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If you are participating in our community forum you may have seen these posts written by someone who learned that carbs make her feel good and believes that avoiding them made her feel worse. She wrote, in separate posts:
"Lowcarbing over the last few years has definitely made me feel worse." "I had an epiphany one day not too long ago when I had nothing but a 2 oz. bag of pretzels and black coffee for my afternoon break. My mood brightened and I felt great for hours and was actually able to be productive. So much for lowcarbing." "I feel so much incredibly better with carb snacks." "I believe following a low carb diet for the last several years really messed with my serotonin and did nothing to help me emotionally." We hear things like this all the time. But we also hear that some people don't mind avoiding carbs and that they can lose weight by doing so. This is particularly true for men, in particular, who have naturally higher levels of serotonin than women (and no PMS or menopause!), people who aren't emotional overeaters, and those who are not on antidepressants. A restrictive diet can also be easier to stick with for weight loss; if you eliminate an enormous category of food (carbs) you minimize tempting choices and eventually get bored with what's left to eat so you don't eat as much (until you go back to the carbs and then one bite of bagel could turn into a carb eating free-for-all as a result of that serotonin depletion). There are indeed plenty of low carb success stories. Take Jimmy Moore author of Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Blog. In 2004, as his New Year's resolution, he went from 410 pounds down to 230 and has kept it off since. His blog is gently irreverent, full of low carb news, and very supportive of others on his path. Like any diet, his blog is not for everyone, and certainly not for someone like our forum writer above who emotionally knows lowcarbing is not for her. Even if you avoid a low carb diet, you can get some great lunch and dinner recipe ideas from some low-carb sites like Kalyn's Kitchen Blog that I got from a link on Livin' La Vida Low-Carb blog. If you follow these recipes, be sure to adjust the carb and protein amounts to that of the phase you're on and make sure fat content stays low. See, we're not opposing camps on this issue all the time! I think the key here is a reminder that every body is different and it's important to make your diet work for you and not against you. For that you have to pay attention to how what you eat affects your body, your mind, and the scale. Find what works for you and follow it. And, in the meantime, I'll be happily munching on popcorn, butternut squash with brown sugar, and steamy pasta with garlic-sauteed broccoli. | permalink | related link |    ( 3.6 / 50 )We all accept the fact that men and women’s brain are different. As a friend said: women have a special area in their brain called "shoes" whereas the same spot in men’s brains is called "superbowl”. And now a study looking at gender differences in behavior finds that women and men act differently when their brains are depleted of the chemical serotonin. Women become moody, anxious and depressed whereas men become impulsive and aggressive. The scientists did an experiment in which volunteers were fed a diet to prevent the brain from making any new serotonin. Within a day, serotonin levels dropped to an abnormally low level. Immediately the behavior of the volunteers changed. The low serotonin caused women to be weepy, tense and have mood swings, sort of like PMS. The men in contrast lost control over their behavior and were angry (sort of how they might behave if their team lost the superbowl). As soon as they were given a diet to restore serotonin, these behaviors went away. This would be simply an interesting experiment were it not for the fact that many people are putting themselves through the same experiment every day. Serotonin normally is made when we eat carbohydrate foods: starchy foods like rice and potatoes and sweets like sweetened breakfast cereal. People who avoid carbohydrates or severely restrict their carbohydrate intake are slowly but surely decreasing their serotonin. If their brains don’t make enough to replace what is used up daily, eventually they will deplete what they have (like not filling the gas tank after a trip). And the sign that their brains need serotonin may be a change in behavior. A guy on the Atkins or South Beach diet which advocates low carb intake may become more assertive or aggressive. A woman avoiding carbohydrates might find herself depressed, tired (a sign of being depressed) or worried over nothing. Fortunately the solution is quick, simple and tasty. Potatoes, rice, pasta, cereal, bread, oatmeal and tortillas to name a few carbohydrate foods will quickly restore serotonin. Depression will yield to feeling good and anger will be replaced by calm. And we could all use some of each. | permalink | related link | ( 3.1 / 75 )If you're on antidepressants or other mood-stabilizing medications and have gained weight as a result, you may have tried a low carb diet at some point to lose that weight. If you lasted even three days, congratulations. For most, half a day is their limit before getting even more obsessed than ever about carbs to pacify the irritability, fatigue, and bad mood. Your prescribing physician may have even been the one who suggested you follow such a diet so as to avoid the foods you complain about craving and overeating without restraint. This curious inability to stay away from carbs is even more baffling when watching your husband, male friend, or male co-worker steadily lose weight on a low carb diet and not have his mood significantly affected. Why can he do it and I can't? For some reason, antidepressants and other mood-stabilizing medications create a greater need for the appetite-suppressing effects of serotonin in order to prevent weight gain and allow weight loss. Women naturally have 50% less brain serotonin than men so they depend on serotonin-boosting foods even more than men. And since the brain makes serotonin when you eat carbs, it makes sense that you need to eat carbs to lose weight. Now that's a recipe for success! | permalink | related link | ( 3 / 115 )"What do you think is a good diet book? Atkins?" asked the elderly, slightly stout woman in the diet book aisle at my local Barnes and Noble. "Well, I recently lost 40 pounds on Atkins," replied the slim 30-something woman. I couldn't help jumping in. "Congratulations, that's wonderful!" I said to her. "I'm curious, though, how was your mood?" The young woman's eyes widened, she took a deep breath, and gave the slightest smile. "I was a total bitch! It was awful." Fortunately, The Serotonin Power Diet not only keeps you from becoming a dieting monster; in fact, simply following the diet will make you feel great while you lose weight. People continue to lose weight on many diets out there. If you truly follow any weight loss diet, you will lose weight. Following it, though, is the key. A recent study published on March 7, 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that overweight premenopausal women lost more weight on the Atkins diet compared to the Zone and Dean Ornish diets. The average weight loss over one year was 10.4 pounds compared to 3.5 and 5.7, respectively. (A pound lost is a pound lost, but it's not like any of these diets is going to make the average dieter dramatically slimmer). Some of the study participants were interviewed by journalists, and after losing 23 pounds on Atkins, one woman gained back 15 pounds. Another Atkins loser lost 30 pounds but regained 20 and now follows a different diet to maintain her weight loss. So what does this mean in the long run? We all want weight loss: it's a great way to feel good about yourself, and it's the single best way to improve your heart health profile. I'd love to see a study comparing The Serotonin Power Diet to Atkins including how easy it is to follow in the long term as well as assessing the dieter's mood. A diet that allows you the emotional comfort from food will keep most dieters happy. And that's great motivation to stick with any diet. | permalink | related link | ( 3 / 177 ) |
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