Re: The Mental Heath Thread
so eating right can help with depression?
what types of foods should be avoided? what should be eaten?
You should avoid fried foods and foods with refined sugar, as well as those with a lot of chemical additives.
Anything with refined sugar is going to be bad, as it releases a lot of energy all at once, and then you crash later.
That basically means avoiding sodas, and instead going for fresh juices, water, tea, or something else without refined sugar.
Cane Juice is better than sugar. It contains small amounts of vitamins and minerals, and has a certain flavor to it that is quite good. it also has natural things in it that the body recognizes that helps to tell the body when it has had enough.
Refined sugar is so refined that those natural components are taken out, so you can eat a lot of it and not feel sick to your stomach. Because of this, it is difficult to tell when you are eating a lot of refined sugar, unless you read the labels. You wouldn't even know something had sugar in it were it not labeled.
Another thing to mention on sugar in foods is that companies will use different kinds of sugars in the same food. This is done to make it seem like there is less sugar in it than there actually is, in proportion to the rest of the rest of the ingredients. Were it not for the fact that a lot of sugared breakfast cereals have a few different types of sugar, sugar would be the first ingredient on the label. Many different sugars add up to one gargantuan sugar.
Stay away from aspartame /NutraSweet for example, because it causes low IQ in children and brain damage. The stuff is worse than sugar.
In general it is not good to cook oils, as it turns the fats from cis to trans and causes free radicals, as well as destroying the enzyme lipase, which is the enzyme that helps you to digest fat. Cooked fats, especially fried ones, make you feel sluggish and heavy compared to raw ones.
Raw foods like salads are light and invigorating, however, best to have dressings like olive oil and vinegar or olive oil, lemon and garlic, or some other with raw oils rather than a pasteurized one, like a dairy based one.
Having a juice extractor to make fresh organic carrot juice is awesome for vitality. The best carrots are a rich vibrant orange color, with green ends that haven't turned brownish yet. The more vibrant green the green on the end is, as opposed to brown, the fresher the carrot. You can feel the difference between freshly extracted juice and that bought in a bottle.
Best to eat as organic as possible, especially making sure that potatoes, peanuts, grape and raisins are organic.
Steaming I find to be better than baking for potatoes and other vegetables. Anything you can steam is more vital like that, in my experience.
I also bake and boil some things.
I never microwave. Eating microwaved food causes an increase in white blood cells, which is an indication of infection. I never felt my best after eating microwaved food.
Barbecuing is also to be avoided, but if you really like the flavor, decide if that flavor is worth how it makes you feel afterwards.
https://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=138
Don't misunderstand me, some things need to be cooked, but when it comes to fats, they have a less heavy feeling when raw.
I went on an all raw food diet for some time, and although I felt very light, I also got weak, so I found that an all raw diet wasn't practical.
I've had both raw tahini and roasted tahini, and I can feel the difference in how much energy I have.
Although I recommend as vegan a diet as possible, if you are going to have meat products, I suggest fish like Salmon. Salmon is pretty easy to digest and is pretty energizing.
I advise against shellfish, because it tends to have a lot of toxins in it because shellfish are bottom feeders, and a lot of people get sick from shellfish.
Animal products are very high in pesticides and other chemicals if they aren't organic, so I would avoid as much as isn't organic as I could.
Pay attention to how you feel after you eat something. Feeling full is one thing, but feeling heavy, sluggish and tired is something else.
Experiment and find out the best way to practice these principles for you.
