Perhaps that is the definition of an emotional zombie!

I wonder how folks would respond to the article if this is what it said --

Yes carbs release seratonin. That is why they are comfort food and why some people get so addicted to them (one of reasons anyway) Exercise also releases these hormones as does sex. I don't thin ksex was addressed, but I know Atkins recomended Exercise. So the scientists conducting the study need to put down the comfort food and eithe rget to a gym or get laid :P

Hmmmm....carbs cause a release of serotonin.....and that's good, so eat your carbs.....AND carbs also cause a release of insulin......and that can lead to diabetes.

Oh well, at least the diabetics won't be depressed! :lol:

The first thing that came to mind when I read this headline was something I thought I'd read about veg*nism leading to depression. While I can find articles that mention this, I'm not sure how reliable the sources are. It's really driving me crazy now and have been googling for about the past half hour because of it.

From what I've read in my General Psych book...the firing of Neurons in the Brain is effected primarily by the ratio of Excitatory and Inhibitory chemicals (signals). So, there would be TWO chemicals involved. Supposing that Serotonin is the excitatory (Happy) chemical, what is the inhibitory (SAD) chemical ? When is it released and in what quantities ? Just looking at the levels of the one chemical is meaningless if a large amount of the other is also being released. Even a small amount of excitatory chemical can cause firing, if there's an absence of inhibitory chemicals. Conversely, even large amounts of excitatory chemicals may not cause firing if there is also large amounts of inhibitory chemicals.

Let's assume for a second that Carbs DO increase Serotonin levels. If Serotinin is the excitatory chemical, then there must be another chemical that has the opposite [inhibitory] effect. If Carbs also release large amounts of this chemical, then the effect of the Serotonin is decreased or perhaps even blocked.

What I found interesting was the mention of a study on the Hypothalmuses of Rats. In the study, they either excited or lesioned the Sides of the Hypothalamus. They found that when the sides were excited, the Rats ate uncontrollably...to the point they would become Obese. But, when they lesioned [burned out the nuerons] the sides, the Rats lost all interest in eating, to the point they would starve to death with plenty of food right in front of them. The book also mentioned later on that the Hypothalamus controls the Endocrine System [Pancreas, Andrenal Glands, etc...] We all know the Pancreas is responsible for Insulin.

I found an interesting article online that discusses how insulin, blood sugar, and the Hypothalamus work together. Basically, it says that when Blood Sugar drops too low, that the LH is excited. The LH is the part that when continuously excited causes Rats to eat uncontrollably. But, when Blood Sugar levels are Normal to High, the VMH [the part of the Hypothalamus which tells you you're full] is excited, causing you to not eat. So, there seems to be some real good scientific reasons for LCing. Namely, LCing keeps Blood Sugar levels normal, which would decrease hunger. Whereas, if you were HCing and your Blood Sugar would drop very low every few hours, you would experience more hunger:



http://www.psy.plym.ac.uk/year3/psy...uralFactors.htm
http://www.uni.edu/walsh/biolec.html

This article states that Leptin also plays a major role in controlling appetite. Leptin is made from Fat. Basically, Leptin inhibits the release of chemicals that cause you to become hungry, while stimulating the release of chemicals that let you know you are satiated.

http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/899leptin.html

This one mentions a study that showed that lesions on the VMH (Satiety Part of the Hypothalamus) can cause Hyperinsulinemia. It also includes a study that showed that when a certain part of the brain was cut that insulin levels were normalized. This showed that high levels of insulin could cause excessive hunger:

http://www.yek18.dial.pipex.com/gre...0V%20hunger.htm

This article is utter hogwash...

The thing is, serotonin makes you RELAXED...and that's why you go to sleep after a «healthy» pasta lunch at work...
On the other hand, protein increases dopamin release, and that makes you feel alert and energic...

the problem with this type of article is that once the media get ahold of it, it gets repeated over and over again... just this morning, CNN's Jack cafferty mentioned it in his little roundup of stories, the Cafferty file, or whatever he calls it. So now millions of viewers who may have been thinking about trying low-carb have this chunck of misinformation scaring them off.

couldnt be bothered reading it. I'm so depressed after losing 50lb.
Boo Hoo I want my 50lb back

LMAO Lez

They were flogging this crap on TV in London this morning, too. I was calmly doing my hour of ketotic cardio bliss at the time. :rolleyes:

WHAT A BUNCH OF BULL I have severe depression and when i go on those LOW fat diets it makes it worse and i fall asleep all the time and i had no modivation to exercise! Plus they didnt test it long enough.

I've withheld comment on this thread so far, but here I go.

I've suffered from mild to severe depression for a long time - 30 years out of my 44, as far as I can document. (A therapist of mine told me he delayed his retirement because he was convinced I would commit suicide if he retired.) I'm not complaining - just reporting. I'm a smart guy who would've gone much further in life had I not wrestled with my "down" times.

