Does what you eat cause depression?

[Lark]

I'm watching a show this morning about possible connections between what food people eat and depression, did you know there are people who think that depression can be mitigated or overcome by what you eat?

Apparently there have been stories about connections (I suspect correlations) between vegetarianism, veganism, raw food diets and depression.

I think this may be a chicken and egg scenario and I also suspect that comfort food eating or poor diets can be and are linked to diabetes which is sometimes misdiagnosed as bipolar depression because some people manifest mood swings with rises and falls in blood sugars but what do you think?

Forbes August 2017 reported that vegetarians were twice as likely to suffer from depression, the TV show suggested that vitamins produced in animal products influence brain chemistry. Vitamin B12. It was suggesting that sea food and oily fish were what to eat. Also promoting green leafy vegetables and fruit, important for iron and B group vitamins for brain health. Obviously eating convenience and processed foods.

They had a guy who was a mental health worker who had suffered from depression.

It was interesting but the guy mentioned a belief that medication was influencing his mood, they talked about GI being crucial to mental health.

 

[Red Herring]

I think there can be a causal link between eating habits (as well as sleeping habits and excercise) and disthymia. Clinical depression though...I'm not convinced.

Another complicating factor is the correlation of low socio-economic status and poor diet in the Western world (i.e. the poor eating shitty food and healthy eating obsession being mostly a middle and upper class phenomenon). If you are poor, socially marginalized, might have bad access to mental and physical healthare and are possibly suffering from several comorbidities and generally under a lot of pressure, how can you pin down your depression to the fact that you are also eating cheap shitty junkfood?

As for the supposed correlation between vegans/vegetarians and depression - it is my personal impression (going simply by gut feeling and intuition here rather than any available data I'm aware of!) that this might also be down to a vague correlation between those lifestyles and neuroticism or a more limbic personality (<---- that's my potential contribution to the controversial beliefs threat )

 

[ceecee]

I think there can be a causal link between eating habits (as well as sleeping habits and excercise) and disthymia. Clinical depression though...I'm not convinced.

No I'm not convinced either.

Another complicating factor is the correlation of low socio-economic status and poor diet in the Western world (i.e. the poor eating shitty food and healthy eating obsession being mostly a middle and upper class phenomenon). If you are poor, socially marginalized, might have bad access to mental and physical healthare and are possibly suffering from several comorbidities and generally under a lot of pressure, how can you pin down your depression to the fact that you are also eating cheap shitty junkfood?

This this this. Shit food is cheap, I don't know when that fact is going to sink in for many people constantly asking the poor - what's your problem? Add the food deserts many live in (rural and urban), add smoking, inability to afford medication, rarely seeing a doctor and no mental health care.....seriously how would anyone escape even mild depression?

As for the supposed correlation between vegans/vegetarians and depression - it is my personal impression (going simply by gut feeling and intuition here rather than any available data I'm aware of!) that this might also be down to a vague correlation between those lifestyles and neuroticism or a more limbic personality (<---- that's my potential contribution to the controversial beliefs threat )

I know a couple vegans, several vegetarians -I wouldn't call any of them depressed per se. I would say the vegans in particular have a tendency towards being anxious about their body image. They have some neurosis - a lot of disgust related issues. These are just people I know, not indicative of all vegans.

On the flip side, I have gotten more shit than I ever imagined from simply saying I'm eating less meat more often. I'm not bitching about your steak so fuck off insecure omnivores.

 

[Lord Lavender]

I think what you eat can indeed influence your mood and outlook on life. I find when Im eating fresh fruits and veggies and meats I feel better mentally as well as physically than when I eat carbs or junk food but I wouldn't rule it as the sole factor in mental health or overall happiness but I think for some it can certainly help if you eat what is best for you.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

Not getting the right food can make you tired or cause some other health problems which makes if difficult to do important task or hobbies you love which could possibly add to depression. I had a shit diet as a kid and young teen, I was tired all the time. I had less time for meaningful hobbies than I do now. I did feel better once I added more fruit to my diet.

It would make sense for low vitamin d to cause depression. Isn't that what causes SAD in the winter?

So yeah I think it is one of the many causes of depression at least for some people.

 

[Jaguar]

And boron helps activate Vit D.


Nothing Boring About Boron


Treatment of depression: time to consider folic acid and vitamin B12. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[ceecee]

Not getting the right food can make you tired or cause some other health problems which makes if difficult to do important task or hobbies you love which could possibly add to depression. I had a shit diet as a kid and young teen, I was tired all the time. I had less time for meaningful hobbies than I do now. I did feel better once I added more fruit to my diet.

It would make sense for low vitamin d to cause depression. Isn't that what causes SAD in the winter?

So yeah I think it is one of the many causes of depression at least for some people.

A drop in serotonin (reduced level of sunlight) causes SAD, at least that's the accepted cause. This is why light therapy helps much of the time. But low Vitamin D levels cause a host of issues as well, many can overlap with SAD.

 

[ceecee]

Treatment of depression: time to consider folic acid and vitamin B12. - PubMed - NCBI

Thanks for posting this - it's absolutely true and helpful in many cases. Folic acid isn't just for pregnancy and spinal bifida prevention.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

A drop in serotonin (reduced level of sunlight) causes SAD, at least that's the accepted cause. This is why light therapy helps much of the time. But low Vitamin D levels cause a host of issues as well, many can overlap with SAD.

