A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives

by Kelly Brogan

Look for high-quality probiotics that contain a variety of strains in the billions (see

If You’re Tapering from an SSRI I’ll offer more specifics on this protocol in Chapter 10, but I highly recommend considering a broad spectrum amino acid supplement as well as a high-quality tryptophan or 5-HTP

Dosages of 5-HTP can start at 50 milligrams three times a day and work up to 200 milligrams three times a day, also taken on an empty stomach. The

Determine Your Baseline

TSH, free T3, free T4 Is your thyroid sick?

Thyroid autoantibodies, reverse T3 MTHFR gene variant Do you carry a mutation? Vitamin B12, homocysteine Are you B12 deficient? High-sensitivity C-reactive protein What are your inflammation levels? Hemoglobin A1C How balanced is your blood sugar? Vitamin D Are you deficient in D?

Start by removing the following: All sources of gluten (see page for the full list), including whole-grain and whole wheat bread, noodles, pasta, pastries, baked goods, and cereals.

Dairy (including butter, milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, and ice cream) and soy (including soy milk, soy cheese, soy burgers, soy hot dogs, soy ice cream, soy yogurt, soy sauce, and anything

Then restock. The following items can be consumed liberally (go organic and local with your whole-food choices wherever possible):

Healthy fats: Extra-virgin olive oil, organic virgin coconut oil, red palm oil, grass-fed and organic or pasture-fed ghee,

The only difference between this month and beyond is that you’re going to also eliminate all dairy, grains (except quinoa and buckwheat), white rice, white potatoes, corn, and beans. I’ll show you how to invite these foods back into your diet in moderation on page. You might

What to Drink: Nothing but Pure, Filtered Water Over the Next Thirty Days

No alcohol, coffee, tea, soda, or fruit drinks of any kind. Some

After thirty days, you may bring alcohol, coffee, and tea back (see page). I recommend that

As you are eliminating addictive foods like alcohol, sugar, refined carbs, and dairy, you will have an opportunity to relate to food in a totally different way. You will no longer be at the

SNACKS

A handful of raw nuts and/or seeds (preferably sprouted, and no peanuts) A few squares of authentic dark chocolate that doesn’t contain any white sugar (anything 70 percent cacao and above) Chopped raw vegetables (such as bell peppers, broccoli, cucumber, or radishes) dipped

in guacamole, tapenade, or nut butter

Half an avocado with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper Two soft-boiled eggs Berries with coconut milk (unsweetened, full-fat) Bone broth Grass-fed jerky Lactofermented vegetables

SAMPLE MENU FOR A WEEK Here is what a typical week will look like. Recipes are highlighted in boldface; the recipe section begins. Note: you can use organic extra-virgin olive oil, grass-fed ghee, or virgin coconut oil for sautéing, and avoid processed oils and cooking sprays

The most important part of the first thirty days is to exclude all grains (especially gluten-containing grains), dairy, processed sugars, soy, and corn. You’ll also avoid white potatoes and white rice during the first thirty days. Later I’ll show you how to invite some of these back into your life again.

MINDFUL EATING As we participate in the transfer of energy that is the food chain, it is important to cultivate mindfulness around the food we eat. Take one to three breaths with your eyes closed before each meal and express gratitude for the journey that your food took to get to you, to integrate into your being, and to keep you nourished.

During this week, aim to try out one or more of the following: Dry skin brushing (see page) Daily coffee enema and two Epson salt baths (see box)

COFFEE ENEMAS While it may sound unusual, there’s nothing new about coffee enemas. Physicians and naturopathic practitioners have used them for a long time to address all sorts of conditions, from constipation and liver detoxification to chronic fatigue, insomnia, and cancer. In

Among the benefits of coffee enemas: when you introduce coffee through the rectum, its compounds stimulate a reflex in the colon that supports liver detox processes as well as bile secretion for improved digestion. This reflex is a parasympathetic one, so the experience is quite different from the sympathetic stimulation of drinking coffee. Here’s how to perform a basic coffee enema:

Try a kundalini yoga class at a nearby studio sometime this week or get a video to use at home. Schedule these important practices into your life.

multimineral that contains magnesium, zinc, iodine, and selenium A fatty acid that contains EPA and DHA and one with GLA (from evening primrose oil) Adrenal glandular Digestive enzymes/pancreatic enzymes

BEYOND THE THIRTY DAYS: BRINGING BACK SOME FOODS AS A BALANCED CARNIVORE Here’s how to reintroduce some of the foods that were sidelined during the first thirty days: Grains, white rice, white potatoes, and beans After the thirty days,

Dairy Many of my patients do not go back to dairy. If you are curious about incorporating it back into your diet, begin with the forms

Most patients experience fatigue, gas, bloating, or nausea if tolerance is an issue. Introduce dairy in this order: 1. Fermented goat’s/sheep’s milk dairy 2. Goat’s/sheep’s milk cheese 3. Grass-fed cow’s butter (low in casein)

inflammatory responses, but if you do want to see how you tolerate it, introduce it in this order: 1. Heavy cream 2. Fermented cow’s milk dairy

Remember that dairy should be raw and grass-fed, which may represent a logistical hurdle for many (see www.rawdairy.com and www.realmilk.com

CLOSING WORDS Own Your Body and Free Your Mind In fact, I am certain, there has never been a doctor anywhere, at any time, in any country,

at any period in history who ever healed anything. Each person’s healer is within. —MARLO MORGAN, MUTANT MESSAGE DOWN UNDER

Adi Shakti is made up of four symbolic weapons that represent primal creative feminine power from

While we hold our swords aloft, we simultaneously access a softness, a yielding, an acceptance for what happens here on the ground. This is balancing the woman with the mother. It’s fighting so that we can love better, freer, with less fear. This is living mindfully in a state of calm alertness.

THE KB SMOOTHIE Serves 1 ½ cup frozen organic cherries or other berries

8 ounces coconut water, or filtered water 3 tablespoons collagen hydrolysate (as a protein base; see note following recipe) 1 tablespoon sprouted nut butter or sunflower seed butter 3 large pastured egg yolks 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil 1 to 2 tablespoons grass-fed ghee 1 to 2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder

KELLY’S CHEF’S SALAD Serves 1 One 4 to 5-ounce bag prewashed organic spring lettuce greens

2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half ½ to 1 cooked organic pastured chicken breast, cut into chunks 2 slices cooked pastured bacon, crumbled 1 large vine-ripened tomato, chopped ½ avocado, cut into chunks 3 green onions, diced 2 celery stalks, diced ½ can anchovies (optional) Extra-virgin olive oil Apple cider vinegar

Unprocessed sea salt and freshly ground pepper Combine the greens, hard-boiled eggs, chicken, bacon, tomato, avocado, green onions, celery, and anchovies, if using, in a salad bowl. Drizzle with o...

BUTTERNUT SQUASH LASAGNA WITHOUT THE LASAGNA Serves 6 1 tablespoon ghee 1 onion, finely diced 1 pound organic grass-fed ground beef or pork

3 garlic cloves, minced 36 ounces organic tomato puree (preferably from a glass jar) 4 ounces organic tomato paste (preferably from a glass jar) Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 medium or 1 large butternut squash 4 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Melt the ghee in a large sauté pan over...

onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and garlic, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the squash. Pee...

enough sauce to cover the bottom of a 15 x 10-inch ovenproof dish. Add some squash in a single layer, then add a generous layer of sauce. Add about one-third of the egg and spread it around the dish. Repeat the squash-sauce-egg sequence layering one or two more times depending on how much you have left, finishing with a lig...