Diet to treat depression

Depression is an illness which affects the person’s mood and thoughts, leaving consequences on one’s eating and sleeping habits, and even resulting in a number of the physical disorders from time to time. As for the course of depression, there is no generalizing. Each person experiences it in their own individual way, depending on the causes which lead to such a state.

Usually, depression is treated with antidepressants, particularly Prozac, but over the years, they have been proven to have numerous side effects. Also, the antidepressants do nothing to treat the condition itself, but they simply ease its symptoms. Therefore, there is growing tendency of patients to find more natural solutions to make them feel better while dealing with the condition. And the thing that many experts suggest is food.

The connection between food and depression

Although treating the symptoms of depression with food sounds like an unfamiliar ground, and even a little too risky, it might just be worth the shot.

When trying to test the fact just how essential food really is, many studies were based on observing what kind of an effect the lack of it produced. Some studies even went so far as to observe the former prisoners of concentration camps and what starvation has done to them. Experts tried comparing the soldiers who had access to food to those who were imprisoned and sent to concentration camps and who barely made it through alive. The latter ones were usually left with some chronic physical consequences, as well as severe depression.

As for the way in which their condition was to be kept in order, it was with very large amounts of vitamins which they required to consume daily through proper foods. This is just one of the examples in which depression was proven to result from starvation, and the relief was brought about by appropriate foods, but there are many of them. However, that does not mean that all those cases in which depression did not result from the lack of food cannot be treated with it as well, just the opposite. Food turned out to be just as effective.

Treating depression with certain foods

Many people will probably think that treating depression with food means eating things like chocolate, or anything else containing endorphins, sugar or similar elements, as they are known to be those which feelings of happiness and general welfare. And even though they do have such an effect, one cannot live on chocolate for the sake of curing depression. The way to allow the food to have a positive effect on depression is to visit a nutritionist who will help every individual make their own well-balanced, healthy diet plan, filled with vitamins, particularly vitamin B, as well as magnesium and fatty acids.