Tag: healthy diet

Dealing with depression after encephalitis. After many years of trials, this is my current depression regimen, just wanted to share.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share my current depression regimen and some situation info, in case anyone has similar health issues. I have experienced many hospitalizations since 2015, including involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations. Finally in 2017 I was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis (brain inflammation), as well as autoimmune thyroiditis. I was treated with intravenous corticosteroids and that led to some improvement. I continue to experience health issues, but I have made several life style changes that have helped me and that I wanted to share. Again, I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, and my neuropsychiatrist believes that the encephalitis greatly contributed to my depression. Clearly it’s not the case for everyone, so I am not stating that this should work for all. I have been doing better since these changes, I was able to complete a graduate degree, get back to painting, and started writing and playing guitar again. These were huge improvements for me as I was not able to enjoy any hobbies when I had severe depression and was not able to pursue graduate courses.

  1. I cut out all refined carbs and processed foods. There is sufficient evidence indicating that these foods contribute to inflammation. I am not doing keto or low carb, I am not trying to be very strict with myself, I enjoy all sorts of complex carbs such as baked plantains, potatoes, oatmeal, fruits, berries, etc.
  2. Switched to low glycemic foods – this related to #1, as cutting out refined simple carbs in general does leave one with complex carbs that have lower glycemic index.
  3. Foods that cause an immune reaction – this clearly does not occur for most people, but some do react to certain foods. I noticed that I feel physically and emotionally worse after eating gluten, dairy, or soy, so I had to drop these from my diet.
  4. I go to sleep earlier and stay away from my laptop/phone screen after 9pm. I used to stay up late, but now I go to bed around 11pm. After 9pm I usually dim the lights in the room a bit and I read on my Kindle. Kindle Paperwhite does not emit a high amount of blue light. I also installed blackout curtains so that I spend the night sleeping in the dark.
  5. Sleep is very important – so when I really can’t fall asleep, I do use a cannabis oil (NightNight CBN + CBD oil). But changing my diet, losing weight, and going to bed earlier, did reduce my insomnia, so I don’t need the oil every day.
  6. Significantly decreasing my caffeine intake – personally for me it did lower my anxiety and the occurrence of panic attacks, I now only have green tea in the afternoon, otherwise I drink rooibos tea, water, kefir, decaf tea.
  7. Intermittent fasting – I do fell less brain fog and more clear headed when I am not eating the whole day. I used to surf the internet at 1am eating Sweet & Salty bars. Then my mind would go into dark places and I would start reading about serial killers. Now I eat two to three meals a day between 9am and 5pm, I fast for 16-18 hours a day.
  8. Seeing a psychologist – going through CBT and DBT did help, and this related to #5. I still experience racing thoughts, anxiety, and other issues, but I can now more easily choose to not follow my thoughts. For example – I did used to read a lot about US serial killers and then I would freak myself out and I would start to think that someone could climb through the window. Now I choose more what I read – should I keep reading about mass murders? What is the point of that for me? Will that change anything for the better?
  9. Sunlight – I try to get some sunlight each morning, if I have no energy to come out, I still stick out of the window and get some sunlight on my face.
  10. Exercise – I experience certain pains due to autoimmune disease, and fatigue, so I don’t do extensive exercise, but I do yoga at home. And by exercise I don’t mean that I do a whole hour after work, I do certain yoga poses occasionally throughout the day. I think that’s still better than no exercise.
  11. Shrooms – I did several shroom trips, at home alone, after I was treated for encephalitis. I haven’t done shrooms for a while due to pregnancy and breastfeeding, but the positive antidepressant effects of the trips still remain for me.
  12. CBT, again – accepting that some days are better than others, some are worse, but also seeing the positive – in general I am doing much much better now than in 2016. I am female, hormones fluctuate, I do feel worse during the luteal phase, but I experience a lot more enjoyable moments than before my steroids treatment and this lifestyle change.

My previous mistake when going on a dairy-free diet: too many food restrictions and not enough calcium

I want to describe my mistakes with my previous attempt at going dairy-free. A bit of background – I started experiencing severe abdominal cramps in my 20s, then also I started to have panic attacks, fatigue, and swollen eyelids. I had problems waking up in the morning. I ended up being referred to a psychiatrist, but the medications did not help. Finally an endocrinologist checked my antibodies and found that I had very high levels of thyroid antibodies, so my immune system was attacking and damaging my thyroid. I was put on thyroid medication. I also was referred to a neurologist who then diagnosed me with autoimmune encephalitis (brain inflammation), and I was treated with intravenous steroids (for immunosuppression). At the same time I started reading online a lot about autoimmune diseases and I came across articles about the AIP diet. I was feeling to unwell, so I decided that I had to change my lifestyle, and I started following the AIP diet strictly – no dairy, no gluten, no soy, no grains, no legumes, no nuts, no chocolate, no alcohol. There were a lot of restrictions! You can google this diet, if you are curious.

