New Evidence Reveals the Astonishing Power of Nature’s Own Antidepressant

These findings are becoming difficult to ignore

Photo by Andrew Heald on Unsplash

Life can be challenging. Feeling down from time to time is perfectly normal. When those feelings become constant, occuring on a daily basis for 2 or more weeks — that can become a clinical diagnosis.

Nearly 25% of American women, and 12% of men report a current or previous depression diagnosis. These figures don’t include the millions who remain undiagnosed.

Each year it seems more and more people suffering with depression are prescribed an antidepressant. According to National Institutes of Health; “The number of antidepressant items prescribed per year more than tripled over the past two decades, from 18.4 million in 1998 to 70.9 million in 2018.”

This trajectory isn’t exactly slowing down either. The number of antidepressants prescribed is fast approaching 100 million. Perhaps more troubling than the number of prescriptions dispensed is their efficacy, side effects, and long term ramifications.

Let's shift gears though to an area of optimism — examining the role exercise and physical activity play in managing depression, and anxiety.

While the exact mechanism hasn’t been pinned down, meta analysis reveals…