Depression and Toxins/Nutrients

The body requires adequate, but not excessive, amounts of trace minerals and nutrients for proper functioning. Under certain conditions, excesses or deficiencies of many of these elements can set off symptoms of depression. Subnormal levels of zinc, for example, are associated with treatment resistant depression.¹ And deficiencies of magnesium can provoke a wide range of psychiatric symptoms related to depression, ranging from apathy to psychosis.² Research on manic patients, on the other hand, has revealed elevated vanadium in the hair--significantly higher levels than those measured in both a control group and a group of recovered manic patients.³

Repeated exposure to pollutants in the food and environment can result in accumulation of toxins such as lead, mercury, and aluminum inside the body. One possible source of exposure is dental fillings made from amalgam, which contains mercury. Norwegian researchers found that 47% of patients with dental amalgam fillings reported suffering from major depression, compared to 14% in the dental control group.⁴ Exposure to other toxins, such as lead, can also elicit symptoms of depression.⁵