Neuroses are often associated with very specific deficiencies of various substances.
The basic one would be zinc. Studies have shown that patients have significantly reduced levels of zinc, which in turn leads to increased levels of copper in the brain, and consequently to nervousness. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get reliable tests to assess its level in the body, an ordinary blood test is completely unreliable.
If we have a profound deficiency, it is unfortunately necessary to carry out long-term supplementation. This means taking very high doses for a long time – for example, 50 mg a day for 2-3 months. I have explained this on the blog:
https://healthytreatment.org/2022/02/04/zinc-supplementation/
Studies have shown that neurosis sufferers have significantly lower zinc levels
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738454/
while giving it to animals “cured” them of anxiety
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22549093
Of course, no one will make such a heresy as checking in clinical trials, whether zinc costing $1 will fix the patient, to whom you can sell drugs and therapies for several thousand.
Potassium. I wrote a separate blog article about this:
https://healthytreatment.org/2022/02/14/potassium-in-anxiety-disorders/
A decrease in lysine levels in the body will cause nervousness, phobias and panic attacks. This does not mean, of course, that every patient is deficient, but if one is, none of the methods described here will really be effective until lysine is replenished. Lysine levels drop as a result of a poor diet in general, as well as due to the consumption of excess arginine-rich foods. In studies, supplementation “cured” patients very quickly.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17510493
Admittedly, this is not a deficiency, but it does not fit in any other department. High levels of lead in the body are very often associated with panic attacks. Interesting fact: it has been shown that people who go to prison have much higher levels of this element than the population average. It is believed that the decrease in crime in recent decades is responsible for precisely cleaning the environment from this metal.
Low omega 3 levels are linked to almost every emotional disorder. A word of clarification here. These fatty acids are built into the body very slowly. This means that a deficiency will develop over many, many years, sometimes decades (well, unless someone has had a bad diet since birth). It also means that the effects of supplementation will not show up until many months later, but it also means that the effects will be very lasting and will last for years after the pills are discontinued.
Tryptophan levels can drop for many reasons: poor diet, inflammation, certain medical conditions or poisoning. The fact is that some of the population is very deficient. As a result, serotonin levels drop. Medicine, instead of supplementing the deficiency, feeds people with pills that disrupt the metabolism of serotonin in the body and artificially elevator it up. Certainly a substance called 5HTP, the twin of tryptophan in our bodies, helped, while the amino acid itself worked for depression. I would be careful with tryptophan though, not everyone is helped by it, and in some cases it can aggravate anxiety disorder and cause panic attacks.
Some researchers suggest that taurine should be one of the first things to try for panic attacks. No doubt it is very inexpensive and has no side effects, it also has some sedative effects and makes it easier to fall asleep. You can come across many descriptions of cure after using it on the internet, but there is no scientific data.
Chromium. Low levels cause impaired sugar control and can lead to hypoglycemic anxiety attacks.
Phosphorus. In some patients during an attack, the level of this element drops dramatically, sometimes as much as tenfold. Unfortunately, there have been no clinical trials to date and it is not known whether supplementation will make attacks stop. I would not like to encourage anyone to take phosphorus, because it is not completely indifferent to health. However, if someone would like to experiment, there is 250 mg of phosphorus in 1 gram of potassium dihydrogen phosphate. The theoretical perfectly safe amount is 3 grams of dihydrogen phosphate per day, or 750 mg of phosphorus, preferably broken into two servings.
Patients often have reduced levels of choline in their blood. Since this is a very important substance for brain function, supplementation is worth considering. It is especially beneficial to combine it with omega 3. Both of these substances are used by our body to build certain areas in the brain, many years of omega deficiency leads to their gradual degeneration and disappearance. But in order for the rebuilding to take place effectively, all the “intermediates” must be supplied, otherwise our body will only do part of the work and will stop when something is missing. The third essential element is uridine, unfortunately it is quite expensive. Note – choline should not be supplemented for more than a few months.
The best form of choline is ordinary lecithin, in a dose of 10 to maximum 20 grams per day. You might want to try sunflower lecithin, which many people (myself included) find much more palatable, or perhaps less disgusting in taste.
Another option is to eat lots of eggs, which, however, involves an increased intake of arachidonic acid, suspected of many adverse effects, including those affecting the brain.