Sex, Drugs, and Over-exercising: The Quest for Endorphins

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Addiction to these activities is a common response to depression or, more precisely, to the deficiency of brain chemicals and nutrients that lead to depression. When we don’t have enough endorphins – the happy chemical – we seek highs to increase endorphins and manufacture happiness.

We can get that extra lift from refined carbs, drugs, sex, or extreme sports.



Depression can take years to become outwardly obvious, especially in children. As a parent, it is important to know what traits – many of which seem perfectly normal – are a sign of a biochemical deficiency which can lead to depression and destructive behavior.

What Is Endorphin?

Endorphins function as neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals that transmit electrical signals throughout the nervous system. This complex of amino acids is released when we are under stress, in pain, or feeling pleasure.



  • Endorphins deliver our feelings of contentment and euphoria. They are responsible for that warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we’re in love.
  • Endorphins numb the pain in times of physical or emotional stress. They are the reason why soldiers wounded in battle are able to keep on fighting. The are the reason why family members manage to make funeral preparations for loved ones despite the agony of loss.
  • Endorphins help to regulate appetite, release sex hormones, and enhance the immune system.

Subtler experiences also release endorphins. The smell of roses, a beautiful sunset, and hugs and kisses all make us happy by way of endorphins. Frequent pleasurable experiences can help maintain a consistent elevated mood.

Experiencing beautiful things, having sex, laughing, eating spicy foods, touching, meditation, moderate exercise, and sunlight all contribute to a general positive outlook. On the contrary, spending too much time inside a cubicle with angry, worn out co-workers, coming home to a television and bitching wife, and living a generally dull life all contribute to a low mood. To be happy, we need to give our brains a chance to release endorphins.



Primal man would not have been lacking in opportunity. Beauty is all around us in nature and beauty is impossible not to notice when life is simple.

In our modern world, however, things get complicated. Not only are we too busy to experience beauty but many of us experience so much pain that we drain our stores of endorphins or require so much to numb the pain that we cannot keep up with the demand.



Are You Low On Endorphin?

You might be low on endorphins if you:

  • Cry easily. Sad movies are sad, yes, but they don’t usually warrant tears.
  • Cannot bear grief. Of course we should feel sad when we lose a loved one but the pain should pass and the bad memories should fade.
  • Can’t bounce back. When stressful events occur and you just can’t seem to get life back to normal.
  • Feel sad for no reason. Sadness strikes us all sometimes but when you’re sad and you don’t even know why, you can bet that you’re low on endorphins. This is not a normal human experience.
  • Put up a tough or jovial veneer.
  • Often are referred to as “too sensitive”.
  • Have a tendency to eat “comfort foods”.
  • Are a thrill seeker or substance abuser. Drugs and thrill seeking activities produce the biochemical in large amounts.

A consistent stream of endorphins is what makes joyous people so annoyingly joyous. I’m talking about the real ones, not the ones who pose as happy to hide the pain beneath. The real happy people are simply high all the time – high on endorphins. They probably inherited a hefty store of endorphins from their mothers but they also take care of their endorphin stores. They give their bodies the building blocks needed to make plenty of it and they rarely expend too much of it at one time.

Endorphin Highs

Some people experiencing low mood will benefit from some pretty simple life changes. Adding the pleasurable activities mentioned above may just be enough to boost mood and feel happy again. Try it and see what happens.

But if you’re one of the many people who are depressed and do not get much lift from the little things, you may  already be seeking bigger rushes of endorphin from unhealthy places. People with deficiencies use vigorous exercise, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, violence, wild parties, gambling, scary movies, and any kind of thrill-seeking activity just to feel a few moments of pleasure – pleasure that they should experience on a regular basis. All of these activities and substances release an enormous amount of endorphin and set a person up for depletion.

For example, sex and bungee jumping both raise endorphin levels by 200 percent. While sex is known to be quite healthy, it is often abused in people who are low on endorphin.

How We Drain Our Endorphins

Unresolved emotional pain and PTSD
Too much emotional pain is draining on endorphin levels. Unresolved emotional pain such as denial of some big trauma requires that a person use a constant supply of endorphin to cover up an almost constant feeling of pain.

Years down the road, after we’ve been living with unresolved post traumatic stress, our endorphin levels can get so low that suddenly we might feel horrible pain for something that happened long ago. At this point, with no natural sedatives, if we don’t face the pain, we will have no choice but to turn to drugs, alcohol, or junk foods to further block it out. Since those endorphin bursts don’t last long we will need it with increasing frequency.

