Sevilla King, LICSW

I want to draw your attention to a method of improving all manner of health and mental health issues. This would be a radical change in diet.

As the research slowly emerges, and it does emerge slowly due to the vested interests of the pharmaceutical and food industries, with their vast coffers, which direct funding towards research that tests drugs and steers research away from indicting the processed food industry. However, ongoing real world observation of the effectiveness of dietary intervention has encouraged independent studies, which suggested that indeed diet is one of the best methods of improving mood disorders. This positive news is resulting in more and better funded research and more hope that finally diet will be taken seriously for its positive effect on health and mental health.

Also emerging is research that insulin resistance is far more culpable in mood disorders than previously acknowledged. Insulin resistance occurs when years of a carbohydrate rich diet and a heavy load of insulin results in cells turning off insulin receptors. This eventually leads to diabetes, and the host of accompanying health problems including mental health issues.

Fortunately, insulin resistance can be reversed with the proper diet. No, don’t look at the standard diabetes diet promoted by the USDA and their cronies, the food industry. Look to the Ketogenic diet. This diet, once a super strict, virtually carbohydrate-free, low protein and high fat diet that has been used for 100 years to resolve epilepsy, has recently been updated, due to research findings that it was effective with the addition of a few carbohydrates. Now it boasts a high level of palatability with the addition of many vegetables, some low sugar fruit, nuts and seeds.

As stated, the Ketogenic diet is one that removes the majority of carbohydrates from the diet, and all sugars and starches.  This means the elimination of flour, sugars, corn and grains. Replacing these ill-accepted staples are vegetables, quality protein and healthy fat. Quite a lot of fat in fact – which is both filling and highly neurogenic (very good for the brain). Epilepsy is not the only brain disorder it helps. It is implicated in improvement of Parkinson’s, brain fog, even dementia. Small wonder the Ketogenic diet is proving effective for mood disorders.

Strong research is also coming to the forefront that fasting and intermittent fasting is extremely beneficial to health and mood. Look to Doctors Valter Longo and Jason Fung for information. In 2016, Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi won a Nobel Prize for his work describing the mechanisms of Autophagy – where the cells clean themselves up during fasting. Autophagy has significant implications for health.

I am a fan of Dr. Eric Berg, a location nutritionist who focuses on the beneficial combination of the Keto genetic diet in conjunction with intermittent fasting. Here is an hour long webinar in which he discusses Ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting.

Dr. Berg has over 2000 videos that can help you get started with this healthy way of eating and of living. I encourage you to review some of these, and to try this Keto/fasting combo – with your doctor’s approval of course – and see if some of your mood problems decrease or even resolve!