PREGNANCY SHAPE-UP: CURES FOR POSTPARTUM BLUES
It’s not unusual for a woman to experience a letdown after the birth of a baby. Aside from the fatigue of labour, there are hormonal changes in the body that often cause bouts of blues and periods of inexplicable weepiness or mild depression. But these can be combated by paying special attention to your diet.
• Be sure you’re getting enough calcium and calcium-rich foods; also, the proper amount of magnesium. (The combination is a natural depression defeater.)
• Vitamins Bi, Вб, and В12 can help improve mental attitude substantially.
• L-tryptophan, a natural relaxant and antidepressant, can pass rapidly from the stomach to the brain’s nerve centers. (Turkey is especially high in this amino acid.)
• Manganese, present in leafy green vegetables, peas, egg yolks, beets, and whole-grain cereals, has been found by many new mothers to be effective in warding off depression.
• L-phenylalanine is another amino acid and can work in a fashion similar to tryptophan, but unlike L-tryptophan, L-phenylalanine can raise blood pressure.
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