Dairy products

[pixies]

I saw something on the news here about how people believe cutting out dairy products completely, is a great cure for depression. They had a guy on who insisted that he used to have bad depression but he cut out cheese, eggs, milk, etc.. and his depression completely vanished. I'm inclined to believe him and I'm thinking about trying it for myself now.

Has anyone here any experience of this, and do you know if it effects social anxiety, or anxiety in general?

Thanks!

[db0255]

So how is that supposed to work I wonder? I've heard eating well and cutting out certain foods does wonders for allergies, but I've never heard anything about depression. Wouldn't cutting out all dairy be a little drastic if you don't know how it works anyway? I mean, I'd research it a little more before going on one anecdote.

[pixies]

Well this was the national news on the BBC who weren't reporting one guy's opinion. And plenty of people go without dairy because there are people who are allergic to it. All I would need to do is supplement it with something else. There is calcium in green leafy vegetables (such as broccoli, cabbage) so you could easily cope.

[ecotec83]

This article might be of interest to you, it seems that diet does affect depression to a considerable degree.

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091102/hl_afp/lifestylebritainhealthresearch

[millenniumman75]

I would still drink milk for the calcium and vitamin D factors, though. I would just not drink it at night.

[Curb]

I had when the news has a teaser for how they can cure depression, anxiety, or some other illness. Then when they get to the story, it's the dumbest thing you have ever heard of or its some remedy that everyone already knows. [/gripe]

[Sloppy Joe]

I tried going vegan for a bit, didn't help me. My mother just cut out dairy and reported having tons more energy So I guess everyone's different. Can't hurt to try.

[Sloppy Joe]

Originally Posted by millenniumman75

I would still drink milk for the calcium and vitamin D factors, though. I would just not drink it at night.

There's soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, which many say is healthier anyway.

[Catlover4100]

I don't know about depression, but cutting out dairy and eggs helped me to almost effortlessly lose 20lbs. I drink mostly soy milk because it is one of the healthiest (and tastiest, in my opinion) non-dairy milks, but occasionally I'll have rice, hemp, or oat milk.

Seriously, for people who still believe dairy is health food, read The China Study and Becoming Vegan. The high animal protein content of dairy causes it to actually leach calcium out of your bones!

[tutliputli]

Originally Posted by pixies

They had a guy on who insisted that he used to have bad depression but he cut out cheese, eggs, milk, etc.. and his depression completely vanished.

That's really weird! I couldn't do it, I love cheese too much. I'd get depressed from cheese withdrawal.

[shadowmask]

I cut out all dairy products for a period of 3-4 weeks a few years ago to see what effect it would have on my acne. It didn't seem to help my depression at all. Or my skin.

[MavenMI6Agent009]

Im depressed if my eating habits are good or bad. My well being is improved though when I eat right and I do feel better.

[Paper Samurai]

Originally Posted by Catlover4100

Seriously, for people who still believe dairy is health food, read The China Study and Becoming Vegan. The high animal protein content of dairy causes it to actually leach calcium out of your bones!

Yay, someone else who's read the China Study A very insightful read I must admit, but it does fail to distinguish between the quality of the animal product and the method used to cook it - I think this is very important point worth considering. But I do agree that we as a population tend to over eat the stuff in general nowadays; personally speaking, I eat about 3 servings of animal product a week as well as having 2 teaspoons of purified cod liver oil daily. This tends to be free-range organic eggs, but sometimes I eat some chicken to add a bit of variety. I try my hardest to stay well clear of diary foods however, being part Asian makes me naturally somewhat intolerant. But even if this wasn't the case, I believe the processing of milk nowadays makes it somewhat unhealthy. Sorry if this comes aross as a bit preachy guys

But I am curious Catlover; you seem pretty clued up diet wise, are you supplementing at all due to your vegan diet?

[Moon Calf]

Originally Posted by tutliputli

I'd get depressed from cheese withdrawal.

[pixies]

Originally Posted by tutliputli

That's really weird! I couldn't do it, I love cheese too much. I'd get depressed from cheese withdrawal.

Lol

I am big fan of cheese too. The other stuff I barely eat anyway, but cheese... Mmm.

I definitely think I could do it though. I try to not eat a lot of cheese anyway because it's so oily and fatty, I wouldn't wanna get fat. I have enough problems But I'm tempted to try. I could just cut it out and see what happens. I can just eat more veggies and maybe have soy milk. I have a friend who is seriously overweight and his doctor referred him to a nutritionist, I am thinking I might do the same.

[sprinter]

Well for anyone looking to consume a lot of soy watch this video first.

[zookeeper]

Originally Posted by tutliputli

I love cheese too much. I'd get depressed from cheese withdrawal.

I've considered going vegan in the past but I don't think I could do without the cheese. Which is strange because I generally hate cheese. Unless it's melty.

Melty cheese is like god spoon feeding you pure goodness.

[irma]

you could try an elimination diet or a rotation diet to see which foods are affecting you. you might find out that its wheat or certain fruits or something else and that you actually feel better when eating diary. here's something I spotted about diet and anxiety on google books.

No studies relating diet and anxiety were found on MEDLINE. The only available study
examined the role of elimination diet in patients with both anxiety and migrane headaches.

Sixty patients were studied in an open trial. Each patient undertook a 5-day elimination diet, restricting their intake to pears, lamb, and spring water. Anxiety symptoms virtually disappeared in most of the patients by the fifth day, as did their migranes. Each patient then was rechallenged with potential offending foods one at a time, usually 1-3 per day.

Anxiety and migranes returned with reintroduction of the offending foods. The mean number of offending foods found was 10 per patient.

Most common offenders were wheat, 78%; orange 65%; eggs, 45%; coffee and tea, 40%; chocolate, 37%; milk, 37%; beef, 35%; corn, cane sugar, and yeast, 33%; mushrooms, 30%; and peas, 28%.

When an average of 10 foods were completely eliminated, 100% of the 60 patients improved, 85% became headache-free, and the aggregate number of headaches in the group fell from 402 per month to 6 per month.

[Frankie_Lee]

Originally Posted by irma

Most common offenders were wheat, 78%; orange 65%; eggs, 45%;

That's pretty much my entire diet.