does low carb really cause depression???

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is it a myth?
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Replies

  • drop_it_like_a_squat
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    https://www.google.de/search?q=carbs+depression

    Google is your friend. :flowerforyou:
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    I don't think so.. I'm not really given to depression, but I since I dropped my carbs to around 100g a day, I've never been happier.
  • PrimalGirl
    PrimalGirl Posts: 148 Member
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    The first couple of weeks you will probably get 'low carb flu', feeling headachy, lethargic and maybe depressed. After your body makes the switch to fat burning instead of carb-burning, those symptoms clear up and you should feel fabulous!
  • joolywooly33
    joolywooly33 Posts: 421 Member
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    I am actually prone to moodiness and feeling low the higher my carbs are ...
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    No pasta?
    No rice?
    No cake?
    No potatoes?
    No pizza?

    That would make me depressed.
  • LinOtt
    LinOtt Posts: 82 Member
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    No. I suffer from depression and I am on a low carb diet. My mood has been the best its been in years! Plus I can attest to the fact that being fat and lethargic is a greater cause of depression.....
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    I'm doing low carb/ high fat and I've yet to feel depression, and I used to suffer from clinical depression as a teen. Haven't felt that familiar feeling, so I would point to myth.
  • supergirl6
    supergirl6 Posts: 224 Member
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    I was grumpy the first 3-4 days of my low carb life, but after that I've never felt happier. :-) I have more energy and more "brightness" to my personality than I've had in years.

    I suspect everyone reacts a little differently though.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    im so grouchy on low carb but high carbs makes me feel so much happier and energised!
  • Lorix94
    Lorix94 Posts: 108 Member
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    Low calories is worse. But I believe deprive your body from his main source of energy is not so sympa
  • kenzietate
    kenzietate Posts: 399 Member
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    I felt icky during the carb flu in the first few days but when I was on the low carb diet, I was happier than I have ever been. In fact, I didn't realize how moody I really was my whole life until I found the low carb diet. Carbs make me grumpy!
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    Hmmm......I love pasta, and pasta is carbs. If I were forced to give up pasta, yes I would be depressed. So to me, yes low carb causes depression.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    For me, it did. I was so blue and grouchy when I followed a low-carb plan. It also disrupted my ability to sleep. I felt so awful that I didn't even care if I lost weight. I stuck with it for about three months and then quit.

    I do much better staying around 50% carbs/30% fat/20% protein. I lost 66 pounds (easily and happily) in a little over a year following macros around that range.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    No pasta?
    No rice?
    No cake?
    No potatoes?
    No pizza?

    That would make me depressed.


    No toast?
    No chips?
    No sandwiches?
    No cookies?
    I would be depressed too!
  • FrauMama
    FrauMama Posts: 169 Member
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    I think low-FAT has been linked to depression. But then, most nutritional studies are notoriously unreliable; that "research" might be better to test out yourself.

    In our family, though, the low-fat/higher carb diets correlate with more depression.

    I assume everyone is different, though, at least to some extent.

    But I eat very high fat and relatively low carb and am happy, happy, happy! :)
  • skittle316
    skittle316 Posts: 128 Member
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    I don't think it's carbs per say but grain. Other than oatmeal/Quinoa most grain spikes the **** out of your insulin. So if you cut it out and sugar carbs, you want get that spike anymore so for some that could cause you to be a little slow and sluggy since carbs trigger something in your brain that makes you happy. I remember when I cut off grain I got tired and sluggy for a while but after a while you get used to it that's when I atw 20-40g a day now i'm 70-80 and feel great.
  • AnsiStar
    AnsiStar Posts: 165 Member
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    Surely this depends from person to person. Some people are more liable to become depressed than others. As previously mentioned, "low carb flu" is a common things to begin with but I don't think reducing one macro nutrient can inherently cause depression.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    Removing any one food group is not good. Reducing it to very low levels neds to be done carefully - whether carbs, fat, protein etc. - and under guidance of a doctor.

    I was depressed when I was stressed, which made me put on weight. I have not reduced anything except calories, I have cut out nothing (except second helpings) and have lost 3 stone by eating a balanced diet and upping my activity. I am not depressed, but if I'd had drastically reduced carbs I would not have stuck with it and would still be fat. And depressed.
  • Gearjammer71
    Gearjammer71 Posts: 151 Member
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    Exactly the opposite for me. I can't say for sure that it was all carbohydrate in general or just a particular source though. Either way I was a hateful person when I was eating them, and my mood totally changed when I stopped. I've indulged in some carbs over the past few weeks, and my mean streak started to show again.
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    It's true. But worse, it causes an increase in blood sugar. Not at all a good way to eat.