Are You Stressed? Depressed? Look At Your Diet For Answers
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Are You Stressed? Depressed? Look At Your Diet For Answers
New research being done at medical centers around the country
indicates that some cases of depression may be caused by nutrition
and diet. It’s now known that individuals can become depressed if
they have a deficiency of either serotonin or noradrenaline in their
brain. Stress, fatigue, and overwork deplete noradrenaline, resulting
in emotional strain, lack of concentration, and loss of energy and
vitality.
Both serotonin and noradrenaline (also known as norepinephrine) act
as nerve transmitters which send messages from the brain to the rest
of the body. When these transmitters are blocked or impaired, our
normal brain and bodily functions are seriously impaired. In
addition, serotonin is released from platelets (small disk-like
structures in the blood) during an injury and causes smooth muscles
to constrict and reduce blood flow.
Serotonin and noradrenaline are derived from amino acids found in
meats, dairy products, and other food supplements. The dietary amino
acid tryptophan is especially important because it’s one of the
10 “essential” amino acids - essential because our body can’t
manufacture it and, therefore, must be consumed daily in our diet.
Another amino acid =96 tyrosine - is also important because it’s one of
the building blocks of noradrenaline. In some cases, depressed
patients have improved with tryptophan treatment while in other
cases, patients have improved with tyrosine treatment.
The relationship between stress, depression, and serotonin is
important because one of the vital functions of serotonin is to
induce drowsiness and sleep. Sleep, in turn, is a very effective
mechanism for helping us relax and for alleviating symptoms of
depression. In some cases of depression, insomnia prolongs the amount
of time spent dwelling on problems. Hence, sleep can be a good stress
reliever and is critical in improving overall physical and
psychological well-being.
Though the exact reason for sleep isn’t well understood, we do know
that lack of sleep for prolonged periods can produce irritable and
neurotic behavior. It also makes us more susceptible to stress and
stress reactions. Sleep, therefore, brings our body back to a state
of balance and makes us more resistant to stress effects. By
increasing tryptophan intake, which affects the production of
serotonin, diet-induced depression might be alleviated or reversed
altogether. Besides meats, the foods highest in tryptophan content
are: milk, cheese, eggs, fish, dates, barley, beans, chickpeas,
cowpeas, lentils, whole peas, and soybeans.
Depression due to low levels of noradrenaline can be treated by
increasing the consumption of the amino acid phenylalanine, which is
converted by the body into tyrosine. The foods highest in
phenylalanine content are basically the same as they are for
tryptophan. Phenylalanine supplements, however, should not be taken
without the advice of a physician since they may have adverse side
effects in people with hypertension.
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