The Anti-Depression Diet

An anti-depression diet can directly affect your brain. For example, bipolar depression is affected by what you put into your body, and the more you can regulate the effect that foods and drinks have on your moods, the more you can manage your mood swings.

An anti-depression diet with focus on nutrients can benefit your body, and hence your mind.

Nutrient Deficiency

An anti-depression diet may play an important role in your major depression. What you put into your mouth affects your mind as much as it does your body.

Magnesium

According to Dr. James D. Gordon of Georgetown University School of Medicine, your depression could be due to problems in the thyroid. Your thyroid dysfunction could be a result of nutrient deficiency, such as magnesium deficiency.

Magnesium is a youth-preserving mineral. As you age, your magnesium level declines due to poor absorption and inadequate diet. Two-thirds of elderly Americans eat less than 75 percent of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) for magnesium, and only 25 percent of Americans meet the RDA for magnesium. Craving chocolate may be a sign of magnesium deficiency due to the presence of magnesium in chocolate.

Magnesium is responsible for neurotransmission abnormalities, in addition to its implications in diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and thyroid dysfunction. 

Magnesium is found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. An anti-depression diet should be rich in magnesium.

If necessary, take a magnesium supplement of 200-300 mg to remedy your nutrient deficiency. 

Calcium

Calcium is an important component of an anti-depression diet. This nutrient deficiency also plays a part in depression. 

According to a study, depressed individuals with suicidal inclination show lower levels of calcium and magnesium. 

Many Americans are short of meeting the recommended calcium intake. To help solve the calcium crisis, an array of calcium-fortified foods and beverages flood the consumer market, from juices, drinks, cereals, snacks to dairy foods. However, use of calcium-fortified foods is not the same as an anti-depression diet with foods that are naturally rich in calcium. Exceeding the safety limit of “tolerable upper intake level” of 2,500 mg calcium per day may have negative effects on other nutrients, such as iron, zinc, and magnesium.   

Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids are an essential ingredient in brain structure and functioning: about 30 to 35 percent of your brain is made up omega 3 fatty acids. Research has shown that nutrient deficiency of omega 3 fatty acids contributes to de-stabilizing moods in bipolar depression.

Salmon and sardines are particularly rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Include them in your anti-depression diet.

Always buy “fresh wild salmon” not their “farm-raised” counterparts. According to several studies, concentrations of several cancer-causing substances are high enough to suggest that consumers should consider restricting their consumption of farm-raised salmon. An anti-depression diet should avoid farm-raised fish as much as possible.  

Not all fish are created equal. Sardines are made from many different species of fish. Sardines are particularly rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which help fight depression, breast cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. Due to their small size, the mercury content in sardines is negligible, as compared to other larger predatory fish, such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Make sure that your sardines are free of additives or preservatives. Kosher certification is always a good stamp of approval, as it means that the product meets stringent quality requirements. Include sardines in your anti-depression diet.

Food Allergies and Toxins

Pay attention to your thoughts: see if they are changeable throughout the day. If they are, probably you are suffering from anxiety, which often results from nutrient deficiency, toxins, and food allergies, according to Dr. Abram Hoffer, an expert in orthomolecular psychiatry., who recommends the following:

Eliminate processed foods loaded with additives, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, and food colorings and preservatives. These chemicals may be responsible for food allergies in certain individuals. A depression diet should eliminate these toxic chemicals.

Eat whole foods, which seldom cause food allergies. Your healthy diet should be made up of whole foods, not artificial or processed ones.

Avoid all the sugar: blood-sugar disorder (hypoglycemia) is the basis of most anxiety disorders, such as panic attacks, and food allergies.

Check your food allergies. Yeast infection may lead to food intolerances and food allergies.

Over the years, your body may have accumulated heavy metal toxicity: lead, cadmium, and arsenic put in animal feed to remove germs; aluminum in baking powder, table salt, vanilla powder, and emulsifiers in processed foods; and mercury in dental filings.

Perform simple hair test to determine the level of toxicity in your body.

Lead poisoning may manifest its symptoms in the brain, bowels, coordination of hands and feet, and the immune system.

Other metal toxicity from foods and the environment may result in headaches, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, and depression. 

Water has pesticides and heavy metals. Drink only filtered tap water or distilled water from glass bottles, not plastic ones.

Antioxidant Vitamins

Get all antioxidants from your healthy diet, preferably not their supplement counterparts. 

Vitamin B complex

The vitamin B complex consists of eight water-soluble vitamins. The B vitamins work together to boost your body’s metabolism, enhance your immune system and improve your nervous system. Brewer's yeast is one of the best sources of the B vitamins.

B1 enhances your mental functioning. Rich food sources high in B1 include liver, heart, and kidney meats, eggs, leafy green vegetables, nuts, legumes, berries, wheat germs, and enriched cereal. Include them in your anti-depression diet.

B2 is abundant in mushrooms, milk, meat, liver, dark green vegetables, and enriched cereals, pasta, and bread.

B3 may help avoid irritability and mental confusion, which are often symptoms of mental depression. Food sources rich in B3 are chicken, salmon, tuna, liver, nuts, dried peas, enriched cereals, and dried beans.

B5 deficiency may result in allergies, fatigue, and nausea, which are often associated with mental depression. B5 is most abundant in eggs, whole grain cereals, legumes, and meat.

B6 helps your body absorb and metabolize amino acids and omega 3 fatty acids. Whole grains, bread, liver, green beans, spinach, avocados, and bananas are rich food sources of B6.

B7 (biotin) helps your body release energy from carbohydrates. Generally, your body has no deficiency in B7.

B9 (folic acid) deficiency may lead to mental depression. Studies have shown that more than 30 percent of depressed patients have folic acid deficiency. Good food sources of folic acid include leafy green vegetables, nuts, whole grains, legumes, and organ meets.

B12 is critical to the optimum functioning of your nervous system. B12 can be found only in animal sources, such as eggs, milk, fish, meat, and liver. Therefore, vegetarians are strongly encouraged to take B12 supplement if they cannot obtain it from their depression diet.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E, according to a previous scientific study, had been implicated in depression: patients suffering from major depression had lower levels of antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E. However, it was not known whether it was due to inadequate antioxidant vitamins, or a result of the depression itself. 

Other scientific studies found that the lower vitamin E in blood not only increases physiological stress as well as oxidative stress during mental depression, but also protects your brain against damage caused by free radicals and other reactive oxygen species produced during basic cellular metabolism. Antioxidant vitamins are potent against free radicals.

Good sources of vitamin E include egg yolk, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and vegetable oils.

Remember, it is often difficult to obtain sufficient vitamin E from foods even in a healthy diet. A daily supplement containing 400IU is highly recommended.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C, another one of the important antioxidant vitamins, plays an important role in the synthesis of neurotransmitters, which enable efficient nerve impulse transmission between nerve axons. Vitamin C is important and necessary for the synthesis of the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and serotonin. It catalyzes the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine and the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin.

Vitamin C can be found in many fruits and vegetables. Remember, vitamin C cannot be stored in your body, and is easily destroyed in cooking. 

When you become depressed, you do not feel like eating or shopping, and you often turn to junk food. Your mental conditions may lead to loss of appetite, weight loss, and further nutrient deficiency. 

Nutrient deficiency causes poor digestion, resulting in poor circulation with inadequate energy to nourish the brain. Speediness, heart palpitations, chill in hands and feet are often symptoms of poor circulation.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once said: "Let food be your medicine, and medicine your food."

An anti-depression diet should be your medicine to protect you from depression. 

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau