Foods That Fight Depression

Depression is a major problem in our world today. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association, depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3, and affects more than 16.1 million American adults. Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. No one is immune from the day-to-day stresses that occur in our lives.  Stresses can be anything from someone cutting us off in traffic, to work-related stresses, to the loss of a close friend or relative.

We may not be able to prevent ourselves or our loved ones from being affected by daily stresses, but we can choose how we react to them, and how our body is able to handle them.

Being a health counselor and nutritionist, I understand that most people these days need some help once in a while with boosting our mood, reducing or handling stress more effectively, or overcoming depression. There are a number of foods and supplements that can help reduce the effects of stress on our health, help us to sleep better, and fight depression. In this article, I am also going to discuss a few things to avoid in processed or restaurant foods, as well as use of antibiotics, that can be unknowingly contributing to anxiety or depression.

A basic first step is to eat a well-balanced diet of organic fresh fruits and vegetables. I recommend always buying organic, non-GMO foods when possible, because they will have a much higher nutrient content, and less chemical toxins for your body.  Eating a more plant-based diet is recommended.

Some of these plant-based foods are listed below.

Lentils, chickpeas, beans, and quinoa are a wonderful source of protein, but in addition to this, they are rich in B vitamins. The B vitamins have a calming effect on the body. B vitamins can enhance our mood and help reduce anxiety.

Beans and legumes are healthful boosters of both dopamine (essential for the normal functioning of the central nervous system) and norepinephrine (It’s known as the the stress hormone, because it is released in times of high anxiety “fight or flight” situation.), which are both neurotransmitters. (Neurotransmitters are complex chemical couriers that coordinate communication between neurons, which in turn influences every cell, tissue, and system in our body.) What we eat affects the formation of neurotransmitters, and some diet-related neurotransmitters have a significant effect on our mood, our appetite and our cravings.

Romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, citrus fruits, lentils, basil, arugula, sunflower seeds, and mushrooms all contain the nutrient folate (B9), which helps us attain a calmer mood.

Enjoy yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables. Papayas, beets, apples and red bell peppers have Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and folate, which enhance mood, energize, and repair cells damaged from stress. It is wonderful how eating a piece of fresh fruit can help calm the brain.

 Green vegetables like romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and lentils are packed with Vitamin A.

Celery and celery seeds have been found to help lower blood pressure, reduce risk of cancer, lower LDL (bad cholesterol), reduce inflammation, and prevent age-related vision loss. It has been found to aid in the growth and development of nerve cells, creating a soothing effect for nerves. I like having a glass of pure, freshly juiced celery juice by itself a few times a week for the health benefits.

Eat foods that are purple. These foods contain anthocyanin antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation which contributes to bad moods. Purple foods include wild blueberries and purple potatoes.

 Wild Blueberries have been found (in a fully controlled double-blind study) to prevent low mood and depression. The study examined the effects of the flavonoid-rich blueberries on mood in young people, and found that the blueberries significantly boosted mood, which in turn helped prevent depression in the young people. Wild blueberries have twice the antioxidant power of regularly cultivated blueberries, and more antioxidants than twenty other fruits and vegetables, including cranberries, strawberries, plums, raspberries, and even cultivated blueberries.

 Purple potatoes were considered “treasures” of the Incas. Purple or otherwise, don’t peel these purple potatoes.  The skins of vegetables and fruits commonly contain high levels of antioxidants and nutrients, and are frequently much greater than the fruit or vegetable itself. (This also applies to skins you would not normally think to consume, like lemon skins).

The purple potato skins contain iodine, which is the main nutrient that supports your thyroid and helps stabilize hormone levels. This will help prevent mood swings. One of the particular health benefits of purple potatoes are that they can stop the blood vessels from feeding cancer cells, they boost the immune system and help in digestion health.

My children always loved it when I made purple mashed potatoes when their friends came over for dinner. It made our dinner more colorful and fun.

In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, here are some effective stress-reducing foods and supplements you can add to your diet –

Maca root is a wonderful superfood that originated in the Andes. The raw powder of the maca root helps the body cope with stress. It contains more than 55 beneficial phytochemical nutrients that help our bodies regulate hormones, relieve the symptoms of depression, reduce stress, elevate mood, and increase stamina. Maca root has been found to fortify weak immune systems and aid in re-mineralizing the body.

