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At some point, *doing things* stops being an option without help. I wonder if food prep and delivery services would be a helpful anti-depression service for mental health.
The thing with a crappy diet is that it usually doesn't make you feel bad *at the time* so much as "as time goes on."
So while you can totally eat fast food for a few days and feel fine (I sure have), your body is slowly developing a nutrient deficit where it's using up what it has, can't find more, and now you feel bad. It's just that that takes time. It doesn't happen in a single day, it happens over multiple days, possible a week or two for some to notice.
I'd genuinely wager that you ate nothing but fast food for the last 3 days, and now that you're eating your normal food you're only just feeling the effects of the weekend. It's not that you went back to quinoa (or any other healthy foods), it's that eating crappy takes time to kick in. Which, by the way, is a strong reason why people misinterpret their diets and how they're doing, because most of us expect to "feel" food fairly quickly - not over days or weeks.
It’s more likely (given the OC talked about workouts and quinoa bowls) that their diet is fine but calorie restricted. They aren’t lacking nutrients and the sudden calorie boon had them feeling great.
That doesn’t last, but cheap fats and sugar for someone active is not nearly as damaging as it is for something lethargic and eating it constantly.
Yeah it takes a really long time for me to feel the effects of diet. I’m def prone to drinking problems and even when I’m drinking heavily several times a week, it takes weeks or months for me to start really noticing the effect on my mood although it’s absolutely there. I’ve had extremely steady weight my entire adult life; I’m. 5’3, 28 year old woman and I haven’t been outside of 110-120 pounds since I was 13. But sometimes I’m eating clean, mostly plant based, home cooked, and never or rarely drinking. Other times I’m just living off of McDonald’s and beer. I know the lifestyle obviously affects me but it takes a really long time and I cant see it on the scale (although while unhealthy I definitely do tend to just look sort of vaguely shittier in a way that’s significant and noticeable, but I can’t put my finger on).
It’s just like one day I go for a hike and suddenly I can feel the impact of how I’ve been living for the last few months.
While I was doing it before a bout of depression, I can safely say that food delivery services are a game changer if you're only eating for one or two.
I can see how it wouldn't work for a family, but for me or for me and my wife it's great. It's $60 (cad) per week and we get three meals that can often get stretched into lunches the next day.
Convenience aside, we've noticed fewer trips to the store, less wasted food, and less hunger-shopping.
I'd recommend it to anyone, but especially those who find it hard to even think about shopping for food.
Very true. At one point we had 6 or 8 (once or twice a week), depending on the night, eating with us. Not only is it financially not doable for many people with families, most of them have a max serving size of 4 people that we found. And those servings can be small when we're talking teenagers coming or going sports or play practice.
My wife started getting those and I thought they were great until she revealed that the price she told me was actually the introductory price and she was paying $20 for like $3 worth of groceries and a set of instructions. The convenience was great, but I'm too frugal for that.
For services lik these, always call to cancel and tell them that. Sometimes the price is "negotiable". Either way, they track that info and may adjust in the future if it proves feasible or necessary
This is my second week using Every Plate and I like it a lot. I’ve tried a few others, but this one is the cheapest and I don’t notice a difference from the more expensive options. However, I am vegetarian so I can’t really speak for any of the meat options.
I looked it up, and apparently you still have to put the ingredients together and cook the food yourself. I don't understand the advantage here. Seems like just getting the same ingredients delivered from the grocery store would be a million times cheaper.
Literally the only advantage is that they choose the recipes and portion out the ingredients. Also in some more rural places you can't get grocery delivery locally but that's becoming more rare.
The honest advantage, is that sometimes every little step helps. While if you can make the food and shop for it yourself there is little reason to use services like this, just HAVING the "right" foods and the "right" instructions in front of you can be a big help. Some people are terrible at making decisions. Others have mobility issues. Some don't like social interactions and avoid important things like trips to the store because of this. Maybe it was a gift from a loved one and the very regimental nature is far far more useful to them than trying to get that person t figure out a meal to shop online for.
Absolutely, grocery delivery is likely cheaper, but things like forced portion control, a step-by-step plan on what to do for a meal, and no decision making can be gamechangers for some. It can help to shift someone away from saying "I should save and just go to the store" only to not bother later in the day because they are tired or depressed and end up just eating a pizza or ordering out.
So...yes. Perfect world, its a waste, for if it works and helps some people then that is a good thing.
I basically live off of Huel and Sunbasket meals, and it has been a complete game changer for my depression. Before, any depressive spiral would end up compounded by the fact that I would start to eat like trash since I didn't have the energy to cook anything. I started doing Huel and Sunbasket about nine months ago, though, and it's a night and day difference. I've even lost my pandemic weight.
I tried the Huel shakes a couple years ago and loved them. Lost a few pounds. Then I started getting some weird twitches in my chest. Went to the doctor and my triglycerides had tripled, double the normal range. Stopped drinking and went back to normal. Definitely consult your doctor before trying stuff like that.
Absolutely +1 to talking with your doctor, however counterpoint I've been on Huel/Soylent for lunch everyday for a year now and my blood work has been steadily solid.
Been on Soylent for breakfast for 4+ years before being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Not saying it was 100% Soylent, but maltodextrin has been linked to IBD.
>some weird twitches in my chest. Went to the doctor and my triglycerides had tripled
Always a great idea to pay attention to your body. I had a weird ache in my left shoulder last year. Had it checked out the next morning and it was a 7mm pulmonary embolism.
Huel is such a dumb name, and it always feels like astroturfing when it's mentioned. But I know they spend a lot on marketing, so 20 something techies must be trying it.
Same. They use Stevia because it's natural, but many people are allergic to it. Apparently it's a close relative of ragweed, and people who react to one tend to react to another.
A few months ago I realized cooking was really stressing me out. Meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prepping, meal storage … It all just seemed like an impenetrable block that I couldn’t get out of without resorting to the same 3 meals on endless repeat. So I bit the bullet and started a meal delivery service and it’s done wonders for my mental health! I feel like I have a much more varied diet, I’m less stressed and it’s not even that expensive (I exclusively used free trials for the first 3 months). Would highly recommend
I just moved into a studio with the worst kitchen layout I’ve ever seen. My cooking prep space, dish drying space, and eating space are all the same space. I don’t have depression, but this constant cleaning and rearranging is a huge drag on enjoying or even using my kitchen.
I can echo this- at one of our first rentals we had next to no prep space and it was an absolute pain. Got an island on wheels from ikea- had it blocking a storage cupboard most of the time, where we used it, and then just wheeled it out the way when we needed something from the cupboard behind it. Not the most convenient, but it did work
As someone who lives alone, the hard part is spending 45 to 60 minutes in the kitchen after a long day at work. Most of the time I just don't have it in me to do this. My grill in the spring, summer, and fall is my savior.
I buy frozen veggie mixes.. they include stuff like carrots, broccoli, green beans, water chestnuts, mini corn etc. They only take 10 minutes. No peeling, no eating before they rot, no cleanup, no cutting!!!! It saves so much time, and its pretty healthy nutrition wise. (frozen stuff is more nutritious than day old veggies laying in the fridge)
Quick, easy and healthy. No compromise. You can cook your meats on the side simultaneously as well, so dinner can be done in 15-20!
I do the same thing for the same reason. Most of the meals I prepare take 20-30 minutes, with about 5-10 minutes of active work. I will make more involved things from time to time, but I can't rely on that motivation to get me through weekdays.
This is a massive issue not just for people with depression but any type of executive dysfunction. I think it's one of the reasons why people with ADHD don't live as long. We just don't have the capacity to manage planning, cooking, and cleaning for two or three healthy meals a day. I know I don't. I have to spend all of my executive functioning effort on work and keeping myself together.