Eventually these people become bitter and then it becomes a vicious cycle of hate and pain.

Physical accident or trauma
Car accidents or sports injuries will drain a person of their endorphins in order to ease the physical pain. When the pain is severe and enduring, the need for endorphins is too high. As endorphins are depleted the physical pain endures. Additionally, the emotional stress that is usually accompanied with missing work, caring for children, financial hardship, etc. also needs to be soothed by endorphins.

An abusive situation
Usually women but men too can end up in an abusive relationship. The emotional and physical pain requires a pain killer just to make it through the day – and that means endorphins. Children whose parents fight all the time are forced to numb the pain with endorphins. We should protect our children from undue stress and pain to save them from later endorphin depletion.

Faking the happy life
The rules we impose upon ourselves can cause long term stress for some people. Some people love college, but for those who hate it, spending 12 years at med school can be enough to deplete endorphin stores, yielding one stressed out, unhappy doctor.

People in bad relationships who refuse to divorce for religious or social reasons wear a mask throughout their marriage until finally they just can’t wear it anymore. They have lost thier ability to pretend that everything is ok and they are now chronically unhappy.

Abusive or neglectful parents
The saddest thing of all is to see a child’s face when his mother abandons him, or the little girl whose deadbeat dad misses another scheduled custody meeting, or the kids who live with nannies because the parents are too busy working to spend time at home.

Rejected children can seem like they’ve got it together in the early years. They are told to accept it and so they use endorphins to mask the pain, but in time they can’t keep up the facade unaided, and they turn to sex in the dorms or late nights out with wrong crowd.

What Happens When Endorphins Get Depleted

When we become deficient in endorphins (maybe it happened to you as a child or maybe it’s happening to your children) music, exercise, and nature no longer produce that warm and fuzzy feeling. We don’t feel much pleasure from the simple things in life and we start reaching out to more extreme sources of endorphin highs

We might become addicted to carbohydrates or start extreme sports. We might go out each weekend to wild parties and clubs. We may have sex with one or more partners or get addicted to pornography because of the endorphin high we get with each orgasm.

When we stop producing our body’s natural pain killer, we take pain medications. When we’re tired of our abusive spouse and our screaming children, we hit the bottle. When all of life has finally beaten us down and our own resources are tapped, we look to drugs.

While this may sound pretty hopeless, our endorphin supply can be rebuilt. For the most extreme case this is not an easy task but it can be done with the help of food an supplements.

Endorphin Producing Foods and Supplements

Foods
Protein is the king here. Endorphins are composed of at least 15 different amino acids and meat contains all of the aminos necessary to make endorphins. (Vegetarian foods don’t. Food combining offers limited aminos when extra support is required.) A person low on endorphins needs to eat protein with every single meal.

The question of whether or not to eat carbohydrates when mood disorders are present is a hot debate in the Primal community. I like the way Emily Deans of Evolutionary Psychiatry questioned it in this blog post today.

Stanford offers a good list of foods to help manage stress.

Supplements
Often, supplementing with endorphin boosting foods and , and removing the false-endorphin stimulants would be enough to eliminate things like chronic back pain, arthritis, and migraines.

Some of the nutrients which encourage endorphin release are fats, B vitamins, and vitamin C. Magnesium promotes protein synthesis and is depleted very easily after any stressful event (even a very loud noise or concert!).

Amino acids which will help restore endorphins are a combination of D and L phenylalanine. In health food store you would probably find this as DLPA. For those sensitive to the L form, i.e. you get hyper, use the D form alone.

More information:

Julia Ross’ book, The Mood Cure, is a great resource on the topic.

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48 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for sharing. My brother died last year after losing a long battle with alcoholism. He was 29.

    I’ve never drunk much at all and like you, I’ve tried to heal my pain with nutrtion and excercise. I’m not where I want to be yet but I’m hopeful that I will arrive soon.

