Feel majorly depressed after processed carbs!

sunlover89

Hi everyone,

I have a pretty good diet and am very happy with my exercise, what I eat etc..

I just have a question about certain cabs and was wondering if anyone has exerperienced anything similar and has any idea what might cause it...

I'm fine with potato, chocolate, cake and most other high carb foods. But when I eat any amount of rice, white bread and sugary chewy sweets like haribo, within 30 mins I feel lethargic, depressed and even feel like crying!
I've cut these foods out now, a while ago, but I'm still left wondering, why? Any ideas?

WBB55

Easily digestible carbs and simple sugars quickly spike your blood glucose level. For some people, this means there's also a quick drop 30-60 minutes later AND that can affect their mood. There's also a dopamine surge/withdrawl that CAN occur in some people when they eat simple carbs and sugars.

sunlover89

Ah thanks, I didn't know about the dopamine, I'll look into that!

WBB55

Dopamine is the body's "reward" for behaviors the brain finds pleasurable. If you find eating junk food "pleasurable" and associate it with other pleasurable activities (like hanging with friends or destressing from the end of a work day), your brain might release dopamine, telling you and reinforcing that "this activity makes you feel good. Do it again sometime." If you have any other neurotransmitter stuff going on (bad sleep, anxiety, feelings of isolation, etc.), you MIGHT have some dopamine reuptake issues. For me, the best way to fight this is to get my dopamine thru other means. Exercise, sex... cocaine... ok, not the last one, really. Getting "healthy" means of regulating dopamine seems to help me.

That being said, eating SHOULD be pleasurable. I just recommend making sure it's not your ONLY pleasure in life.

sunlover89

Thank you, very sweet of you to be so informational :-) As a therapist, I know some things about dopamine, but mostly related to certain behaviours. What I find interesting, is that I seem to have the surge/downer with only certain processed foods, not all. I've just been thinking about it, and it might have something to do with other nutrients involved in the meal e.g. chocolate has fat, potatoes usually go with meat. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the pure carbohydrate load, with no slower digesting macro with it. Seem probable or complete tosh?

zaxx1953

According to many on here all you need to do is count those calories just like any other and stay below your limit for the day.

You should be fine....so and so lost 270lbs like that....

Lol.....


Back on earth you need to limit processed carb consumption on the whole and keep consumption of simple carbs/sugars to predomiantly in the morning and after a work out...the two times you body is in dire need of gycogen.

WBB55

I would think that it's a "1-2 punch" thing. If you eat some quick carbs you enjoy, you're getting both the blood glucose surge and the dopamine surge. Then they both drop, leaving you doubly down. If you controlled one of the two processes, then it seems like the sudden drop in mood would be less. Like:

(1) eat the chocolate with some long-lasting carbs. That way, your blood glucose spikes, but then drops back slowly. But you still get the dopamine spike/trough
(2) regulate dopamine with other means, therefor not getting such a sudden spike when you eat the chocolate. But you still get the blood glucose spike/trough
(3) combine both of the above tactics to not get any intense spike/trough

sunlover89

Nope, I do not restrict any type of food as a rule. I have only stopped eating white bread and rice because of this strange response!

hdsqrl

I have a working theory that I'm sensitive to products with yeast, because I have similar mood swings or woozy head PLUS fun bloating after eating bread, specifically. Like you, I can do cake or crackers like Triscuits, plus carbs from fruits and veggies are fine. Even candy doesn't affect me the way bread does. But one bite of bread, and I feel the effects immediately - it's not a head thing, because I've had this suspicion for a while now and will absent-mindedly eat some bread and then wonder what the heck happened/why do I feel so crappy all of a sudden?

I've never been tested for this, and it's easily managed by just avoiding bread, but I think I'm on to something. Maybe you have something similar?

Lyra89

Not cake and chocolate, but BREAD? That cannot be right can it?...because they all have similar nutritional content (the bread being the healthiest of the three) x