Maca root helps the adrenal or suprarenal glands, which can be weakened by stress. These glands are chiefly responsible for regulating our body’s stress response. Common symptoms of adrenal fatigue include dark circles under the eyes, low blood sugar, lower back pain, knee weakness or pain, fatigue, cravings for sugar or salt, chronic infections, and lack of libido. The adrenal glands are very important for our immune system and proper thyroid function. Not many foods support and nurture the adrenal glands

Maca comes in gold, red and black colors. The red maca is most beneficial for balancing hormones, and increasing strength and stamina. Out of the three varieties, the red type has the highest amount of amino acids, (the building blocks of protein).

I buy raw, organic red or black maca root powder, because the raw root is not processed over 118°F, and therefore it retains the live enzymes necessary to feed the cells of the body. You can purchase maca root powder at health food stores or online. Maca root does not have much flavor, so you can add it to many foods. I add it to smoothies in the morning, and it goes well with fruit or cacao smoothies.

Drink plenty of high-quality water and avoid chlorinated and fluoridated tap water. The chlorine can destroy the vitamin E and the good probiotics in your body. The fluoride and the chlorine can prevent the thyroid from absorbing iodine which is the necessary nutrient needed for the thyroid to function properly. The thyroid can directly affect your mood and energy levels.

Foods And Beverages For Balancing Hormones

Hormones can play a part in how we feel. Depression, anxiety, insomnia, low libido are all signs that hormones may be imbalanced. Tulsi tea (It is also known as Holy basil), is a member of the mint family and a sacred plant in India. has been shown to help regulate hormones, relieve stress, as well as other health benefits.

Tulsi tea (Holy Basil) is a powerful antioxidant with demonstrated antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to the tulsi tea, consuming healthy fats, like avocado or avocado oil, coconut oil, cold-pressed hemp or flaxseed oil (Omega 3 fatty acid) can boost your mood, as well as help in regulating hormones.

Also, according to William Li, M.D., President of the Angiogenesis Foundation, beets are particularly good, because eating them contribute a particular bacterium, Lactobacillus reuteri that supports the immune system. This healthy bacterium will enable your body’s ability to boost testosterone production, help your body reduce fat cell production (so you stay slim) and decrease tumor growth.  This beneficial bacterium will actually talk to your brain and have it release oxytocin that makes us feel good.

Make sure you avoid using alcohol-based or toxic mouthwashes because these toxic mouthwashes or toothpastes will destroy your beneficial bacteria that are naturally in your mouth. These beneficial bacteria are important to have in your mouth when you are chewing food. (Yes, we all need to slow down and chew our food well.) These bacteria help process things like the nitrates (naturally occurring, not the synthetic variety) in the beets, or glucose syanaze

in watercress, so you can obtain the most optimum health benefits from consuming healthy fruits and vegetables, like beets, onion, garlic, greens, watercress, etc. When we eat nitrates from plants, the chewing and natural bacteria in our mouth convert these nitrates into nitrites.

These natural nitrates, that we have converted from the nitrates when absorbed, are stored in our cells, are then turned into nitric oxide, which is a compound that’s proven to relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

Many people struggle with hormone balance. Using a bio-identical compounded hormone created from yams is beneficial and avoids the side effects that can come from using synthetic versions.  It is recommended to balance estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.  A low testosterone can create depression. Low progesterone can affect your ability to sleep.

To determine your individual hormonal needs, have your physician thoroughly evaluate your hormone levels with a blood or urine test. You may need to specifically request non-synthetic, hormone therapy. Some physicians are not aware that there are natural, compounded hormone therapy and you may need to help inform your physician or find a naturopathic physician who will prescribe these for you.

After starting a natural hormone replacement program, your physician will monitor and re-evaluate your hormone levels, to assure they are maintained at their optimum range.

I order foods from the Health Ranger’s store. He analyzes the products personally for purity. (He carries a variety of things other than foods, including water purifiers, essential oils, etc.)

Supplements

1. Complex Amino Acids

Complex amino acid therapy has been found to help with many types of health problems, including lifting mood, calming the mind and creating a sense of well-being.  People who suffer from depression, anxiety and low mood could supplement their body with complex amino acids, because they get converted into neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters include serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine, and all of them play a major role in brain and bodily functions.

In a recent study, the researchers found that elderly people given complex amino acid therapy had “unequivocal improvement” with their dementia.

According to researchers, an imbalance of serotonin levels could be one of the causes of bipolar disorder. This is because this chemical is connected to body functions like eating, memory,  ability to sleep, impulse responses, learning, and sexual. When we are low in Dopamine we feel no pleasure, our world looks bland, we feel an inability to “love”, and we have no remorse about personal behavior.

