food and healing for depression

[Badmemories]

I got this link here.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140826-is-fast-food-making-us-depressed

I have mnjh. I am also depressed. according to this article reducing a diet in white flours, sugars, dairy products etc help with both depressionand arthritis.

please take a few minutes to read it, and add your comments.

[schrödinger's cat]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link. I had noticed that life gets considerably easier if I avoid fatty foods, sugar, and simple carbs (white flour, white rice), if I exercize, and if I eat lots of meat and/or veg.  But I had no idea about the inflammatory response thing.

I found some links on sources of zinc, selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids. I don't know who owns that particular website, but the information is well presented and easy to understand (I don't have much of a head for numbers, and most other sites were full of spreadsheets).

Zinc: http://bembu.com/foods-high-in-zinc
Selenium: http://bembu.com/selenium-rich-foods
Omega 3: http://bembu.com/omega-3-foods

There's several other things where a deficiency makes you tired and less able to concentrate, like iron and folic acid.

[Annegirl]

Thanks for this it's interesting.       
Got carried away, these things are too much fun 

[selfcompassion]

For me, a primal/paleo diet was an amazing change for my body and stamina level. It helps me recover from reactive depression much easier. Wheat/grass seeds make me sick. Dairy and any form of sweeteners also kept me slightly sick.

A good place to start getting real about your diet is a website called Mark's Daily Apple. From there one might watch the you tube video "Wheat Belly."

A big part of stopping the self-harming that trauma victims engage in is correcting what we eat. We need the energy and clarity of mind to engage in the practice of self-compassion.

The only grass seed I eat is short grain brown rice. The only dairy I eat is cows butter. And the only sweetener of any kind I ingest is found naturally in fruit. When I started eating primal, my health returned, I lost 80 pounds, and I did it without feeling hungry. Primal foods work with your digestive hormones, and send proper signals to your brain when you have reached natural satiation.

A primal diet is an amazing step in the battle to stop self-harming. We all need to learn to react properly to that which is in our environment. Food that poisons you should be the first to go. And you will feel wonderful knowing that you are loving yourself enough to eat in a compassionate manner.

[Badmemories]

I found this chart that is helpful n figuring out what You need for nutrition as far as the different Mental health needs.

Self help link on foods to eat

and example is:

Are you experiencing...? Anxiety
Your diet may lack Foods which contain these nutrients:

Folic Acid: Green Leafy Veg - Spinach, lettuce, Asparagus, beets, Savoy cabbage, bok choi, broccoli,
green peas, fresh parsley, brussels sprouts, avocados/ cauliflower/avocado/Fish – cod,
tuna, salmon, halibut, shrimp/Meat – calf's liver, turkey/Nuts and Seeds – peanuts, sesame
seeds, hazel nuts, cashew nuts, walnuts/Beans and Pulses -lentils, chick peas, black
beans, kidney beans, pinto beans/Fruit – oranges  [/color]
Magnesium Veg – spinach, watercress, avocado, peppers, broccoli, brussle sprouts, green cabbage,
watercress/Nuts – Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts, macadamias, pistachios,
walnuts, pecan /Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, poppy/Wholegrains – oatmeal, wheatbran,
long grain rice, buckwheat, barley, quinoa/Dairy – plain yoghurt/Legumes – baked
beans/Fruit – banana, kiwi, blackberries, strawberries, orange, raisins/Sweet – chocolate


There are many other mental illneses listed with the foods to eat for each.

[schrödinger's cat]

By the way, badmemories, I have reason to thank you for starting this thread. It helped me understand why I'm always feeling better when I'm eating plenty of vegetables and enough meat. Before, I was tempted to think that this was maybe just a coincidence.

[Badmemories]

Thank YOU!

[alovelycreature]

I actually am gluten-free and avoid sugar. I have a lot of digestive issues though. When I have less digestive issues, I'm less irritable. Cutting out sugar was definitely a huge help in my mood swings. Sugar was making me depressed and irritable. After I cut out sugar for more than a month, it wasn't hard to stay away from it. Whenever I ate it I just felt totally crapped out. That was enough negative reinforcement to get me to avoid the stuff!

