5 Things I Did to Heal:
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I have struggled with depression since I was around 10 years old. I just didn’t know what it was called. I knew I was always tired and always sad. I think most depression is multifaceted; unhealthy environment, relationships, toxic food, toxic cleaning products. Much depression is brought on by traumatic events and seeing as my daughter struggles with it, I think it can sort of run in families too.
I used to the think that the only people who could be depressed were those who witnessed terrible things like war and violence, but I think anyone can experience it. Especially with how toxic our food system is. Microplastics have made it to the chat too and seeing as everything is packaged and made from plastic, including our clothing, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it contributes to imbalancing our bodies and causing depression.
Our bodies aren’t machines. We have had decades of moving to more processed diets and using synthetic fragrances and cleaners. Living in cities and in constant close proximity to exhaust from vehicles and factories. At some point our bodies will have parts, such as our ever so important thyroid, gut and brain just stop working or malfunctioning.
I grew up on military bases, my dad was a bio chemist and I spent a lot of my upbringing visiting him in the hospital where he worked on various bases. The lab to be more specific. I grew up with doctors and surgeons viewing the body in parts. Giving heavy dose antibiotics and then just sending patients home; not considering that they may need to repopulate their system with good bacteria. I grew up around people who didn’t see the difference between synthetic nutrition and real natural bioavalable nutrition. Where the food pyramid was the answer and medications were standard. That’s what I knew growing up so I can remember living in that kind of thinking and thinking there was no other way.
I even remember in the early 2000’s seeing a commercial for a shampoo and the ad said something about it containing natural ingredients for healthy hair. I remember thinking, “why does natural matter?”
Today I’m completely different. My family refers to me as a “hippie” but I’m pretty conservative and traditional; I just can’t live with toxic synthetic cleaners and fragrances, I can’t eat processed carbs and food, or food dyes, I only use body products I make and my husband and I worked really hard so we could build a house and move our growing family out to the country to grow up in fresh air and sunshine.
I feed my family an animal based diet with lots of bone broth and healthy tallow and butter. When we are sick we opt for natural ways to support our bodies to heal and we use the doctor, hospital and ER for emergencies. In my younger years I went to the doctor for healthcare. I never felt better. Not ever. Now I go to the doctor to find out what’s going on if we have a lingering issue. Or when I broke my tibia plateau to get x-rays to see if I could heal without surgery, which I did. Or when my husband needed antibiotics from a bone infection after being bitten by a dog. He almost lost his arm without antibiotics, so I’m not saying there isn’t a time and place for “modern” medicine!
I even went to my doctor for depression. My dad died when I was in college and my depression hit a peek that made it impossible for me to function. I finally went to my doctor and begged for any other way. Diet? Supplements? Therapy of some kind? No. He only knew medication. He put me on Zoloft and it was awful. It got me through my exams for school but when I came home that Christmas to a fairly empty house and a very sad mother, I decided to stop the Zoloft. I just knew there had to be a better way, I just didn’t know what way that was.
That’s a bit of my story with depression and my upbringing in the medical community and much of why I’ve shifted my thinking as a mother of 8 today. I think the things I’m about to share regarding managing and even healing depression could be tried for anyone. I’m not saying medication isn’t needed. But I am saying there are a lot of terrible side effects with these meds that a patient’s brain in some cases may never come back from. So why not try something natural first? Why not see if there’s a root cause first?
Low in certain nutrients, low in gut bacteria that produces happy hormones, low in dopamine or seratonin, low in iron, high cortisol maybe? Inflammation, constipation, gut dysbiosis, food, hormones… why not see if the root can be figured out and fixed. In my experience: it’s totallly worth it!
*I’m not a doctor or medical professional. I’m just a mom who has suffered with debilitating depression, especially after childbirth. I didn’t want to rely on meds that might mess my health up further so I spent years researching and trying things out. I’m simply sharing what is working for me.
