[DechanDawa]

I found Freelee on youtube. She is a vegan who consumes mostly fruit. She averages about 30 bananas a day. She knows that bananas support the production of serotonin. Her record was 51 bananas in one day.

She also revealed how she had been a drug addict in the past, and had suffered from suicidal depression. She completely cured herself through a healthy lifestyle.

She explains that being vegan is a whole lifestyle that includes eating well, sleeping well, and exercising every single day.

However, she is super skinny. She suffered from eating disorders in the past, but now says she consumes mega-calories.

Some say she must over-exercise to stay so slim while consuming massive amounts of food. She says she does not.

However, she looks pretty happy and healthy, and I am wondering if it is all those bananas. Whenever you look up anything on brain health it always mentions bananas.

I don't mind Freelee, but sometimes I feel like she often tries to convince everyone that a raw vegan diet is the only way to be healthy.

She also talks about celebrities like Lady Gaga and shows embarrassing pictures of them in her videos.

If you're interested in a vegan or raw vegan diet I would recommend watching FullyRawKristina.

Have you considered the cost of eating all those bananas a day? I find it inconceivable then that someone could.

[Lunella]

I'm seriously considering going on a Vegan diet, I've wanted to for a while now. You can substitute meat in normal meals with something else, there are many vegan/vegetarian alternatives. I went on the reddit vegan place and they were really helpful and nice and sent me lots of recipes. They said you can be an unhealthy vegan though.

Also, if you haven't done I recommend watching this documentary called Cowspiracy, it's changed my perception a lot and made me want to try vegan even more.

As for Freelee, I found her a long time ago and tried her diet and felt really good just having fruit and veg - thing is though you have to watch it a bit with natural sugars, it's still sugar and too much of it is bad. Freelee is on a raw vegan diet and honestly I wouldn't go raw right away I'd do that slowly and build yourself on to it else you're gonna do a lot of runny poo's and make your belly feel bad haha.

[DechanDawa]

I'm just observing the ways other people have cured their depression. I went on a vegan Ayurvedic diet for three months this past year and my hair started to fall out! I am still recovering from that. My doctor said it could have been the diet, or stress from having an allergic reaction to the antidepressant I was on for a few weeks. It should be noted that Freelee and her boyfriend give one another B12 injections. I find that interesting. Why adapt a natural diet and then have to inject yourself with what you aren't getting on the diet??? Also, recent videos reveal that Freelee's boyfriend lost his hair as well due to not having enough fats and other things in his diet.

Philosophically I would love to be vegetarian. I have tried several times and I never get good results. I will probably keep trying in the future because I believe it is good karma to be vegetarian. I've cut out beef and pork, I mainly just eat chicken and turkey, and fish. I do eat dairy but am gradually replacing it with other stuff like almond milk.

Meanwhile, I am working really hard to eat as clean as possible.

I also already eat bananas daily in my green smoothies. I do think bananas are good for mental health. But 2 bananas daily is my max.

There is something about being vegan that still appeals to me, and I have known a few fruitarians, and I admired their commitment. It is really hard to be a raw foodie. I did it once for a month and actually I felt great, but I could not sustain it beyond a month. It was really hard to maintain.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by rcat

Have you considered the cost of eating all those bananas a day? I find it inconceivable then that someone could.

I am just observing how other people create their depression cures. The amount of food Freelee and her boyfriend eat per week is almost obscene. I just can't figure out how they pack it all in and stay so skinny. When asked how much they spend on food per week her boyfriend calculated that for the two of them per week their grocery bill was $250 to $500!

[Lunella]

Oh wow never heard of someones hair falling out on a vegan diet. I've just googled and there's a lot of information on it, most prominently it's a thyroid gland problem / lack of iron.

I guess you just have to be careful with vegan stuff and try it slowly, sample stuff because everyone is different and you just have to do what is right for you and your body.

It's also interesting why they would take injections. That's like kind of putting their diet to shame a bit because they're supplementing it. Peculiar.

But yes I agree with the karma of being vegan/vegetarian. I'm starting to wonder if humans really are supposed to eat meat or if that's just an evolutionary defect.

I think banana's are a good idea though, just not.. 50 a day.. that's way too many.

Also about cost,
A good tip that vegan forum gave me was that if you buy frozen fruit it's cheaper than buying it fresh so you can save money and all the nutrients are locked in because it's frozen.

