Feeling blue? Sunny-yellow St. John's wort to the rescue

Better Nutrition, Oct, 1996 by Victoria Dolby

John's Wort's sunny appearance, due to its golden yellow, perky flowers, brightens up a room, but the extract from this herb is what's really effective in battling the blues.

St. John's Wort has a long history of use as a herbal remedy. From Greek times through the middle ages people believed that St. John's Wort possessed magical powers that preserved life.

Folk use also focused on this herb as a nerve tonic," the role most closely related to its now-recognized depression-fighting abilities.

Michael Murray, N.D., in his book, Natural Alternatives to Prozac, writes that "St. John's Wort extract is the most thoroughly researched natural antidepressant. A total of patients have been studied in 25 double-blind controlled studies ... [in which] ... St. John's Wort extract was shown to produce improvements many psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, apathy, sleep disturbances, insomnia, anorexia, and feelings of worthlessness."

This botanical comes out sunny side up

in tests all over the globe

One most impressive studies of St. John's Wort to date was conducted by Austrian researchers and involved 105 men and women diagnosed with depressive symptoms. An extract of this botanical containing 300 mg of the active constituent, hypericin, was taken by half of the patients three times daily for four weeks. The other half of the patients unknowingly took a placebo prepared to look and taste like the St. John's Wort extract.

All of the patients were assessed for depression according to the internationally-approved Hamilton depression scale at the beginning of the study, after two weeks, arid after four weeks. After taking the extract, there were significant improvements in the Hamilton scale results, compared to those individuals on the placebo. In fact, two-thirds of those taking the St. John's Wort responded to the treatment and saw their Hamilton depression scores decrease by 50 percent. In addition, they reported improvements in feelings of sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, and uselessness, as well as alleviation of sleep difficulties.

The researchers of this study point out in the journal, Phytomedicine, that "the therapeutic value of an antidepressant does not only depend on its antidepressive effect, but also on the type and extent of the side effects occurring in the treatment."

Natural help without side effects

And in the area of side effects, St. John's Wort comes through with flying colors. According to Murray, "St. John's Wort extract is virtually free of side effects at the standard dosage of 300 mg, three times daily.,

The lack of side effects is even more impressive considering the prevalence of side effects that comes pack-and-parcel with tricyclics and other anti-depressant drugs.

St. John's Wort is thought to lift the spirits of those who are down in the dumps by favorably altering brain chemistry. Murray explains that "...hypericin and other components (particularly flavonoids) of St. John's Wort have been shown to inhibit the breakdown of several neurotransmitters, including serotonin. As a result of this inhibition, there is an increase in the level of nerve impulse transmitters within the brain that maintain normal mood and emotional stability."

With so many positive findings with this yellow botanical, and an almost complete lack of adverse effects, it comes as no surprise that the authors of the Austrian study conclude that St. John's Wort "...should be used as remedy of choice in the treatment of such categories of depression which, in practice, are most widely spread,,, in particular, these would be both mild and moderate-depression.

One last point regarding St. John's Wort and depression: St. John's Wort is not recommended for the treatment of serious depression, that is in individuals with delusions or suicidal inclinations.

REFERENCES

Harrer, G., et al. Treatment of Mild/Moderate Depressions with Hypericum," Phytomedicine 1:3-8, 1994. Murray, Michael, N.D. Natural Alternatives to Prozac. New York: Morrow, 1996, pp. 130-139.