Gluten/sugar depression?

[Snappy Shark]

Since finishing my Whole30 in September, I have not (knowingly) eaten gluten. I passed on dessert at two Thanksgiving dinners and treated myself to some paleo brownies once or twice, but otherwise have been living the whole food dream for a good four months now.

On Christmas, I decided to experiment with real junk food, something I haven't allowed into my body for nearly half a year. I ate a ton of real brownies, Christmas cookies and even made myself a s'more in my parents' wood stove. Yup, the full monty. I waited for my stomach to roar, but aside from a few odd gurgles and rumbles, I felt fine. I was shocked - I thought that my pristine digestive system would revolt upon eating so much crappy seed oil, dairy, refined sugar and, the worst - gluten.

What I wasn't prepared for was the depression, sadness and hopelessness that hit me like a brick wall the next day. I struggled with anxiety before eating whole foods, and I have been so consistently upbeat and positive since August that I forgot what it felt like to feel like I had nothing to be happy about. I also couldn't get over the sugar cravings I had - walking through the mall, the junky cookies and cakes that I haven't even thought about in months suddenly looked like something I HAD to have. I almost caved, but am happy I didn't. My sister, also a clean eater, noticed immediately how crestfallen I was, and she suggested that maybe this is how gluten/sugar affects me.

Thankfully, I got my butt right to the nearest CrossFit box for a drop-in WOD later that day, and felt better as soon as I started to sweat. I was back to my healthy, happy self after one day of clean eating.

I was never really tempted to experiment with systematically re-introducing gluten but I have to say I'm really surprised at the lack of digestive issues. Has anyone else had re-introduction symptoms that were exclusively emotional? Would it take more than one "dose" of gluten/baked goods to upset my stomach?

(I am a scientist by training, but I have absolutely no desire to conduct more rigorous testing of my reaction to gluten - I would be completely satisfied with purely anecdotal evidence from you all! )

[MJam]

I have no answers to your questions but I am so happy that you posted this!! I think a lot people just expect physical, body symptoms from eating crap foods and don't really think about the mental side of it (sadness, depression, fogginess etc.). I think Mod Johnny said that when he drinks alcohol he feels depressed for awhile afterwards.

I am on Day 30 (going for 100!) and I have no plans to reintroduce anything and these stories from others just seem to reinforce that so thanks for sharing your story!

[Kirsteen]

It's over 12 years now since I found out I was gluten intolerent so, obviously, I've got no plans to reintroduce it but I do remember, when I first gave it up, noticing how much my mood improved even though, at the time, I'd no idea that what you ate could affect mood and emotions. I'm definitely not brave enough to experiment with it though

[AmyS]

I got so freakin' depressed that it scared me. And I'm not clinically gluten intolerant.

[Tom Denham]

Many people do not experience digestive upset when they eat wheat, dairy, sugar, etc. I'm one of those people, at least most of the time. For me the most dramatic change from eating clean was beginning to sleep good at night. I had gone for years without decent sleep, but two weeks of clean eating and I started to sleep great. My wife noticed that I was in a better mood after I started eating the Whole30 way. Maybe that was a direct improvement in my mood or maybe it was the result of sleeping better. I've never figured it out.

I see reports of anxiety and depression associated with eating junk food here on the forum and in other sites that focus on healthy eating. The effects of food on mood is apparently more powerful than most of us realized in the past.

[melbournegirl]

I do get bloated, windy and break out in skin rashes when I have gluten but I used to live with that because it only affected ME but when I did a clinical trial the results showed me how much my mood was being affected by gluten and I realised I couldnt inflict that on my family again (depression, irritability, no joy in anything) so I became gluten free for everafter! That was about three years ago.

[Fenderbender]

I suspect it's the sugar/ flour screwing with all your hormones..... I am very sensitive to sugar and suffered for years with anxiety/ depression and never made the direct connection until I started eating strick Paleo .

I truly believe a good % of people on antidepressant/anxiety meds could go off them if they just ate whole30!!!!

[kitmao]

I second what Fenderbender says. I know for a fact that sugar dramatically affects my mood. I think eating seed oils does too. It probably has to do with chronic inflammation.