A lot of the fruits can be bought from farmers also - you can make deals with green grocers, the stuff they don't sell to chain stores goes to you, I imagine they do something like that so it's ridiculously cheap.

[DechanDawa]

The hair falling out is common if you don't balance the diet and do food combining for protein. One time for a few years I ate vegetarian with a lot of soy products for protein and didn't have any hair loss problems. But then I developed thyroid problems! Someone said it was because I ate soy products, because the iodine in the soy can affect the thyroid.

It's still a lovely idea, I just can never seem to make it work.

I agree about the frozen fruits, which I buy for my smoothies, and I trust that the nutrients have been locked in.

The reason I brought up bananas is because they are supposed to be very good for calming the brain. I think that is interesting. I am interested in foods for good mental health.

[venusss]

Freelie is obnoxious, mean and her diet sounds obsessive and unhealthy. It's just not sustainable.

Veganism is already bit extreme and can easily go wrong... and this whole raw veganism? I think it often is disguised orthorexia.

Bananas are good... as snack or to have one before going to bed... but no way they should be the main component in your diet.

[DechanDawa]

Haha. Is Freelee really mean? I think she can come off as acting a bit like a bimbo, but well, if you have your own controversial youtube channel you kind of have to be able to fend off cyber bullies by being a bit of a bully yourself at times. I think her ex-crack-head boyfriend is a bit of an -------.

I think the "take-away" I get is that bananas might actually be good for mental health. No need to eat 50 a day. Also, brown rice. I just want to start incorporating everything that is known to be good for brain health into my diet.

Philosophically I totally agree with vegetarianism. All you have to do is watch a few videos about how animals as a food source are treated and it just makes you want to never again eat meat. It definitely causes unnecessary suffering.

[Lunella]

If I remember rightly Ronda Rousey is on a pretty good diet, she's vegan I think. I remember her saying in an interview she eats a lot of nuts for fat/calories/protein and different berries for snacks. Perhaps ditch the soy and replace with some nuts lol!

I agree though it's a wonderful idea and I hope you get somewhere with it. I'm gonna try too when I move.

As for bananas, I definitely think they have some kind of impact on your mental health in some way, perhaps they have some mood altering chemicals or something that just help your brain function better in some way.

According to this site they seem pretty confident about diet in solving mental health problems. -> Food for good mental health | Mental Healthy

Also Freelee is under attack from Nicole Arbour and all Freelee does is try to defend herself in any means necessary even if she looks like a tit, she's bringing herself down to Nicole's level of immaturity so she can understand it imo. I bet she's a really nice person irl from what I've seen, but yeah I do agree she can be a bit much at times.

But yes, the needless suffering of animals is pretty disgusting. They cut the throats of male chickens and throw them away apparently. Grim.

[venusss]

Um, she picks on random youtubers and celebs, body shames them and rips them to pieces just because they don't follow HER diet.

I tried being vegetarian like 13 years ago. It didn't work for me. And when I see all these mighty vegans and vegetarians on their high high horses... it makes me wonder if that kind of thing messes you up. I am not ramming MY bacon into somebody's throat... so keep off my plate, people.

To me healthy diet is one that includes everything. Not high-one thing low-another thing and no-other nutrient. Just eat food, like normal people do. Real food, not processed crap or cherry picked bits and pieces of healthy balanced diet.

[DechanDawa]

Maybe Freelee should be a bit more focused and not be so worried about growing her numbers, but that is the youtube game. So there is that part of it and it is really narcissistic and distasteful.

Ethically I think vegetarianism is sound, but the problem is that not everyone thrives on this kind of diet. We can support more humane treatment of the animals we raise for food. That might be a way to go.

Freelee dug her own grave when she put out that video saying that maybe meat eaters don't deserve to live! Boy, that was a true bimbo moment on her part.

I am most interested in supporting mental health with diet. I am just now coming out of what has been a pretty diabolical 18 month depression and I don't want to go back. I am not on medication so I am interested in big lifestyle change.

I would also like to say I do think Freelee promotes a lot of other positive stuff such as daily exercise, proper sleep, getting out in nature, wearing organic cosmetics, and going to meetups to just be in like-minded company, share laughs etc. All healthy lifestyle stuff.