Supplementation:
Being low on vital nutrients can contribute to poor mental health. For me, when I’m low on B vitamins and iron my mental health really spirals. Here are some supplements that truly made a difference in my depression.
A good multivitamin and a stress and mood vitamin. I discovered Everydea vitamins when I was at my lowest point two years ago with post partum depression. They have a prenatal multi, a nursing multi and stress and mood multi. I am affiliated with them because they work so well. I will even give the mood and stress multi to one of my teenage daughters who sometimes struggles with anxiety and depression. You don’t have to be pregnant or breastfeeding to benefit from their mood and stress multi.
Use my code: WILDWOODSANDHOMESTEAD for 15% off.
Any good multi (I think) helps. Especially if you’re not getting the vitamins in your diet or you’re trying to heal right now. Good food is extremely important, especially from good fatty pasture raised meat and fat. But for those times you need a little extra; a good multivitamin with B vitamins is extremely helpful.
L. Reuteri bacteria. This is called the “happy” bacteria and is easily destroyed with antibiotic use. If you’ve ever needed antibiotics, you most likely do not have this good bacteria in your gut. A healthy gut microbiome is crucial for mental health as the gut is where a lot of hormones like serotonin and GABA are produced. This is where diet plays an important part too to keep a health gut terrain. Look for a probiotic with L.Ruteri or learn to make a yogurt with that strain as a starter.
Here’s a great video on L. Reuteri and why it helps with depression:
Healing depression with healthy gut
Iron. The best form of iron is beef liver. Beef liver also contains an array of mood boosting B vitamins. I feel immediately better after eating liver. If you can’t find liver or you don’t enjoy cooking and eating it, try taking a good desiccated beef liver supplement. Try taking it away from dairy as calcium can cancel out the iron. My midwife told me it’s best to take iron with orange juice since the vitamin C increases the properties of the liver. I take my iron midday with lunch as I typically don’t have dairy with my lunch.
Sometimes my depression and anxiety would become worse at night. Especially when I was post partum. I stumbled on a combination of supplements I believe my body was low in.
GABA
This is produced in our gut but sometimes damage can cause too little production. GABA is very important for healthy mood.
5HTP
This helps with pain and to relax the body and mind.
L. Theanine
This helps to lower cortisol and relax the body. When I am struggling with anxiety and over thinking, this supplement helps so much. Especially after I have a baby and my cortisol and adrenaline are running high.
I took these three together each night to help my mind and body relax and fall asleep.
Iodine
Iodine is something most people are deficient in. This is a weekly supplement I take and give my entire family since we live inland, don’t have access to good sea food and most likely nothing we eat has it in it. Iodine is crucial for thyroid function which can contribute to mental health. Every organ in our body needs iodine. I have noticed that when my body is properly saturated with iodine I sleep better too. Two to three times a week I take 2-3 drops of this Lugol’s iodine.
Ultimately as I heal my body with diet, I want to get to a place where I don’t need supplements like most of these (other than iodine) but when you’re really struggling and trying to heal deep chronic issues, these supplements are a lifesaver and compared to taking a pharmaceutical drug that may have lasting negative consequences, these actually help to get to the root cause and journey to heal through life style.
Sunlight
Sunlight exposure, especially first thing in the morning, sets us up for better energy, balances our hormones, metabolism and even affects our sleep. Which we all know how important sleep is in helping our mental health. When I’m sleep deprived, I feel just about insane. Sun exposure makes all the difference.
I first ran across this topic when I found the Huberman Lab Podcast . He has some great long form interviews with specialists talking about this.
Living in Northern Alberta, half of our year is quite dark, so in winter I’ve experimented using a light therapy lamp I found at Costco a few years ago. I set it up in my living room where I read my Bible and drink my coffee every morning. This is where I have my kids meet me for our morning read alouds too so they get the light exposure. In summer, we get very long days and as soon as my kids are up, most of them are running outside for the trampoline, so that works out:) I aim for at least 10 minutes of light first thing each morning.
