Plant-based diet for depression & anxiety?

[Noelle]

Hi all

I am by no means an expert on this, and have never experienced depression or extreme anxiety. I do have chronic vertigo, which can sometimes be incapacitating, and will cause anxiety. I've lived in fear of the vertigo for a long time. I was diagnosed in 2009. I got my ASD diagnosis this year and I believe the vertigo is coming from sensory issues and anxiety associated with autism, not from an inner ear problem. I just wanted to share something that has drastically reduced my symptoms over last 70 days.

This whole vegan movement sounded absurd to me; I dismissed it as a gimmick rooted in animal rights advocacy. Not that I judge this- it's just not for me.

But after years of fighting dizziness that came out of nowhere, weekly headaches and regular insomnia, I got pretty desperate and figured I had nothing to lose by going plant-based. To be clear, this is a whole food plant diet, not a vegan diet (which uses meat substitutes and often uses soy). I've also cut refined sugar. In May-June of this year, I was really battling anxiety. I'd just gotten the autism diagnosis and was overwhelmed with life in general. I went off refined sugar in July and then went completely off animal protein and processed food in August.

I feel like I'm living in a different body. Life is just as stressful now, and even more so than it was during the summer, but I don't feel anxious. I haven't had a headache in about 5 weeks and have been sleeping through the night for about a month and a half. I'm still not completely sold on this diet, and haven't been to have my blood work checked. But I am considering doing this indefinitely now, whereas when I started in August, my plan was to only try it through the end of this year and then gradually reintroduce meat and dairy.

Just wanted to throw this out there. I have never been diagnosed with depression or an anxiety disorder, so please do not think I speak as though I have. I dismissed this plant-based movement for so long as a cultural farce (I live in California), but I will stand behind it now. No pleasure or temporary comfort that meat, dairy or sugar can provide tops this feeling. I just feel calm and focused... and very in control. Control is good. It's kind of what I live for. Maybe others here can identify...?

Anyhow, anyone interested in learning more about going 100% plant-based, feel free to contact me. I think my email is posted on my profile.

 

[Mary Lyn]

Hi @Noelle

I went plant based no SOS this year and love this way of eating. I agree that it helps mental health as well as physical health. Another thing that helped has been b12 shots which l give myself.

 

[ksheehan88]

Just thinking about eating a plant based diet makes me depressed.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

The only effect I can think of is the nice and comfortable idea that no animals are being tortured to death for your meal.

Other than that I haven't noticed any change.

 

[Autistamatic]

I was vegetarian (ovo, lacto) for 25 years and vegan for 4 years in that period. Neither made any difference to my mental state. I still suffered both anxiety and depression on both diets.
My autism was not altered either, not that it's reasonable to expect it would be.

 

[Mary Lyn]

There is a vast difference between a healthy vegan diet and an unhealthy one.

Those who say it did not work: did you go no oil salt or sugar? This means nothing but whole foods and nothing processed.

 

[BraidedPony]

I went to a vegetarian diet July 1st of this year. It wasn’t intentional, I left my husband and now that I can choose what to eat, I don’t eat meat.
My rheumatoid arthritis has improved about 90%! I only take pain meds about once every two weeks instead of every day. I think though that this improvement is due to living alone and away from abuse.
But I have also stopped taking antidepressants, and feel much better and need much less Valium too.
Meat is expensive so unless I really want some I’ll eat my eggs and veggies.
Oh, and I also haven’t had any fast food, not even delivery pizza. This is a big change in my diet! Now I’m waiting for some weight loss...

 

[AloneNotLonely]

There is a vast difference between a healthy vegan diet and an unhealthy one.

Those who say it did not work: did you go no oil salt or sugar? This means nothing but whole foods and nothing processed.

Fruit, vegetables, beans, rice, pasta. No oil. I eat something unhealthy like once or twice a year.

 

[Mary Lyn]

Is that white rice and pasta?

 

[AloneNotLonely]

Yup. There's times where I don't eat any rice or pasta for months, though. No difference.

 

[Autistamatic]

Those who say it did not work: did you go no oil salt or sugar? This means nothing but whole foods and nothing processed.

For a year - I went the full on wholefoods, unprocessed, organic & freshly prepared route and it was an interesting culinary challenge. I managed quite a varied and tasty diet even with those restrictions. I had a really good recipe book I got from a Hare Krishna years ago that was full of brilliant vegan ideas to get me started. I still love a chickpea burger and falafel (baked, not fried) is still a regular on our table
It was suggested to me that it might be beneficial both for my arthritis and my digestive problems. They didn't improve either, nor did I feel healthier or more "energised" but it was a fun experiment.

 

[Tom]

Tbh, I don't believe in any such non-doctor-prescribed special diet nonsense.

And increasingly scientific studies show vitamin supplements are worthless and can actually do harm.

Most testimonials you read are just placebo effect. The rest are hysteria or planted by someone who will profit from sale of the snake oil.

 

[Butterfly88]

My doctor said processed food can be bad for mental health. I don't think it matters so much if ingredients come from plants or animals as much as being minimally processed. Even then it only helps some people.

 

[Mary Lyn]

There is a mountain of research on a plant based whole food diet, in fact it has been the most researched diet there is for the last 30 years. It has been shown to reverse heart diesease and is the only diet to do this, and many people are reversing other conditions but you have to do it properly and not just guess. The no salt and no sugar are important if you already have disease I think, but if healthy to start with will prevent the common diseases as has been found in the societies eating that way..

 

[Autistamatic]

There's absolutely no doubt that a healthy, varied diet is a good thing. Keeping processed foods to a minimum has been repeatedly demonstrated to be beneficial against all sorts of health problems including reducing chances of heart disease and some cancers.
I'm not a great believer in the kind of rigid diets that come recommended in many here-today, gone-tomorrow books, but cooking your own food from fresh ingredients is demonstrated to be a good way of preserving your health.
I tried the vegan/wholefood thing because I was fed up of having health problems back in my 30s that we associate with a much later stage in life, so I gave it a good run for it's money. It didn't help so I went to a more varied diet, but the processed food is still kept to a minimum as is the sugar, salt and fat. Not so much a diet plan as a principle of healthy eating.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

Tbh, I don't believe in any such non-doctor-prescribed special diet nonsense.

And increasingly scientific studies show vitamin supplements are worthless and can actually do harm.

Most testimonials you read are just placebo effect. The rest are hysteria or planted by someone who will profit from sale of the snake oil.

Haven't watched TV lately, but the only advertisements I saw when I did were meat and dairy products. Never saw a commercial for broccoli or lentils. Clearly someone is profiting, it just isn't who you think it is.

 

[Tom]

But the Veegans ultimately will just be eaten by the Omnivore/Cannibals. Once civilization collapses that is. Well maybe it is good in a roundabout way. Eating Veegans will be healthier.

 

[Noelle]

But the Veegans ultimately will just be eaten by the Omnivore/Cannibals. Once civilization collapses that is. Well maybe it is good in a roundabout way. Eating Veegans will be healthier.

That's hilarious. It would stand to reason that eating a vegan person would be healthier than eating a fellow carnivore, I suppose, given what we know about the importance of raising healthy livestock for the food industry.

In any case, I am not suggesting that going plant based will cure all ailments, physical and psychological. But there is a wealth of scholarship available on this. The gut-brain is a real thing. My anxiety was not crippling before I went 100% plant based, but it has all but disappeared since. Placebo? Maybe...

But I'm no longer dealing with headaches and insomnia. The vertigo is not gone, but it's more manageable. This is evidence enough for me. Just wanted to share...

 

[Nauti]

B12 isn't in plant based food. B12 is anti stress.

I got so ill from a planr based diet. I have always eaten a lot of plants, though. I grew up vegetarian and I still eat a lot of plants, both raw and cooked, but I got so ill from B12 deficiency and anemia, my brain started to dissolve and I developed psychosis.
I am MUCH healthy eating a Keto diet. Barely any sugars, no processed flour products, high quality protein, good fats - olive oil, coconut, MTC oils, seeds and nuts. Weight loss is effortless, I have better moods and brain functioning.

I use Micheal Mosleys Mediterranean based blood sugar diet as a basis. The food is delicious!

 

[JesseA]

We have started following herbal remedies when my mother was suffering from clinical depression. She changed her diet completely into natural ingredient-based diet when she started using some ayurvedic herbs in her daily staple. She had been on Anti-depressants and Lithium and B12 supplements for years but that didn't help her. Surprisingly her change in diet has helped her and she started feeling well. Since then we have all started to refer to Ayurveda for any medical conditions. We mostly referred to some books and iahas.com but there are plenty other resources on internet