Posted by linkadge on February 16, 2010, at 13:15:24 [reposted on February 21, 2010, at 13:06:15 | original URL]
In reply to Re: Nutrition + depression (janejane asked....) » mommyron, posted by janejane on February 16, 2010, at 9:36:34
I don't really have anything against supplementation with gylcine, but...
One should be able to obtain all the vitamins and mineral one needs from food. I know what sounds obstinent, but there is good reason for the recomendation.
Deficiancies rarely exist in iscolation. If you are low in a particular nutrient it may be because you are not getting enough of a particular food group, or the food group you're eating is not nutritionally dense enough.
There is so much more to a ballanced diet then the nutrients themselves. Many of the plant phyochemicals in food help the body preserve and effectively utilise nutrients.
I believe the body manufactures glycine in the presense of sufficent b6. Oral conteceptives can depleat b6, so supplementation may be necessary.
Yet, if a wholistic test said you were low in b6, I would still ask your GP to order thorough lab work. I saw a 60 minutes special on how wholistic lab work can vary dramatically from one store to another. Ie. one test can say you are low in b6 and the next might say you are high on b6.
You must understand, there is a) no accountability for their tests and b) they are trying to sell you something.
As mentioned, blood levels of a nutrient do not necessarily correspond to the CNS activity of the substance.
For instance, you may have high blood levels of serotonin but very low synaptic levels of serotonin. There is no way to measure the activity in the CNS.
IMHO, the urine (or hair) tests that are done by wholistic practitioners are only useful in that they sell supplements. If these tests were acurate predictiors of clinical improvement with one nutrient or another, they would be offered by GP's. A good GP will look for likely deficiencies such as b6, iron, or b12 (in the elderly).
I dunno.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:937559
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20091202/msgs/937570.html