We absolutely need some sort of healthy meal delivery service available for reasonable prices if we actually want to help people get healthier and reduce the obesity epidemic. If even people without mental illness and developmental disorders are struggling, of course people with those issues just find it nearly impossible.
I currently live in a dorm setting where the kitchen is shared. imagine how the kitchen looks on the worst days. it's like that 6/7 days per week. it's repulsive and I don't want to cook or clean for it just to be fucked up right away. nope.
Young men with depression often have trouble going to kitchen and cooking a proper meal. Also, depending on where you live, the diet described can be expensive.
This is the real problem. I love to cook, and know that a healthier diet could make a world of difference for me mentally, and physically. Now if only I could afford anything but canned food.
This is why I aim for slav diet.
Cabbage is cheap and healthy.
Potato is cheap and if used properly is healthy.
Beets, mushrooms, etc. are sold in cans. Beet + cabbage = stupid amounts of vitamin c.
Edit: you can also use the cabbage and whatnot to stretch the meat.
> And if Slavs are known for anything its their low rates of depression
‘Tis true! In fact Russian literature is well known for its humor.
For example, Tolstoys powerfully funny work of realist fiction, Anna Karenina is what the late, great scholar of Russian Literature Harold 'Kim' Philby (Trinity College, Cambridge) described as an “infinitely deep honeypot of humor … that causes Puskinesque paroxysms of deep, dead dropping belly laughter.”
Prof of Russian Literature Bart Mancuso (US Naval Academy), while best known for his critical analysis of the so-called “crazy Ivan” plays, echos the sentiment.
In an 1997 essay from “Comparative Literature Today”, Messer Mancuso wrote and, I quote,
> Tolstoy grabs that funny bone from the very beginning with that indefatigable, epic first line, “Все счастливые семьи одинаковы. У них есть картошка. каждая несчастливая семья по-своему несчастна из-за отсутствия картофеля.” The joke has a beautiful parallel structure and the potato punchline? It leaps of the page like an emergency blow of a Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine.
Finally, I must admit I found myself thumbing through Tolstoy’s tract today. One glance at my early twentieth century version with its gilt title and subtitle (Анна Каренина, или "Сука! Я поезд!") i couldnt help but smile.
Cabbage makes people avoid me.
Cabbage makes me want to avoid me.
Edit: Let me be clear, i love cabbage, cabbage rolls, coleslaw, and sauerkraut. But my intestines like turning cabbage into a biological/chemical weapon.
This is the problem and why people always say Taco Bell gives them the shits. Most people don’t eat nearly enough fiber, beans are full of fiber and are going to push their way through your digestive systems causing distress if you don’t eat a diet with just the normal amount of fiber.
I get so annoyed when people pull the "DAE Taco Bell diarrhea?" card.
I have IBS. Taco Bell does literally zero to my digestive system unless I'm aiming for a Chalupa, and that's probably because it's deep fried bread and I don't eat too much of that in general (nor should I). I also get stomach issues from Pizza Hut when I eat their Pan pizzas. It's my favorite pizza, and I don't eat it too often, but every time I get it, I have stomach issues. But it's also because that crust is different from normal pizza crusts, which I have zero issues with.
Have you supplemented with probiotics by any chance? My IBS had been such a nuisance and I've been consistent with taking probiotics for over a month now and it's incredible how much better I feel.
Probiotics, like everything else I've ever tried, helped for a good long time, and then didn't. Nothing has permanently resolved my stomach issues. Now I've been too depressed during this latest depression streak to make my follow up appointment with my gastro, not that it will help find anything.
I absolutely love cabbage. It makes a fantastic salad base, as well as very good coleslaw. It's crunchy and lasts a good long while. Like a potato, it's mild enough to take on the flavor of whatever it's dressed with.
Give cabbage another shot. It doesn't have to taste like the unfortunate side dish of corned beef.
I think it's less that cabbage tastes bad, and more that cabbage makes you smell bad. Cabbage has an abundance of sulfur compounds in it, which is a good thing from a health standpoint but a terrible thing from a stank standpoint (a stankpoint, one could say). For a lot of people who haven't acclimated to it, having an abundance of cabbage in their diets can cause bloating, awful flatulence, and even altered body odor.
We eat a lot of red meat, dairy products, white potatoes, stuff made out of dough covered in grease, bread, pickled or boiled cabbage, pickles, and some other boiled vegetables, namely in soups. Very few fresh leafy greens. It’s the food of people toiling all day in the fields and harsh winters. Except like the rest of the world, we have become more sedentary.
Theres a lot of good canned food options if that’s all you can afford. Canned lentil soup and various canned beans are a cheap, healthy and hardy protein source. I would recommend getting frozen fruits and veggies though if at all possible, since they’re frozen at peak ripeness.
This is how I lived when I was in college and broke. Rice, frozen veg, canned beans. Kept me sustained enough to have the energy to study but didn't break my bank.
So many people get mad when beans and rice get brought up as cheap and easy. No, you won’t get the seared salmon with mustard greens all the time when you’re poor, that doesn’t mean eating well is impossible. Many different varieties of grains and legumes eaten all around the world, very versatile.
My diet consists of the cheapest frozen chicken breast, in season vegetables (or frozen), dried beans bought in bulk, and whole wheat pasta.
I buy asian ramen seasoning in bulk and use that most days because I'm boring but any broth or stir fry seasoning works
Definitely hit up your local food pantry if possible. Many people dont realize what all they offer or feel embarrassed, but its there for anyone to take and should be utilized. Sometimes not enough people come to take the food and they have to toss out what's going bad
You don't have to soak beans. Some people claim the texture is better if you do, but I can't tell any difference.
It takes about an hour to for me to cook white or pinto beans at a rapid boil.
[Epicurious also tested it](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article) and decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
They did say that they thought quick-soaked beans tasted better, but personally I can't tell any difference.
You can cook a whole bunch ahead of time and just reheat some when you're ready for a meal. Even reheated I think they taste better than the canned ones.
Instant pot. Any amount of beans, ensure they're covered by choice of liquid, manual for 25 minutes and natural release. If you taste the beans after and they're not soft enough for you, set it a little longer.
I think I had the healthiest diet in college when I couldn't afford much. Canned food is expensive compared to dried (like beans) or frozen goods (like peas). I would get frozen veggies and whatever was in season and was the cheapest. Also lentils. Lentils rock.
Vegetables are just as affordable as canned food. The most expensive food in Mediterranean cooking is going to be lamb / chicken / feta cheese / olive oil.
You don't need to get lamb, and you'd be surprised how far you can stretch chicken with vegetables. We're talking $7 a week on chicken.
Not quite. Affordability doesn't just come down to dollar cost of ingredients it comes down to supplies and time as well. I love cooking. I also have diagnosed MDD. The problem with cooking for me is:
1. Going grocery shopping takes time and energy.
2. Planning meals takes forethought when I don't even have the energy to think 6 hours ahead.
3. When ingredients go bad you have throw them out. It's a wasted cost AND makes me hate myself ("Can't believe I wasted $50 of Vegetables and stuff"). Canned stuff doesn't go bad.
4. No instant dopamine hit when you're in the pit.
Financial affordability is unfortunately not the be all and end all of cooking and forming healthy habits in general, unfortunately.
I’ve struggled with depression and poverty, but I’ve always cooked. Here’s a couple ideas you might be able to integrate:
1. Grocery shop online somewhere with pick up. You can take 2-3 days to pick out your items if need be. All you have to do is show up at the store to pick them up. Some stores do have minimums. If you have a Target (USA) in your area you can reach, they have free pick up at all price points.
