does low carb really cause depression???

is it a myth?

Replies

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

    Google is your friend. :flowerforyou:
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    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
    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
    I am actually prone to moodiness and feeling low the higher my carbs are ...
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    No pasta?
    No rice?
    No cake?
    No potatoes?
    No pizza?

    That would make me depressed.
  • LinOtt
    LinOtt Posts: 82 Member
    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
    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
    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: 1,170 Member
    im so grouchy on low carb but high carbs makes me feel so much happier and energised!
  • Lorix94
    Lorix94 Posts: 108 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    It's true. But worse, it causes an increase in blood sugar. Not at all a good way to eat.
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  • sugboog29
    sugboog29 Posts: 630 Member
    I found this topic very interesting and am passing it along to my sister. She suffers from depression and I think it would be good for her to try. Thanks everyone for the input!!
  • bsuew
    bsuew Posts: 628 Member
    I do low carbs and have never found it to be true. I've done low carb for well over a year.
  • Moriarty_697
    Moriarty_697 Posts: 226 Member
    I find the prospect of a low carb diet to be depressing but I guess that's not the same thing. :-)
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    OP, you've got it the wrong way around. But whatever. I'm guessing that your mind was made up before you asked the question.
  • Moriarty_697
    Moriarty_697 Posts: 226 Member
    OP, you've got it the wrong way around. But whatever. I'm guessing that your mind was made up before you asked the question.

    Wait, you mean it should be does depression really cause low carbs? That makes so much more sense.
  • It's true. But worse, it causes an increase in blood sugar. Not at all a good way to eat.



    Why would you think that? A diabetic diet is pretty much identical to South Beach. Diabetic diets are carb restricted,