There are foods that supply complex amino acids naturally. Here are a few good choices;

1. Banana

A banana is a natural food source of tyrosine. Tyrosine is the amino acid neurons turn into norepinephrine and dopamine. Norepinephrine and dopamine are neurotransmitters that are important in creating our ability to be motivated, concentrate and have a more effective memory.

     2. Beets (which are called beetroot in the UK)

While in other parts of the world (such as the U.S.A.) they are commonly called “beets” and their juice “beet juice”. Beets contain the amino acid Betaine. It is an antidepressant. Betaine acts as a stimulant for the production of SAM-e (S-adenoslmethionine). The body cannot do without SAM-e, which it produces. SAM-e is directly related to the production of certain hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin.    

3. Watermelon juice and watermelon rind

Watermelon and watermelon rind are both rich with vitamins A, B6, and C. Vitamin B6 is used by the body to manufacture neurotransmitters such as serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine. I frequently put the cleaned rind and the meat of the watermelon in a blender and create a delicious healthy drink. It is hydrating, has the fiber and the nutrients.

In addition to consuming healthy foods that contain complex amino acids, 5 HTP is a great supplement that contains these complex amino acids.  It has been studied extensively and has been shown to boost the mood in as little as 20 minutes.  L-Theanine is a complex amino acid that can help relieve stress and promote relaxation.

In addition to complex amino acids, there is a supplement, Protandim, that has been studied extensively and found to help with cell damage and oxidative stress. It can help reduce oxidative stress by 40% in 30 days. (I recently started taking it for my overall health.)

It’s been nominated for two Nobel Prizes for Medicine and has had over 26 peer-reviewed medical papers written about it.

ABC did a PrimeTime Update on this supplement to show it’s benefits for aging and overall health. 
(If you want to try this supplement, let me know, and I’ll be happy to help you in choosing which one of their products would be best suited for you and your health situation.)


Hemp Oil is another good supplement. Many clinical studies have shown that hemp oil benefits include anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, anti-oxidant, and anti-psychotic properties. There are encouraging trials with hemp oil being used as medicine for the treatment of neuro-inflammation, epilepsy, oxidative stress, nausea, anxiety and schizophrenia. 

Vitamins

Make sure you are not low in Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a prohormone and helps prevent inflammation. A deficiency of vitamin D can cause depression and has also been linked to cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some autoimmune diseases.

According to Creighton University, “Researchers are challenging the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine saying their Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten.” Robert Heaney, M.D., of Creighton University, wrote: “We call for the NAS-IOM and all public health authorities concerned with transmitting accurate nutritional information to the public to designate, as the RDA, a value of approximately 7,000 IU/day from all sources.”

Magnesium Chloride can help reduce stress, anxiety, and insomnia, as well as help with muscle cramping. I use the Magnesium Chloride by Elektra. You can soak in a bath with it or use the lotion with magnesium in it. Here is a link to the website: https://www.magnesiumviaskin.com/?ref=10  Magnesium needs to be replenished on a daily basis.

What Should We Avoid?

To start off a healthier eating plan to help relieve depression or anxiety, eliminate foods that have additives, preservatives, and food color dyes.

On a side note, if you are a coffee drinker, or have caffeine as a part of your diet, be aware that caffeine has been shown to suppress serotonin, as well as cause deficiencies in magnesium, iron and B vitamins.  (B vitamins are essential for our body to have a healthy nervous system, adrenal function and a healthy response to stress).  In fact, according to Duke University Medical Center, people who drink coffee have elevated blood pressure and higher levels of stress hormones all day and into the evening, creating a scenario in which the body acts like it is continually under stress.

Coffee’s diuretic effects can cause your body to excrete vitamins A, D, E, K and the essential fatty acids in the urine.  If you rely on caffeine, and suffer from stress or depression, you may want to reconsider if you really want caffeine as a part of your daily diet.

Increasingly since the 1960s, more people have come to depend on processed foods that contain colored dyes, MSG, preservatives and synthetic additives, and high levels of caffeine. Many foods such as juices, soft drinks, candy, gelatins, breakfast cereals, baked and snack foods, chips, crackers, cookies, salad dressings, frozen desserts, and even food you wouldn’t normally suspect, such as pickles or fresh produce, are coated in dye to make them look more pleasing or have MSG (monosodium glutamate) added to make people think they taste good.