After the corticosteroid treatment and the diet change, I did start feeling better, I l also lost 20kg, but I still experienced a lot of symptoms such as irritability, leg spasms, feeling of numbness in my fingers, and insomnia. I ended up deciding that there was no scientific evidence for my dietary restrictions, and at some point I went back to eating dairy and gluten, as well as the rest of the foods. I ended up gaining 30kg, and starting to again experiencing paranoia, panic attacks, nightmares, and fatigue.

I recently decided to look into my diet again and instead of going into the extremes – such as the very strict AIP diet, I started with excluding dairy. I also realized that when I was dairy-free the first time, I did not consume any foods with calcium, and that could have been the cause of my muscle cramps and numbness in my hands. This time I looked into non-dairy sources of calcium and calculated how much of those foods I would need to be eating. I have now been dairy free since February, I also went gluten-free and soy-free, as I noticed through multiple observations, that those foods were also causing symptoms for me. I now no longer have any pains in the lower abdomen, I have more energy and was able to attend yoga classes. I have no symptoms of low calcium this time, as I eat canned sardines, canned salmon with bones, and powdered egg shells. I am feeling much better, and I have lost around 22 pounds since February.

Obtaining calcium on a dairy-free diet

I have been on a dairy-free diet since February and for me personally it has been helping with the brain fog issue, scalp eczema, and experiences of fear/panic attacks/existential anxiety. I have tried all sorts of dairy – fermented, non-fermented, lactose-free, goat milk, sheep milk, kefir, yogurt. In the end, I found that I feel better on the days when I do not consume dairy and that the negative effects of it make it not worth it for me to continue consuming it. Some dairy has significant levels of the vitamin B12 and iodine, but those nutrients are not difficult to find elsewhere. Chicken liver, eggs, and salmon contain enough vitamin B12. Eggs also contain iodine and I use iodized salt when cooking. The main element I was concerned about when I stopped eating dairy was calcium. I tried taking calcium supplements for a while but I experienced quite negative side-effects such as frequent urination, constipation, and abdominal bloating. I decided to therefore look for natural sources of calcium that are dairy-free.

It’s possible to obtain enough calcium from fortified plant milks, and that might be the easiest option, if that works for you. I’m not sure though that it would be any different from just taking a calcium supplement, because plant milks are fortified with the same calcium carbonate. I am also not a fan of fortified plant milks as there is some evidence that consuming a lot of extra vitamin B12 and folate, which are added to plant milks in high amounts, can increase the risk of some cancers.

Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 Supplementation and the Risk of Cancer: Long-term Follow-up of the B Vitamins for the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures (B-PROOF) Trial

Also I found that fortified plant milks increased my anxiety and occurrence of nightmares, I found the same effects when I was taking a B12 supplement on its own. I consume enough B12 through eggs, meat, and fish, and enough folate through legumes and fruits, therefore my assumption is that the extra vitamins from fortified plant milks had negative effects for me. If you have no problem with vegan substitute products, then you can easily obtain enough calcium without diary by eating fortified vegan plant milks, vegan yogurts, vegan cheese. Tofu also usually has calcium sulfate added to it. Unfortunately I experienced worsening of scalp eczema when eating soy frequently, but if soy is not a problem for you, fortified soy milk and tofu are good sources of calcium.

Since I am currently not consuming a lot of soy products and not consuming plant milks, I had to find other sources of calcium. After looking through nutritional info for various foods, I found that the best way to get enough calcium is to consume bones. Most of the calcium is stored in bones, and only small amounts are found in blood and tissues.
The easiest way to consume bones is by eating canned salmon and canned sardines. You can check the nutrition info on the cans, the salmon needs to be “with skin and bones”, not just the file. The can of salmon that I bought contains in total 363mg of calcium, which is about 30% of daily value (DV). A can of sardines can contain up to 40% of DV of calcium. You can eat the fish right out of the can or add to soup. Another source of calcium is chia seeds, two table spoons contain around 18% of DV. You can add chia seeds to oatmeal in the morning. Another way to eat some bones is by cooking bone broth. There is no evidence that calcium leaks into the actual broth, the amount is very minimal, so you would have to eat the softened bones themselves. I usually cook a broth with chicken or turkey bones for at least an hour, then they are soft enough to actually eat.

