With all the pressures people face everyday in their personal and professional lives, it's obvious why mood stabilizers are so popular. Even though there are many natural mood stabilizing supplements, most people think that prescription drugs as the first choice for treating depression. The pros and cons of prescription antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs are debated every day on TV, on the Internet and among medical professionals. It's hard to know what to believe, as some of the research findings seem to contradict each other.
Be Proactive about Your Mood Stabilizing Plan
Before talking to your doctor about prescribing an antidepressant or anti-anxiety drug, you should review your symptoms. Discuss your symptoms with a trusted friend or family member and do some self-assessment. When do you feel sad or anxious? What do you think causes such feeling, and how can you better deal with these emotions? A proactive approach may yield answers without spending money on doctor and therapist visits.
Once you've pinpointed the triggers for your occasional depression or anxiety, you can work on solving the problems that cause your depression or anxiety. You'll also want to make lifestyle changes, too – exercise more, get more sunshine, meditate, and eat healthier foods.These changes contribute to better physical health, prevent disease and lead to a trimmer, slimmer figure.
The List of Prescription Medications for Long-Term Depression Continues to Increase
Mood stabilizers include prescription antidepressants such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Lexapro. SSRIs are among the most popular and highly prescribed antidepressants. Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) include Cymbalta, Effexor XR, Pristiq, Fetzima. While not as well-known as SSRIs, these medications and others are sometimes prescribed for long-term, clinical depression.
It's hard to keep up with all the new prescription medications for depression and anxiety, as there are over 100 currently listed just to treat depression. Many more are being tested, while others leave the market for various reasons.
Prescription Mood Stabilizing Drugs Are a Common Treatment Choice, But They're Not Always The Best One
Some medical doctors recognize the failings of prescription antidepressants in all but the most severe cases. Depending on the patient, natural mood enhancers, exercise and meditation may take the place of antidepressants or be used to supplement them.
Antidepressant side effects include: interactions with food, alcohol or other medications (common with Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, or MAOIs), blurred vision, sexual dysfunction, nausea, insomnia, fatigue, weight gain, irritability and suicidal thoughts. Although prescription antidepressants (or anti-anxiety medications) may be the best treatment for some people, natural mood stabilizers and lifestyle changes can produce good results for many people with mild to moderate depression or anxiety. The natural method will take up more time than swallowing a pill a few times a day, but the results are often just as good or better, without the bothersome or potentially harmful side effects.
A Wheatgrass Supplement is an Excellent Natural Mood Stabilizer
Wheatgrass is a wholesome, natural supplement that contributes to dozens of bodily processes. When used as one of the ingredients in a holistic mood stabilizer, wheatgrass will make a difference in your energy, mental clarity and mood.
Anyone can benefit from including wheatgrass in their daily health routine. The nutrients in this super food include chlorophyll, a substance which is to plants what blood is to humans. Chlorophyll provides the basis for the nutrients in wheatgrass, including magnesium, B-complex vitamins, Vitamins A, C and E, amino acids and enzymes. These vitamins, minerals and nutrients are all essential for good physical and emotional health. The link between poor nutrition and mood disorders like anxiety and depression is well-documented. Lack of B-complex vitamins, in particular, can lead to anxious thoughts and sadness. Left unchecked, these feelings may develop into longstanding depression.
Some More Facts about Why Mood Stabilizers are So Popular - Anxiety Disorders: Cause and Effect
The cause of depression or mood instability differs, depending on each person's health, medical history, diet, attitude and life circumstances. There's no one-size-fits all scenario for depression, anxiety or mood disorder. Mood stabilizers are so popular for many reasons, including the hectic pace of life and the inability for some people to “keep up with it all” without becoming tense or depressed. Finding it hard to cope with everyday problems and emergencies can manifest itself in headaches, ulcers, lowered immunity, insomnia, teeth grinding (bruxism), high blood pressure, loss of sexual desire and chest pain.
Focus on a Natural Cure for Anxiety
Emotional and cognitive problems caused by anxiety can be dealt with easily if you're occasionally unable to handle stress. Meditation, deep breathing, exercising or listening to music are helpful way to get rid of negative energy and refocus on living-and thinking without tension. Enduring long-term stress without proper channels for releasing it contributes to an inability to focus, fidgeting, nail biting, poor judgment and forgetfulness. These behaviors may lead to problems at work or school, fights with loved ones, or even accidents or injuries due to a lack of focus. Ongoing stress and anxiety shouldn't be ignored. Treat it like you would any physical health issue.
Prescription Anxiety Medications: An Overview
Controlling the stress that fuels these problems can be approached with a combination of therapy, behavior modification and lifestyle changes. In extreme cases, an anti-anxiety medication may be indicated. Prescription anti-anxiety drugs are used to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), social anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Antidepressant drugs (SSRIs) may be prescribed for anxiety disorders, but a host of medications are available. Doctors sometimes prescribe Beta-blockers, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), antihistamines, Alpha-blockers or monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) for anxiety disorders.
Extracts and Herbs Used as Mood Enhancers : A Quick Look
Not all anxiety problems require prescription medication. Most mood fluctuations are temporary, and are easily stabilized by natural methods. Natural mood stabilizers are made with ingredients such as wheatgrass, ginger, cayenne pepper, green tea extract, ginseng, citrus aurantium and guarana extract. These holistic remedies do more than just boost your mood. They contribute to better energy and immunity, and some of them may even lower blood pressure or help prevent diabetes or heart disease. Taking a natural mood stabilizer does a lot more than alleviative temporary melancholy or anxiety.
Let's look at some of the herbs and extracts used in natural mood stabilizers. Keep in mind that all of these nutrients serve more than one purpose, and may be used in weight management or energy supplements, as well as mood enhancing supplements. They are completely natural, have no harmful side effects, and can be used by men, women and teens.