  2. You are right Peggy. Sometimes, death is not the tradgedy. Sometimes it is the only release. And that is tragic. I don’t know when it started, but I became depressed when I was a very little person, and suffered extreme anguish from what I now call Atlas Syndrome, and would weep often at the suffering of others. Your sisters story I think hits hard for a lot of people. I used drugs to escape the pain when I became a teenager, and only becoming pregnant at 16 stoped that. But still, I remember writing in my journal, heavily pregnant, wondering. Would I be capable of loving this child properly? I felt so empty, and void. It was like a chasm of emptiness and anguish and self-loathing at the same time. I think his birth was traumatic for me even though it went smoothly, and I didn’t feel much for weeks after. Then one day I was laying in bed nursing him, and it hit. The love, it was warm, and alive, after I had felt so cold and dead. My need to be the best Mom I can be is what has carried me through to where I am today, and what sent me on the quest for true nourishment from real food. In the words of Michaelangelo, I am still learning. I know this must have been difficult to write Peggy. It IS important we get it together. I think I could have easily been your sister.

    • Sorry to intrude on your comment, I know you don’t know me. But I had a similar situation when I became pregnant at 16. People say it must have been terrible being a teenage Mom but I think having my son saved my life. I am so glad you found that!

      • No problem Jennifer. You’re absolutely right. There is a lot of stigma around being a teenage Mom, understandably. But don’t write us off. We may be young, and things may be tough, but we can be good Mammas too. We can be the best. And your disapproval wont do us any good, but your support and love might just help us make it!

      • Never worry about comment intrusion! The more the merrier in a conversation!

    • Grainne,

      I suppose you mean that you carried the weight of the world on your own shoulders. So did I. I not only felt my own pain but the pain of every living thing. My mind was about as hypersensitive as my body.

      Kathleen,

      I’m sorry to hear about your loss too. You know I sympathize. My sister was 45.

      I did get into drugs when I was younger. Before I knew any better that was my escape, but I got so busy with my studies I didn’t have time or brain cells to spare so I quit when I was sixteen. I drank though sometimes, but was always so afraid of going down hill that I just couldn’t keep it up.

  3. Peggy,

    Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so sorry for your loss. I completely sympathize with you as my sister, Sue, had committed suicide 11 years ago. She was two years older than me. I’m taking the time to post this message only because I have been struggling with depression for many years now. I do not take any medications for it as I stay away from all types of drugs. I rely on my paleo diet and supplementation to be my medicine. I ordered ‘The Mood Cure’ right away after I read this. I used to rely on coffee to boost my mood, but every time I would drink one large cup of it each morning, after a few months I would get symptoms of dizziness and nausea and would have to stop. I think it was due to having adrenal fatigue syndrome and my body was telling me caffeine was too much stimulation, which most other people would have no problem handling.
    What caught my attention about your article was the word ‘overtraining’. I have noticed about myself ever since I have been going to grueling boot camp classes for a total of 3 1/2 hours a week, I get an awesome endorphin high afterward; but a few hours later, my body is wracked with a lot more pain than usual and lasts into the next day. My body is in a state of constant chronic pain anyway, but this type of exercise amplifies it. I’m beginning to learn that instead of doing my body good, I’m doing more harm. I might need to go back to doing yoga instead as I was feeling a lot less pain with practicing it.
    I do have one question for you. Did you ever get sores in your mouth when you started eating a lot more meat due to its acidity? I find, if I don’t have enough veggies in my diet, I get sores in my mouth. What, if any, are your experiences with this? I’d love to hear anyone else’s, too. Thank you, Peggy!!!

    • Eva,

      Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you’re on the path to recovery. That’s great.

      I used to get mouth sores a lot when I still ate gluten and even now, any time I eat something I’m allergic to I get them. My body is not acidic because I eat meat. I don’t think I have any symptoms of acidity. I can’t eat processed meats, though. Those do make me acidic.

      • That would make sense that the processed meats would cause more acidity. Thanks for the reply!

  4. Thanks again Peggy for another wonderful post. I don’t want to sound too much like a fangirl, but I’m always so excited when I see a new article here because what you have to say is helping me tremendously and I admire you and the changes you’ve made.

    My history is similar to the ones mentioned; abusive childhood leading onto abusive marriage in my early 20’s, and in turn abusing myself with drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, whatever I could really. I feel like healing myself is this unsurmountable task, that *everything* is wrong with me and I have never been, and can never be whole. But progress has been made, and the posts and comments here give me hope.

    • Thanks for the kind words, Heather. Everybody’s support here means so much to me and keeps me writing.

      I know how you feel. My own transformation didn’t happen over night. It took years of reprogramming, essentially. One of these days maybe I will write an article about how I personally managed to change my mind. I mean the diet is HUGE but it’s not everything. You really have to consciously change the things about yourself you dislike. Whoo, that would be a mighty personal article. But if it would help people out, I’d do it.

