many of these are also antispasmodics that can ease tension and open up blood flow to the brain.
Sour tasting foods like cranberries open up blood flow and flush glands, refreshing and revitalizing the mind. These are often antioxidant and alterative which help tor estore proper blood chemistry. Healthy blood is essential for a happy nervous system as nerves are highly effected by blood chemistry changes.
It is generally helpful to reduce toxins (ama). Toxins disturb the nervous system.
Eat a diet appropriate for your doshas. Daily exercise greatly improves mood. Foods that are high in Omega-3 fatty acids improve brain function and lift mood.
Augment your diet with these specially chosen ingredients below which may be useful for 'Depressed'.
Individual results vary depending the cause of your imbalance and by constitution.
Please research the ingredients below to find which are most helpful for you, and check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.
Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy (Qi in Chinese Medicine, pneuma in Greek). Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.
Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
In Ayurveda, oily refers to anything moistening. More specifically, oily refers to building substances that increases fat, or are themselves fatty. For example, sugar is Oily.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
The term "bland taste" refers, in Chinese medicine, to food containing few macronutrients, such as cabbage, radish or bok choy. These may be compared to negative calorie foods.
Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy (Qi in Chinese Medicine, pneuma in Greek). Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.
Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
In Ayurveda, oily refers to anything moistening. More specifically, oily refers to building substances that increases fat, or are themselves fatty. For example, sugar is Oily.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
DISCLAIMER: The pathogenesis of each person's condition is unique, and so the diet must be fit to the individual and the unique root causes of the condition in your body.
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and should not be used to treat a medical condition. It is not a substitute for medical care.
Please check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.
Balance Your Body with Diet, Herbs, & Lifestyles Having These Biocharacteristics
Everything you eat has an effect on your body, which Ayurveda categorizes in a simple and easy way, using biocharacteristics (gunas).
Biocharacteristics are qualities (like cold and hot) that describe the effect a food or herb has on your body.
Cooling foods like cucumber, decrease metabolism.
Heating foods like chili pepper, stimulate your body and increase metabolism.
For 'Depressed', you should select foods with the following biocharacteristics.
Individual results will vary, based on your body type and the root cause of your imbalance.
FOODS TO FAVOR
MATCH WITH YOUR WELLNESS PROFILE
DRY
ABOUT DRY BIOCHARACTERISTIC
Dry is identified by lack of moisture, lack of fat, or anything that causes diuresis.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.
Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy (Qi in Chinese Medicine, pneuma in Greek). Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter.
Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
DEPRESSED IS IN STAGE OF DISEASE #2 - AFFECTING BLOOD & EMOTIONS
Affecting Blood: Initially, imbalances are localized, often in the digestive tract.
As an imbalance grows, it starts to affect your body systemically, via the blood.
If you have symptoms in this category it means that your imbalances are starting to spread,
have entered the bloodstream, and are now systemic.
Pay particular attention to the biocharacteristics, tastes, and doshas out of balance systemically,
so you know how to strengthen your body as a whole, and reduce physical stress on your organs.
At this stage of imbalance you will begin to experience generalized discomfort, imbalanced emotions,
and may develop sensitivities to temperature.
It may take several weeks of strict adherence to a specific remedial diet to clear blood level imbalances.
Blood cleansing herbs may reduce symptoms.
A several day cleanse may shorten the recovery time.
(See all disease stages on JB)
AVOID DIETS, LIFESTYLES & HERBS THAT AGGRAVATE THESE EFFECTS
According to Ayurveda, one or more of the following
doshas
and biocharacteristics may aggravate 'Depressed'.
If you have an excess of one of these doshas or biocharacteristics below, Ayurveda recommends reducing foods and lifestyle habits that aggravate them.
Click on the biocharacteristic to learn what foods and
lifestyle habits should be reduced.
Symptoms Tell A Story
The first step to healing is learning patterns from your symptoms.
Symptoms are clues that reveal underlying imbalances.
Symptoms show you where your body is weakened.
Ultimately, all disease has a root in tissues too weak to defend itself.
Ayurveda describes these patterns of weakness using doshas & biocharacteristics.
If you notice a biocharacteristic or dosha appears next to many of your symptoms,
it helps you establish a pattern that may be systemic.