Citrus Aurantium - Safer than Ephedra with Anxiety-Reducing Qualities
Citrus aurantium, better known as bitter orange, has gained popularity as a replacement for ephedra in some weight loss supplements. It has sedative qualities, and can help reduce anxiety. Bitter orange contains bioflavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting properties. Historically, bitter orange has been used as a remedy for insomnia and anxiety in Brazilian folk medicine and as a preventative agent for colon and skin cancer in U.S. alternative medicine.
Uva Ursi To Fight Inflammation and Promote Cell Growth
Uva Ursi, also called bearberry, has anti-bacterial effects and is used to fight inflammation. Used for centuries as a diuretic and treatment for urinary tract infections (UTI), uva ursi contains allantoin, which is helpful in treating wounds and promoting the growth of new cells.
Ginseng - A Popular Mood Stabilizer and More
Ginseng, long one of the most recommended herbal medicines in Asia,is used in mood stabilizing supplements to promote energy and endurance, calm nerves and increase mental focus. It boosts the brain's capillary circulation to reduce ill effects caused by stress. It is used by some practitioners to regulate a woman's menstrual periods and increase fertility. When used in conjunction with ginkgo biloba (also an ingredient in some mood enhancers), ginseng's properties become even more potent.
Green Tea Extract Offers Many Positive Benefits for the Body and Mind
Green tea extract contains polyphenols, healing antioxidants that boost immunity and may prevent cancer. The tannins in green tea extract help flush out toxins. Green tea increases energy without the crash and burn effect caused by sugar or the caffeine in coffee. According to Herbwisdom.com, green tea extract may help prevent osteoarthritis or reduce its effects if you already have it. It reduces cholesterol, stabilizes blood pressure and exhibits anti-aging properties. All these qualities are bonuses when added to its calmative agents, which work well in mood enhancing supplements.
B-Complex Vitamins - A Key to Better Mood, Energy and Focus
Many natural mood enhancing supplements contain herbs, vitamins and minerals to curb the effects of stress. If your anxiety is work-related, consider increasing your intake of B-complex vitamins. Nutrition Journal published an article in its December 2014 edition highlighting planned research involving the effects of B vitamins on workplace stress. The article concludes “Dietary supplementation with B group vitamins may be an economically viable and sustainable intervention.”
Vitamin B9 (folate or folic acid) is best known as a necessary nutrient for pregnant Moms as it guards against birth defects. Folate is derived from food sources; folic acid is the synthetic form of Vitamin B9. This B-complex vitamin also acts as a mood enhancer by boosting brain function, according to a study conducted on elderly patients by Tufts University in Boston
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) helps you maintain healthy sleep patterns due to its melatonin content. Depression and excess stress are common contributors to insomnia, and melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland, regulates your sleep cycle. If you suffer from insomnia due to stress or depression, a supplement containing B6 may help you fall asleep quicker. Cherries, almonds, goji berries and raspberries can also boost your body's natural melatonin.
Vitamins B12 and B6 - Depression Fighters
Pyridoxine helps your body produce serotonin, a mood-influencing chemical. Low levels of this neurotransmitter result in depression. Getting enough Vitamin B6 from diet or supplements is a side effect-free way to combat mood swings, that once in awhile “blue” feeling or PMS symptoms. Vitamin B6, like other B-complex vitamins, is found in wheatgrass-based supplements, turkey, salmon, tuna, cheese and chicken.
According to an article in Weill Cornell Medical College's Food and Fitness Advisor, low amounts of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B6 are linked with depression. "Both of these vitamins are essential for the creation of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which are chemicals that are known to affect mood,” dietitian Amy Taylor of Weill Cornell states. A balanced diet is the best way to get enough B6 and B12, as whole foods are better nutritionally than supplements alone. A mood stabilizing supplement combined with a healthy diet provides better protection against depression and dozens of other diseases. Both vitamins are essential for basic chemical processes in the body. Vitamin B6 aids in the metabolism of amino acids and glycogen, and Vitamin B12 helps create red blood cells and the fatty nerve layer, which ensures proper nerve impulses.
You can find Vitamin B12 in cottage cheese, crab, yogurt, milk, beef, trout and lamb. Since most food sources of B12 are from animal products, vegans will need to take a supplement to avoid a deficiency of this important vitamin. Wheatgrass supplements contain Vitamin B12 as well as other B-complex vitamins.
Happy Girl Natural Mood Stabilizer Contains Wheatgrass, Vitamins and Minerals to Keep You Focused
At WheatgrassLove.com, we spend considerable time researching and testing our nutritional supplements, combining the right blend of ingredients to make Happy Girl Natural Mood Enhancer. Happy Girl contains mineral rich wheatgrass for a power-packed infusion of magnesium, B-complex vitamins, Vitamins A and C, essential amino acids including tryptophan and leucine and 103 enzymes not found in other foods. Wheatgrass is just one element of this mood stabilizing proprietary blend – uva ursi, ginseng, green tea extract, citrus aurantium, cayenne pepper and ginger are just a few of the ingredients used in Happy Girl's health enhancing formula. Great for men and women, Happy Girl balances your mood, gives you more energy and helps you focus so you can accomplish more.
If you feel blue or anxious occasionally, and would like to try a natural mood stabilizer, you can learn more about Happy Girl Mood Enhancer.
Remember, Happy Girl isn't just a mood stabilizer – it's a wheatgrass-infused package that contributes to overall health and longevity. .WheatgrassLove.com's other products, Zeal 02 Weight Loss and Weight Management Supplement
and REVV Natural Energy Supplement offer more wheatgrass and herb power for better energy and a healthier, more vibrant you! Order one or more of WheatgrassLove.com's 100% natural products today!