A 68-page report called Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks by the Center for Science in the Public Interest states: “Studies of the nine dyes currently approved by the FDA suggest, if not prove, that most of the dyes cause health problems, including cancer, hypersensitivity, or neurotoxicity (including hyperactivity and behavioral problems).  In many ways, we may be able to help ourselves by cleaning up our diet and eating healthier foods.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer. The component glutamate, or glutamic acid, is an excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter in the brain. These neurotransmitters in the brain are normal, but when there is an excess of them, cells will be over-stimulated and die. According to neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock’s book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, these excitotoxins will stimulate neurons in the brain until the neurons die as a result. This causes various degrees of brain damage. MSG has since been added to almost all processed foods, including the sweeteners NutraSweet and aspartame. It is found in foods at almost all fast-food restaurants and even other restaurants you might not suspect.  The reason MSG has become such a huge part of the food industry is because it works on the brain as a pleasure trigger, making you think food tastes better. So, food that normally tastes bland may taste great with MSG added to it. The diet food industry has especially benefited from using MSG.

However, MSG can send pleasure impulses to the brain until it kills that part of the brain. This can lead to depression. Dr. Blaylock has tried for many years to educate people about the toxicity of this additive in our food supply.

The FDA has no limit on how much MSG can be added to food. Theoretically, in children, the long-term effects can be attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and other learning disabilities. In adults, conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, sleep disorders, migraines, depression and the inability to lose weight may be linked to excitotoxin damage. Over the years, more and more MSG has been added to foods.

Hydrolyzed proteins, also used as flavor enhancers, are proteins that have been chemically broken down into amino acids. When they are digested, the result can be the creation of free glutamate, which joins with free sodium in the body to form MSG. This means that while the ingredient label will list only “hydrolyzed protein,” the effect on the body is the same as if the product contained MSG.

Free glutamate can cause the body to react as if a drug had stimulated the nervous system. It can affect insulin metabolism, leading to excessive insulin secretion by the pancreas. Some common symptoms of a reaction to free glutamate are anxiety attacks, mood swings, depression,  asthma-like symptoms, attention deficit disorder, burning sensations, carpal tunnel syndrome, chest pains, diarrhea, disorientation and confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, flushing, gastric distress, headaches and migraines, hyperactivity in children, infertility and other endocrine problems, insomnia, irregular or rapid heartbeat, joint pain, mouth lesions, nausea and vomiting, numbness of parts of the body such as the fingertips, seizures, shortness of breath, skin rash, slurred speech, stomachaches, tremors, and weakness.

Click here for a complete list of hidden sources of MSG that Dr. Blaylock includes in his book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills. Many of these look just like “normal” food ingredients (a few examples of these: textured protein, bouillon, broth, stock, flavoring, natural flavoring, seasoning, spices, hydrolyzed oat flour, malt flavoring and/or extract, enzymes, and soy protein concentrate or isolate). Many of them are added to alternative meat products sold as vegetarian foods. That is why it is becoming more and more important for your health to buy whole, fresh foods and make meals yourself.

To be even more tricky, some of the ingredients aren’t MSG when they are put in food, but they create MSG when they touch saliva. So, they can say, it doesn’t have MSG, but when you ingest it, it becomes MSG. You may want to read more about this in Dr. Blaylock’s articles and books.

Avoid Soy

Another food to avoid is soy. Avoid soy and soy products that aren’t fermented. Soy foods are promoted as being healthy, but they are very hard on the body and extremely high in goitrogens – substances that are known to suppress thyroid function and actually promote hypothyroidism.  Unfermented soy is also high in phytic acid and can keep the body from absorbing other essential nutrients like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and particularly protein. It’s been found to cause brain damage and cancer.

The thyroid is a master gland that controls almost every system of the body from the heart, GI tract, and weight, as well as sleep, mood, and the growth of hair, skin, and nails. One of the most reliable ways of spotting a thyroid problem is a basal body temperature below the normal 98.6 Fahrenheit.  Be sure to check your morning temperature three days in a row to confirm the actual average. Research shows that taking a natural supplement containing both iodine and iodide is very important to healthy thyroid function.  Iodine and Iodide have different functions, and we require both for optimum functioning of the thyroid.

I have always found that working in my garden or preparing food for the table to be a very relaxing and calming experience. When you are preparing a meal, light some candles, put on nice music, enjoy a cup of warm chamomile tea (natural caffeine-free chamomile tea has a calming effect on the body), and make it a wonderful, peaceful experience. This can set the tone that can help relieve stress and anxiety.

In conclusion, mood can be boosted tremendously by consuming healthy foods and supplements that fight depression and avoiding ingredients that can cause depression and anxiety. By eating a nutritious diet, a person can not only lift their mood but also live a happier, healthier life.