Vegetables and Fish WILL help your symptoms :)

[Natasha0717]

First off, I just want to say that I really don't care for veggies that much, (except for salads).. and I really don't enjoy eating fish. I have always had fish as pets, so it's difficult for me to see them as a source of food. I've had fish for so many years....I can't even picture seeing them sitting on a plate.

However, I've noticed that whenever I do manage a way of getting some fish into my diet (tuna isn't too bad- I can handle tuna, like a tuna sandwich or something because it's all chopped up and doesn't really look like fish)...and then I eat these "Garden Lites" muffins....the first 2 ingredients in them are usually carrots, zucchini, and spinach -you can't even taste the vegetables in these muffins at all, they're actually pretty delicious, with a little butter on top...my mental state has improved remarkably.

By including these two new additions into my diet, I have noticed some unexpected changes. OCD symptoms improved, and SLEEP improved as well, meaning, I don't need to take as much medication for sleep.
My Grandma was right, she always told me I didn't eat right, and that's why I didn't feel right (mentally).

Okay, now, I'm not saying these are a "cure-all" and all of your anxiety-related issues will just magically disappear, but I can tell you that they really, really do help!

Do you have any "special foods" that help with your anxiety/OCD/depression? (I suffer from the first two.)
Thanks for any tips!

Garden Lites ---> -See pic below-
I highly-recommend them.

 

[jy76]

I should eat more vegetables, but normally I just drink vegetable juice. Either way, I'm getting the same thing. At least that's what I think. Perhaps there is more beneficial fiber in actual vegetables.

Anyhow, I do greatly enjoy eating vegetables, but perhaps due to laziness, I don't make salads and the cost of salads at a store is much more than vegetable juice I think.

 

[Natasha0717]

I should eat more vegetables, but normally I just drink vegetable juice. Either way, I'm getting the same thing. At least that's what I think. Perhaps there is more beneficial fiber in actual vegetables.

Anyhow, I do greatly enjoy eating vegetables, but perhaps due to laziness, I don't make salads and the cost of salads at a store is much more than vegetable juice I think.

I know exactly what you mean about the salads and the "laziness" involved in preparing them. Sometimes I'll buy a whole head of lettuce, and walk around the house asking family members to pleeease wash it and chop it up for me. I've even offered a dollar to the first person who would do it. I absolutely hate washing lettuce, and then having to cut it up. My hands get really cold and then you have to dry the lettuce with paper towels or it will get all soggy, and it's just a huge mess and very time-consuming.

I also don't trust the lettuce that is already "washed and chopped" in a bag. Even if it says "triple-washed." Nope. I don't buy it. I love the way a Caesar salad tastes, but I just don't like to prepare it. Texas Roadhouse has probably the best Caesar salad I've ever tasted in my whole life. Whenever I have a little extra cash, I call in an order for two of them and then pick them up. They're quite pricey over there, too, esp. with all of their foods and dinners. But the salads, totally worth it. And no washing or chopping required.

 

[Lyndra]

With my medical condition the doctor wanted to prescribe cod live oil, which I hate, so there's a real incentive to find alternatives! I found my mood stablised a lot once I changed my diet to include more shellfish, probably for the same reason you eat more fish. The only problem is that it is expensive, but I do prefer trying to manage things through diet to taking medication. Thanks for the tip about the Garden Lite muffins. I need to get more vegetables into my diet, but I never seem to have time to prepare them.

Where do you get your fish? Do you buy tinned and frozen, or fresh?

 

[Natasha0717]

With my medical condition the doctor wanted to prescribe cod live oil, which I hate, so there's a real incentive to find alternatives! I found my mood stablised a lot once I changed my diet to include more shellfish, probably for the same reason you eat more fish. The only problem is that it is expensive, but I do prefer trying to manage things through diet to taking medication. Thanks for the tip about the Garden Lite muffins. I need to get more vegetables into my diet, but I never seem to have time to prepare them.

Where do you get your fish? Do you buy tinned and frozen, or fresh?

No prob. I just buy canned tuna fish and make tuna salad mixed with mayo and lettuce, maybe throw a little shredded cheese on top of that as well, or I buy something called "Imitation Crab Meat" (which really is just white fish) and make a dip out of it. I mix it with cream cheese and mayo and then dip tortilla chips into it. I do these things because, again, I could never eat a large piece of baked fish just sitting on a plate. Fish are my pets, and I will always have trouble seeing them as a food source, yet seafood really works wonders on the brain. So I either make the tuna salad or seafood dip about once a week. Still don't really care much for the taste of either one, but what can you do? It's good for you, and your cholesterol, I might add. I buy the ingredients just at my local supermarket. And as for the veggie-muffins (Garden Lites)...those can only be found in the organic and/or vegetarian sections of the grocery store. Hope you can find them and give them a try! If not, I'm pretty sure you can purchase them online. I LOVE them.