In fact, it wasn't until I completed the August Whole30 that I discovered that the decades of depression I had been suffering was directly caused by the food I was eating.

[Snappy Shark]

In fact, it wasn't until I completed the August Whole30 that I discovered that the decades of depression I had been suffering was directly caused by the food I was eating.

ME TOO. I'm so glad that others have found relief from psychological symptoms as well.

Thanks to all of you for your input...I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my emotional experience of being "glutened and sugared". Hmm, that sounds kind of funny, actually.

[Renee Lee]

Also, eating whole30 is very gut healing. It means that (barring any serious intolerances), you're setting your body up to accept and tolerate some doses of gluten.

Personally, I can eat gluten with minimal side effects. one day of exposure is nothing, but after two or three days of repeated exposures, my stomach is get jacked up. I'm glad that rarely happens these days

[Candice@allthingsyogi]

I can relate to this 100% sugar and gluten get me down. I am a better friend, sister, daughter when I eat clean!

[AmyS]

I haven't separated out the sugar and the gluten when eating off-plan. But I do think that in my case the two work together to create a cycle of addiction, and that cycle blocks me from feeling my true emotions - all the while creating its own cycle of depression/anxiety/anger all stirred up in a soup made out of brain fog.

[jeepifer]

I'm an absolute beotch on gluten and sugar. It also worsens my depression 1000%. Not fun, for me or the kiddos.

[Flynn]

This used to happen to me a lot, especially with cookies and baked goods. The guilt and remorse over eating sugar and overdoing it would make me totally depressed. I introduced 85% dark chocolate post whole 30 and it helped a lot...it gives you a high fat treat without a lot of sugar and no flour

I never wanted to be 100% chocolate free though or live my life on a permanent whole 30, I only wanted to end the out of control eating and depression which whole 9 has done beautifully...I know myself well enough to know that total deprivation on my own bike leads to binges. For many people, totally eliminating foods works! Good luck!

[heatherdarbs]

Since finishing my Whole30 in September, I have not (knowingly) eaten gluten. I passed on dessert at two Thanksgiving dinners and treated myself to some paleo brownies once or twice, but otherwise have been living the whole food dream for a good four months now.

On Christmas, I decided to experiment with real junk food, something I haven't allowed into my body for nearly half a year. I ate a ton of real brownies, Christmas cookies and even made myself a s'more in my parents' wood stove. Yup, the full monty. I waited for my stomach to roar, but aside from a few odd gurgles and rumbles, I felt fine. I was shocked - I thought that my pristine digestive system would revolt upon eating so much crappy seed oil, dairy, refined sugar and, the worst - gluten.

What I wasn't prepared for was the depression, sadness and hopelessness that hit me like a brick wall the next day. I struggled with anxiety before eating whole foods, and I have been so consistently upbeat and positive since August that I forgot what it felt like to feel like I had nothing to be happy about. I also couldn't get over the sugar cravings I had - walking through the mall, the junky cookies and cakes that I haven't even thought about in months suddenly looked like something I HAD to have. I almost caved, but am happy I didn't. My sister, also a clean eater, noticed immediately how crestfallen I was, and she suggested that maybe this is how gluten/sugar affects me.

Thankfully, I got my butt right to the nearest CrossFit box for a drop-in WOD later that day, and felt better as soon as I started to sweat. I was back to my healthy, happy self after one day of clean eating.

I was never really tempted to experiment with systematically re-introducing gluten but I have to say I'm really surprised at the lack of digestive issues. Has anyone else had re-introduction symptoms that were exclusively emotional? Would it take more than one "dose" of gluten/baked goods to upset my stomach?

(I am a scientist by training, but I have absolutely no desire to conduct more rigorous testing of my reaction to gluten - I would be completely satisfied with purely anecdotal evidence from you all! )

I did the saaaaame thing and had zero gut issues; BUT, I woke up with a horrible cold that's lasted for an entire week and my skin looked terrible. I haven't been sick for over 5 years. Aside from resting to get rid of this cold, it's taken the entire week for my body to normalize...at least from what I can see. I probably did more damage than that - and - my digestive system was off a couple days subsequent to Xmas. I will never, ever do that again. Ever.