While the point of dieting is to improve your self-image, diets can often be a source of stress and can actually negatively affect your mood. Judith Wurtman, Ph.D. and Nina Frusztajer, M.D. designed the Serotonin Power Diet to help you control your mood along with your appetite. The Serotonin Power Diet also encourages you to eat food containing carbohydrates in limited quantities.
Serotonin
Your brain uses serotonin as a chemical messenger to communicate among its cells. Brain cells called serotonergic neurons store serotonin and release it when activated. According to the McGill University website The Brain from Top to Bottom, the release of serotonin in your brain helps to regulate many of your body's functions, including your mood and eating habits.
Serotonin and Appetite
Increasing the levels of serotonin in your brain can reduce your appetite. In a 2005 article for the journal "Current Drug Targets," Jason Halford and colleagues say that the release of serotonin in your brain relates to feeling satisfied while and after eating. Drugs that activate certain receptors on serotonin-containing neurons can prevent rats from gaining weight. Similarly, some drugs that trigger the release of serotonin can reduce some people's appetite. Halford and colleagues say that serotonin-increasing drugs seem to reduce people's appetite and caloric intake even when they have the choice to eat as much as they want.
Dietary Changes
The serotonin levels in your brain fluctuate throughout the day. According to Wurtman and Frusztajer on the Serotonin Power Diet website, the serotonin power diet focuses on maintaining high serotonin levels. Foods that contain many carbohydrates, such as pretzels, pasta and potatoes, help your brain produce serotonin. Wurtman and Frusztajer recommend eating foods high in carbohydrates in the late afternoon and evening, when your serotonin levels naturally begin to fall.
Control Emotional Eating
Wurtman and Frusztajer suggest that the increased mood that comes with eating foods that boost serotonin production can lower your tendency towards emotional eating. According to Dr. Sandy Mathews on Athealth.com, depressed people tend to overeat to feel better. This overeating can result in weight gain. By taking care to eat foods that maximize your brain's ability to produce serotonin, you can reduce your chances of overeating out of depression, according to Wurtman and Frusztajer.
Benefits
Wurtman and Frusztajer say that a benefit of the Serotonin Power Diet is that it focuses on having a positive mood by maintaining high levels of serotonin. Diets that encourage you to avoid carbohydrates ignore the fact that you require carbohydrates to make yourself feel better. In a November 1995 article in the journal "Obesity Research," R.J. Wurtman and J.J. Wurtman showed that limiting intake of carbohydrates can increase the symptoms of depression. Therefore, Wurtman and Frusztajer suggest that diets that encourage you to avoid carbohydrates may have negative effects on your mood.
References
- McGill University: The Brain from Top to Bottom
- "Current Drug Targets"; Serotonin Drugs: Effects on Appetite Expression and Use for the Treatment of Obesity; Jason Halford, et al.; 2005
- Serotonin Power Diet: The Serotonin Power Diet
- Athealth.com: Emotional Eating and Binge Eating Disorder
- "Obesity Research"; Brain Serotonin, Carbohydrate-Craving, Obesity and Depression; R.J. Wurtman & J.J. Wurtman; November 1995
