The Food and Mood Connection

So I know most of my posts so far have been of a more serious tone. That will change soon, I promise.  Considering that the subject of mental health is close to my heart, I feel compelled to share this information with you .  My hope is that it may be a missing link to someone out there.

I’ve been posting this month about some of the less common links to depression and mental illness. As anyone knows who has been in that depressed state, it’s not always easy to understand the source of the negative emotions, and even harder to find your way out if you don’t have someone guiding you.

One of the links that I believe is largely ignored or not considered in instances of low moods, anxiety and depression is FOOD ALLERGIES. Most of us think of food allergies as someone erupting in hives, or experiencing anaphylactic shock. That is not always the case and almost any symptom can be linked to food allergies, making it a little more complex, but not impossible to decipher.

   “The greatest challenge with allergy is recognizing it.” - Allergies Disease in Disguise, Carolee Batson-Koch DC ND

Typically in cases where there is a food allergy connected to depression, it is considered a food intolerance or sensitivity where the body is not able to metabolize a component of the food ingested. This reaction may be instant and quick to show, or it may creep up slowly over a period of days or weeks without your knowledge of the initial cause. The body works in mysterious ways.

So how do we develop food allergies or sensitivities? Take a look at this barrel. It represents your body.

So as all the chemicals, molds, vaccines, and food build up in your system it creates an overload where the body is not able to keep up with the amount it has to detoxify. As the barrel begins to reach its capacity or critical limit, the body is much more sensitive and not able to adequately remove these threats from the body, leading to reactions and dis-ease.

The most common sensitivities to foods are wheat, corn, soy, dairy, and gluten. The reason for this is that several of those foods are almost always genetically modified unless they’re organic, or they have been over processed causing a situation where the body is less likely to be able to digest them adequately. Aside from foods, our body has to deal with chemical preservatives such as MSG, Aspartame, BHT, nitrates and nitrites. Aspartame, a chemical sweetener, has been linked to anxiety, fatigue, personality changes and suicidal depression. Fun stuff. Oh, and that’s not all. Let’s not forget about herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals on our food and in our environment. We can be sensitive to any of these things and more.

Some of the psychological symptoms associated with (but not limited to) food allergies are:

• Irritability, crankiness
• Restlessness
• Depression, melancholy
• Drowsiness, sleepiness
• Inability to concentrate
• Anxiety
• Fear or panic attacks
• Emotional or crying outbursts
• Mental confusion

Food Allergies are often more easily seen in children. You can often see their red cheeks or ears, runny nose, and dark eye circles which appear quite quickly. Have you ever seen a child have a severe reaction to red food dye? If you haven’t, check it out here on YouTube. Children will go from being sweet and calm to an angry, violent and sometimes self-destructive in a matter of minutes. By the way, all artificial food colourings and flavourings are petroleum based. Children are so much more sensitive than adults are to these manufactured products. There is absolutely no reason why anything resembling a chemical should be in their food.

Sigh, I digress.

Another aspect to consider is the foods which you crave. Some of the most common foods we crave are caffeine, sugar, chocolate, nicotine and alcohol and guess what? We are ALL allergic to them. Your body will often crave what you are allergic to because it is like a drug. You consume it, have a reaction to it (often low blood sugar), then consuming more of it satisfies and remedies the reaction for only a short time. The process repeats again and again until that food is removed from the diet. We will often have withdrawal from these foods as well. Can you honestly tell me that you could cut sugar or caffeine out of your diet for even a week or a month without experiencing any sort of emotional or physical withdrawal? I thought not

So, some good news!! There are ways to distinguish food allergies (yay!) from blood testing, to an elimination diet, to muscle testing to the less accurate skin-prick test. There are solutions!!

If any of you have discovered food allergies or your relationship to food as part of the missing piece to the depression puzzle, please share.

 

Yours in health,

Ashley

 

Tagged as: Anxiety, barrel effect, cravings, depression, Food Allergies