Besides the light for our neurobiology, sunlight throughout the day on our skin is the best way to get bioavailable vitamin D and store it up in our bodies for winter. Adequate vitamin D makes a huge difference in depression. After a long winter, I will work up my sun exposure, trying to get out at the the hottest part of the day. I have found since moving to an animal based diet with lots of animal fats, I don’t burn anymore. But I do have to work up to being in the sun, especially after six months of feeling like I’ve been living in a cave ha ha!
Grounding
Today there’s a lot of science out there talking about grounding and how it thins the blood and lowers inflammation. I’m going to talk about it from a non scientific antidotal side.
I discovered grounding over 10 years ago. We lived in a townhouse along a highway and I felt so stuck with four energetic kids that I struggled to walk through busy roads, neighborhoods and finally to a park. Most days I gave up as it was all I could do to manage all the floors of that tall skinny townhouse, homeschool, keep up with laundry and get three scratch made meals on the table. We had purchased our acreage and we had been approved for our self build mortgage but we didn’t have to pay the mortgage until my husband finished the house. We had a timeline and we couldn’t afford to pay for rent and mortgage, so my husband was working a full time job and then rushing to the acreage to build with his dad. Just the two of them, it was slow grueling work. This meant I didn’t have a vehicle and most days my kids and I felt like we lived in a cave, removed from sun and ground.
One day I drove out to the acreage to see the progress and I got the truck stuck. It was a shallow slick mud puddle so I took my sandals off and dug out the wheel in bare feet. It was so fun! I felt immediate relief. I had no idea why. The following days I felt calm and steady and like any inflammation in my body was settled. Shortly after I ran across this idea of grounding. It was a very new thing and many of my Christian friends assumed I was talking about something spiritual and possibly demonic. “Just be careful with that natural ‘woo’ stuff.”
Today, everyone seems to know about grounding and there’s lots of measurable research to back it up. Not spiritual or woo at all! Maybe spiritual in the way that God created us to be in touch with His creation and it’s healing. Regardless, I’m so glad to talk with people about the amazing benefits of grounding and they’re familiar with it too so it’s easy to discuss. Ground and sunlight are FREE after all!
I digress:)
Grounding or earthing is simply incredible. I feel amazing walking barefoot all summer. I also wear sandals from Earth Runners (I’m not affiliated with them), they have conductive copper that runs from the bottom of the sandal to the straps. I wear them when we hike or I’m walking around on some rough ground. Much of our acreage is still very rough so wearing these just keeps my soles from picking up sharp sticks and such when I’m in the back garden working. I can immediately feel the difference each time I step out of my house onto bare ground. Like shedding a weight of stress. So get outside and ground in some beautiful sunshine!
Diet
Healing has become a lifestyle for me. The way I eat, the way I structure my day… I was quite sick; mentally and physically all through my 20’s and 30’s. I just wanted to feel better and it seemed rather silly to me that if there was effort I needed to put in and I didn’t try it, then I deserved to be sick.
Diet makes a huge difference to support our gut health, nourish our cells and mitochondria. Being properly satiated with the amount of amino acids our body needs daily keeps us from over eating too. A diet high in empty calories is never filling because it’s missing all of those vital vitamins, minerals and satiating amino acids our bodies need to thrive.
I do believe each person is different. For me, my diet has to be gluten free or grain free with a lot of good animal protein and fat. I feel best eating a carnivore diet but thats not always feasible for us financially. I grow root veggies and squash that helps to fill up bellies, I only use butter and animal fat to cook in and if we eat grains it’s typically rice as we found we can’t tolerate gluten or even sourdough.
Being such a large family, we have a lot of birthdays and friends. So for holidays and birthdays I make healthier from scratch desserts and have formulated some of my own recipes that I share on my blog. I try to stay grain free or gluten free and I opt to use organic sugar, maple syrup or honey for sweetening. We also keep our treats to a minimum. Most days we don’t eat sugar or grains at all. Mostly eggs, butter, meat, root veggies, potatoes.