Best natural sources of calcium: canned sardines, canned salmon, chicken/turkey bones from bone broth, chia seeds

Why do humans need calcium?

Calcium is required for multiple processes in the human body. 99% of the calcium is stored in bones and only 1% is found in blood and tissues. When there is not enough calcium in the blood, the parathyroid hormone will signal the bones to release calcium. Therefore it’s important to consume enough calcium so that it doesn’t have to keep being released from bones, as you don’t want to weaken your bones. For women especially, it is important to receive enough calcium from diet. In all humans after the age of 30, bone destruction usually exceeds bone products. Women can experience greater bone loss after menopause as the levels of hormones that play a role in building bones become permanently lower.

Calcium is needed for nerves to carry signals between brain and other body parts, it’s also needed for muscles to move. Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood clotting, regulating heart rate, and cell fluid balance. Not having enough calcium can lead to painful muscle spasms, twitching of muscles, numbness or tingling in feet, hands, and mouth. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, itchy skin, and tiredness.

Simple gluten-free and dairy free breakfast

I have decided to go not only dairy-free, which I have been doing for a while, but also gluten-free again. This has led me to re-planning my meals. When I previously followed a dairy-free and gluten-free diet during 2016-2018, I was able to loose a lot of weight. I can’t be certain that it was specifically the avoidance of gluten and dairy, as I was also taking Cytomel (a synthetic version of the T3 thyroid hormone), and Cytomel is known to possible lead to significant weight loss. I started eating gluten again three years ago, as I was not convinced that there is such a condition as gluten intolerance (without having celiac disease). I am still not convinced that I have gluten intolerance, but being currently quite overweight, and not being able to lose the extra weight, I decided to try the gluten-free diet again. I don’t think that I will miss out on any vitamins by giving up gluten, as my diet is varied enough in order to obtain all the essentials. In any case, I can always return to eating gluten if I will not observe any effects of a gluten-free diet on my weight.

I have been already eating healthy, in my opinion, but now my meals required some re-planning. It’s no longer possible to eat a rye toast with hummus in the morning, or a smoked salmon whole-wheat sandwich for lunch. I also don’t really enjoy cooking and would like this process to be as simple as possible. In the morning I have a small gap of time between the time that the nanny arrives and the time at which I have to start work. Therefore, breakfast preparation has to be especially quick. Below is my idea for a breakfast meal that requires very little cooking or waiting. It also does not contain any refined carbohydrates.

Meal: boiled eggs, a gluten-free tortilla with hummus, oatmeal with coconut milk and berries

Main protein: one or two boiled eggs (depending on how hungry you are)
Start cooking the eggs as the first step, as other items will take a shorter time to prepare.
One egg contains about 7 grams of protein and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, eggs do no contain carbohydrates. One egg has about 0.6 micrograms of B12, which is 25% of the daily value. Therefore by eating two eggs in the morning, I can obtain 50% of my DV of B12! Eggs also contain folate, riboflavin, iodine, and selenium.

Additional protein: hummus with a gluten-free tortilla or toast
Hummus is made out of chickpeas and tahini, chickpeas are relatively high in protein and folate, also B6 and magnesium. I used sweet potato tortillas, which were OK, but any other gluten-free tortillas or bread would do:
https://www.bfreefoods.com/us/products/sweet-potato-wraps/

Starch / carbohydrates: quick steel cut oats
I stumbled upon these oats on Amazon and I found this product pretty useful. The oats can be prepared in a microwave in 2.5 minutes. I mix them with coconut milk power before microwaving.
https://www.amazon.ca/Post-Original-Instant-Oatmeal-Flaxseeds/dp/B08X8HLXSP

Oats are known to contain beta-glucan soluble fiber, which contributes to gut health. Beta-glucan fiber may also prevent sharp increases in blood sugar after meals. Oats are also a source of thiamine, magnesium, zinc, and phosphorous.

Fat: coconut milk powder
Coconut milk contains a type of fat called medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCTs could potentially aid in weight loss and increase insulin sensitivity. Also it is creamy! And since this breakfast idea is dairy free, coconut milk is what makes the oatmeal taste better.

Additional items: add any berries, nuts, dark chocolate chips to your oatmeal
I added strawberries. Strawberries contain high amount of vitamin C and also contain folate and manganese.
Still hungry? Slowly eat a whole celery stick. It is low in calories but can help you feel full. It’s difficult to eat celery quickly, and eating slowly can help pass the time, until your brain finally signals that you are satiated.

Drink: tea or coffee
I do not drink any juices, as most juices have a very high glycemic index.