Who knew???!!

I have just worked out my recent spiral into depression coincides with my starting a low carb diet (I want to lose 35lbs to be a bridesmaid for my sister). I've done a little bit of research on the net and have found lots of conflicting reports but a significant number of them definitively say a diet low in carbs does cause depression, particularly if you are prone to it. This last two weeks has seen me descend into a self harming, tearful, snotty mess when before I was actually feeling fairly positive.

Does anyone have any thoughts, experience or opinions on this?

Nells

I don't know if the diet itself will do it but if you are consuming less calories than your body needs then it can do some damage.

I was doing a 1200 calorie diet (300 less than what is recommended... don't do that...) and I was prepared to go with it for 3 months on top of regular workouts. I finished the first month easily. I felt better than I'd ever felt in a long time. However during the second month I started eating a lot less than that 1200 calories and that's when things went bad.

My body became weaker and I was unable to complete the workouts. Motivation went straight out the window approximately 2 days after I stopped eating the 1200 calories. Soon after I was simply unable to do much of anything. I basically shut down. It DOES NOT feel good to shut down after a month of intense work. Days became weeks and weeks became months. I haven't recovered from that since. This started in November...

So first I would suggest that you make sure that you are getting the correct calorie intake for your body. I have no idea how I survived that long on 1200 calories but it was a bad idea anyway. Secondly make sure that you can commit to your diet. If at anytime you find yourself unable to do this then the only option is to just eat whatever you have. I felt guilty and just didn't eat. Don't do that. Lastly make sure you're getting as much sleep as night as you can.

If you are unable to do all the nerdy calculations then you can join http://www.bodybuilding.com/. They have all the stuff you need to keep track of EVERYTHING you will ever need to keep track of. The only things you should keep track of are weight, body fat percentage and waistline but you can do more if you want. You can get your body fat percentage here:http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/ If you don't have measuring tape then you can grab a belt and a ruler and do it that way.

I had a type of weight loss surgery (called duodenal switch) that requires a very high protein, relatively high fat and much lower carb diet to accomodate nutrient malabsorption. I don't know if that change in the balance of intake was a factor, but in the first six months or so following my surgery I had quite a harsh round of depression that was clearly a biochemical issue.

I suspect that rapid weight loss was also a factor, as well as changes in how I absorbed medications.

Please note that when we talk about these types of connections, they are not *causes.* They are correlations. Why is this important to note? Because if we believe something "causes" a depression, we can fall into the trap of believing that changing that something will also *fix* the depression. Down that path lies a LOT of misinformation and frustration :-(.

IMO there are lots of things that can tip the balance of mood and send us off the deep end. It often seems like something is the straw that breaks the camel's back. *ugh*

I want to underscore NoCake's point that inadequate nutrition will play pure hell with mood. If your body is in emergency mode for any reason, mood is going to go down the tubes in no time flat. Think about when you get sick or have surgery, for example. The same is true of severe nutritional deprivation--or even less severe deprivation. Every body reads "EMERGENCY FOOD SHORTAGE" at a different point. There are no magic calorie or nutrient numbers or activity levels at which it can be predicted to happen. It's highly individual.

I'm confident, too, that if you don't lose every single pound, your sister will still be THRILLED to have you as her bridesmaid. Please be kind ot yourself :-).