How can I naturally lift my mood?

Question

I have already heard of St. Johns Wort has anyone personally tried it? Did you take it in a tea, pill, or alternate method? Is it safe?

Answer 1

Yes, St. Johns Wort is safe. It has been used for many years to lift the mood, but with today's research, it isn't the best herb for this purpose. St. Johns has a number of complications with prescription medicine, and can be dangerous in combination with those. Plus, while it has an effect, it is sometimes only seen after 2-3 months of taking it.

Consider trying Rhodiola rosea, an herb that has been taken for more than 1,000 years by humans, and which has no side effects or drug interactions like St. Johns Wort. It can even be taken WITH pharma medicines. The key thing with this herb, however, is to use a quality product, containing the plant extract called SHR-5 which is what all of the clinical trials were done on. Do a Google search for SHR-5 and you'll see the research studies on mild-to-moderate depression, mental clarity and energy, etc. If you buy a cheap bottle of stuff from a store, you'll get nothing but a stomach ache. SHR-5 is an ingredient of a couple of products on the market, but I won't promote one brand in my answer. The best is produced in Gothenburg, Sweden, and imported to the USA.

Answer 2

look at a marijuana plant

Answer 3

Be careful with St. John's Wort. I tried it and it made me manic and kind of psycho. Good thing I was under a doctor's care at the time.

I'd stick with omega-3 supplements like fish oil, exercise, vitamin B, and I'd also suggest juicing vegetables. I juice up some carrots, spinach, parsley and apples and one glass makes me feel like Superwoman. If you don't want to go to all that trouble, find a "green foods" supplement - liquid or pill - that has a lot of sea vegetables in it.

Answer 4

Try B Vitamins and aromatherapy

Answer 5

St. John's may help.  Exercise, fish-oil, and Vitamin B, may also help.  Excercise may be the most benefitial.

Answer 6

Have you considered getting a natural high on endorphins.  It is the safest, most effective and health preserving thing out there.  Course you will have to move your body to get it.

Answer 7

Personally, I use a St. John's Wort tea, and yes, it works.

The best remedy for depression is running.  Also helpful are B-12 and Choline.

Answer 8

hi there

Ive never tried st johns wort myself and am currently suffering from postnatal depression but im finding that doing exercise ,eating healthy and trying to get a goodnights sleep is slowly working for me and the extra important bit is taking time out from everything if you can even for 5 mins and talking to family or friends.

hope you feel better soon

Answer 9

when used correctly and in a way not intended to get high (such as in a supplement): KAVA KAVA.

Don't use it in conjunction with other SSRI's.

Also, if you are looking to for a treatment that is more specific to your underlying problems(like for the treatment of depression induced by trauma, or sadness due to irrational fear) I suggest Bach Flower Remedies or homeopathics. These things are extremely specialized so you have to actually look them up and survey your symptoms and specific feelings. They also take 6 weeks to 6 months to show results, but their results can be absolutely AMAZING.

some bach flowers: gentian, mustard

Homeos: nat mur, lycopodium, nux

Answer 10

I am sorry that you are going through whatever this is.

Generally from what I have read it seems that it is effective to increase serotonin levels.  There are ways to do this naturally and some even use diet to do this.  There is a book that I saw mentioned in an article that describes how to use diet this way.  It is called, Potatoes Not Prozac.

The following are some natural ways to increase ser. levels:

I have a friend who realized that her dep. was seasonal and that lack of sunlight was a cause.   She says that light therapy has really helped her. It is important to balance light therapy with darkness at night, since a balance of light and darkness increase Melatonin.

An article on that is here:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...

Exercise has also been very helpful not only emotionally but physically as well.  There is also a link to high sugar diets and insulin with dep.  Exercise helps keep insulin levels in check.

Here are some articles on that;

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...

Some recommend Omega-3 fatty acids and 3 mg of folic acid three times a day.  Here is a link to an article.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...

Pyridoxal 5 phosphate (phosphorylated B6) 100-150 mg twice a day is also recommended.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...

I wish you best of luck in overcoming this!

Answer 11

I like SAM-e for mild depression. I found it worked for me for a situational depression when I had to deal with a sad event in life.

The best solution is combining a good diet with appropriate supplements. Try The Mood Cure.  The Mood Cure explains how we can feel better emotionally, without the use of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, or anti-depressants-and the even better news that we can begin to see the results in just one day.

http://www.moodcure.com/

Answer 12

The source link below is a really good video with an expert talking about how to use herbal supplements for anxiety.