[marycontrary]

Guys, food is very important.I cut out gluten (5 yrs) and caffeine/coffee. When you cut out gluten, pretty much all is empty calories. I do not keep sugar or dairy in the house, though I may indulge sweets rarely outside.

I live in South America near a farmers market, 90% of processed food is gone.

It makes a huge, huge difference.

[Butterfly]

Good articles! Diet adjustments has helped me immensely and info like this reinforces that I'd be far worse off otherwise. Basically I eat whole foods and stay away from processed foods, gluten, sugar, dairy. Even small tweaks has helped like having a few Brazil nuts a day. Doctor recommended some tweaks and its good to know its not my imagination thinking it's helping.

[smg]

I just want to add that food and its relationship with our body or mind is complicated. You may get benefits from adding or subtracting foods from your diet, and that will even change at different points in your life. My experience has been that after going very low contact (LC) with my family of origin, I can now eat all the foods that I was supposedly allergic to (except for fish).

I say "supposedly allergic to" because my mother diagnosed the allergies herself after my doctor and the test results told her no. I think my body learned to react to her (and the critic's) disapproval, so subsequent allergy tests were positive, although I remember an ongoing search for yet more allergens to explain reactions that continued no matter how tightly my diet was controlled.  Now, with LC, no disapproval, no reaction!

Having grown up with so many dietary restrictions imposed on me, I generally don't like the idea of voluntarily restricting my diet. (Many of you have different experiences and attitudes, I know.) The cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has a moderate approach that appeals to me -- almost no foods are forbidden, so long as they're eaten in balance, good quality and prepared in old-fashioned ways that make them more digestable and the nutrients more available.

[schrödinger's cat]

Smg, I noticed something similar with my food intolerance. But then again, that's probably because I react very strongly to histamine. Histamine seems to be some kind of stress hormone. So my working theory now is this: when I'm at a low point, I'm already flooded with histamine, and every additional bit just produces a reaction. When I'm starting to feel better, I'm gradually able to eat more things. So it's like you said, it changes over time.

I can drink coffee again!!  I couldn't for the longest time. I'm so happy! And Thai food! And Chinese food! Spices! Lovely, wonderful spices!

Your experience sounds startling. It's like this was a way she took control over you? Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems like you found this very restrictive and uncomfortable. I'm glad you're free of that kind of restrictiveness now.

In my FOO, we restricted our diet because of my father's illness, so I now rather enjoy being allowed to eat everything and anything. When I'm "forbidden" something, I get this itch to do it anyway. When I'm telling myself, "go ahead, eat what you want", then everything calms down and I'm aware of what does or doesn't do me good.

[Butterfly]

Triggers . . . uPDm 'stole' my food preferences after I did an elimination diet and found I'm better off without certain gluten and dairy guess what she's alergic too. Oh well. Monkey see monkey do - not my circus not my monkey.

This is why food is on the 'unsafe topic' list with uPDm.

[smg]

Cat,
Yay, spices! Any flavour that tastes good and feels good to you belongs on your plate now!!! Your histamine theory makes sense. I don't know if that's the exact mechanism in my body, but the pattern matches my experience. You're right that the allergy diagnosis seems to have been about control (and projection). "There will be food you're not allowed to eat" was one of my mom's all purpose excuses to forbid me from joining clubs or attending even school events. (Her other excuse was "you wouldn't be able to handle it" ...  )

Butterfly,
Wow! Stealing and projecting food preferences are two icky sides of the same coin! Good for you for making food an unacceptable topic with your mom.

smg

[schrödinger's cat]

..."There will be food you're not allowed to eat" was one of my mom's all purpose excuses to forbid me from joining clubs or attending even school events. (Her other excuse was "you wouldn't be able to handle it" ...  )