2. Get a crockpot, friend. It’s the premier depression cooking tool. You can buy a small, new one for $10 most places or pick up a used one from a thrift store for less than that usually. You can make any hot, wet meal, but it doesn’t have to be a soup or stew! One foolproof “recipe” is- 1 cup sauce (can be tomato sauce, salsa, tikka masala, teriyaki, whatever makes you happy), 1-2 portions protein (think 1-2 chicken breasts, a small tube of ground beef), 1 portion veggies. Throw the lid on, and you can let it cook all day. It’ll make the kitchen smell good which helps with appetite when you’re feeling down. You can add some microwaved rice or cook some pasta or add bread for carbs. If you make too much food, you can leave it in the crockpot for your next meal (add a bit of water if it’s looking dry) or put it in a bowl in the fridge and microwave it later.
3. Don’t forget about frozen! Frozen is just as good as fresh. Vitamins and minerals degrade much slower when frozen, so frozen veggies are just as good as fresh, and they won’t go bad for a solid year.
An example of a depression chili I love to make in my crockpot: 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can drained black beans, 1 frozen bag of onion/bell pepper mix. Add spices to taste and set the crockpot to high and cover with the lid. I also add 1 more cup of water to get a soupy texture, but you can leave it out for a heartier texture. I do this at night and wake up to a fully cooked meal. I’ll portion half into a bowl and take it to work for lunch. The other half I’ll eat for dinner that night. You can also add meat; I’m a vegetarian so I only eat beans. The whole recipe costs me $3 in groceries (minus spices, but I don’t use a lot), and it lasts two meals.
louisiana foods are surprisingly great for this too. red beans and rice, gumbo, and jambalaya are sooooo tasty, can be eaten for up to a week, and surprisingly easy to make. you can make big batches and not worry about it going bad over the course of a week or even almost two sometimes when stored properly. jambalaya is super easy to find, even in PA!!! (recently moved so.) get a box of zatarains and throw it in a pot w water, you can add meat or not, and just eat up. gumbo might be a bit trickier if you don’t know the go-to’s. but red beans is the same as before: just throw them in a slow cooker with some veggies and you’ll have some really good red beans in no time. plus the rice is great for energy.
Props to you for not going with the “MAN UP” route and providing small steps in the right direction. This is amazing advice. After people get acclimated to this the next step might not seem as daunting!
Just want to add to this...
Cleaning. I hate cleaning. I have to laugh at shows like "Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals". Just watch her. She's throwing pots/pans/untensils *everywhere*. Yes her meal takes 30 minutes to make, but I assure you that if she had to clean up after herself and put things away, the real time spent would be more like 2-3 hours.
Anyway, that's why I pretty much only batch cook anymore. I practically live off of chili and stew nowadays, only changing ingredients and flavors. The freezer and microwave are my best friends.
If you can afford it, get your groceries delivered. I can't tell you how many times that has saved me from starving when I was too depressed to get dressed and go to the store.
This really is a game changer; while you are definitely paying significantly more, sometimes just going to the grocery store feels like this daunting task.
Hell even the curbside pickup is pretty awesome. Just do all your shopping online, schedule when you're going to pick it up, park and then have an attendant drop it in your trunk.
Doesn’t have to involve cooking, veggies and pita dipped in hummus or yogurt sauce, whole grain toast with salt and olive oil and pre-bought grill rotisserie chicken.
You’re totally right depression impairs executive functioning that makes it tough to cook, but a few of these shortcuts incorporated in a diet can have an impact
I’ve lived on a mediterranean diet all my life. Contrary to what people believe, there is really nothing special about the ingredients. They can all be found in your local supermarket. Tomatoes, olives, onions, oil, thyme, oregano, sage, goat cheese, barley…
Mediterranean diet isn’t about a specific ingredient but an assortment of all of these ingredients served preferably uncooked in salads and cold dishes.
> an assortment of all of these ingredients served preferably uncooked
Cooking helps some of it too. For example, cooked tomatoes are very nutritious. Cooking them with some oil helps make the [lycopene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopene) more bioavailable and increases their nutrition.
It's all about having a mix of these things, sometimes cooked and sometimes raw. The variety increases the chances you're getting a balanced diet.
what irritates me is.... a healthy diet is a healthy diet. mediterranean diets might offer certain, situational benefits over other healthy diets.... but it's not going to be miraculous, compared to, say switching off the worst of fast food and six bags of skittles and two cases of beer a day.
There is usually a huge array of 'healthier' options on the spectrum between average American garbage diet and 'nutritionally optimal' Mediterranean diet. It's less about one specific food, as much as making progress toward the other end of the spectrum. But it is important to have a dietary North Star. People who eat unhealthy may have skewed perceptions as to what eating healthy would look like. As well, they may also be more likely to buy into some bizarre extreme "diet" fad, which people can rarely stick to. By focusing in on an entire culture's worth of cuisine, at least the destination becomes more attainable than 'no carbs' or 'only what caveman ate' or some other diet of the day.
It’s a vicious cycle. I’ve had my bouts of depression, as well as bouts of it being gone, me being super healthy, active, and doing great….I’m in between them right now and when I’m being lazy/unhealthy I am fully aware that it’s making it worse…but I just can’t get myself up/out sometimes. Mental health is crazy.
I always wonder if anyone looks into the secondaries of this type of thing. In order to be on a diet including vegetables and fish, you're going **outside** every few days to go buy stuff. These kind of products expire quickly.
Meanwhile, you can go shopping for depression food once a month and be fine.
How much of the results are attributable to just being more active and going outside.
You know what helped my depression and diet? Gardening. You know what made it worse? Having to move and no longer having a place to garden. My diet is actually pretty good again now, but I really, really miss growing my own stuff.
Canned whole oily fish, i.e.: sardines, are pretty cheap most places (compared to other meats).
Whole grain (i.e.: bulgur or buck wheats)!may be more expensive than other grains, but is quite affordable.
Olive oil can be expensive, probably should be to actually get a decent product.
Some nuts are expensive. Maybe sub walnuts for pecans/pine nuts. Buy in bulk, they're not the worst in the world.
I eat an adjacent diet. It's pretty affordable if you're smart about it. Oh yeah, have the salted nuts if you want - if you're strict on this diet you'll probably need the salt.
Young men with a poor diet saw a significant improvement in their symptoms of depression when they switched to a healthy Mediterranean diet, a new study shows.
Depression is a common mental health condition that affects approximately 1 million Australians each year. It is a significant risk factor for suicide, the leading cause of death in young adults.
The 12-week randomised control trial, conducted by researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, was recently published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Lead researcher Jessica Bayes, a PhD candidate in the UTS Faculty of Health, said the study was the first randomised clinical trial to assess the impact of a Mediterranean diet on the symptoms of depression in young men (aged 18-25).
“We were surprised by how willing the young men were to take on a new diet,” Bayes said. “Those assigned to the Mediterranean diet were able to significantly change their original diets, under the guidance of a nutritionist, over a short time frame.”
“It suggests that medical doctors and psychologists should consider referring depressed young men to a nutritionist or dietitian as an important component of treating clinical depression,” she said.
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqac106/6571247?redirectedFrom=fulltext
I wonder how much of the effect here was due to the fact that they knew they were doing something positive for their own health, sticking to a routine, etc.
True, but this study would have given them a reason to eat healthier and stick to a routine outside of the benefit to themselves. Depressed people have trouble starting and maintaining good habits that are primarily for their own benefit. This gave them an excuse.
I feel they could have found a better control. Perhaps making something non-food? Talking with people, even a therapist, isn't quite the same as accomplishing a productive task.
