“Depression is one of the greater killers of our time and is one of the most expensive diseases in the world.”
What is depression?
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by a number of different symptoms, including:
- Loss of energy;
- Loss of interest in things and activities that have previously excited you;
- Loss of appetite;
- Trouble concentrating;
- Lack of desire for communication, isolation;
- Lack of desire for life, including suicide thoughts
and many others.
Many depressed people experience a sense of anxiety and apathy. It is necessary to distinguish clinical depression from a normally depressed mood, or grief after the loss of a loved one, or post-traumatic stress.
Causes of Depression:
It seems that scientists are not able to isolate the single cause for the symptoms of depression and anxiety. The symptoms usually occur after a combination of factors, including:
- A change in the biological functions – the majority of the people suffering from depression experience changes in their brain function. These changes have physical dimensions and are visible with a scanner. It is still not clear what causes them, but it is clear that they are relevant to the onset of depression. The scanner information can be useful for the identification of what might happen with a person after 10-20 years;
- Brain chemistry – neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit information and make us function in a certain way. Given the function of neurotransmitters, they are often difficult to be distinguished from hormones. The main difference is that neurotransmitters are transmitted by neurons located nearby, and hormones are secreted by glands and transported by the blood to the organs. The loss of the balance between these chemicals is a factor for depression;
- Hormones – the hormonal changes may be caused by a number of factors (such as thyroid dysfunction, menopause, and many others) and may be part of the reasons for unlocking depression;
- Heredity – depression sufferers usually have relatives with identical or similar condition;
- Traumatic life events – emotional trauma can often contribute to the onset of adverse psychological symptoms. Such events include loss of a loved one, financial turmoil, extreme stress for an extended period of time or childhood trauma.
What is the relationship between food and depression?
The majority of antidepressants, prescribed by doctors to their patients, are associated with increased levels of serotonin. Although it is a neurotransmitter and its task is to transmit nerve impulses from cell to cell, only 10% of the serotonin is synthesized in the brain. The remaining 90% are produced by specific cells found in the gastrointestinal tract. It is not difficult to guess that our food has a strong impact on our mood and overall emotional state.
There are foods that are not recommended for people with depressive episodes.
Before I tell you which foods can help you cope with you low emotional state, I will list some of the worst foods that make depression worse:
- Refined sugar – though sugar products make us feel good for about 20 minutes, they lead to abrupt changes in the blood sugar levels and as a result, something like a sugar hangover appears. The sugar hangover impacts negatively on the mood and sleep ;
- Artificial sweeteners – if you are prone to depressive moods, the artificial sweeteners are your enemies. They suppress the production of serotonin, causing declines in mood, headaches, and insomnia;
- Trans fats – they are indirectly linked to depression and by regularly consuming them, you can get your arteries clogged. Saturated fats can also prevent the blood flow to the brain;
- Alcohol is a proven central nervous system suppressor;
- Depending on the individual caffeine sensitivity, some people experience the caffeine’s disruptive effect on their sleep, which can lead to a drop in the mood. They can also feel symptoms such as tremors, anxiety and irritability;
- Genetically modified foods. If you’ve suspected that GMOs cause damage to the body, depression is probably the biggest one. The main reason for developing varieties of artificial foods is that this way the foods become resistant to the pesticides and herbicides with which they are processed.
- Antibiotics – once we have mentioned the importance of intestinal bacteria, it seems normal to talk about antibiotics now. About 80% of the antibiotics that enter our bodies are not actually prescribed by our doctor; they sneak unnoticed into our body from the meat we consume and that meat has been treated with antibiotics.
Mood food for people suffering from depression
Once we’ve understood which foods to avoid, it is now useful to know which foods are good for us in terms of the depressive conditions, the topic of this article.
A lot of people would say: “Do you mean that broccoli would cure my clinical depression?” No, of course not. What I can say, though, is that proper food would greatly help people, who are prone to depression. If eaten systematically and over a long period of time, these foods would raise your chance of not visiting your doctor about depression symptoms
- Speaking of intestinal flora, we will start with that. Give your body enough of the “good” bacteria that work in your favor. This includes fermented foods, preferably homemade. Otherwise, you risk a very high intake of salt and highly acidic food;
- Eat food high in micronutrients – rich in minerals and vitamins. Some carotenoids, antioxidants (particularly quercetin), vitamin C and vitamins of the B group are particularly important for the mood;
- Capers – they contain the quercetin flavonoid in the greatest amount possible. You can easily recognize quercetin in plants with a bright yellow color;
- Chocolate – it is no wonder why women, who naturally have lower levels of serotonin, are much more likely than men to give in to this temptation – it is proved that chocolate raises the levels of the chemical in our body that makes us happy.
- Increase your food sources of tryptophan, the serotonin precursor – unprocessed cocoa, sesame, eggs (from hens that haven’t been treated with antibiotics), meat (from animals not treated with antibiotics), spirulina, almonds, chickpeas and others;
About the Author:
My Name Is Militsa and I am The Founder of The First Blog For Supplement Reviews By a Female.
Find my free guide to dietary supplements here. Find more about my fitness journey here.
References:
- Daniel Amen,MD – Longevity Now Conference, 2015
- David Wolfe, Quantum Loop conference, 2014
- http://www.mayoclinic.org
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
You can find my own experience with supplements, nutrition and workout plans. You can also follow my fitness journey.
