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Title: Food, Anxiety and Depression Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2005 by
Margaret Paul URL: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 761
Category: Self Improvement
Food, Anxiety and Depression By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
In our current society, there are many factors that can cause or
contribute to anxiety and depression. Certainly money and work
problems, relationship and family issues, as well as illness and
loss of loved ones are major contributors to anxiety and
depression. Also, how we feel about ourselves and treat
ourselves contribute greatly to how we feel. Even in the worst
of times, if we are treating ourselves with compassion instead
of self-judgment, we may be able to manage big challenges
without anxiety or depression. In addition, being able to turn
to an inner source of spiritual guidance and comfort is vital to
weathering the hard times.
Food is another major factor that greatly affects how we feel.
Most people don’t really notice that what they put into their
bodies affects how they feel. They might know that if they
“sugar out” they may crash emotionally, or if they drink too
much they will feel hung over, but they are often unaware of how
other foods may be creating anxiety and depression.
In the over 35 years that I’ve been a counselor, I have
frequently encountered individuals whose anxiety and depression
completely cleared up by tuning into how food was affecting them.
For example, Marnie discovered that dairy, wheat and sugar kept
her up at night. She would wake up at around 3:00 in the morning
with intense anxiety, and would be tired and depressed the next
day. By experimenting around and cutting out different foods,
she discovered that she slept fine when she stopped eating
dairy, wheat and sugar. All her nighttime anxiety vanished and
she was no longer tired and depressed.
Joel discovered that his sleeplessness and resulting depression
was a direct result of caffeine from coffee, tea, chocolate and
soft drinks. He had not realized how much caffeine he was
actually consuming until I suggested that he cut out all
caffeine and see what happened to his sleep. After a week of
headaches from caffeine withdrawal, he was sleeping soundly for
the first time in years and no longer felt depressed.
Adrienne discovered that her feelings of anxiety and depression,
that had been with her most of her life, disappeared after she
started eating only organic foods. Her system was so sensitive
to the pesticides and food additives in non-organic food that
she could not eat them without feeling anxious and depressed.
Alex, who periodically struggled with depression, inadvertently
discovered that drinking raw milk from an organic dairy had a
completely different effect on him than pasteurized milk. He was
visiting Los Angeles and went into a health food store where he
discovered that he could buy raw dairy products (which are
outlawed in most other states). He found that the raw milk gave
him more energy and elevated his mood. He also found that, while
he was lactose intolerant with pasteurized milk, he had no
problems with raw milk. Now he has his raw milk, cheese, and
butter shipped frozen to Wyoming, and no longer struggles with
depression.
Over and over again my clients, who have chosen to tune into how
food was affecting them, have discovered how much their feelings
were being affected by food. Many of my clients have learned
that even a little sugar brings them down. Sugar consumes so
many vital nutrients as the body attempts to process it that it
can actually be considered a poison. How many people really take
“Sugar Blues” seriously?
A hundred years ago, when people naturally ate non-processed and
organically grown food, they were getting all the nutrients they
needed. Now, most fruits, vegetables and grains are being grown
on devitalized soil and over-processed on top of it. Cows and
sheep that were once grass fed are being fed pesticide-sprayed
grains and given hormones to fatten them up. As a result, much
of our food not only contains little nutrients, but has many
toxins as well. Without the vitamins, minerals, and many other
factors that natural, organic and grass-fed food contains, many
people suffer deficiencies that can cause anxiety and
depression, as well a many other illnesses.
I recently found out that the fat of raw organic dairy products,
especially butter, contains natural anti-inflammatory nutrients.
I wonder if the huge rise in arthritis and other inflammatory
conditions is related to the pasteurizing of milk. Any
inflammatory condition can certainly contribute to anxiety and
depression.
Food is certainly a major factor in the rise of anxiety,
depression and illness. Only you can do something about this by
learning how you are being affected by the foods you eat.
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