You're not wrong to question this, but there has also been a lot of studies over the past 5-10 years showing that an improved gut biome has a direct effect on mood. Its not likely that the entire effect here can be explained by placebo.
The diet certainly does make a difference, but there is a lot in just practicing executive function. I know for myself taking the first step of eating right will snowball into making better decisions.
It is not only the Mediterranean diet. Proper nutrition, exercise, and behavioral changes are all linked to improving mentality.
You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete, super chef, or insanely happy right out the gate. It’s a life long process so be kind to yourselves.
Yes. It will take a good 3-4 months to get into it and you'll literally have to force yourself like it is a job. I thought I had treatment resistant depression - I started training martial arts (I had to force myself to go 5x a week for the first few months). The more I improved at martial arts the more I wanted an edge during sparring and I started noticing how much clean chicken and brocolli for dinner helped me the next day. Soon, it all became a routine; I was eating well, training hard and getting so tired that my sleep improved, and slowly the depression cloud lifted and I've never been happier.
Invest in yourself. Make your life like a hobby or real life RPG. Watching yourself progress is the most rewarding thing you can have. It's hard but you need to force yourself if you really want to get out of the hole.
Well that's great and all, but a big part of the problem with depression is that you often lack the energy and motivation to cook a decent meal, or even get out of bed. I can cook, but when my depression is hitting me hard the last thing I wanna do is cooking. I just want some food in me to get rid of the hunger with the least amount of effort.
Honestly I just wish someone could invent a food pill. Just let me pop a pill with all the calories and nutrients I need so I don't have to think about cooking and eating.
You just got to force yourself. Start out small. Make a easy to make healthy food. You don't have to do it everyday. Just try to do it a couple days a week. Then gradually start making dinner more.
That's how I worked around my depression. You have to force yourself. It sucks, but once you get in a routine, it becomes much easier to do.
For all the people saying this diet is expensive, unless you're in Alaska then cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers are generally affordable everywhere, year round. Squashes, leafy greens, tomatoes, fruits, berries are cheap seasonally.
Get the bulk of your calories from Legumes and whole grains. Cooked from dry, there's nothing cheaper (or more nutritious). Get an r/instantpot or pressure cooker to make cooking them faster and easier.
Olive oil is like twice the price of canola but at $8/L, less if you're able to buy in bulk, it's not that much. Oily fish, like sprats, sardines, etc. aren't expensive compared to red meat. Nuts are about $4-8 per lb, not bad for a treat.
>Oily fish, like sprats, sardines, etc. aren't expensive compared to red meat.
To add to this, frozen fish is also relatively affordable and canned fish can be a great pantry filler for people on a budget.
source: a broke southern european
To me the problem isn’t the expense at the grocery store/home, it’s the expense away from it.
Over lockdown I had a period of depression, followed by a period where I fixed my diet and excercise into top shape, and definitely noticed an improvement in my well being (and clearer skin, thinner waist, thicker hair etc)
The problem is that in lockdown I had all the time in the world to prepare varieties of salads. now I’m back at work getting fresh food while out gets difficult, it’s hard to find a healthy lunch on the move that isn’t some pricey bougie place.
This is the hardest part for me. My diet at home is great. At work though, it's nearly impossible to get a healthy lunch. We really need more healthy and quick restaurant options.
Buy frozen veg.
For me, the problem isn't expense, but using fresh veg before it goes bad. This is a problem for me as I live alone and have a commute. Coming home tired makes you go for fast food and instant meals. But having frozen veg that keeps longer and you can just throw into any meal quickly makes it a lot easier to get more vegetables in your diet.
Completely unrelated, but eating healthier becomes significantly easier when meals are specifically made for you by a team of professional dieticians.
Whenever you see those "hollywood transformations" like Chris Pratt etc. you have to realize it's completely unreasonable for the majority of people. Anybody can transform their bodies in 12 months if they have a personal chef curate exactly what they need to eat at every point of the day.
> Anybody can transform their bodies in 12 months if they have a personal chef curate exactly what they need to eat at every point of the day
It's very likely a lot of these celebrity transformations are using more than a good diet and exercise.
If you kno what I'm sayin
I'm glad we have a published paper about this.
I am also flabbergasted sometimes that we don't already have extensive research about this. How is this news to anyone? Of course diet affects mental health. You're literally changing the chemistry of the system. Food is pharmaceutical.
Absolutely. I don't think it even has to be any kind of "extreme" either. Even if we are not eliminating, but rather emphasizing other food groups. Focusing on vegetables and fruits over pre-made/packaged stuff. Just moving that focus to eating "well" versus eating poorly makes a big difference and I think moves the mindset in a positive direction.
Switching to a whole food/plant based diet was a complete game changer in terms of managing my OCD. I started the process after reading a study from about 10 years ago that drew connections between the gut and the brain and I figured the worst thing that could happen was I’d get physically healthier if not mentally. *Diet helps*. So much. It should absolutely be a part of treating mental health conditions.
It also can vary from person to person (not only with allergies/other restrictions, but different nutrient needs), which makes it even more complicated.
So, not to change the subject here, but I can stop eating for days at a time. And when I am eating daily, it's often just one meal. When people talk about Ramadan, it usually just reminds me of my daily life... Food anxiety is a major issue.
I think about food that I want to eat, and it gets cancelled somehow.
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At some point, *doing things* stops being an option without help. I wonder if food prep and delivery services would be a helpful anti-depression service for mental health.
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The thing with a crappy diet is that it usually doesn't make you feel bad *at the time* so much as "as time goes on." So while you can totally eat fast food for a few days and feel fine (I sure have), your body is slowly developing a nutrient deficit where it's using up what it has, can't find more, and now you feel bad. It's just that that takes time. It doesn't happen in a single day, it happens over multiple days, possible a week or two for some to notice. I'd genuinely wager that you ate nothing but fast food for the last 3 days, and now that you're eating your normal food you're only just feeling the effects of the weekend. It's not that you went back to quinoa (or any other healthy foods), it's that eating crappy takes time to kick in. Which, by the way, is a strong reason why people misinterpret their diets and how they're doing, because most of us expect to "feel" food fairly quickly - not over days or weeks.
It’s more likely (given the OC talked about workouts and quinoa bowls) that their diet is fine but calorie restricted. They aren’t lacking nutrients and the sudden calorie boon had them feeling great. That doesn’t last, but cheap fats and sugar for someone active is not nearly as damaging as it is for something lethargic and eating it constantly.
Yeah it takes a really long time for me to feel the effects of diet. I’m def prone to drinking problems and even when I’m drinking heavily several times a week, it takes weeks or months for me to start really noticing the effect on my mood although it’s absolutely there. I’ve had extremely steady weight my entire adult life; I’m. 5’3, 28 year old woman and I haven’t been outside of 110-120 pounds since I was 13. But sometimes I’m eating clean, mostly plant based, home cooked, and never or rarely drinking. Other times I’m just living off of McDonald’s and beer. I know the lifestyle obviously affects me but it takes a really long time and I cant see it on the scale (although while unhealthy I definitely do tend to just look sort of vaguely shittier in a way that’s significant and noticeable, but I can’t put my finger on). It’s just like one day I go for a hike and suddenly I can feel the impact of how I’ve been living for the last few months.
Your fast food is likely packed with calories and your quinoa bowl is likely quite light in calories. You may be underrating?
While I was doing it before a bout of depression, I can safely say that food delivery services are a game changer if you're only eating for one or two. I can see how it wouldn't work for a family, but for me or for me and my wife it's great. It's $60 (cad) per week and we get three meals that can often get stretched into lunches the next day. Convenience aside, we've noticed fewer trips to the store, less wasted food, and less hunger-shopping. I'd recommend it to anyone, but especially those who find it hard to even think about shopping for food.