Are you prone to a problem with 'Depressed'?
Find your imbalances and create a diet for your Mind Stress Sleep by taking the
free mind stress sleep quiz:
The following symptoms & habits may be related to 'Depressed'.
See your quiz results for a computerized assessment of your body type.
Please click on the symptoms below to learn more about them.
Risk Factor: 20% more often Complication: +1.4 times as often
Please login or create a free account to see research statistics filtered on Depressed and Emotional eating.
Biocharacteristics of 11,180 People Reporting Depressed
On average the biocharacteristics
of people reporting Depressed were more aggravated than 64% of other symptoms.
From the 11,180 people who reported Depressed
average deviation in biocharacteristic levels were the following:
Please login or create a free account to see research statistics filtered on Depressed and Hot.
20.9% avg client level
18.0% (2,017) of cases
7,949 have Hot constitution
Risk Factors of Depressed
Below you will see general risk factors as well as the greatest risk factors, i.e. those who were also more likely to report Depressed.
Overall, 32.70% of people surveyed reported Depressed.
Please login or create a free account to see research statistics filtered on Depressed and Unable to exercise due to Injury, disease, breathlessness, etc.
Please login or create a free account to see research statistics filtered on Depressed and Tongue frothy on edges.
321 cases with both
+1.5 times more likely
3% of cases
1.96% (739 cases)
WHAT'S NEXT?
DISCOVER YOUR BODY WITH YOUR FREE INDIVIDUALIZED BODY MAP
Find ideal foods, herbs and lifestyle tips.
See your imbalances, and locate intervention points.
Your body map contains a complete analysis of your Ayurvedic imbalances, organ by organ.
Give your chart to your functional medical doctor or any alternative health practitioner.
Ayurveda strengthens the body while opposing disorders. It takes a holistic,
systemic approach that looks at the whole body. Ayurveda
shows how to interpret signs and symptoms of imbalance, and how to address them
using diet, lifestyle adjustments, and herbs. It shows a person how to optimize their health on a continual basis. You can't
take the doctor home with you, but you can take Ayurveda home with you.
Ayurveda is the most advanced and easy to use home system for self healing.
HOW DOES AYURVEDA WORK?
Ayurveda starts by identifying your body type,
which identifies certain tendencies in your body to get sick (as well as identifying your strengths).
It uses body type to determine the likely root causes of your disorders.
Next, Ayurveda analyzes the nature of your disorder.
It fits all your signs and symptoms into a pattern, expressed as a combination of biocharacteristics (gunas).
For example, you may have a heat disorder, a cold disorder, or an oily disorder, etc.
This simple categorical approach shows you how to correct systemic imbalances and strengthen your body as a whole.
On Joyful Belly, we've created an extensive categorization of food so you can easily match food to your imbalanced biocharacteristics.
By eating an optimal diet that balances your biocharacteristics, your whole body is strengthened
and the conditions that created the disorder are removed. Once the root causes of the disease
are removed, the disease lessens in strength or disappears altogether. Additional remedies -
such as herbs and lifestyle practices - focused on the specific disorder, can greatly enhance
your healing.
GET STARTED
To get started on your Ayurvedic journey, we first recommend that your find your body
type by taking our free quiz. In Ayurveda, every solution is based on your unique body type, so
by taking this quiz, you’ll get the best results.
5 WAYS TO HEAL YOUR BODY WITH AYURVEDA - FREE REPORT!
New to Ayurveda? Not sure how Ayurveda can help you?
This free report shows you 5 simple ways you can heal your body with Ayurveda.
It shows you simple, practical ways manage your health.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John, his wife Natalie and their 7 kids live in Asheville, NC
Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
Comments & Personal Experiences
How does 'depressed' affect your quality of life?
What aggravates it? What has helped you? Is there something else you'd like to know about 'depressed'?
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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Ayurvedic Perspective on Depressed
Stage of Imbalance (Samprapti)
Diet Remedies by Dosha, Biocharacteristics (Guna), Action, etc.
Herb Remedies by Dosha, Guna, Action, etc.
Biocharacteristics & Herb Actions to Favor
Biocharacteristics to Avoid
Related Symptoms
Live Report: Biocharacteristics
Live Report: Risk Factors
Live Report: Complications
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