[DechanDawa]

Some of the people Freelee features are women promoting idiotic and harmful approaches to dieting. I don't think it is body shaming. A lot of these women are doing things like insane fasts, calorie restricting, and no carbs. Freelee has a background in eating disorders having been there herself. So I don't think it is accurate to say she picks random celebs and body shames them. Also, she offers kudos to some women who promote healthy lifestyles.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by Lunella

If I remember rightly Ronda Rousey is on a pretty good diet, she's vegan I think. I remember her saying in an interview she eats a lot of nuts for fat/calories/protein and different berries for snacks. Perhaps ditch the soy and replace with some nuts lol!

I agree though it's a wonderful idea and I hope you get somewhere with it. I'm gonna try too when I move.

As for bananas, I definitely think they have some kind of impact on your mental health in some way, perhaps they have some mood altering chemicals or something that just help your brain function better in some way.

According to this site they seem pretty confident about diet in solving mental health problems. -> Food for good mental health | Mental Healthy

Also Freelee is under attack from Nicole Arbour and all Freelee does is try to defend herself in any means necessary even if she looks like a tit, she's bringing herself down to Nicole's level of immaturity so she can understand it imo. I bet she's a really nice person irl from what I've seen, but yeah I do agree she can be a bit much at times.

But yes, the needless suffering of animals is pretty disgusting. They cut the throats of male chickens and throw them away apparently. Grim.

Thanks for the excellent link! I bookmarked it. Good information.

[Lunella]

Honestly when it comes to Youtube battles I just pretty much agree with GradeA lol. Freelee is a bit much like I said though. I don't watch her videos often, I watched a few a long time ago then moved on to more professional and less personal stuff. Watched a few recently when it was all kicking off for entertainment value. I don't think she intends harm even though she upsets and offends people, just does it anyway haha. Then again she's Australian, as a culture they tend to just be really blunt I suppose.

But yeah if people wanna be vegan and they aren't doing you any harm and ramming stuff down your throat then I say let them be in their own happy vegan bubble.

@DechanDawa

No problem I'm happy to help if I can, I'm sure there's many other sites, I pretty much just googled mental health and healthy eating.

I reckon it could be worth seeing a nutritionist though, since everyone is different and some take better to certain foods than others.

[DechanDawa]

I have seen a nutritionist before. They usually promote mainstream ideas and I don't think the western model of eating is the best model. I like Ayurvedic. I am pretty serious about finding a way to prevent any further deep depression. I am not going back there. So I guess I am pretty serious about this stuff. Having said that, I will admit I love the trashy lowbrow entertainment value of youtube. I love the Aussies. I love the wars about lifestyle. At the core it is about something meaningful, and not just makeup tutorials and fashionistas.

[Lunella]

Ah righto. I wonder if Ayurvedic nutritionists are a thing. I guess Western diets are a bit ridiculous really, other cultures seem to be overall healthier. India have some pretty nice cuisine though, same with far east.

I think I'd enjoy a different culture diet actually, good idea!

As for depression I'm starting to think once you get it it never really goes away, like it can turn into dysthymia and you have your bad days and your good days. Healthy eating and exercise seems the best route. I find that animals really help, dogs mainly as they can be so hyper but cats as well.

When I move I want to get a husky because they are a pretty active dog and need a lot of exercise so it'll make me want to get up off my butt and go help the dog rather than help myself. In a roundabout way I guess helping others to help yourself could be a good idea.

And yeah I agree, youtubers can be interesting from time to time. Although most are pretty silly and will do anything for subscriber counts. The drama alert channel sometimes has good youtube fights. Honestly my favorite is GradeAunderA, he's so blunt and down to earth.

Good luck with the healthy eating though, if you can find something else that's new and different lemme know, I'm open minded to trying new things cause it's boring sticking to the same foods.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by Lunella

Ah righto. I wonder if Ayurvedic nutritionists are a thing. I guess Western diets are a bit ridiculous really, other cultures seem to be overall healthier. India have some pretty nice cuisine though, same with far east.

I think I'd enjoy a different culture diet actually, good idea!

As for depression I'm starting to think once you get it it never really goes away, like it can turn into dysthymia and you have your bad days and your good days. Healthy eating and exercise seems the best route. I find that animals really help, dogs mainly as they can be so hyper but cats as well.

When I move I want to get a husky because they are a pretty active dog and need a lot of exercise so it'll make me want to get up off my butt and go help the dog rather than help myself. In a roundabout way I guess helping others to help yourself could be a good idea.

