Wellness Coaching - Relieving Depression With an Anti-Candida Diet

By 2020, major depression is expected to be the second-leading cause of disability (the first is ischemic heart disease), according to the Institute of Functional Medicine. Anxiety frequently accompanies depression which are the two most common psychological disorders in the world.

I personally suffered from depression and anxiety for over thirty years, sometimes accompanied by panic attacks. I know what's it like to carry a heavy emotional pain-body for years on end and can empathize with others who have endured similar struggles. It's a living hell but I can tell you from personal experience, the knowledge and wisdom of particular holistic therapies can help to free those individuals who are imprisoned by their emotional and physical suffering.

Soon after my emotional body became depressed, my physical body shortly followed. Chronic fatigue set in and kept its hold on my for over twenty years. It wasn't until I began to learn how to properly take care of my body, that the fatigue started to slowly dissolve. After the painful TMJ, chronic dizziness, chronic candida, CFS, and mercury toxicity, the only healing remedies that have contributed to my whole body recovery have been; infrared sauna detoxification, upper cervical chiropractic care, and most importantly, a sugar-, gluten-, and starch-free diet.

A study in 2004 found that 67 percent of the patients with celiac disease (caused by gluten sensitivity) reported depression and that 73 percent reported anxiety. An article in the journal "Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics" found that "Depression is reported to be a feature of celiac disease and is ranked as its most common disturbance." When the body is undergoing a degrees of stress, our requirements for B vitamins increase dramatically, and are depleted by chronic carbohydrate (sugar and gluten) consumption. Sympathetic nervous system overarousal also lowers the hydrochloric acid production in the stomach, which is crucial for proper digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Electrolytes are also lost under stress, as is our body's neurological and bioelectrical regulation.

After prolonged periods of depression and/or anxiety, we become depleted of our energy and nutrient reserves. The consumption of alcohol, sugary foods, and carbohydrate-rich snacks become the only thing available to boost serotonin levels. But, of course, these indulgences only serve to perpetuate the negative cycles. We become addicted to food, drugs, and/or alcohol, and life becomes a downward spiral.

Chronic candida is also common among those riddled with depression and anxiety because it allows for the body's natural defenses in the gut to be broken down. Two of the most common symptoms of systemic candida is depression and anxiety. Go figure. Often gluten sensitivity and candida accompany one another because the candida leads to the craving for gluten-rich foods such as bread and pizza.

To end my gluten sensitivity, dissolve the candida overgrowth, and end my bouts of depression and anxiety, I had to restructure my diet to be based on nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich, fibrous vegetables. My protein intake became animal-based which I limited to 6 to 8 oz. per day. I also began supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids and GLA. I eliminated all sugars, alcohol, fermented and starch-based foods -- including all grains, cereals, and legumes. And finally, I began consuming cultured vegetables (rich with probiotics) such as "Bubbies" brand sauerkraut. Today, I am grateful for my perfect health and am living each day in a place of inner peace, joy, and tranquility.