It's All Coming Together!

By Elizabeth Szlek, LMHC

For The Rome Observer, December 7, 2010
I have been reading and studying for over a year now in the area of nutrition, and I think all my work is finally coming together in a structure that makes complete sense, is useful for all I work with, and is personally fulfilling. God, in His infinite wisdom, has sent me someone to work with who absolutely has demonstrated the truth of what I have been suspecting. When I tell you this, I hope you will take this information and apply it to your own life, and the lives of your families, and especially, your children.

Daniel’s Story

Some weeks ago, a new client came to me. He is a marvelously talented man, mid-30’s, who has spent many months in various mental hospitals. He tried to commit suicide several times, mostly by ingesting huge amounts of prescription medications.

He has been diagnosed as bi-polar, schizophrenic, and probably some other things. The fact is, he suffers from none of these mythical disorders. He has also been labeled an alcoholic, due to his irregular binges. He has been carted off to mental hospitals, and finally, was brought under the care of some people in a nearby town.

Now, let’s just say this: Daniel is a fabulously intellectual man, with several advanced degrees under his belt. He appears to be totally “normal”, and I could see nothing “off” in him. That is, many times people come to me and immediately there is some eccentricity, usually of an autistic nature, that let’s me know all is not well, neurologically. Daniel, however, displays nothing but ordinary human interaction. He is wonderful to talk to. I really like him, a lot, and would consider him a great dinner guest: One of my highest designations for a person. He could grace any table and give pleasure to all my guests, merely by speaking his deep wisdom and insight.

The Beginning

When someone comes to me with multiple psychiatric diagnoses, and the like, I first have to consider that they have psychological problems, if only in deference to the doctors who went before me. So, I began by taking his history. He comes from a family of intellectuals, but he talked of their coldness and emotional neglect. We mined this field for a couple of weeks, and while this could have been part of the problem, I just wasn’t picking up a lot of deep emotional turmoil. He even gave me some articles written by his father, a psychologist, but even this did not open any doors to understand why Daniel was suffering from such deep depression. In fact, he never experienced the “manic” phase of bi-polar disorder, so pretty soon I discarded that label.

As for being schizophrenic, deep depression can look like psychosis, and he really was very well grounded in reality, so I tossed that one, too. So, he is massively depressed, and there is no real compelling reason for it. I don’t believe he was “hiding” anything from me. This really didn’t make any sense.

Then, it hit me!

It’s About His Diet, Stupid!

I asked Daniel about his diet, and what I heard really got me thinking.

Daniel has been eating a largely vegan diet since he was around twelve. That means over twenty years of no meat! Often, he eats no fish, either, or eggs, or milk products. He eats a lot of starchy foods, obviously, since little is left. He sometimes eats beans and rice, and he consumes soy products such as tofu. All his food is cooked in vegetable oils, such as canola, soy and corn oil, which are hydrogenated, and totally processed. He gets few fresh vegetables or fruits, and does not drink fresh squeezed juice. He eats little of cultured milk products or other fermented foods.

And there you have it! For the past ten years, at least, he has been suffering from varying depths of depression, sometimes massive depression that renders him unable to get out of bed in the morning. And, as I said, when it gets too bad, he is shipped off to a mental institution for months at a time. He describes the horrors of these institutions to me, and I wonder that this highly intelligent man could be reduced to such misery.

Here was a test case for my new understanding of what people need to survive and thrive. There is no distinction between what our brain needs for mental health, and what our bodies need for maintenance and growth. It is all nutritional, all the time.

Daniel’s Solution

My assessment of Daniel, therefore, was that he is massively undernourished. He weighs much more than he should, but a lot of that can be attributed to the horrible medications he is taking for his supposed psychiatric problems. Things like Paxil, Seroquel and the dreaded lithium. All poisons, which further put a burden on his already malnourished body.

What Daniels really needs are nutrient-dense foods, such as good butter, eggs, lots of fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood of any kind (he will not eat meat, but that’s OK), whole grains, and LOTS of cod liver oil, vitamin D3, K-2 and A, magnesium and a whole lot of other nutrients, but especially the omega-3 oils. I told him to get out there and get these items, plus others as we see how he does, and he started chugging cod liver oil the very next day.

So, What Happened?

When I first met Daniel, he was unable to work, basically. He could not sleep, either. Now, in less than a month, he is working about 8-10 hours a day in his profession of writer, which is a total change, and his has described himself as “happy” in his work.

“Happy” is not a word that a massively depressed person uses to describe himself, so I would have to say that he is well on the road to recovery. He also disavows any idea of suicide, and seemed shocked that I asked him that!

It is so gratifying to be able to work with a person so seriously affected, and see him come out of his malnourished state to one of normality. This is the first time I have had such an opportunity, and I feel particularly blessed to have met this client. It demonstrates how very important proper nutrition is for all of us. Unfortunately, this cure runs counter to most of what passes for conventional nutritional wisdom in America, and so millions of Americans will continue their sad, malnourished lives because no one will speak the truth to them. I hope this story will help you understand some of the realities of human nutrition. Please contact me if you have any questions!



Elizabeth Szlek is the Director of The Door Counseling Center of Yorkville, NY. Questions and comments can be directed to her at (315) 768-8900 or at info@thedoorcounseling.com.