Lots of "down" times. I'd lost both my parents to death by the time I was 21; the love of my life died when she was 24 (I was 26). I'm still single at 44 - again, I'm just reporting what life was like for me in the carb world.

Depression is a wicked hodgepodge. I can't believe in a god because I've experienced no epiphanies, and the illogic of emotional faith is closed to me. So it goes. (Thanks, so much, dear God, for my defective brain. Love that flogging of Jesus thing, though. Really inspiring to those of us whose pain is a low, long-term whimper, rather than a bloody couple of hours. Well done.)

OK, maybe I am complaining.

I'd been on Paxil for 10 years (great stuff for a year or so, if you don't mind delaying or losing your orgasms) and Effexor for a couple of years (not as good, especially if sleep helps you, but at least you get more sex).

After all that, here is what I can self-report:

The "high" from entering ketosis is quite nice. It has faded over the past year (as it should), but is still keeping me from the wretched lows I went through on a low-fat, high-carb diet nightmare.

Even hungover (I am gotbeer, after all), I do better low-carb than I did with carbs, though my tolerance for alcohol has declined, and I have adapted.

Carbs taste like cardboard, overall. Dump the crust and the pizza improves. Protein and fat ROCK.

The comments about my weight loss are coming almost daily now from those women I work with. It is hard to be depressed with so many affirmations from those I'm not supposed to be attracted to (but am, anyway).

Thanks for sharing this GotBeer...and sorry to hear about your losses...

I saw this reported on the news yesterday. I couldn't believe it. It just seems that somebody is always ready to attack this WOE!

I have been on the Atkins Diet for a year and 4 months and my moods and general happiness have never been better! Thank you Dr. Atkins!

This is a very personal topic for me.

I used to be extremely depressed, and not just because I was fat either. I know it was more than the weight, because occasionally I still do slip back into depression for no good reason (though no where near as frequent or severe as before) and all the horrible memories come flooding back. The times when I become depressed now remind me that the depression I was experiencing was mostly physiological. Sure, I totally believe that my obesity compounded my depression and was a big trigger for me, but I WHOLE HEARTEDLY believe my previous lifestyle and what it did to my body was mostly to blame for my emotional condition. The fatness was just a trigger, the effect my old diet had on my body was the real cause.

I also experienced horrible mood swings pre-atkins. My depressive bouts would go something like this. First I would feel a little bit happy and positive about the world for a few hours... not really ecstatic, just positive. Positivity was a mostly foreign feeling to me so whenever I felt it, it stood out. Whenever I felt like this I knew later on I was in for a crash. Oh, the crashes were terrible. I would almost feel like I was drowning in it: I felt so guilty, horrible, and apathetic about life. I literally would fantasize about killing myself, planning how I would do it in my head.

I also was much more emotionally excitable before. This high emotional excitability often triggered emotional rampages usually manifest as aggressive fits of anger and rage over little things.

Once I started atkins, my mood swings almost entirely went away. Yes, I admit that on atkins it is harder for me to get really excited about things, and I do sometimes feel emotionally "flat" ... but you know what, most anti-depression meds make you feel the same way only with way more side effects. What's so wrong with a natural depression/mood stabilizing medication? In fact, I think my "flat mood" has more to do with a lifetime of abusing carbs and burning out neurochemical receptors than anything else. For me to blame atkins for my "flat mood" would be like an ex-junkie blaming sobriety for not obtaining optimal emotional health...

I think the problem with me before was that my chemistry was so imbalanced because of the carbohydrate consumption, that I was on this bi-polar emotional rollercoaster all the time. It was a see-saw pattern of me flooding my brain with serotonin and other chemicals, only for this flood to cause a depletion later. My moods were so extreme and shifted often because all the carbs I used to eat were wrecking havoc with my neurochemicals. So, while very lwo levels of carbs might depress neurochemical release, at least it is on an even keel so there are no more unnatural mood swings.

I look at carbs like drugs, for example, the controlled substance ecstasy. Both flood your brain with serotonin. Both deplete serotonin stores, and cause a subsequent depressive crash where the user feels irritable, low energy, and generally down. Both can lead to permanent problems regulating mood after a long enough time as abusers (there was a study which shows the super morbidly obese have burnt out dopamine receptors from all the over eating, just as cocaine addicts do).

Saying you need sugar to have balanced moods is kind of like saying you need heroin for the same. Highly refined carbs, like drugs, are unnatural substances that unnaturally elevate mood. Both have a high physiological price after long enough time -- and that price is usually normal emotional health. The carb addict, like the junkie, is in an unfortunate state. As if trying to get sober and going through the physical withdrawls wasn't bad enough, you also have to grapple with the prospect that you won't ever feel emotion normally again. This is often too much for recovering addicts to bare, which is why I PERSONALLY believe drug and carb addicts have such a high relapse rate. Actually, an addict doesn't even experience the "highs" anymore after awhile because he "fried his brain"; after awhile they are using just to feel right.

It is really sad, and the only thing worse is the fact these people are PUSHING people into carb addiction.