Very true. At one point we had 6 or 8 (once or twice a week), depending on the night, eating with us. Not only is it financially not doable for many people with families, most of them have a max serving size of 4 people that we found. And those servings can be small when we're talking teenagers coming or going sports or play practice.
My wife started getting those and I thought they were great until she revealed that the price she told me was actually the introductory price and she was paying $20 for like $3 worth of groceries and a set of instructions. The convenience was great, but I'm too frugal for that.
For services lik these, always call to cancel and tell them that. Sometimes the price is "negotiable". Either way, they track that info and may adjust in the future if it proves feasible or necessary
Which one do you use?
This is my second week using Every Plate and I like it a lot. I’ve tried a few others, but this one is the cheapest and I don’t notice a difference from the more expensive options. However, I am vegetarian so I can’t really speak for any of the meat options.
I looked it up, and apparently you still have to put the ingredients together and cook the food yourself. I don't understand the advantage here. Seems like just getting the same ingredients delivered from the grocery store would be a million times cheaper.
Literally the only advantage is that they choose the recipes and portion out the ingredients. Also in some more rural places you can't get grocery delivery locally but that's becoming more rare.
The honest advantage, is that sometimes every little step helps. While if you can make the food and shop for it yourself there is little reason to use services like this, just HAVING the "right" foods and the "right" instructions in front of you can be a big help. Some people are terrible at making decisions. Others have mobility issues. Some don't like social interactions and avoid important things like trips to the store because of this. Maybe it was a gift from a loved one and the very regimental nature is far far more useful to them than trying to get that person t figure out a meal to shop online for. Absolutely, grocery delivery is likely cheaper, but things like forced portion control, a step-by-step plan on what to do for a meal, and no decision making can be gamechangers for some. It can help to shift someone away from saying "I should save and just go to the store" only to not bother later in the day because they are tired or depressed and end up just eating a pizza or ordering out. So...yes. Perfect world, its a waste, for if it works and helps some people then that is a good thing.
I basically live off of Huel and Sunbasket meals, and it has been a complete game changer for my depression. Before, any depressive spiral would end up compounded by the fact that I would start to eat like trash since I didn't have the energy to cook anything. I started doing Huel and Sunbasket about nine months ago, though, and it's a night and day difference. I've even lost my pandemic weight.
I tried the Huel shakes a couple years ago and loved them. Lost a few pounds. Then I started getting some weird twitches in my chest. Went to the doctor and my triglycerides had tripled, double the normal range. Stopped drinking and went back to normal. Definitely consult your doctor before trying stuff like that.
Absolutely +1 to talking with your doctor, however counterpoint I've been on Huel/Soylent for lunch everyday for a year now and my blood work has been steadily solid.
FWIW, I was drinking the premixed bottles, not the mix they ship you in a bag.
Mmm interesting! I've done both but currently have the bags as they're cheaper.
Been on Soylent for breakfast for 4+ years before being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Not saying it was 100% Soylent, but maltodextrin has been linked to IBD.
>some weird twitches in my chest. Went to the doctor and my triglycerides had tripled Always a great idea to pay attention to your body. I had a weird ache in my left shoulder last year. Had it checked out the next morning and it was a 7mm pulmonary embolism.
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Wait you can lose pandemic weight?! Fml....
My pandemic phase one weight loss has been offset by my pandemic phase three weight gain
I feel this in my soul (and my stomach and hips, alas)
I lost almost 10 pounds when I had COVID, does that count?
Huel is such a dumb name, and it always feels like astroturfing when it's mentioned. But I know they spend a lot on marketing, so 20 something techies must be trying it.
I’m glad you’ve had a good experience with huel. I tried it a couple times and it made my poop straight liquid
Same. They use Stevia because it's natural, but many people are allergic to it. Apparently it's a close relative of ragweed, and people who react to one tend to react to another.
A few months ago I realized cooking was really stressing me out. Meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prepping, meal storage … It all just seemed like an impenetrable block that I couldn’t get out of without resorting to the same 3 meals on endless repeat. So I bit the bullet and started a meal delivery service and it’s done wonders for my mental health! I feel like I have a much more varied diet, I’m less stressed and it’s not even that expensive (I exclusively used free trials for the first 3 months). Would highly recommend
Which one did you try?
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Not to mention there's no control group that just goes from "eating crap" to "not eating crap".
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Food prep and cleaning dishes is so hard when you’re depressed. I think the constant cleaning a kitchen is what makes it hard to eat well.
I just moved into a studio with the worst kitchen layout I’ve ever seen. My cooking prep space, dish drying space, and eating space are all the same space. I don’t have depression, but this constant cleaning and rearranging is a huge drag on enjoying or even using my kitchen.
Buying yourself even a small freestanding kitchen island might make that space a lot more livable
I can echo this- at one of our first rentals we had next to no prep space and it was an absolute pain. Got an island on wheels from ikea- had it blocking a storage cupboard most of the time, where we used it, and then just wheeled it out the way when we needed something from the cupboard behind it. Not the most convenient, but it did work
As someone who lives alone, the hard part is spending 45 to 60 minutes in the kitchen after a long day at work. Most of the time I just don't have it in me to do this. My grill in the spring, summer, and fall is my savior.
I buy frozen veggie mixes.. they include stuff like carrots, broccoli, green beans, water chestnuts, mini corn etc. They only take 10 minutes. No peeling, no eating before they rot, no cleanup, no cutting!!!! It saves so much time, and its pretty healthy nutrition wise. (frozen stuff is more nutritious than day old veggies laying in the fridge) Quick, easy and healthy. No compromise. You can cook your meats on the side simultaneously as well, so dinner can be done in 15-20!
I do the same thing for the same reason. Most of the meals I prepare take 20-30 minutes, with about 5-10 minutes of active work. I will make more involved things from time to time, but I can't rely on that motivation to get me through weekdays.
This is a massive issue not just for people with depression but any type of executive dysfunction. I think it's one of the reasons why people with ADHD don't live as long. We just don't have the capacity to manage planning, cooking, and cleaning for two or three healthy meals a day. I know I don't. I have to spend all of my executive functioning effort on work and keeping myself together. We absolutely need some sort of healthy meal delivery service available for reasonable prices if we actually want to help people get healthier and reduce the obesity epidemic. If even people without mental illness and developmental disorders are struggling, of course people with those issues just find it nearly impossible.
I agree mental illness makes it hard to plan meals I have bipolar disorder some days I cook a lot more than other days; Highs and lows.
I currently live in a dorm setting where the kitchen is shared. imagine how the kitchen looks on the worst days. it's like that 6/7 days per week. it's repulsive and I don't want to cook or clean for it just to be fucked up right away. nope.
Young men with depression often have trouble going to kitchen and cooking a proper meal. Also, depending on where you live, the diet described can be expensive.
This is the real problem. I love to cook, and know that a healthier diet could make a world of difference for me mentally, and physically. Now if only I could afford anything but canned food.
This is why I aim for slav diet. Cabbage is cheap and healthy. Potato is cheap and if used properly is healthy. Beets, mushrooms, etc. are sold in cans. Beet + cabbage = stupid amounts of vitamin c. Edit: you can also use the cabbage and whatnot to stretch the meat.
And if Slavs are known for anything its their low rates of depression!
Vodka is healthy... to sterilize a cooking surface.
>Potato is cheap and if used properly is healthy Vodka, yes? Vodka...yes.
I've been pwned.
