Posted by bleauberry on January 14, 2008, at 21:29:04
In reply to Food list for anxiety/depression, posted by johnj on January 12, 2008, at 21:16:28
I think it is hard to get therapeutic value from foods because there are so many competing factors in that food. For example, they say if you want more tryptophan to make serotonin then eat turkey. The problem is turkey also has lots of other proteins that crowd out the entry of the tryptophan.
If you want more serotonin, eat lots of carbs. To give the tryptophan an added advantage to get through the competition into the brain, eat high glucose such as orange juice.
For more dopamine, fava beans have a strong content of L-Dopa. The beans, the flour, or the supplement mucuna puriens.
There is a book called Potatoes Not Prozac. It says to eat a baked potato at night with the skin on it. Somehow this makes more serotonin.
I found when I did this I did sleep much better.More important than what foods you eat may be what foods you don't eat. Try eliminating gluten from your diet for a couple weeks and see how you feel. Gluten is anything from wheat, oats, or barley. There are tons of non-gluten foods, but lots of hidden ingredients that have gluten such as barley malt. Basically, focus on rice and corn foods for a couple weeks. While 1.5% of the population has a gluten intolerance, an estimated 15% are yet undiagnosed, and it takes an average 10 years before a diagnosis is finally made.
Other common allergens that cause psychiatric symptoms of depression, anxiety, or fatigue are corn, dairy, shellfish, soy, nuts. Gluten is the big one. I can make myself very depressed by eating a slice of pizza. I now eat gluten free pizza and love it, but it costs more.
If you are sensitive to supplements, you are probably sensitive to foods. And yet don't know it. You never suspected it. That's the classic pattern. That's why I mentioned it.
Other mood-friendly books emphasize changing ones diet to include mostly just meats and fresh or barely cooked veggies, with few fruits, no sugars, and very limited dairy.
While there is no universal food mood enhancer for everyone, probably the one that comes closest is fish oil. Some people need 1000mg a day, some need 2000mg a day, some need 8000mg a day, and some need just the EPA fish oil with very little DHA.
Just some food for thought. :-)
poster:bleauberry
thread:806066
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080110/msgs/806553.html