      • I do identify with it taking YEARS to reprogram.. I’ve been on the path of recovery for 6 years and I’m still miles from where I want to be. I struggle with changing my mind and thoughts into more positive patterns, and really struggle with certain issues (like eating). I would love to know what you found success with; that would be a very interesting & helpful article, albeit as you mentioned very personal as well.

  5. Thanks again Peggy for another wonderful post. I don’t want to sound too much like a fangirl, but I’m always so excited when I see a new article here because what you have to say is helping me tremendously and I admire you and the changes you’ve made.

    My history is similar to the ones mentioned; abusive childhood leading onto abusive marriage in my early 20’s, and in turn abusing myself with drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, whatever I could really. I feel like healing myself is this unsurmountable task, that *everything* is wrong with me and I have never been, and can never be whole. But progress has been made, and the posts and comments here give me hope.

  6. Thanks for sharing about your sister. That takes a lot. This was a really awesome post I shared it on my Facebook page :)
    About needing endorphin reboosts, are you saying that I could need some kind of endorphin re boost after a long day taking care of my small children? (love them to death but it takes a lot of energy). That could be the reason I have a bad mood some nights when my husband gets home because I’m drained. Hmm.
    I really love the explanation though of this because I’ve never been depressed but I always want to understand what it’s like in case I have a friend who becomes depressed. I’ve had friends with depression but sometimes it’s hard to understand why they do what they do but now I get it a little more!

    • Good question. Not everyone suffers from depression but nearly everyone these days experiences high stressful periods and lacks refreshing moments. You should take care to prevent depression and low mood by giving yourself moments to release endorphin.Don’t let yourself get too drained!

  7. So sorry to hear about your sister. At the same time, your post offers a lot of hope. I feel an evolutionary style diet has a lot of preventative potential.

  8. Wow, what a cautionary tale. I am sorry for the loss of your sister! I hope that her story inspires others facing telltale signs of endorphin shortages to seek out practical, natural ways to manage.

  9. Sorry about your sister, but thank you for sharing.

    I’ve been interested in the paleo diet for about a year, but it wasn’t until this spring after I read the Drs. Eades Protein Power that I started to make a conscious effort to eat more protein, and I felt so much better! I kind of knew that I’d feel better physically, but was surprised that I felt calmer and more level headed, as well.

  10. Peggy:

    What an interesting, clear, well organized post. What a lot of work you must have put into it. I think it’s really important (and often overlooked) to think about why we do what we do. The role of pleasure and feeling good factors into quite a lot. Your post is very useful because knowing about enorphins gives us a scientific lens to look through when thinking about our own actions, and those of others as well.

    Your post is well timed. Just this morning on NPR I heard an interview with Yale psychologist Paul Bloom, who studies pleasure and the brain. His new book is “How Pleasure Works: The New Science Of Why We like What We Like.” Here’s a short link http://amzn.to/ne1Zts

    I’ve just ordered Bloom’s book. It will be interesting to see what he writes about endorphins and how they relate to the rest of our neurological make up. If you read it, let me know – it would be great to exchange thoughts.

    Thanks, Peggy. Great post!
    Susan

    • I have been reading about mood disorders for a while now. It’s taken me some time to finally write about them, though. But indeed, it is useful to understand the difference between just having a bad day and having something going on inside our brains.

      I will take a look at that book, Susan. Thanks for mentioning it. I’ve run into some pretty cool books on NPR too. :)

  11. Thank you so much for this post and for having the courage to talk about your sister. I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary eyed. I grew up in an abusive household and went on to marry an abusive man. I’ve been on my own, trying to heal, for almost 5 years now and I still get extremely frustrated with how held back I am due to PTSD and health issues and now that I realize it depleted endorphins. I have been noticing a change since I went Paleo, but it’s good to hear I’m on the right track (self doubt is a big thing with me). Thank you for giving me a direction to search in, to find more healing.

    • Jennifer,

      I got a little teary eyed reading your comment! I am pretty teary today, though. It hard to retrace her life like that. It makes me happy to think that people can catch themselves before they get too sucked in to depression and dependency. I hope more people learn about mood disorders and how to prevent them so that there can be more happy lives lived and fewer lives wasted. Even when it doesn’t end quite so tragically, the lives of people like this are a tragedy in and of themselves.

