It’s an all too common tale: Battling both depression and your weight.
And for 47 year old Jodi Corbitt, who had been battling depression for decades, she knew she had to make a change–but what she did will surprise you.
To help shed the weight she gained while she battled depression, Corbitt decided to cut gluten out of her diet, a type of protein commonly found in grain products.
Immediately, she began losing weight–and her depression.
“It was like a veil lifted and I could see life more clearly,” says Corbitt. “It changed everything.”
What Happened to Jodi
In just one month, Corbitt lost several pounds just by cutting gluten out of her diet. And her depression? She no longer had to depend on her antidepressants to keep her mental health in check.
For one university professor, her results aren’t surprising.
“Research exploring the link between diet and mental health is a very new field; the first papers only came out a few years ago,” says Michael Berk, a professor of psychiatry at the Deakin University School of Medicine in Australia. “But the results are unusually consistent, and they show a link between diet quality and mental health.”
In Berk’s case, diet quality refers to the nutritional content of the food you eat on a diet, and not necessarily how many calories you eat, a common measure used for weight loss. And it’s based on science as well–a 2011 study found that those who ate a diet of meat and vegetables instead of processed foods had lower rates of anxiety and depression.
As for the reasons why, Berk can’t quite explain it–but he does note diets such as Corbitt’s generally are more nutrient-dense.
“Traditional diets–the kinds of foods your grandmother would have recognized–have been associated with a lower risk of mental health issues,” says Berk .”There’s lots of hype about the Mediterranean diet [fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, fish] but the traditional Norwegian diet [fish, shellfish, game, root vegetables, dairy products, whole-wheat bread] and the traditional Japanese diet [fish, tofu, rice] appear to be just as protective.”
Possibly, he–and other experts–suggest that people like Corbitt didn’t get better simply because they switched out gluten; doing so required other changes as well, such as opting for more nutrient-dense foods. Processed foods would have to be a no go too, as oftentimes they contain traces of gluten.
Regardless of what caused her depression to go away, Corbitt still likes this diet because it was a simple solution–and that made it easier to stick to.
“This was such a simple solution,” says Corbitt. “I could have saved myself a lot of money and a lot of misery if someone had asked about my diet 15 years ago. My life could have been different.”
What You Should Do
Feeling the blues way too often? Don’t medicate your depression with alcohol or drugs; instead, consider going on a nutrient-rich diet to chase away your sad mood. Your best bet: Cut out the processed foods while upping your intake of vegetables and fruits as an easy perk me up.
Readers: Do you find that certain foods make you feel better?
Sources:
Can What You Eat Affect Your Mental Health? – WashingtonPost.com
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