The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions--Today
Julia Ross, M.A.
2002
www.moodcure.com
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Julia Ross, a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychology and a specialist in the treatment of eating disorders and addictions since 1980, nails the physical aspect of the “mood” problem. She describes clearly, concisely, and completely how our physical sense of well-being is intimately affected by the availability of necessary building blocks to supply the brain with the nutrients it needs to function optimally. She distinguishes between “true” and “false” emotions: real feelings of grief or anger related to life events, and moods of sadness, irritability or depression that hold us in their grip for no reason. Of course we often do have unexplained feelings that are a signal of something we need to attend to—but these signals can be clear only if our minds are not fogged by deficiencies of the necessary neurotransmitters.

The solution is a combination of a balanced diet with sufficient complete protein foods to supply adequate amino acids, specific amino acid and nutritional supplementation as required, hormone balancing and lifestyle alternations to reduce stress. In her experience, many clients have a very fast positive response to these changes, and can avoid taking a anti-depressant drug that has been prescribed, or can eventually reduce/eliminate their medications (under a doctor’s supervision.)

The advantage of using a nutritional approach over a pharmaceutical approach is that when you supply the raw material, the body can make use of what it needs in a very focused and sensitive way. Candace Pert, Ph.D., pharmacologist and discoverer of peptides, the “molecules of emotion,” points out in Your Body is Your Unconscious Mind that when you take a drug that affects serotonin levels, for example, its function is indiscriminate—it affects receptors not only in the brain, but all over the body.

The body, however, will create exactly the neurotransmitters it needs, in the appropriate place, for the right amount of time. In addition, all the pharmaceutical agents for mood control have many side effects which range from undesirable to dangerous. Ross has found through her work with patients that although there some people who do better on a combination of aminos and medication, many people can solve their problems without drugs. 

You can take Julia Ross’s mood questionnaire here to determine which amino acids might be useful for you to balance your moods. http://www.moodcure.com/Questionnaire.html

Her book covers defining what mood imbalance you may have, the best diet and supplementation for your condition, sleep disturbances and how to correct them, contraindications and precautions, and she includes a very specific “toolkit” of recommendations for finding practitioners, supplements, special foods, product, and services; hormone testing and rebalancing; and handling food cravings. This is the clearest and most complete treatment of this complicated material that I have found—I highly recommend it.

The diet is similar to the Schwarzbein diet and the Traditional Foods diet--natural foods, including saturated fats like butter, and balanced carbs.