Despite copious and intense efforts to unravel the complex dynamics between what we eat and how we feel, the relationship between diet and mood remains a mystery. Research has established that food influences mood, but the precise relations defy us. The effects that carbohydrates have on mood and depression depend greatly on what kind of carbohydrates are consumed, how mood is measured, what other foods are consumed along with the carbohydrates, amount, time frame and a slew of countless other factors that potentially befuddle and confuse the person who simply wants to know what they should eat.
Simple versus Complex Carbohydrates
Foods that contain a lot of simple carbohydrates are generally loaded with added sugar and bursting with calories. Sugar, sucrose, honey, cake, candy, chocolate, ice cream, pasta and white bread exemplify simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates quickly become digested and released into the blood stream in the form of glucose or blood sugar, where it either transports into cells for energy, stored as fat or becomes utilized to produce brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Complex carbohydrates such as vegetables and fruit provide fewer calories, and take longer to digest and release into the blood stream. Complex carbohydrates provide a more stable and enduring source of energy and raw material for the production of neurotransmitters than simple carbohydrates. Further, simple carbohydrates tend to over burden the metabolic capacity of the body, and prove more likely to convert into fat.
Carbohydrates and Serotonin
The good thing about carbohydrates, simple or complex, is that in the short run they improve mood. Carbohydrates boost the availability of the neurotransmitter, serotonin, a substance that enhances mood and reduces anxiety. This explains why you may feel drowsy and relaxed after a large plate of pasta: your brain has become inundated with serotonin. As reported at The Med Guru, researchers from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation found that over the course of one year of dieting, people who participated in a low fat, high carbohydrate diet had better moods than people who participated in a high fat, low carbohydrate diet.
Carbs, Protein, and Depression
Though intriguing, studies of simple mood do not necessarily enlighten us regarding the relationship between carbohydrates and depression. Depression is a clinical state of chronic sadness and mitigated ability to experience joy. A study reported at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) compared depression scores of women on a low-protein high-carbohydrate diet to women on a high-protein low-carbohydrate diet. The women placed on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet showed significant improvements in their depression scores and self-esteem, while the low-protein high-carbohydrate women showed no improvement. Proteins inhibit production of serotonin. Further, protein is utilized in the in the production of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, chemicals which enhance alertness and concentration, and which, in this study presumably improved depression.
Depression, Obesity and Carbohydrates
Depression and obesity interact in complex ways, according to research at Reuters. Obese people prove more likely to suffer from depression. Conversely, depressed people may become inclined to eat carbohydrates as a way of boosting their serotonin to create temporary solace from their depression. Habitually appeasing depression-triggered carbohydrate cravings in turn increases caloric intake, leading to greater fat production and more weight gain; creating a vicious cycle.
The Bottom Line
While simple carbohydrates can temporarily boost moods by increasing serotonin, over-consumption of carbohydrates has only fleeting positive effects on mood, and promotes the development of unhealthy cycles of carbohydrate cravings and consumption. Eating complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, leads to more enduring mood lifts without the calorie-costs. Finally, adding protein to diets enhances mental energy, attention, and concentration, cognitive states that prove antithetical to depression.
References
- Psychology Today: Low-Carb State of Mind
- Faqs.org: Mood-Food Relationships
- PubMed U.S. National Institutes of Health: Psychological benefits of a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome--a pilot study.
- Reuters: Obesity and Depression are a Two-Way Street
- Second Opinions: Role of diet in Depression, suicide and violence
