The primary emphasis is still on issues such as a neurochemical aberration, stress, and the like. But from own perspec­tive, doctor believe that nutrition is a factor in about 25 percent of depressed individuals.

Moreover, nutritional deficiencies are common in depressed people, adds doctor, though which comes first—deficiency or depression—isn’t entirely clear. “If people haven’t been eating right their whole lives, it can start to catch up with them in their forties or fifties. And if they have a ten­dency toward depression, it often shows up around the same time,” he says.

While poor nutrition probably doesn’t cause depression, correcting a defi­ciency can be beneficial if you’re battling it, says doctor. But nutri­tional supplements are no substitute for professional evaluation. “If you think you’re depressed,” he advises, “it’s crucial that you see a physician or psychia­trist for help.”

Depression isn’t the same as being sad or discouraged.  Those feelings are just part of being alive. Depression is an illness, one that can be controlled with proper treatment or that can ruin your life if you don’t get the help you need.

Are You In Depression?

Depression may look and sound likes the blues, but it lasts longer and has a more profound impact on a person’s life. If you’re clinically depressed, you live in a state of sadness and hopelessness so severe that it makes normal activi­ties seem impossible. You may lose interest in friends or hobbies, have suicidal thoughts, or feel overwhelming guilt because you can’t “snap out of it.” Depression can kill your appetite or make you want to eat all the time. Sleep­ing more or less than usual and having problems concentrating can also be warning signs.

Depression can happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s triggered by an emo­tional blow such as a divorce or the death of a loved one, but it can also appear out of nowhere.

A family history of depression can also put you at risk. We see depres­sion running in families just as diabetes and high blood pressure run in fam­ilies. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other causes, but a family history of depression makes a person more prone to it.

Depression often surfaces during times of transition, such as the teenage years, midlife, and retirement. The elderly are particularly vulnerable: doctor estimates that people over age 60 are four times as likely to be depressed as younger people.

Hormones can also play a role. Some women who take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy may experience depression as an effect of their pills and should see their doctors for guidance. Premenstrual and post­partum depressions are also common.

Not much has changed in our understanding of depression over the last decade except for this: Its incidence is rising. The National Institute of Men­tal Health estimates that depression is the leading cause of disability among Americans ages 15 to 44. In any given year, about 15 million Americans—or nearly 7 percent of the population—suffer from depression. But what’s most frightening is that children are the fastest-growing group that suffers from clinical depression—already, 23 percent of American children are considered depressed.

Vitamin C Food Source

connective tissues that give shape and elasticity to skin and blood vessels. As the body ages and those connective tissues lose strength, skin becomes thinner and blood ves­sels are more fragile. Sun exposure accelerates the breakdown of connective tissues, making older people who’ve spent years in the sun more susceptible to bleeding and bruising. The sun’s rays also deplete stores of vitamin C, the very vitamin that the body needs to protect cells and tissue from free radical damage.

Eating lots of fruits and veggies high in vitamin C, like citrus fruits, tomatoes, and broccoli, will provide a sufficient amount of vitamin C, but everyone (and their skin) will benefit by taking 60 milligrams of vitamin C every day.

Research has shown that topical products with vitamin C can prevent the damage caused by years of sun exposure and heal bruising in older skin. And when vitamin C is combined with vitamin E, the effects are even more powerful. Vitamin E and vitamin C work synergistically to repair tissues, so that same vitamin cocktail should help prevent bruising.

In a Duke University Medical Center study, two different formulas were applied to the back skin of nine volunteers who were then exposed to simulated sunlight. Those who received an antioxidant serum containing vitamins C and E had a 96 percent reduc­tion of sunburn cells and up to eight times the antioxidant protection of those who received the control formula.

One such formula, C E Ferulic, helps boost the antioxidant reservoirs the body dips into to help heal itself from bruises. However, since sunscreens and antioxidant formulas work in different parts of the skin and through different mechanisms, the formula must be applied to the skin first to neutralize oxida­tive stress. Once it’s absorbed, then the sunscreen can be applied.

“So far, however, all we have are primarily case-control studies,” said doctor. Those studies that looked at actual supplementation with micronu­trients or vitamins did not show significant improvement of lung function, with the exception of one study, according to professional nutritionist. In that study, people with asthma who took 100 micrograms of sele­nium daily for 14 weeks had improved lung function and were less sensitive to airway-constricting inhalants than when they were taking placebos (inac­tive pills).

Lung Infection

Selenium is needed in the body to produce glutathione peroxidase, an enzyme that helps protect cells by breaking down biochemicals associated with inflammation.

It’s too soon to say for sure whether supplementing a regular diet with selenium will help people with asthma. People who want to try it can safely take 100 micrograms, the amount found beneficial in the Swedish study. (The Daily Value is 70 micrograms.)

Studies have shown that people generally get about 100 micrograms of selenium a day from the average healthy diet. Don’t overdo it with selenium, say nutrition experts. A daily intake of 400 micrograms from foods and sup­plements is considered the upper limit of the safe range.

Antioxidant Compounds

People who want to take other antioxidant nutrients can safely supple­ment with up to 400 IU of vitamin E and 6 milligrams of beta-carotene a day. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor before taking more than 400 IU of vitamin E daily. However, a diet of fish, whole grains, fruits, and fresh vegetables may be the best approach to prevention of asthma.

Some studies suggest that in addition to the nutrients mentioned above, calcium, zinc, copper, and vitamin D may all play supporting roles in easing the symptoms of asthma.

Allergy symptoms occur when your body’s immune system overreacts to substances in your environment. Most people can live with a little cat dander, dust, or pollen, for example. But people with allergies have immune systems that can react to just about anything that comes along.

It fights these foreign substances just as it would bacteria or viruses, the main causes of run-of-the-mill are histamine and leukotrienes, biochemicals that your allergy symptoms immune system releases. Your immune system is an incredibly complex system of several different kinds of cells working in tandem. The overly sensitive cells involved in allergies are mainly mast cells and basophils.

Mast cells are found in tissues such as your skin, lungs, throat, stomach, and intestines, while basophils hang out in your blood vessels. As you can see, these cells monitor nearly every part of the body.