And yeah I agree, youtubers can be interesting from time to time. Although most are pretty silly and will do anything for subscriber counts. The drama alert channel sometimes has good youtube fights. Honestly my favorite is GradeAunderA, he's so blunt and down to earth.

Good luck with the healthy eating though, if you can find something else that's new and different lemme know, I'm open minded to trying new things cause it's boring sticking to the same foods.

I really like your attitude. You seem very open to trying all sorts of things. The whole reason I started this thread is because I was watching Freelee and she admitted she was very depressed in her past, took drugs, and lived unhealthily. She says that now of course she might not wake up every single day in a great mood...but she isn't suffering from depression. Her whole thing is conscious lifestyle choices. It's become important to me to not give up any more of my life to depression. It isn't a state I want to be in. I understand that it seems to be taken for granted that depression may stick around, even if just like a low-grade fever. I am not longer willing to accept that, and am convincing myself it doesn't have to be that way. I love your dog dream... excellent breed...yes! Go for it! I had a dog for 12 years and it was a great great great experience. I think maybe I could dream about a dog in my future too. We can do a lot to empower ourselves and fashion a life that may just be a prevention for depression. No matter what people's opinions of her are, I think Freelee works very hard at creating an empowered life.

[ScientiaOmnisEst]

Originally Posted by DechanDawa

The hair falling out is common if you don't balance the diet and do food combining for protein. One time for a few years I ate vegetarian with a lot of soy products for protein and didn't have any hair loss problems. But then I developed thyroid problems! Someone said it was because I ate soy products, because the iodine in the soy can affect the thyroid.

I read about this (worrying about problems with soy due to my own thyroid issues), and apparently the problem is with unfermented soy - things like tofu and soymilk. Fermented soy, like tempeh, is supposed to not cause this. I don't know: I tried tempeh a little while ago and around the same time I had a thyroid flare-up....but whether the soy caused it or not I don't know.

I've been exploring vegan diets and have indeed encountered Freelee and her boyfriend (I think) Duranrider. They're....strange. I mostly found Freelee after the internet blew up when she said non vegans don't deserve to live. I'm not a big fan of ultra-restrictive diets. Similarly, I believe she exercises a lot - it's the only way she can reasonably maintain her weight while consuming thousands of calories a day in fruit. Also, I'm not where she gets that veganism is a "live well" type of thing. Veganism is just about avoiding animal products for whatever reason. Exercising and sleeping well have nothing to do with it.

If you're going to watch veganism videos I highly recommend Unnatural Vegan. She's freaking awesome: her videos are well-thought out, a little blunt but also sympathetic, and she holds moderate views and values that don't make vegans look crazy.

About supplementing: certain vitamins are not available in plant sources. B12 and D3 are among them - they need to be supplemented. Technically, you can get B12 through something called nutritional yeast. It's used in a lot of vegan cheese recipes. D3 can be supplemented...if you can find vegan sources. Which are generally expensive (the other day I learned that vitamin D3 supplementation is a wool byproduct. Strange but true).

As to managing mental health through food - I think it can be done, it just won't work for everyone. I find my moods will do whatever they please regardless of what I eat, except for certain instances like binging.

[Skeezyks]

The Skeezyks likes bananas... has one with breakfast many mornings... but there's limit to EVERYTHING!!!

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by ScientiaOmnisEst

I read about this (worrying about problems with soy due to my own thyroid issues), and apparently the problem is with unfermented soy - things like tofu and soymilk. Fermented soy, like tempeh, is supposed to not cause this. I don't know: I tried tempeh a little while ago and around the same time I had a thyroid flare-up....but whether the soy caused it or not I don't know.

I've been exploring vegan diets and have indeed encountered Freelee and her boyfriend (I think) Duranrider. They're....strange. I mostly found Freelee after the internet blew up when she said non vegans don't deserve to live. I'm not a big fan of ultra-restrictive diets. Similarly, I believe she exercises a lot - it's the only way she can reasonably maintain her weight while consuming thousands of calories a day in fruit. Also, I'm not where she gets that veganism is a "live well" type of thing. Veganism is just about avoiding animal products for whatever reason. Exercising and sleeping well have nothing to do with it.