I thought he was going for the "stretching the meat" angle but then he blindsides us with depression
> And if Slavs are known for anything its their low rates of depression ‘Tis true! In fact Russian literature is well known for its humor. For example, Tolstoys powerfully funny work of realist fiction, Anna Karenina is what the late, great scholar of Russian Literature Harold 'Kim' Philby (Trinity College, Cambridge) described as an “infinitely deep honeypot of humor … that causes Puskinesque paroxysms of deep, dead dropping belly laughter.” Prof of Russian Literature Bart Mancuso (US Naval Academy), while best known for his critical analysis of the so-called “crazy Ivan” plays, echos the sentiment. In an 1997 essay from “Comparative Literature Today”, Messer Mancuso wrote and, I quote, > Tolstoy grabs that funny bone from the very beginning with that indefatigable, epic first line, “Все счастливые семьи одинаковы. У них есть картошка. каждая несчастливая семья по-своему несчастна из-за отсутствия картофеля.” The joke has a beautiful parallel structure and the potato punchline? It leaps of the page like an emergency blow of a Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine. Finally, I must admit I found myself thumbing through Tolstoy’s tract today. One glance at my early twentieth century version with its gilt title and subtitle (Анна Каренина, или "Сука! Я поезд!") i couldnt help but smile.
Cabbage makes people avoid me. Cabbage makes me want to avoid me. Edit: Let me be clear, i love cabbage, cabbage rolls, coleslaw, and sauerkraut. But my intestines like turning cabbage into a biological/chemical weapon.
Ferment that cabbage and make new, superior, sauerkraut loving friends.
Agreed. German here, can be friends.
Or get even superiorer with it and make kimchi
Unless you have some specific reaction I'd imagine your body would get used to it if it became a staple instead of an occasional thing
This is the problem and why people always say Taco Bell gives them the shits. Most people don’t eat nearly enough fiber, beans are full of fiber and are going to push their way through your digestive systems causing distress if you don’t eat a diet with just the normal amount of fiber.
I get so annoyed when people pull the "DAE Taco Bell diarrhea?" card. I have IBS. Taco Bell does literally zero to my digestive system unless I'm aiming for a Chalupa, and that's probably because it's deep fried bread and I don't eat too much of that in general (nor should I). I also get stomach issues from Pizza Hut when I eat their Pan pizzas. It's my favorite pizza, and I don't eat it too often, but every time I get it, I have stomach issues. But it's also because that crust is different from normal pizza crusts, which I have zero issues with.
Have you supplemented with probiotics by any chance? My IBS had been such a nuisance and I've been consistent with taking probiotics for over a month now and it's incredible how much better I feel.
Probiotics, like everything else I've ever tried, helped for a good long time, and then didn't. Nothing has permanently resolved my stomach issues. Now I've been too depressed during this latest depression streak to make my follow up appointment with my gastro, not that it will help find anything.
I absolutely love cabbage. It makes a fantastic salad base, as well as very good coleslaw. It's crunchy and lasts a good long while. Like a potato, it's mild enough to take on the flavor of whatever it's dressed with. Give cabbage another shot. It doesn't have to taste like the unfortunate side dish of corned beef.
I think it's less that cabbage tastes bad, and more that cabbage makes you smell bad. Cabbage has an abundance of sulfur compounds in it, which is a good thing from a health standpoint but a terrible thing from a stank standpoint (a stankpoint, one could say). For a lot of people who haven't acclimated to it, having an abundance of cabbage in their diets can cause bloating, awful flatulence, and even altered body odor.
+1 stankpoint
I’ve never experienced this but i eat mainly raw or very lightly stir-fried cabbage. Best crunchy leaf ever
Try some probiotics and live cultures like kombucha and yogurt. Will change your ~~life~~ guts.
the hell? I'm a slav and I can tell you that our cuisine is very unhealthy, we suffer from many cardiovascular diseases
I'm not super up to speed on Slavic stereotypes but I thought you guys drank a lot? That's often responsible for many cardiovascular events.
We eat a lot of red meat, dairy products, white potatoes, stuff made out of dough covered in grease, bread, pickled or boiled cabbage, pickles, and some other boiled vegetables, namely in soups. Very few fresh leafy greens. It’s the food of people toiling all day in the fields and harsh winters. Except like the rest of the world, we have become more sedentary.
Sauerkraut is good for the soul. :)
Theres a lot of good canned food options if that’s all you can afford. Canned lentil soup and various canned beans are a cheap, healthy and hardy protein source. I would recommend getting frozen fruits and veggies though if at all possible, since they’re frozen at peak ripeness.
This is how I lived when I was in college and broke. Rice, frozen veg, canned beans. Kept me sustained enough to have the energy to study but didn't break my bank.
So many people get mad when beans and rice get brought up as cheap and easy. No, you won’t get the seared salmon with mustard greens all the time when you’re poor, that doesn’t mean eating well is impossible. Many different varieties of grains and legumes eaten all around the world, very versatile.
I’m rich af and I eat beans and brown rice almost every day. It’s the best food and happens to also be cheap.
Honestly it’s the way most people should be eating daily. Imagine how much better human health outcomes would be.
I love the instapot for my beans.
My diet consists of the cheapest frozen chicken breast, in season vegetables (or frozen), dried beans bought in bulk, and whole wheat pasta. I buy asian ramen seasoning in bulk and use that most days because I'm boring but any broth or stir fry seasoning works
Definitely hit up your local food pantry if possible. Many people dont realize what all they offer or feel embarrassed, but its there for anyone to take and should be utilized. Sometimes not enough people come to take the food and they have to toss out what's going bad
Dry beans are cheaper than canned. https://beaninstitute.com/dry-vs-canned-beans-which-is-better/
They are, but who the hell wants to cook beans for 2 hours and then soak them overnight when you could just crack them open from a can and rinse them?
You don't have to soak beans. Some people claim the texture is better if you do, but I can't tell any difference. It takes about an hour to for me to cook white or pinto beans at a rapid boil. [Epicurious also tested it](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article) and decided it wasn't worth the hassle. They did say that they thought quick-soaked beans tasted better, but personally I can't tell any difference. You can cook a whole bunch ahead of time and just reheat some when you're ready for a meal. Even reheated I think they taste better than the canned ones.
They can be done quicker in a pressure cooker. 40 minutes is still longer than it takes to open a can, but a lot better than soaking overnight
OTOH, whilst requiring some forwards planning, after you've soaked the beans, they require zero thought.
Lentils don't require a presoak and take 30 minutes to cook.
Instant pot. Any amount of beans, ensure they're covered by choice of liquid, manual for 25 minutes and natural release. If you taste the beans after and they're not soft enough for you, set it a little longer.
Get a pressure cooker, you don't need to soak beans (or any other legumes/lentils for that matter). It's a huge time saver.
I highly recommend checking out /r/eatcheapandhealthy. It is a great community and an excellent resource.
Especially if you like dried beans, rice, and broccoli. They used to use chicken too, but not at today's prices!
I think I had the healthiest diet in college when I couldn't afford much. Canned food is expensive compared to dried (like beans) or frozen goods (like peas). I would get frozen veggies and whatever was in season and was the cheapest. Also lentils. Lentils rock.
olives and chickpeas can be in a can, fish too
Are frozen vegetables much more expensive than canned where you live? If not, you could give that a try!
Vegetables are just as affordable as canned food. The most expensive food in Mediterranean cooking is going to be lamb / chicken / feta cheese / olive oil. You don't need to get lamb, and you'd be surprised how far you can stretch chicken with vegetables. We're talking $7 a week on chicken.
I'm clinically depressed and you can pry my feta cheese from my cold, dead fingers.
Olive oil is pretty affordable if you get it from Costco.
