Are You Stressed Depressed Look At Your Diet For Answers

New research being done at medical centers around the country indicates that some cases of depression may be caused by nutrition and diet. It's now known that individuals can become depressed if they have a deficiency of either serotonin or noradrenaline in their brain. Stress, fatigue, and overwork deplete noradrenaline, resulting in emotional strain, lack of concentration, and loss of energy and vitality.

Both serotonin and noradrenaline (also known as norepinephrine) act as nerve transmitters which send messages from the brain to the rest of the body. When these transmitters are blocked or impaired, our normal brain and bodily functions are seriously impaired. In addition, serotonin is released from platelets (small disk-like structures in the blood) during an injury and causes smooth muscles to constrict and reduce blood flow.

Serotonin and noradrenaline are derived from amino acids found in meats, dairy products, and other food supplements. The dietary amino acid tryptophan is especially important because it's one of the 10 "essential" amino acids - essential because our body can't manufacture it and, therefore, must be consumed daily in our diet.

Another amino acid – tyrosine - is also important because it's one of the building blocks of noradrenaline. In some cases, depressed patients have improved with tryptophan treatment while in other cases, patients have improved with tyrosine treatment.

The relationship between stress, depression, and serotonin is important because one of the vital functions of serotonin is to induce drowsiness and sleep. Sleep, in turn, is a very effective mechanism for helping us relax and for alleviating symptoms of depression. In some cases of depression, insomnia prolongs the amount of time spent dwelling on problems. Hence, sleep can be a good stress reliever and is critical in improving overall physical and psychological well-being.

Though the exact reason for sleep isn't well understood, we do know that lack of sleep for prolonged periods can produce irritable and neurotic behavior. It also makes us more susceptible to stress and stress reactions. Sleep, therefore, brings our body back to a state of balance and makes us more resistant to stress effects. By increasing tryptophan intake, which affects the production of serotonin, diet-induced depression might be alleviated or reversed altogether. Besides meats, the foods highest in tryptophan content are: milk, cheese, eggs, fish, dates, barley, beans, chickpeas, cowpeas, lentils, whole peas, and soybeans.

Depression due to low levels of noradrenaline can be treated by increasing the consumption of the amino acid phenylalanine, which is converted by the body into tyrosine. The foods highest in phenylalanine content are basically the same as they are for tryptophan. Phenylalanine supplements, however, should not be taken without the advice of a physician since they may have adverse side effects in people with hypertension.