If you're going to watch veganism videos I highly recommend Unnatural Vegan. She's freaking awesome: her videos are well-thought out, a little blunt but also sympathetic, and she holds moderate views and values that don't make vegans look crazy.

About supplementing: certain vitamins are not available in plant sources. B12 and D3 are among them - they need to be supplemented. Technically, you can get B12 through something called nutritional yeast. It's used in a lot of vegan cheese recipes. D3 can be supplemented...if you can find vegan sources. Which are generally expensive (the other day I learned that vitamin D3 supplementation is a wool byproduct. Strange but true).

As to managing mental health through food - I think it can be done, it just won't work for everyone. I find my moods will do whatever they please regardless of what I eat, except for certain instances like binging.

The B12 - vegetarianism question has been coming up for years. I don't totally understand it because some people say you can get adequate B12 from a vegan diet. If you don't get enough it is really dangerous. But the point is Freelee and boyfriend are injecting one another with B12, but it is kept pretty quiet. That isn't a balanced diet. Freelee promotes lifestyle...not just food. We can build our own models and live them. I am going to do it. I also think I am going to eat more bananas.

Is there still a connection between soy and estrogen levels? If so, use caution.

I am interested in anything that might alleviate depression that I am able to do now. I can't deal with a whole dietary makeover, but if I am able, I would choose some foods over others.

[DechanDawa]

I haven't touched any soy product in years. I personally don't think western women should eat any soy products.

Anything with tryptophan is good, and bananas have tryptophan, which in turn helps to make serotonin. I think. I'm still learning.

Certain foods are both calming and energizing. (Bananas once again a big winner in this category.)

My next step is eliminating coffee but withdrawal may take a year! Will probably first try to switch to black and green tea.

Oh yeah, green tea is supposedly a good drink.

It sure takes a lot to learn what is good and what is not.

[Lunella]

Originally Posted by DechanDawa

I really like your attitude. You seem very open to trying all sorts of things. The whole reason I started this thread is because I was watching Freelee and she admitted she was very depressed in her past, took drugs, and lived unhealthily. She says that now of course she might not wake up every single day in a great mood...but she isn't suffering from depression. Her whole thing is conscious lifestyle choices. It's become important to me to not give up any more of my life to depression. It isn't a state I want to be in. I understand that it seems to be taken for granted that depression may stick around, even if just like a low-grade fever. I am not longer willing to accept that, and am convincing myself it doesn't have to be that way. I love your dog dream... excellent breed...yes! Go for it! I had a dog for 12 years and it was a great great great experience. I think maybe I could dream about a dog in my future too. We can do a lot to empower ourselves and fashion a life that may just be a prevention for depression. No matter what people's opinions of her are, I think Freelee works very hard at creating an empowered life.

Yeah I've always been pretty open to trying new stuff, life's boring and depressing otherwise I've found. If you've ever seen that movie Yes man, there's a book which is way better than the movie, I recommend go read that, it changed my perspective a bit on saying no to things all the time.

As for Freelee, she has the right idea to go healthy and be determined with her healthy lifestyle, and it definitely has helped her come out of depression. She is a very confident lady now, I saw her before and after video a while ago and she was quite overweight and now in comparison you wouldn't expect it be the same person.

I think the sunlight helps with depression a lot btw, like if you go out and about in the sun you just feel better for it being outside in it subconsciously, especially with the nature as well. With Freelee being in Australia she will use that a lot as it's always mostly sunny there.

As for dogs, yeah they definitely have some kind of impact on depression, if you look up videos with kids with guide dogs who are having some kind of episode you can see how the dog is actually helping them. Dogs are very emotionally intelligent and loyal, they probably love you more than themselves.

Oh that reminds me actually, slightly off topic but I was watching the French Charlie Hebdo documentary last night on Netflix, and the guys dog was present when the attack was happening, the owner of the dog pretended to be dead on the floor, the dog must have seen what happened, and came to come cover the guys face as they were shooting people in the face, the guy in the interview was like "I won't say the details to respect the victims families but I know why my dog came to cover my face that day". I was like in awe at how intelligent that dog was and how protective and loyal. Made me just want a dog way more.

But yes I agree, I think it's important to somehow create a life and surroundings where you aren't going to be depressed. I think travelling the world helps too, it helps you see how others can have nothing but be so happy in the lives they live with family and friends. A good movie I think for that kinda stuff was Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014) - IMDb

Good luck though, and all the best.