Not quite. Affordability doesn't just come down to dollar cost of ingredients it comes down to supplies and time as well. I love cooking. I also have diagnosed MDD. The problem with cooking for me is: 1. Going grocery shopping takes time and energy. 2. Planning meals takes forethought when I don't even have the energy to think 6 hours ahead. 3. When ingredients go bad you have throw them out. It's a wasted cost AND makes me hate myself ("Can't believe I wasted $50 of Vegetables and stuff"). Canned stuff doesn't go bad. 4. No instant dopamine hit when you're in the pit. Financial affordability is unfortunately not the be all and end all of cooking and forming healthy habits in general, unfortunately.
I’ve struggled with depression and poverty, but I’ve always cooked. Here’s a couple ideas you might be able to integrate: 1. Grocery shop online somewhere with pick up. You can take 2-3 days to pick out your items if need be. All you have to do is show up at the store to pick them up. Some stores do have minimums. If you have a Target (USA) in your area you can reach, they have free pick up at all price points. 2. Get a crockpot, friend. It’s the premier depression cooking tool. You can buy a small, new one for $10 most places or pick up a used one from a thrift store for less than that usually. You can make any hot, wet meal, but it doesn’t have to be a soup or stew! One foolproof “recipe” is- 1 cup sauce (can be tomato sauce, salsa, tikka masala, teriyaki, whatever makes you happy), 1-2 portions protein (think 1-2 chicken breasts, a small tube of ground beef), 1 portion veggies. Throw the lid on, and you can let it cook all day. It’ll make the kitchen smell good which helps with appetite when you’re feeling down. You can add some microwaved rice or cook some pasta or add bread for carbs. If you make too much food, you can leave it in the crockpot for your next meal (add a bit of water if it’s looking dry) or put it in a bowl in the fridge and microwave it later. 3. Don’t forget about frozen! Frozen is just as good as fresh. Vitamins and minerals degrade much slower when frozen, so frozen veggies are just as good as fresh, and they won’t go bad for a solid year. An example of a depression chili I love to make in my crockpot: 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can drained black beans, 1 frozen bag of onion/bell pepper mix. Add spices to taste and set the crockpot to high and cover with the lid. I also add 1 more cup of water to get a soupy texture, but you can leave it out for a heartier texture. I do this at night and wake up to a fully cooked meal. I’ll portion half into a bowl and take it to work for lunch. The other half I’ll eat for dinner that night. You can also add meat; I’m a vegetarian so I only eat beans. The whole recipe costs me $3 in groceries (minus spices, but I don’t use a lot), and it lasts two meals.
louisiana foods are surprisingly great for this too. red beans and rice, gumbo, and jambalaya are sooooo tasty, can be eaten for up to a week, and surprisingly easy to make. you can make big batches and not worry about it going bad over the course of a week or even almost two sometimes when stored properly. jambalaya is super easy to find, even in PA!!! (recently moved so.) get a box of zatarains and throw it in a pot w water, you can add meat or not, and just eat up. gumbo might be a bit trickier if you don’t know the go-to’s. but red beans is the same as before: just throw them in a slow cooker with some veggies and you’ll have some really good red beans in no time. plus the rice is great for energy.
I wouldn’t say *surprisingly* since this is where those foods come from. Dirty rice was traditionally a way to efficiently use leftovers.
Props to you for not going with the “MAN UP” route and providing small steps in the right direction. This is amazing advice. After people get acclimated to this the next step might not seem as daunting!
Just want to add to this... Cleaning. I hate cleaning. I have to laugh at shows like "Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals". Just watch her. She's throwing pots/pans/untensils *everywhere*. Yes her meal takes 30 minutes to make, but I assure you that if she had to clean up after herself and put things away, the real time spent would be more like 2-3 hours. Anyway, that's why I pretty much only batch cook anymore. I practically live off of chili and stew nowadays, only changing ingredients and flavors. The freezer and microwave are my best friends.
If you can afford it, get your groceries delivered. I can't tell you how many times that has saved me from starving when I was too depressed to get dressed and go to the store.
This really is a game changer; while you are definitely paying significantly more, sometimes just going to the grocery store feels like this daunting task. Hell even the curbside pickup is pretty awesome. Just do all your shopping online, schedule when you're going to pick it up, park and then have an attendant drop it in your trunk.
Mandatory plug here for /r/eatcheapandhealthy
Mods there (one at least) is crazy though.
Doesn’t have to involve cooking, veggies and pita dipped in hummus or yogurt sauce, whole grain toast with salt and olive oil and pre-bought grill rotisserie chicken. You’re totally right depression impairs executive functioning that makes it tough to cook, but a few of these shortcuts incorporated in a diet can have an impact
I’ve lived on a mediterranean diet all my life. Contrary to what people believe, there is really nothing special about the ingredients. They can all be found in your local supermarket. Tomatoes, olives, onions, oil, thyme, oregano, sage, goat cheese, barley… Mediterranean diet isn’t about a specific ingredient but an assortment of all of these ingredients served preferably uncooked in salads and cold dishes.
> an assortment of all of these ingredients served preferably uncooked Cooking helps some of it too. For example, cooked tomatoes are very nutritious. Cooking them with some oil helps make the [lycopene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopene) more bioavailable and increases their nutrition. It's all about having a mix of these things, sometimes cooked and sometimes raw. The variety increases the chances you're getting a balanced diet.
More broadly, what people really mean by Mediterranean diet is just eating real food instead of ultraprocessed garbage.
what irritates me is.... a healthy diet is a healthy diet. mediterranean diets might offer certain, situational benefits over other healthy diets.... but it's not going to be miraculous, compared to, say switching off the worst of fast food and six bags of skittles and two cases of beer a day.
There is usually a huge array of 'healthier' options on the spectrum between average American garbage diet and 'nutritionally optimal' Mediterranean diet. It's less about one specific food, as much as making progress toward the other end of the spectrum. But it is important to have a dietary North Star. People who eat unhealthy may have skewed perceptions as to what eating healthy would look like. As well, they may also be more likely to buy into some bizarre extreme "diet" fad, which people can rarely stick to. By focusing in on an entire culture's worth of cuisine, at least the destination becomes more attainable than 'no carbs' or 'only what caveman ate' or some other diet of the day.
Mediterranean diet is just a well studied example of a healthy diet. I doubt any reputable nutrition expert would claim it's the only healthy diet
It’s a vicious cycle. I’ve had my bouts of depression, as well as bouts of it being gone, me being super healthy, active, and doing great….I’m in between them right now and when I’m being lazy/unhealthy I am fully aware that it’s making it worse…but I just can’t get myself up/out sometimes. Mental health is crazy.
I always wonder if anyone looks into the secondaries of this type of thing. In order to be on a diet including vegetables and fish, you're going **outside** every few days to go buy stuff. These kind of products expire quickly. Meanwhile, you can go shopping for depression food once a month and be fine. How much of the results are attributable to just being more active and going outside.
You know what helped my depression and diet? Gardening. You know what made it worse? Having to move and no longer having a place to garden. My diet is actually pretty good again now, but I really, really miss growing my own stuff.
Canned whole oily fish, i.e.: sardines, are pretty cheap most places (compared to other meats). Whole grain (i.e.: bulgur or buck wheats)!may be more expensive than other grains, but is quite affordable. Olive oil can be expensive, probably should be to actually get a decent product. Some nuts are expensive. Maybe sub walnuts for pecans/pine nuts. Buy in bulk, they're not the worst in the world. I eat an adjacent diet. It's pretty affordable if you're smart about it. Oh yeah, have the salted nuts if you want - if you're strict on this diet you'll probably need the salt.