  12. Much love to you, Peggy! Thanks for sharing this with us and it is all so true.

  13. That is a sad story – especially as you were discovering ways to heal, but your sister couldn’t/wouldn’t take on those ideas in time to save herself. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

    • She tried. When I started my raw meat diet she went right along with me. But I lived in California and she in Colorado at the time and didn’t have the support she needed. She told me once that raw beef made her feel better than anything. But she would always return to potato chips and McDonalds fries and burgers. If only she could have kept herself from cheating long enough to heal. It’s such a catch 22. How do you stop feeding the addiction when you’re addicted? That’s where supplements and a great psychiatrist come in I guess – but she didn’t have those.

  14. Peggy, I’m terribly sorry to hear about your sister. Thank you for having the courage to write about her and share it with all of us.

  15. Peggy I’m so sorry for the loss of your sister. My older sister has struggled with drug addiction for many years but has been clean for 5 years now. I pray every day that she can keep it up; I’m scared to death for her that something will happen to send her back down that path. Currently she’s heavier than she’s ever been, partly due to staying clean (and eating unhealthy, CW foods.) I’ve tried to turn her on to primal choices – I’m sure it would help her in so many ways – but we live on opposite sides of the country so it’s hard to help her take the first baby steps.

    Thanks for all that you do, sharing your knowledge and experience with your readers.

    • Jessica,

      She definitely replaced drugs with food. She may stay clean from drugs but food kills too, in some pretty nasty ways (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, you name it). I mean, you wouldn’t actually call a cookie food would you? It is no different than a drug. She’s still addicted. She hasn’t tackled the reasons for her addiction. Maybe you could suggest certain supplements for her at first. Nutritional deficiencies are at the heart of every illness.

      • Yeah, you’re right about replacing the addiction with food. It makes my heart ache for her. The supplements are a good suggestion I hadn’t thought of. Something to think about. Thanks for the feedback.

  16. My mom is addicted to prescription drugs, she has been for pretty much all of my 23 years. I’ve always been terrified of turning out like her. I’m beyond thankful I found primal, and now know how to properly eat and ensure that I’m giving my brain what it needs. I’m genuinely sorry about your sister.

    • My mom is too Dani. She got my sister started on them actually for “pain relief”. It’s surprising she didn’t die first, but she’s trailing close behind for sure. Prescription drugs can fuck off and so can all who carelessly prescribe them! (That’s going to be a blog post title). There are better ways to deal with pain. There are better ways to treat all ills.

      • I agree, and it seems like it’s so easy to get them! For a few years everytime I went in about headaches and severe sinus infections (about every other month), they gave me tons of Percoset and Vicodin, as well as antibiotics.

        Funny enough, I haven’t been back since the last lung infection in early January (whoo hoo 8 months!!)

  17. I’m so sorry for your loss Peggy. I can somewhat relate as I grew up in an abusive family. I have a brother I haven’t seen in 15 years due to his terrible drug addiction. There was a point where I had to disconnect to keep my family safe. My other two brothers have tried for years to save him, but in the end had to walk away too for their own health and well being.

    I believe the years of growing up in a chaotic environment definitely depleted my endorphin production. I’m the only one in my family that didn’t turn to drugs and alcohol. But I did do the thrill-seeking, over-exercising route. Much easier to convince yourself you’re fine when your activities appear healthy. But a recent diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and the chronic pain of rampant osteoarthritis that came as a result of my terrible genetics put a stop to finding a release through physical activity. That’s been rough and my mood has definitely suffered as a result.

    Finding the Paleo lifestyle has been a revelation. I’ve definitely noticed a leveling out of my mood as a result. Like you I’m somewhat like a Vulcan when going VLC, but it’s so much better than being an emotional wreck. My husband appreciates the more logical me for sure.

    • That is so hard about your brother. Unfortunately, drug abusers can be so abusive, at some point you really have no choice but to walk away. It is difficult and fraught with guilt.

      “Much easier to convince yourself you’re fine when your activities appear healthy.” Good point.

      My boyfriend doesn’t really appreciate my austere, logical self. Maybe once he goes 100% he’ll get me… ;)

  18. Thank you for sharing. I can see some of myself in the description of your sister’s earlier life. (I’m so sorry that she is gone.)

    My husband and I are now doing the primal type diet. I am also taking a Tryptophan supplement. (I seem to be deficient in serotonin. (As a side note, suicide and alcoholism runs in my family))

    We are doing great. (I just wish I knew all of this during my childhood years!)

