Depression Detox Diet

From LoveToKnow Diet

A variety of versions of depression detox diets exist, although none go by that specific name. Many detox diets simply claim to help depression. However, your best choice may simply be a healthy, varied, low sugar, low fat diet plan.

A varied, healthy, whole food diet may be best for people with depression.

What Is A Detox Diet

A detox diet is supposed to cleanse the body from the inside out. Detox proponents believe that if we remove toxins and chemicals ingested from common foods, that our bodies will be healthier, our looks improved and our moods better.

Detox diets vary wildly. Some require drinking only liquids or eating only raw foods. Others combine non-processed foods with lots of water. Dozens of detox diet plans exist though.

Will A Depression Detox Diet Work?

There’s not much science backing up any specific detox diet for depression. Research surrounding toxins and other unhealthy chemicals in foods proves many are dangerous. Ridding your body of these unhealthy items can only do you good.

That said, the problem with whole heartedly believing in a depression detox diet is that depression has been studied and can be very dangerous when left untreated. Depression when left unchecked can result in violent outbursts, sleeping and eating issues, even suicide. Because there’s no proven depression diet, treating depression by food alone is a big risk; a risk that you shouldn’t take without careful supervision of a doctor. While a depression detox diet may work, it’s not worth the risk to self-treat depression. The first thing you need to do if you’re feeling depressed is to see your doctor and discuss treatment plans including a depression diet as a complimentary treatment.

Depression Based Detox Diets

Once you visit with your doctor and get the approval that a detox diet may be helpful, you can try one or more of the following. Not all detox diets are right for everyone. If you start a detox diet and feel sick, overly tired, or your depression seems worse, you need to quit the diet plan and tell your doctor. A basic healthy diet can help with depression, because a healthy body does in fact deal with emotional issues better.

It’s widely believed by the medical community that a healthy, depression-fighting, general detox-like diet can be achieved by the following:

Drinking eight glasses of water a day.
Eating a nice mix of whole foods, heavy on the whole grains, veggies, and fruits.
Limiting refined sugars and extra salt.
Eliminating saturated fats whenever possible.
Cutting out all processed foods.
Taking daily supplements of B vitamins (b6 is especially important).
Evening primrose oil supplements – shown to be useful for depression in a couple of studies.

The diet above is a general detox diet. The components of this diet plan lead to a healthy body and a natural detoxification; no pills, odd drinks, or complicated plans required. In addition to the above, it’s smart to get plenty of exercise. While food for depression is controversial, exercise is not. Exercise has been shown time and time again, in numerous studies to ward off depression and even help cure it.

Following are two actual “detox” diets that claim to be useful for those battling depression.

The Lemon Detox Diet: The lemon detox diet consists of what you might expect; lemons (lots of lemons). On a level of safety, it’s not a great long-term diet. More like an infrequent treatment. It consists of a drink made with a “syrup of organic trees” blended with the juice from fresh lemons, water and some pepper. This is not a very nutritional diet plan but likely does a good job of detoxing your body.

The Raw Food Detox Diet: This diet is also noted as a useful diet for depressed individuals. The raw food diet consists of a special green lemonade drink, fruit, raw breads, veggies, and other raw food items. Overall, this is actually one of the most healthy detox diets around. It’s a great combination of healthy foods eaten on a good time table.

To learn more read the following articles:

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