Just Ask Terry

Terry is happy to provide his opinion on diet and nutrition, supplements and lifestyle choices. This information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to replace the advice of your physician and is not to be considered medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you have any concerns please contact your physician directly.

Q. Dear Terry, “I have a very good diet with a large variety of vegetables, phytonutrients and fish oil. I also exercise regularly, but I can’t seem to kick the mild to moderate depression. Are there any supplements that may help?”— Janice D., Chico, CA

A. Dear Janice, I am glad to say I do have a recommendation. However, I would encourage you to talk with your doctor and see what they think.

I recommend adding a high quality, standardized St. John’s wort extract to your daily regimen. St. John’s wort has been shown to be every bit as effective for mild to moderate depression as prescription drugs. In fact, it has shown great promise in numerous double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trials for alleviating depression – without the side-effects that are often seen in conventional approaches. I would suggest taking 900 mg of St. John’s wort every day in the morning.

Look for a specialized extract that is available as a once-daily 900 mg supplement and is standardized to 0.3% hypericin. Clinical studies have shown that St. John’s wort standardized to this amount of hypericin has shown the most (and most consistent) benefits.

I would also suggest ditching your traditional fish oil. In its place, I recommend an omega-3 product that is extracted from salmon, naturally bound to phospholipids, and comes in a tablet form. The advantage to this type of omega fatty acid supplement is that absorption is increased up to 50 times over the triglyceride-bound omega fatty acids most often found in regular fish oil supplements, and the purity is vastly superior. Another bonus – you only need to take one or two tablets a day.

Healthy Regards!

Terry . . . Naturally