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I agree with most of what was said above. I believe increasing your fat really helps your brain and mood. Regular high intensity exercise will definitely help as well. And make sure you are trying to get as much vitamin D through sunshine if the weather in your area permits. It topped out at 60 degrees today in Northern California and I was sunbathing for a good half an hour and it felt amazing! For long term depression the best help I can think of is to find something you truly love and get lost in it. Live your passions and your mood is sure to get lifted. Good luck!
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Oh, and take a high quality omega-3 supplement from an animal source (fish oil, krill oil, etc.). The vegetarian sources are not good because things like flax and chia only have short-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, whereas what you need are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (DHA, for example). Humans have enzymes that convert the short-chain stuff from plants into the long-chain stuff, but it's horribly inefficient. I think the conversion rate for women is something like 14% or 8%--can't remember for sure.
Anyway, studies have shown that omega-3s have a natural anti-depressant effect. Just search "omega-3 and depression" on PubMed. Also look at this: [url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133010.htm]Eating more fish could reduce postpartum depression[/url] I found the original article on PubMed but wasn't able to find a free version of the full-text article.
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Depression often goes hand in hand with anxiety. I have tried to get DH to take magnesium at night before bed. When he does I noticed a more settled and happier DH.
It could be worth a try, however if you are breast feeding - not so sure ????
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I had depression after I had my daughter. It sort of brought up everything I had ever stuffed down and it all came bubbling up with anxiety and depression. St. John's Wort tincture and tea have helped me, as have fish oil and other supplements of nutrients I was missing.
But the best thing was to get some good therapy, including EMDR. That and sleep. I wish that I had gotten help when my daughter was baby. I waited until she was about 2 and I was moderately debilitated.
Good luck, mama! PM me if you want to chat.
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[QUOTE=shema;1077274]I'm feeling better now but wanted additional suggestions. For example last week I was eating ice cream, had some chocolate here and there, etc. I was making smoothies w coconut milk and berries but decided to stop that for the moment. I've cut out all the sugary stuff. Here's what I had today:
Breakfast: Omelet w. shitake mushrooms
Snack: Coconut butter and cashews
Lunch: Salmon w. guacamole
Snack: Goat milk kefir
Dinner: Okra w. oxtail stew
I also put the baby in a stroller and walked a lot.
I feel a lot better today but just want to make sure I can maintain feeling better!
I am also taking Vitamin D supplements since I live in the northeast and it's dark and cold...[/QUOTE]
I don't want to be a carb pusher but... as someone who suffers from depression, adding starch back into my diet has really, really helped with my mental, physical and emotional energy. Consider it :)
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Yogabare, to be honest I'm wondering if a starch would help me too. I'm coming out of a year-long depression (not that I feel great; I'm just not screaming as much) but PMS depression still hits me hard. I'm not talking huge potato hack amounts... maybe a 1/2 cup of rice every other day or so.
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[QUOTE=oxide;1078414]Yogabare, to be honest I'm wondering if a starch would help me too. I'm coming out of a year-long depression (not that I feel great; I'm just not screaming as much) but PMS depression still hits me hard. I'm not talking huge potato hack amounts... maybe a 1/2 cup of rice every other day or so.[/QUOTE]
That's not going to do anything, and going "guess I'll have 1/2 a cup of rice because I'm depressed" sounds counter-productive. Go out for ice cream or something with friends.
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I find that I get depressed if I am deprived of fruit and fresh crunchy vegetables. There are two hormones that impact depressive moods, cortisol and serotonine. Cortisol based depression is helped by eating fats and going low carb. Serotonine one is actually worsened by doing it. Eating a small serving of starch, a tbsp of honey and/or fruit mid afternoon and before bed might help that.
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[QUOTE=oxide;1078414]Yogabare, to be honest I'm wondering if a starch would help me too. I'm coming out of a year-long depression (not that I feel great; I'm just not screaming as much) but PMS depression still hits me hard. I'm not talking huge potato hack amounts... maybe a 1/2 cup of rice every other day or so.[/QUOTE]
Hey Oxide, I'm really sorry to hear that you've been down for so long :( Listen, I'm not going to say that starch is the answer. If you've been depressed for so long then I'm imagining that there are underlying issues that are triggering a depressed response to external events, yeah? You'll need to face those (I'm sure you know this).
However, I do think that limiting a massive energy source from the diet (don't shoot me, Paleobird! ;)) and making your body work that bit harder just to manufacture glucose is not good for someone with a depressed physiology. There are studies looking at the immune response of depressed people versus...umm... undepressed people, and the latter group had a much better immune response to pathogens. Giving a depressed physiology an easy, benign source of energy that doesn't require a lot of processing makes sense to me now. Maybe that's why I personally am just drawn to white rice - I eat bananas and potatoes too, but it's the rice I want, which is just pure glucose. It seems to give me what I need. But I also keep doing the inner work.
And obviously the rest of the diet has to be balanced with that. You won't put on weight if you keep it moderate.
OP, sorry for the digression - this probably isn't directly applicable to you as your depression doesn't sound chronic, but those are my reasons for promoting starch. Yay rice! ;)
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[QUOTE=shema;1077199]
-Drinking 1/2 cup of black coffee when I feel really bad. It REALLY elevates my mood.
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This also reflects my experience. And since I really enjoy coffee, it became nasty dependency leading to anxiety and OCD symptoms. It was because of this that I went looking fort dietary changes.
