Top Tips for a Natural Mood Lift

If you're feeling low and need to perk up to get back on track, here's what to do:

• Take the following mood boosters: 100 mg of vitamin B₅ 20 mg of vitamin B₆, 10 mcg of vitamin B₁₂, and 400 mcg of folic acid; 50 mg of 5-HTP (increase gradually to 200 mg) or 900 mg of St. John's wort. (Remember, St. John's wort may take a few days or even a few weeks to kick in, but it's worth the wait.) Use caution in combining 5-HTP and St. John's wort (serotonin syndrome).
  Your mood-boosting formula can also include some or all of the following (add one new product at a time to see how you respond): 50 mg of 5-HTP, 300 mg of St. John's wort, 500 mg of tyrosine, 500 mg of DLPA, 200 mg of SAMe or 600 mg of TMG, and 40 mg of vitamin B₃ (niacin).
• Do some aerobic exercise and/or a vital energy exercise – yoga, t'ai chi, or dance.
• Do the Light Exercise.
• Listen to inspiring music, the kind that goes right to your heart and soul.
• Take a bath with essential oils of bergamot, geranium, petitgrain, or neroli dispersed in the water, or scent your room with them.
• Maximize the light in your room with natural daylight or full-spectrum lighting.

Excerpted from:

From NATURAL HIGHS: Supplements, Nutrition, and Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good by Hyla Cass and Patrick Holford. Copyright © Hyla Cass, M.D., and Patrick Holford. Used by arrangement with Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

To order this book visit www.penguin.com. Get a 15% discount with the coupon code FENPARENT.