by Harriet Squier

Created on: February 13, 2009   Last Updated: February 20, 2009

Food is such a basic part of our lives we often don't think of it as something that affects our moods and our day to day sense of well being. In our hectic world, we grab food on the run, skip meals when we're stressed, or binge when we're REALLY stressed. Yet our relationship to food may actually make dealing with our stress more difficult.

While we recognize depression as a problem in our brains, we often don't connect it to our behaviors and the choices we make in the rest of our lives. Although serious depression usually needs to be treated with medications along with therapy, milder depression can often be treated by other means, including therapy alone, diet, exercise, relaxation, bright lights, music, and other measures.

How do I know if I am depressed?

People who are depressed can have a variety of symptoms which are present for at least two weeks. Usually, you would :

Feel sad and/or

Have difficulty enjoying things that used to be enjoyable

You would also have a combination of the following symptoms:

Fatigue
Change in appetite
Change in sleep
Guilt
Hopelessness
Anxiety
Decreased ability to concentrate

Who gets depression?

For many people, depression comes on all by itself without any clear cause. Bouts of depression can occur sporadically over many years. Close family members may suffer from depression as well.

For others, depression can be caused or aggravated by a variety of factors, such as nutritional deficiencies; recent losses; chronic lack of sleep; winter; premenstrual syndrome; infections such as hepatitis or AIDS; rheumatoid arthritis; cancer; neurological diseases like Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, or a stroke; medication side effects; and drugs and alcohol.

Is my diet a major factor in causing depression?

This is an interesting question, since medical science is just beginning to figure out the answer. Eating carbohydrates has been shown to increase serotonin levels briefly. Low serotonin levels in the brain are associated with depression. This may explain why so many people, especially women, respond to stress and depression by eating lots of carbohydrates or by binge eating. However, eating simple carbohydrates like refined sugar and flour causes more problems than it solves. Since the carbohydrates are cleared from the blood stream quickly, a person may experience low blood sugar one to two hours after eating, with fatigue, weakness and shakiness which mimics some of the symptoms of depression. Eating more carbohydrates in response simply repeats

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