Sunlight gives off vitamin D.

 

[magpie]

Why is this in politics, history, and current events?

 

[Stanton Moore]

Food can contribute to inflammation, and inflammation is implicated in depression.

So yes, it can potentially exacerbate it.

 

[PumpkinMayCare]

I am sure there are many physical reactions that a wrong diet can cause and it's easy to misinterpret the symptoms as depression, like Op said with the fall and rise of blood sugar, probably being pre- or already diabetic, but you only feel mood swings because of a bad diet, so you get a wrong diagnosis. That makes it hard to say what kind of food may be the most likely to be able to cause depression ... we do not know much about it yet. Additives (sometimes artifical colour in food too) have again and again been accused of causing all kinds of bad reactions, from causing allergies to even depression. But until now, there has never been any clear evidence found that this is true, so we don't know.
I personally feel a huge difference between when I eat junk food or healthy food. I've heard that junk food makes some people feel sluggish and tired, I have never experienced this, most likely because I naturally have high energy levels, but when I am eating healthy I'm super super super energized. I do suffer from a histamine intolerance though, and when I had too much histamine, one of the symptoms I experience is getting into this really hyper mode, being extremely restless, while being totally airheaded. I observed my histamine-intolerance for years and kept a food-diary for three years and saw the direct correlation. I did some research on it and I can't remember the details anymore, but the conclusion was that too much histamine makes the body produce **less** of some hormone I can't remember the fkng name of, causing you to get light-headed and restless.

 

[Yama]

There's certainly a correlation where eating better, getting regular exercise, having healthy sleeping habits etc. can help with the effects of depression. But ultimately, in order to cure depression you have to tackle the source - and that's different for everyone.

As for a poor diet causing depression - I don't really think so. I think that if you already are prone to depression, than having a shitty diet will certainly not help you, but that the depression would be caused by something else entirely.

 

[Yuurei]

Not getting the right food can make you tired or cause some other health problems which makes if difficult to do important task or hobbies you love which could possibly add to depression. I had a shit diet as a kid and young teen, I was tired all the time. I had less time for meaningful hobbies than I do now. I did feel better once I added more fruit to my diet.

It would make sense for low vitamin d to cause depression. Isn't that what causes SAD in the winter?

So yeah I think it is one of the many causes of depression at least for some people.

This is how I was before I learned that I was lactose intollerant. I drank milk all the time fir years so my stomach started ti get pissed iff by everything I ate. Eating anything made me incredibly tired at best. I’d make a good dinner and after eating would be too tired to clean it up. So mot only did I go to bed way too early but in the morning I was greeted by a mess in the kitchen. It became one miserable, hellish cycle.

 

[biohazard]

Sunlight gives off vitamin D.

There is also Vitamin D from the earth. And in the winter, we're usually constantly covered in clothes and boots which protect us from the elements but also cover our feet. If you ever go to the beach or put your feet into grass and feel euphoric, that's actually your feet absorbing Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is also a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that it needs fatty acids to be absorbed. Where do we get fatty acids? From the fatty food we eat: avocados, meat, poultry, olives, eggs, dairy, etc.

 

[Red Herring]

There is also Vitamin D from the earth. And in the winter, we're usually constantly covered in clothes and boots which protect us from the elements but also cover our feet. If you ever go to the beach or put your feet into grass and feel euphoric, that's actually your feet absorbing Vitamin D.

Ehmmmmmm, no.

I'll just leave the link here: http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

When I remember to take my multivitamin life is just generally better, but where I forget it begins to spiral downwards.

 

[Hiraeth]

If anything, my depression completely dissipated after I went vegan.

Diet probably correlates to an extent, but I don't think it necessarily has to do with vegetarian diets per se. If you eat like shit in any diet, then you eat like shit. I still get all the vitamins I need from plants except for B12, which I take as a supplement every once in a while. Besides that, B12 is mostly supplemented in a farm animal's feed due to a decline in soil quality, so essentially most people are getting their B12 artificially anyway, only it's through a dead animal. A person should probably be fine as long as they know what foods provide their daily vitamins and minerals.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I would say yes. You can get depressed for other reasons but eating habits clearly have the role in all of this. (especially if you get fat in the process).

 

[biohazard]

Ehmmmmmm, no.

I'll just leave the link here: http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

Yup! I know it sounds shocking and fishy but lemme reiterate!

So we absorb Vitamin D from skin synthesis or foods (ex: like mushrooms) due to the UVB radiation from the Sun. Human skin is technically the biggest organ of our body. So lets say the individual is standing on the grass. The sunlight is hitting the person AND the ground where their bare feet are connected to. The person's bare feet is protected by skin and the skin is absorbing the UVB radiation from the sun through a phenomenon called "Earthing".

Earthing is when the human body has direct connection to the earth (or ground) and absorbs the Earth's electrons from the ground into the body. The bare feet absorbed like 10x the amount of Vitamin D (aka UVB radiation) from the sun when grounding occurred.

I won't go deeply into the study but here is a quote and link to it. Also, there have been links to barefoot running helping with depression because it promotes grounding/earthing and the increased reuptake of UVB radiation and Vitamin D hormonal synthesis in the body. So I definitely think that our environment is one of the factors to depression.:

" However, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits—including better sleep and reduced pain—from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into the body. This paper reviews the earthing research and the potential of earthing as a simple and easily accessed global modality of significant clinical importance."

SOURCE: Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons