It’s common for people to experience drowsiness after the large turkey dinners that are often a part of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Although most people attribute the drowsiness to the tryptophan in turkey, this is unlikely to be the cause. Despite this somewhat negative perception of tryptophan, it’s actually an important nutrient that has considerable benefits.

Tryptophan is an amino acid that’s needed by the body to assemble proteins that are involved in numerous biological functions. Tryptophan is also an essential amino acid which means that it cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained through diet. When tryptophan is not consumed in adequate amounts, it can lead to a number of issues including mood disorders.

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More people than ever are taking psychiatric medications, many of which have dangerous side effects. Many of these people don’t even need the medications that they’re taking, and in some cases, the side effects can be fatal or cause permanent damage that’s much worse than the original diagnosis.

Psychiatric medications kill approximately 3,000 people every month which is more than two and a half times the number of people killed by homicide. Many people who take psychiatric drugs aren’t aware of such risks, and to make matters worse, many of these drugs are just barely more effective than a placebo. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of deception and conflict of interest behind the marketing, research, and prescribing of these medications, and it’s important for anyone who is or will be taking them to be aware of it.

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Although it’s becoming more widely accepted that nutrition can have a significant impact on your mental wellness, and that part of this is dependent upon the unique nutritional needs we each have, it’s far from being as well known as it should be. As a result, many people are unfortunately missing out on a simple and natural solution to both mental and physiological dysfunction.

After reading Nutrition and Your Mind by George Watson PhD, I was left with two compelling thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised that I could gain so much from a book that was published in 1972, but highly disappointed to see how little has changed since then, and in some ways, has even become worse.

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Even though it’s well known that we can’t survive without food, most people grossly underestimate the importance of good nutrition. Although a majority of the population is overweight, many of these people are also malnourished, and as a result, suffering from poor health and disease.

The symptom chasing approach of modern medicine makes it easy to rely on medication and overlook the importance of a truly healthy diet. As a result, many of us are living with poor health and just barely surviving on a poor diet rather than enjoying the vibrant and disease free life that good nutrition can provide. The documentary Food Matters does an excellent job of explaining exactly why this is.

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Do your birthdays come with the sadness of another year passing by? If so, then now’s the time to do something about it.

Think about the excitement that kids anticipate their birthdays with. Even teenagers welcome birthdays in anticipation of the freedom that older age brings. But once we hit our twenties, the excitement fades, and as years continue to pass, birthdays may even bring depression. This is because they tend to remind us that we’re getting older, losing our vitality, and running out of time.

Same Routine, Different Day

Most people mindlessly go through the motions of life every day and resign to letting other people dictate their experiences. This often leaves a feeling of emptiness and a lack of purpose that can easily cause someone to become depressed. Until you take control of your life and figure out what fulfills you, this emptiness will grow each year and make each birthday feel worse.

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