I am feeling really depressed at the moment, I don't know why? I am like most people with fibromyalgia in pain all the time but I don't think that is why I'm feeling low. I try to make people happy all the time so that they don't see my sorrow. I feel lonely although I have a lot of people around me.
I foften feel a generalized depression for which I can't identify a cause as well. I came across a self-help book by Kathleen DesMaisons, who has a Ph.D in Addictive Nutrition, called Potatoes, Not Prozac. She discovered a correlation among blood sugar, seratonin and endorphones, particularly for people who have a heightened sensitivity to sugar, and developed a nutritional life style change plan (not diet) that would help balance these three chemicals and reduce the likelihood of relapse in alcohol/drug recovery. She also discovered that many adults with addictions such as alcohol (as well as their children) have sugar sensitivity. with corresponding low levels of beta endorphine.
An imbalance in one of these biochemicals affect mood and behaviour. Since the body's form of usable sugar is glucose, sugar, she claims, is essentially a drug which has to be converted to glucose. Low blood sugar can cause tiredness, restlessness, inability to focus, confusion, poor memory as well as irritability and anger. Low levels of seratonin can cause depression, impulsiveness, short attention span, a blocked or scattered feeling, anger outbursts, reactivity as well as craving for sweets and simple carbohydrates like bread, cereal and pasta. Low levels of beta endorphin can result in low pain tolerance, tearfulness and reactivity, low self-esteem, overwhelm from other people's pain, feelings of isolation, depression and hopelessness, prone to emotional overwhelm, feeling wronged by others as well as sugar cravings.
People who are sugar sensitive (i.e. like and need it) respond to it differently both psychologically and biochemically. It has a more volatile blood sugar reaction to sweet foods and a powerful effect on your feelings. The blood sugar spikes quickly, as does the level of insulin to counteract it, resulting in a quick, steep drop in blood sugar. The adrenal glands are also activated to release adrenaline.
At the same time, a shortage of neuroreceptors in the brain can prevent activation of , and therefore a behavioral response to, the neurotransmitter seratonin. If too much seratonin or beta-endorphines (the physical and emotional painkiller) are released, the brain downregulates by shutting down receptors to the neurotransmitter, so in the case of endorphines, you need more of a painkiller to have the same previous effect. If there are not enough of these neurochemicals, the brain attempts to achieve homeostasis by upregulating, opening up more receptors to these neurotransmitters. Another way the brain strives for equilibrium is through withdrawal, when a physical dependence arises on the substance which alters the body's natural state and the brain becomes accustomed to the higher levels seratonin or endorphins.
Kathleen goes on to describe the nutrition chemistry involved in all of this. It makes sense to me and it is drug-free (my preferred approach). I will let you know the results when I finish the book and apply it (the hardest part, lol..."to be determined")
