Depression Diet

Depression is a state of mind where you feel down and low. Your energy levels flag and it is known to affect productivity. Depression is considered a psychological disorder and long term effects of it are known to have other effects on productivity and quality of life.

Depression can be treated with medication but that is not the only way to treat depression. You can make a conscious choice to eat and drink better and keep a positive outlook in order to tackle depression.

There is a depression diet which is a diet plan of different foods that work towards slowly dealing with and removing depression. A depression diet includes a certain number of foods that make you feel healthy and nice and of course, also have some amount of exercise. Exercise is a must as regular exercising releases endorphins and endorphins are also known as happy hormones. Foods usually trigger endorphins and that is the shorter and less healthy way to feel happy. That’s why exercise is often a part of a depression diet as it is must to get depression out of your system. Depression diet includes recipes that emphasize balanced nutrition. Three complete meals, with enough raw fruits and vegetables, good fats and super foods like nuts, seeds, sprouts and of course plenty of water.

The one thing to avoid when on diet to rid of yourself of depression is avoiding diet coke or any other carbonated drink. These drinks tend to increase your depression and have a long lasting effect on the mental strength. These drinks are best avoided even if you are not expressly looking to reduce the effects on your depression. In anti depression diets, there are often dietary supplements that address depression. These supplements are usually natural in their mix and supplement the nutrition that you are getting from your balanced meals. Opinions are divided on whether these supplements are actually needed.

Depression Foods to Eat

In depression there are many foods that help and that you can eat and there are many foods you should avoid. Foods like raw fruits and vegetables work wonders on your system. Increasing the intake of foods that contain vitamin B in all its various forms really help the system. Vitamin B1 is found in foods like soya and soya beans, brown rice, whole wheat and brewers’ yeast. Eating foods like broccoli, legumes, bananas, seeds, nuts, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflowers can increase you vitamin B6. When you eat green leafy vegetables and low fat dairy, you increase your intake of folate which is also great from depression. It regulates hormones well which also causes depression. That is why pregnant women are also asked to increase their folate intake.

Vitamin C is another vitamin that literally cheers you up. You can find it in all citrus fruits, mustard greens, strawberries, parsley and kale among others. A balanced diet also increases the minerals in your diet which also greatly help reduce depression. Calcium, zinc, magnesium, selenium, potassium and serotonin all help reduce depression. You also eat more fish and more amino acids, all of which help the brain regulate itself. It is also important to eat regularly, with fixed times so that your body does have not any kind of sugar withdrawals which forces you to eat the wrong kind of foods. It is also important to drink enough water. Hydration is very important. It is not okay to substitute fruit juices and colas for water as they add other things to your body, which can increase your depression. You have to also learn techniques to deal with your stress and triggers of stress. Yoga and meditation techniques coupled with healthy eating can make a difference to how your body deals with depression.

Depression Foods to Avoid

There are even depression causing foods that should be avoided. Avoid white foods like white flour, white sugar and of course all processed and junk foods. Food high in saturated and transfats should also be avoided. Sometimes diets high in protein also cause depression because of the nature of the food you eat. Therefore you should be careful while starting diets like the GM diet which is high in protein. All stimulants like tea, coffee, alcohol and smoking are bad for depression and for your general health. When you know you are getting depressed and can feel the depression come on, you should start with healthy foods. Typically an apple will keep the depression at bay but you might prefer a doughnut, therefore increasing your chances of sinking further into depression. For a depression diet, the food on the must have list is usually easy to prepare so you do not have to worry about not have the recipes. You also know that the food you eat in a depression diet is full of vitamins and nutrition and can see the link in eating healthy and reducing your propensity to get depressed.

Food addiction and allergies often lead to depression because of the different things these addictions and allergies do to your mind. Addictions can be for or against eating therefore switching requires conscious effort that takes a lot of motivations. There are many food disorders that can be very debilitating and destructive. A food addict for instance uses food to fuel all types of insecurities. It is never about eating a balanced diet. Therefore tacking depression through a depression diet can be very liberating but at the same time needs a lot of motivation. People with food sensitivities can often get depressed because they not able to eat with abandon as others can. In fact the depression diet of people with food allergies needs to be put together with care. People with food allergies need to realize that it is not the end of the world and there is still hope for them. A depression diet will address many food related cures, remedies and cravings. It will slowly balance out all the unbalanced elements your system and your brain will slowly stop signaling to your body that you need food to feed that depression.

Submitted on January 16, 2014