Reports of depression as a diet side effect are not unique to the South Beach plan. The connection between depression and dieting seems centered on low-carbohydrate diets in general. The South Beach diet requires you to cut high-glycemic carbs from your diet, those that most dramatically impact your insulin levels. High-glycemic foods cause an immediate and substantial rise in insulin, which can result in weight gain. Restricting your carbohydrates too drastically can affect your mood.
South Beach and Carbohydrates
MayoClinic.com recommends that between 45 and 65 percent of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates, or as many as 325 g per day on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. In its most generous phase, the South Beach Diet allows you to take only 28 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, or 140 g a day if you're eating 2,000 calories. This is more than other low-carb diets, such as Atkins, but it is still significantly below recommended intake.
Carbohydrates and Serotonin
Consuming carbohydrates, particularly sweet and starchy carbs, raises serotonin levels in your brain, according to Judith Wurtman with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Serotonin is a "happy" neurotransmitter. In adequate quantities, it makes you feel calm and peaceful. When you cut back on carbs to the limits imposed by the South Beach Diet, you impede your brain's production of serotonin because it doesn't have adequate glucose, converted from carbs, to produce the neurotransmitter. Wurtman indicates that dieters report feelings of depression and anger after following both the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, usually within about two weeks when their serotonin levels begin to drop.
Other Factors
A study of 106 overweight patients in Australia in 2009 reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine also confirms a link between low-carb diets, serotonin levels and depression. But researchers indicated that the depression might also result from the stress a dieter might experience from severely restricting her dietary choices.
Tips
Wurtman indicates that women have less serotonin in their brains than men do to begin with, so if you're a woman following the South Beach Diet, you might be more prone to feel depression as a side effect than men do. She also advises that if you combine the few carbs you do eat with high amounts of protein in the same meal, you'll further inhibit serotonin production because protein can prevent your brain from making serotonin. If you're on the South Beach Diet and notice a marked difference in your mood, try eating the carbohydrates you're allowed separately from protein foods. You can also add more carbohydrates into your diet incrementally until you notice your depression lifting. This indicates that your brain is producing enough serotonin to keep you on an even keel. You may not lose weight as rapidly, but you could be happier about your progress.
References
- Mayo Clinic; South Beach Diet; May Clinic Staff; May 2011
- "Psychology Today"; Low-Carb State of Mind; Brenda Goodman; December 2010
- "The Telegraph"; Atkins-Style Low Carb, High Protein Dieters 'More Likely to Suffer Depression'; November 2009
- Archives of Internal Medicine; Long-term Effects of a Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet and a Low-Fat Diet on Mood and Cognitive Function; Grant D. Brinkworth, PhD, et al.; November 2009
- MIT News; Carbs are essential for effective dieting and good mood, Wurtman Says; Elizabeth A. Thomson; February 2004
Member Comments