    • I wish I had known too. I could have saved myself from so much pain. I wish everyone knew about this stuff. So many people suffer from mental anguish and for most of us, maybe all, it’s avoidable and reversible.

  19. When I was a teenager, I self injured. As a result, my doctor decided I was “addicted” to the endorphin rush, so he put me on a medication that shut down my endorphin receptors. Shockingly, shortly after that I became addicted to cigarettes, pot, and carb filled foods. I’ve been trying to get into the paleo lifestyle, but honestly, it’s really hard when I am so lethargic and weepy without eating massive amounts of grains every day. Hopefully I can get everything under control, because I’m so tired of living like this…

    • Good God, that sounds horrible! Your doctor just went straight for the endorphin-suppressing drugs instead of, y’know, maybe asking you what was *wrong*? Or suggesting a counsellor? Christ!

      Uhm, hopefully you’re not taking those drugs anymore? I’d imagine something like that, whether you’re still on it or quit years ago, would seriously mess up your body’s natural hormonal regulation, so please just be gentle with yourself and keep trying even though results take time. Trying to go low-carb paleo straight away might not be a great idea for you; maybe you could try gradually replacing grains with things like baked sweet potatoes, roast pumpkin, or rice (which isn’t as terrible as other grains, though some people do have intolerances to it.) And as Peggy said in the article, if you’re recovering from endorphin-related imbalances, you do need protein at every meal – when you get cravings to snack on carbs, it can be helpful to tell yourself, “I can absolutely have that carby thing ONLY IF I eat the protein first.” So you eat a few eggs, or some chicken breast, then see how you feel, and no big deal if you do still want to eat the carbs. Sometimes you need to be gentle with yourself, especially where depression is concerned, and then as you get stronger mentally AND physically you can make more changes.

  20. This post hit me very hard. I’m at the lowest point of my life. Everything is falling apart and I am simply unable to fix anything. Things keep getting worse and worse.

    I’m trying to make changes, I’ve already mostly gone paleo for example, but I think it’s too late. I don’t think I’ll change enough in time.

    • Jennifer is right. Just take it day by day, or hour by hour. Big imbalances don’t iron out over night. It takes time to reestablish your stores of brain chemicals, hormones, and nutrients. Take it day by day and keep eating right, exercising, taking supplements, and looking for answers and you will get there. Little by little the fog will lift.

    • Hello Michael.

      Meditation and exercise will also help.

      Be good to yourself- be kind and patient with yourself. Your life will improve.

    • I firmly believe that if you are still living and breathing, it’s not too late. Someone once told me that the good thing about hitting rock bottom is that you know you can’t get any lower. You can only go up from there. :) Just take it a day at a time and if that’s too much, go for hour by hour.

  21. I just joined your website and blog. It is so great.

    I am so sorry to hear about your sister.

  22. Hi Peggy,

    I have recently started following your blog. It was actually one of the first paleo/primal lifestyle websites I ever visited. And I just want you to know, I really admire the personal aspect of your writing. Your voice as a writer comes through very clearly. And when you share deeply personal stories, like this one, your vulnerability is expressed as strength. I admire all the health challenges you have overcome by means of your relentless pursuit of wellness and vitality and healing through nutrition. It is amazing that through such extensive “self-experimentation” and elimination of foods that most people would never imagine testing on an elimination diet, has led you to this level of optimum health. You look amazing and you seem to have abundant energy. If I lived near you, I would hire you as a personal wellness consultant!!!

    Your knowledge of brain chemistry, mood disorders and the link to nutrition has been very valuable to me, and I’m sure to many others who read your blog. I especially relate to the story of your sister. About eight years ago, I found myself in a very similar situation to the one she was unable to make her way out of. And I am so sorry to hear that. I am very sorry for your loss. I have two sisters and I can’t imagine what it would be like to go through that experience.
    Fortunately, I have found resources similar to the ones that led you on your journey towards health – beginning with the Weston A. Price Foundation. To make a long story short, my life is really turning around and I can finally see some hope and promise. I finally have a sense of the hope that wellness can truly be an attainable goal. Thank you, for the part that you have played in this journey, for me.

    • Jessica,

      Thank you for taking the time to write. It’s great for me to hear of people who successfully climb out of a struggle like this one. I know there are many who make it and many who don’t. Take care of yourself!

  23. This was a very interesting story about endorphine depletion to me. I think I should work on eating some protein because I recognize quite some symptoms you describe.

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