Diet Science By Mark / March 15, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Share Depression affects millions of people worldwide ranging from mild to mind numbing severe. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between 5 -15% of any given population suffers from some form of depression. It hits home for everyone. Think about it. Who doesn’t know someone that suffers with this life altering condition. Science is just starting to understand how food is related to depression. The association between food and depression is so common that popular culture often shows the “depressed character” running for a tub of ice cream or a whole cake. While the world science gurus are still hard at work drilling down to find the chemical associations we also know there are ways we can help in the kitchen to fight the cycle of binge eating of low quality carbs and sugary fats. Where to Start The first step should always be to reach out to a health care professional with an honest discussion about your unique situation. The stigma of talking with someone holds back too many people from improving their life. The second step, is to look at the foods you crave when depression sets in. Often these cravings of sugary and carbohydrate loaded foods also lead to sneaky weight gain, which then adds to the depression. The first action for success is to accept you cannot just eliminate all the sugar, fat, and carbs from your diet if you are battling depression. You would not be eating very much that tasted good and THAT would definitely be depressing! The key is to add healthy fats like good olive oil or avocado oil and what I call “smart sugars”. Smart sugars are those sugars that have big flavors so we need less and appreciate their depth of flavors, like real honey and real maple syrup. Full flavor foods like salmon, thick shrimp, and tempeh add a good “chew”. These are far more satisfying than just eating a whole plate of fried wings. Find a citrus that you like and add that to the dish as well. Finally, join a smart carbohydrate like an ancient grain or whole grain pasta. Quick List Add: Healthy fats (Olive, Avocado, Safflower Oils) Bigger flavor sugars (Pure honey, real maple syrup) “Smarter Carbs” (Whole grains, ancient grains Lessen: Heavy fatty foods (fatty wings, sausages, fatty cuts) Single flavor note sugars (granulated sugar, corn syrup, agave) Processed, easily digested plain carbs (white rice, plain breads and pastas) Our science and nutrition gurus here at Flavorful Science will roll out a full series of episodes in the hopes of helping, in some small way, your battles with this hidden enemy.
