Quote: (12-23-2013 03:27 PM)K Galt Wrote:
THE first place anyone who suffers from depression or anxiety needs to look at, is their diet. More specifically the balance of Omega fatty acids.
In most cases, you need to reduce your intake of Omega 6 fatty acids and increase your intake of Omega 3 fatty acids.
Avoid eating commercially fried foods, don't cook with "vegetable" oil (aka soybean, canola, safflower, cottonseed oil), and try and increase your intake of seafood. Small, oily fish are also full of Omega 3 fatty acids - sardines, anchovies etc. Wild Salmon is also a great source (but make sure it's wild caught, as farmed Salmon are fed soy feed, which is a large source of Omega 6 fatty acids).
You can also try and start taking fish oil supplements.
You can also try cutting out wheat gluten from your diet...as wheat flours effects on overall health has been implicated in a number of diseases and conditions. When going gluten free though, it can take up to a month or so before you feel any benefits from cutting it out of your diet.
This post was spot on. I am currently reading "The Brain Diet," by Alan Logan, which another forum member recommended. The author devotes a chapter to fats and Omega-3 intake.
One study showed that taking three grams of fish oil per day led to a progressive decline in anxiety symptoms. That decline even lasted three months after participants stopped taking Omega-3 supplementation.
Another study that involved fish oil supplementation in a UK prison for young offenders resulted in a thirty-seven percent reduction in violent acts.
Lack of Omega-3 is related to learning disorders, lack of impulse control and behavior extremes, anxiety, depression, and dementia.
Aside from taking two or three fish oil capsules (usually one gram per capsule), you can also eat small non-predator fish (e.g., sardines), wild salmon, free range eggs, or dark leafy greens with flax oil or walnut oil. You want to avoid large predator fish, farm-raised salmon, and regular eggs.