 

[BlackMarch]

I hate eating vegetables, the taste and texture (maybe I'm a bad cook ) just turns me away from it. I love fish, but good fish is also very expensive. What did I do to solve these two problems? I still do eat the two, but I supplement my vegetables with green powder and I take fish oil in the morning. Mix the two into a smoothie for breakfast and I'm good for the entire day. Just makes it easier for me to hit the daily requirements.

 

[Alex]

As a vegetarian for over 20 years, I can say that eating vegetables will not stop depression or anxiety. However, a healthy diet may help you feel better, but it doesn't cure in anyway. Eating things you don't like for the sake of it isn't going to help either, but eating foods you do enjoy that are healthy will.

Carbohydrates always seem to have a calming factor, and there are some good carbs out there. My advice is eat what tastes good, and that is healthy. If it isn't that healthy, then eat smaller amounts. Forcing yourself to eat things because they are supposed to be good for you creates more anxiety, as you expect it to do something and often that is unrealistic.

 

[Natasha0717]

As a vegetarian for over 20 years, I can say that eating vegetables will not stop depression or anxiety. However, a healthy diet may help you feel better, but it doesn't cure in anyway. Eating things you don't like for the sake of it isn't going to help either, but eating foods you do enjoy that are healthy will.

Carbohydrates always seem to have a calming factor, and there are some good carbs out there. My advice is eat what tastes good, and that is healthy. If it isn't that healthy, then eat smaller amounts. Forcing yourself to eat things because they are supposed to be good for you creates more anxiety, as you expect it to do something and often that is unrealistic.

That's why a simple tuna sub from Subway takes all the anxiety out of it and keeps it nice and simple. Tuna has magnesium, and if you clench your teeth all night (like I do), it really does make a difference in stopping this terrible, subconscious habit that will totally destroy your life if you let it. <Bad sleep, lots of facial pain, jaw pain, back tooth pain, headache, migraine, feeling crabby for no apparent reason, tense neck muscles from all the damage you did to yourself overnight.> I don't like taking any kind of supplement or vitamin, it always seem to backfire on me (vitamins usually make me feel "wild")...and one time I tried Kava for sleep and I'm pretty sure that was the time I stayed up 3 nights in a row and ended up at the doctor's office. P.S. Congrats on being a vegetarian, I've tried so many times to go that route because I love animals so much....but usually by Day 3, my legs would give out and I'd get very weak. It's the one thing I could never pull off, even though I'd really love to.

 

[Alex]

Even though I am a vegetarian, I haven't always made the healthiest choices. For example I loved onion rings, or a fried egg sandwich! It does boil down to sense and balancing what you like and acknowledging what isn't as healthy as you would like to think.

I'm more concerned about making sure I have protein, and fiber. I drink apple juice only instead of fruit, and Marmite is great as a source of vitamins. I have naughty days such as pizza, and then some yummy curly fries, but hey, you have to enjoy what you eat.

My mother swears by salmon spread with omega-3 to help her with energy levels. It's worth trying, and it may work or be a placebo effect, but either way it's not unhealthy.

 

[janemariesayed]

I've been trying to eat vegetables and fruit but I'm not doing very well at it. I'm finding food so boring of late. Of course, I love to eat pizza, cake, and bread. Flour products, pies, and pastries always make you feel good as it is the kind of carbohydrates that give you the feel good factor. Recently, I have been trying to come away from flour based foods and I don't really feel that I am making a success of it. I can't be bothered to cook a meal for one. So my meals are really non-existent. I find it easier to eat cake and sandwiches. Now in my larder, there isn't any bread or cakes, no pies or pastries and instead, I have a massive bowl filled with lush fruit of all kinds. Food that I just can't be bothered to eat. I don't feel like I have eaten when I eat fruit and cheese for example.

I think eating fish with vegetables is a good idea. I'm also having a problem eating animal flesh. It was prawns this last Christmas that put me off. I saw their black eyes and thought of them swimming about in the sea. I had to throw them all away. I read somewhere as well, that someone compared prawns with cockroaches. That was also on my mind at Christmas. I can eat fish if it has no head or tail on it and covered with batter or breadcrumbs. I've just got a bit of a problem with food lately, I suppose it will pass.

I think when someone goes to see a doctor for depression or mental problems, they should suggest a certain kind of diet that may help. I suppose, though, that doctors are not nutritionists.