The Bible Cure for Depression & Anxiety.

Chapter 4: Joy-filled Living With Proper Nutrition and Diet

Recap - How’s it been since Chapter 3 - What have you struggled with? WHat have you changed?

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!—Isaiah 26:3

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I begin today to reprogram the negative thoughts that have me trapped in a cycle of depression, anxiety, and worry. I choose to replace them with positive thoughts based on Your Word. Help me to recognize distortional thinking when it happens and to replace it with the reality of how You see me and my situation. Amen.

If last session was a battle for the MIND, today is a battle for the BODY which has a dramatic impact on the mind and emotions -

“The things you eat and the things you do can contribute to feelings of depression. Some of our most harmful lifestyle and nutritional choices include drinking alcohol; smoking cigarettes; eating too much sugar; drinking too much caffeine; eating a diet rich in processed foods such as white bread, white flour, white rice, and pasta; eating fast food and junk food; and being addicted to prescription and street drugs.”

You can make right nutritional choices today to replace depression with joy - “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).

The Science:

The delicate balance of chemicals in your brain is strongly affected when you:

eat too few complex carbohydrates (such as eating a low-carb diet),

have low blood sugar or high blood sugar (which is prediabetes or diabetes),

drink too much caffeine,

have too much stress

or too little sleep,

or have critical nutritional deficiencies.

All these factors lower your levels of serotonin, which is your “happy chemical”.

“This is why proper lifestyle and dietary choices are critical if you want to prevent depression.”

The Connection Between Food and Mood

“The brain depends on a steady supply of sugar from the blood, and the ideal amount that the brain desires falls within a narrow range. When we eat too many foods high in sugar or too many processed carbohydrates, the blood sugar rises too high, which causes insulin levels to rise in order to lower the blood sugar. As a result of high sugar followed by high insulin levels, many people develop cloudy thinking and become drowsy and desire to take a nap.

However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, when your blood sugar falls too low, you typically become hungry. If you do not eat within a certain period of time, the blood sugar can actually drop even lower. When your brain does not receive adequate blood sugar, you, ...may become irritable, impatient, angry, weak, shaky, fatigued, depressed, or anxious.

...a balanced diet containing plenty of fiber, the proper ratio of good protein with healthy fats with high-fiber complex carbohydrates, and at least three meals a day—a healthy breakfast, healthy lunch, and healthy dinner—as well as two to three healthy, balanced snacks (again with adequate fiber), prevents these blood sugar swings. Unfortunately, many people who experience depression and anxiety are caught in this “roller-coaster” blood sugar cycle.

...Many individuals with depression and anxiety have candida overgrowth in the intestinal tract from taking antibiotics, cortisone medications, hormones; from excessive stress or consuming excessive amounts of sugar or processed starches such as white flour; or from diabetes or prediabetes.”

Food Allergies and Sensitivities:

Food allergies and sensitivities have also been linked to depression and anxiety.

dairy and wheat - Dr. Charles Parker, “The peptides from gluten and casein are important because they react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine.” This means that the gluten in wheat and the casein in milk have the potential to cause addiction in much the same way as addictive drugs.

allergic or sensitive to eggs, corn, soybeans, yeast & oats - Often when a person is allergic or sensitive to a food, when they eat that food their pulse will increase. Dr. Coca, an allergist, discovered that the greater the allergy or sensitivity, usually the greater the heart increases. This in turn can precipitate an anxiety or panic attack.

“If you have food allergies or sensitivities, I recommend that you decrease or eliminate from your diet all processed starches such as white bread, white flour, white rice, sugar, pastries, packaged foods, and potato chips. Increase your intake of vegetables, lean meats, brown rice, millet bread, and good fats such as flaxseed oil, extra-virgin olive oil, almonds, walnuts, and fish oil. oil. Drink at least 2–3 quarts of alkaline water a day”

Food Additives

“Food additives are a long list of chemical substances that are added to your food for flavor and color, to make it last longer, and for a host of other reasons. The largest group of food additives is the flavorings. Most of these flavoring agents are synthetic versions made from chemicals. Chemical food additives are usually made from petroleum or coal by-products.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a common food additive and flavor enhancer found in many processed foods, including soups, gravies, salad dressings, bouillon products, soy sauce, processed meats, ice cream, and so forth. It is also commonly found in restaurant foods, including most fried chicken products, sausage, scrambled egg mix, and grilled chicken fillets.

A new condition associated with MSG is excitotoxicity, in which the glutamic acid present in MSG can be neurotoxic by damaging and eventually destroying neurons by exciting them to death...Another excitotoxin is the sugar substitute aspartame. When aspartame is broken down in the digestive tract, 40 percent of the final product is aspartic acid, another excitotoxin. This excitotoxin also overstimulates or excites nerve cells and may eventually cause permanent damage to the nervous system. Side effects of aspartame include depression, visual problems, headaches, confusion, dizziness, convulsions, brain tumors, and so on.

I have found that many food additives, and especially MSG and aspartame, can worsen the symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Choose a Healthy Diet

Maintain a balanced diet, which includes:

lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, especially flaxseed(ground, dried is best because of Oxidisation) for Omega 3, and lean meats.

Fish and seafood - Because of omega-3 fats which improve heart health and mood. Scientists have long known that “populations who consume the most seafood have the lowest rates of depression...Omega-3 fat supplementation has also been shown to be highly beneficial in those with bipolar disorder...Beneficial fats that can help prevent the development of depression include omega-3 fatty acid. More than 60 percent of the human brain consists of fat, and approximately one-third of the brain’s fat is composed of these beneficial omega-3 fatty acids...Omega-3s create strong cell membranes. For nerve cells to function properly, the brain must have healthy, well-functioning cell membranes. This will directly influence neurotransmitter synthesis and affect levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. Serotonin levels are directly related to your mood.”

Teas, white or black, Oolong tea or Green tea... “contains many beneficial nutrients; however, one ingredient, L-theanine,...a unique amino acid that usually helps one to relax.”

Snacking - but only on the right things to boost serotonin levels. “Any of these snacks will jump-start your brain’s serotonin levels. Fibre Oats; Peanut Butter; Fat-free pretzels; Rice cakes, fruit

Avoid or dramatically decrease your intake of the following:

High-sugar foods such as sodas, desserts, cakes, pies, cookies, candies, and cereals

Processed foods such as bagels, white bread, pretzels, crisps, white noodles, and the white flour that much of these things are made from (even white rice is a processed food)

Transfatty acids - these are commonly found in commonly found in “salad dressings, cooking oils (corn oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil), and processed foods like potato crisps and chips. These can lead to “inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, allergies, skin diseases, and emotional diseases, including depression and anxiety.”

Alcohol, cigarette smoke, and caffeine (Note: “coffee has many health benefits such as preventing diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, ...Excessive caffeine and sugar intake will eventually lead to a loss in B vitamins, an increase in the stress hormone cortisol, and sleep disturbances. These nutrient deficiencies, along with an excess of cortisol and inadequate sleep, can eventually lead to depression and anxiety.”).

Prayer: Almighty God, empower me spiritually to take control over my appetite so that what I eat helps my body overcome depression. Remove from me the desire for foods and thoughts that fuel depression. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may discern and decide to eat and think right so that Your Spirit of joy will replace any spiritual heaviness in me. Amen.

Exercise:

In this chapter we have discovered that certain foods can help us overcome depression. Make a short list of foods you will begin including regularly in your diet:

1. What type of tea will you choose to begin drinking, and how many cups a day will you drink?

2. How will you begin to limit sugar intake?

3. How will you begin to limit fat intake?