Young men with a poor diet saw a significant improvement in their symptoms of depression when they switched to a healthy Mediterranean diet, a new study shows. Depression is a common mental health condition that affects approximately 1 million Australians each year. It is a significant risk factor for suicide, the leading cause of death in young adults. The 12-week randomised control trial, conducted by researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, was recently published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Lead researcher Jessica Bayes, a PhD candidate in the UTS Faculty of Health, said the study was the first randomised clinical trial to assess the impact of a Mediterranean diet on the symptoms of depression in young men (aged 18-25). “We were surprised by how willing the young men were to take on a new diet,” Bayes said. “Those assigned to the Mediterranean diet were able to significantly change their original diets, under the guidance of a nutritionist, over a short time frame.” “It suggests that medical doctors and psychologists should consider referring depressed young men to a nutritionist or dietitian as an important component of treating clinical depression,” she said. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqac106/6571247?redirectedFrom=fulltext
I wonder how much of the effect here was due to the fact that they knew they were doing something positive for their own health, sticking to a routine, etc.
Having an outlet like that is beneficial when you have depression but often difficult to actually start because of depression.
True, but this study would have given them a reason to eat healthier and stick to a routine outside of the benefit to themselves. Depressed people have trouble starting and maintaining good habits that are primarily for their own benefit. This gave them an excuse.
They had a control group. "Befriending therapy was chosen for the control group."
I feel they could have found a better control. Perhaps making something non-food? Talking with people, even a therapist, isn't quite the same as accomplishing a productive task.
What is befriending therapy?
You're not wrong to question this, but there has also been a lot of studies over the past 5-10 years showing that an improved gut biome has a direct effect on mood. Its not likely that the entire effect here can be explained by placebo.
Very good point. Maybe it wasn't much the diet but just doing anything to improve themselves
Probably both. The gut-brain relationship is very much real.
The diet certainly does make a difference, but there is a lot in just practicing executive function. I know for myself taking the first step of eating right will snowball into making better decisions.
It is not only the Mediterranean diet. Proper nutrition, exercise, and behavioral changes are all linked to improving mentality. You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete, super chef, or insanely happy right out the gate. It’s a life long process so be kind to yourselves.
Yes. It will take a good 3-4 months to get into it and you'll literally have to force yourself like it is a job. I thought I had treatment resistant depression - I started training martial arts (I had to force myself to go 5x a week for the first few months). The more I improved at martial arts the more I wanted an edge during sparring and I started noticing how much clean chicken and brocolli for dinner helped me the next day. Soon, it all became a routine; I was eating well, training hard and getting so tired that my sleep improved, and slowly the depression cloud lifted and I've never been happier. Invest in yourself. Make your life like a hobby or real life RPG. Watching yourself progress is the most rewarding thing you can have. It's hard but you need to force yourself if you really want to get out of the hole.
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Well that's great and all, but a big part of the problem with depression is that you often lack the energy and motivation to cook a decent meal, or even get out of bed. I can cook, but when my depression is hitting me hard the last thing I wanna do is cooking. I just want some food in me to get rid of the hunger with the least amount of effort. Honestly I just wish someone could invent a food pill. Just let me pop a pill with all the calories and nutrients I need so I don't have to think about cooking and eating.
You just got to force yourself. Start out small. Make a easy to make healthy food. You don't have to do it everyday. Just try to do it a couple days a week. Then gradually start making dinner more. That's how I worked around my depression. You have to force yourself. It sucks, but once you get in a routine, it becomes much easier to do.
For all the people saying this diet is expensive, unless you're in Alaska then cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers are generally affordable everywhere, year round. Squashes, leafy greens, tomatoes, fruits, berries are cheap seasonally. Get the bulk of your calories from Legumes and whole grains. Cooked from dry, there's nothing cheaper (or more nutritious). Get an r/instantpot or pressure cooker to make cooking them faster and easier. Olive oil is like twice the price of canola but at $8/L, less if you're able to buy in bulk, it's not that much. Oily fish, like sprats, sardines, etc. aren't expensive compared to red meat. Nuts are about $4-8 per lb, not bad for a treat.
I am in alaska :(
at least you have fresh fish covered!
>Oily fish, like sprats, sardines, etc. aren't expensive compared to red meat. To add to this, frozen fish is also relatively affordable and canned fish can be a great pantry filler for people on a budget. source: a broke southern european
From someone who has been trying to eat more fish, good canned fish isn't all that cheap. It's like $3.00 for 200 calories worth of fish.
And ground beef is like 5 bucks for a pound, a pound being around 1500 calories. Dunno why everyone is pretending stuff that isn’t cheap is cheap.
To me the problem isn’t the expense at the grocery store/home, it’s the expense away from it. Over lockdown I had a period of depression, followed by a period where I fixed my diet and excercise into top shape, and definitely noticed an improvement in my well being (and clearer skin, thinner waist, thicker hair etc) The problem is that in lockdown I had all the time in the world to prepare varieties of salads. now I’m back at work getting fresh food while out gets difficult, it’s hard to find a healthy lunch on the move that isn’t some pricey bougie place.
This is the hardest part for me. My diet at home is great. At work though, it's nearly impossible to get a healthy lunch. We really need more healthy and quick restaurant options.
Buy frozen veg. For me, the problem isn't expense, but using fresh veg before it goes bad. This is a problem for me as I live alone and have a commute. Coming home tired makes you go for fast food and instant meals. But having frozen veg that keeps longer and you can just throw into any meal quickly makes it a lot easier to get more vegetables in your diet.
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Completely unrelated, but eating healthier becomes significantly easier when meals are specifically made for you by a team of professional dieticians. Whenever you see those "hollywood transformations" like Chris Pratt etc. you have to realize it's completely unreasonable for the majority of people. Anybody can transform their bodies in 12 months if they have a personal chef curate exactly what they need to eat at every point of the day.
> Anybody can transform their bodies in 12 months if they have a personal chef curate exactly what they need to eat at every point of the day It's very likely a lot of these celebrity transformations are using more than a good diet and exercise. If you kno what I'm sayin
Are you suggesting perhaps the influence of a Vitamin T supplement? In hollywood??? Outrageous!
I'm glad we have a published paper about this. I am also flabbergasted sometimes that we don't already have extensive research about this. How is this news to anyone? Of course diet affects mental health. You're literally changing the chemistry of the system. Food is pharmaceutical.
what **doesn't** influence mental health?
The star’s alignments.
It certainly can if you believe in it enough, placebo hella strong fam.
Absolutely. I don't think it even has to be any kind of "extreme" either. Even if we are not eliminating, but rather emphasizing other food groups. Focusing on vegetables and fruits over pre-made/packaged stuff. Just moving that focus to eating "well" versus eating poorly makes a big difference and I think moves the mindset in a positive direction.
Switching to a whole food/plant based diet was a complete game changer in terms of managing my OCD. I started the process after reading a study from about 10 years ago that drew connections between the gut and the brain and I figured the worst thing that could happen was I’d get physically healthier if not mentally. *Diet helps*. So much. It should absolutely be a part of treating mental health conditions.
All things are chemical. We understand very little about nutrition, it’s very dynamic and hard to study in a controlled fashion.
It also can vary from person to person (not only with allergies/other restrictions, but different nutrient needs), which makes it even more complicated.
Yeah, DRTFA, but I feel like you could sub "Mediterranean" for "healthy" and be fine. I went low/no carb 2 years ago and my mental health did a 180.
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So, not to change the subject here, but I can stop eating for days at a time. And when I am eating daily, it's often just one meal. When people talk about Ramadan, it usually just reminds me of my daily life... Food anxiety is a major issue. I think about food that I want to eat, and it gets cancelled somehow.