Play around with diet to see what works for you. But remember, our brains need a lot of good fat! Seed oils have been shown to cause inflammation so opt for tallow, lard and butter.
Cold Baths
I originally ran across cold exposure from Wim Hoff who talks about cold therapy as a way to heal depression. It’s gained quite a bit of traction over the years and there is now a lot of research out there explaining why it works.
Intentional cold exposure increases a steady release of dopamine throughout the day. It also triggers the immune system to fight against harmful viruses and bacteria and increases metabolism for weight loss and lean brown fat.
In my experience, this was the hardest therapy to try. I started with 45 degree water and was just able to get my legs in. I did that for the longest time before my husband began to read the research and decided to try them. He has chronic pain from work injuries and finds cold exposure with certain exercises each morning is healing his body. When I was at my worst point with post partum depression, I decided to just go all in with his encouragement. Having someone coach you, encourage you and time you really helps you to stay accountable! My neighbor does this with a group of ladies in her dug out in winter and one of these days I plan to join them!
I try not to over think it because if I do I chicken out. It’s best for water to be between 38 and 50 degrees to get the benefits. I started around 50 and worked my way down to around 38 degrees. I did this with time too. Starting with 2 minutes and working towards 5. You can do this in your shower or bath. I find bath to be easiest to stay submerged, in the shower I just wanna cringe away from the water ha ha. The tub I’m rather stuck.
Cold exposure is hard. I’m not going to say it’s not. It might need to be something you work up to or simply become desperate enough to try (as in my case.) It truly works though. Look up some videos on YouTube, with cold exposure gaining traction there are thousands of people doing it, sharing how they do and what their progress is like.
Those are 5 life changing things I’ve created habits around doing each day. If I added anything I would suggest paying attention to your thoughts. Something I never considered important. But as I get older I realize I am prone to negative thinking. I was brought up with some very critical parents. They certainly had their battles from stressful abusive childhoods and I can see how they had no idea that it was ok to be positive as their lives improved.
Not fake positive but real positive. Everyday I am active in my thoughts, I may lean towards negative thinking naturally, but I’m working on the habit of pausing, breathing and thinking, “ok what’s true here, about this situation or that person, or myself, whats truly positive, Whats truly working.”
Also, learning to accept failure and not letting it crush us. This one is huge for me because growing up I always heard, “failure is not an option.” Which when you’re a messy kid trying to figure things out, this is extremely stressful to hear. The reality is, failure is an option. Further, failure is a wonderful way to learn and work towards success. Even just the other day, I was devastated to find that a small animal tore the bark off our fruit trees. Fruit trees aren’t easy to grow here; we put a lot work into ground preparation and I had speciality zone 3 trees shipped here four years ago. I spent hundreds of dollars and so much time creating this northern climate orchard and this year, the year we should finally get fruit, I find them destroyed after the snow melt! It was another homesteading failure and for a bit I did run a little pitty party in my mind, but then I thought about all the things I’ve learned homesteading and how once I learned to fix the problem it’s like I’ve received an education I never could have gotten in college. So I learned about bridge grafting and plan to try it. It may not work. My trees may die. But I’m learning not to take life so seriously.
The only thing we can control in life is our effort and healthy response to the world around us.
Positive thinking, not unrealistic, but realistic positive thinking to navigate us through life. Learn from our mistakes. Accept failure and keep trying. Give ourselves and others grace. Forgive quickly. Trust; knowing people are messy just like us.
This changes our brains for healthy thinking (nueroplasticity).
Again, I’m not a doctor or medical professional. I just want to help other moms who are struggling just like I did.
Healthy moms raise healthy kids and create secure homes. These things change society for good.
Warmest Blessings,
Ashley
