• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • The GAPS Diet: Everything You Need to Know
  • Blog
  • Contact

Health, Home, & Happiness

Your resource for a healthy happy home

Mobile Menu

  • THE GAPS DIET
    • I want to do the GAPS Diet, where do I start?
    • What Is The GAPS Diet?
    • GAPS Intro Diet Ebook
    • GAPS Intro Stages
    • Moving To The Next GAPS Stage
    • GAPS Family
    • GAPS & Breastfeeding
    • GAPS Cheats
    • GAPS Troubleshooting
    • Ketogenic GAPS
  • THE KETO DIET
    • How to Start the Ketogenic Diet & What You Can Eat on Keto
    • Keto Diet for Kids: Risks and Benefits (huge benefits!)
    • The Ketogenic Version of the GAPS Diet
    • Boost Your Keto: 3 Quick Changes to Get More Out of a Low Carb Diet
    • Why You Need Fat Bombs (low carb, keto, GAPS)
  • Recipes
    • breakfast
    • Main Dish
    • Dessert and Treats
    • keto recipes
    • Dairy-Free
    • Carnivore Diet/Zero Carb Diet
  • About
    • About Cara
    • Leaky Gut Treatment Through Diet
    • Healing Brain Trauma with Food, Supplements, and Lifestyle (Autism, TBI, PTSD)
    • Gourmet Candymaking Without Corn Syrup, Canned Milk, Artificial Colors or Flavors
    • The Soup Challenge
    • Folate vs Folic Acid, Tongue Ties, and Why I Regret Taking My Prenatal Vitamin
  • BeautyCounter
    • Shop Safer Skincare and Makeup
  • Classes & Ebooks
    • What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the GAPS Intro Diet
    • Gut-Healing Starter Pack
    • Picky Eating Solution Webinar
    • Keto Family Class
    • Freezer Cooking Class
    • Candy Making Without Corn Syrup
    • Member Login
    • Carnivore Training Wheels Class Login
  • THE GAPS DIET
    • I want to do the GAPS Diet, where do I start?
    • What Is The GAPS Diet?
    • GAPS Intro Diet Ebook
    • GAPS Intro Stages
    • Moving To The Next GAPS Stage
    • GAPS Family
    • GAPS & Breastfeeding
    • GAPS Cheats
    • GAPS Troubleshooting
    • Ketogenic GAPS
  • THE KETO DIET
    • How to Start the Ketogenic Diet & What You Can Eat on Keto
    • Keto Diet for Kids: Risks and Benefits (huge benefits!)
    • The Ketogenic Version of the GAPS Diet
    • Boost Your Keto: 3 Quick Changes to Get More Out of a Low Carb Diet
    • Why You Need Fat Bombs (low carb, keto, GAPS)
  • Recipes
    • breakfast
    • Main Dish
    • Dessert and Treats
    • keto recipes
    • Dairy-Free
    • Carnivore Diet/Zero Carb Diet
  • About
    • About Cara
    • Leaky Gut Treatment Through Diet
    • Healing Brain Trauma with Food, Supplements, and Lifestyle (Autism, TBI, PTSD)
    • Gourmet Candymaking Without Corn Syrup, Canned Milk, Artificial Colors or Flavors
    • The Soup Challenge
    • Folate vs Folic Acid, Tongue Ties, and Why I Regret Taking My Prenatal Vitamin
  • BeautyCounter
    • Shop Safer Skincare and Makeup
  • Classes & Ebooks
    • What Can I Eat Now? 30 Days on the GAPS Intro Diet
    • Gut-Healing Starter Pack
    • Picky Eating Solution Webinar
    • Keto Family Class
    • Freezer Cooking Class
    • Candy Making Without Corn Syrup
    • Member Login
    • Carnivore Training Wheels Class Login

Depression: It’s in Your GUT, Not Your Head {Why Your Microbiome Matters}

Home » GAPS Diet » Depression: It’s in Your GUT, Not Your Head {Why Your Microbiome Matters}

Depression Gut and What You Eat

As it affects about one tenth of the population, people are catching on that depression isn’t something that people can just will to go away, or snap out of. Though situational depression can be caused by a temporary situation, in general depression is something that points to an overall imbalance in the body.

It’s thought that it is a deficiency of the brain or body, and the chemicals that the brain is getting just aren’t quite right.

And that’s true. But this isn’t just genetic, a glitch in a person’s makeup, or something that some people develop randomly.

We’ll look into depression more below, and then I’ll share some unexpected fixes and where to find more information about fixes that heal the whole body (and clear up things like eczema and digestive issues on the process- that’ll beat cotton mouth any day) rather than drug fixes that harm the body.

What is depression?

Lasting longer than a few days of feeling sad or mopey, depression is defined as sadness that interferes with work, sleep, eating, and/or enjoying life’s activities.  Major depressive episodes are more severe, but short term.  Persistent depressive disorder lasts for 2 years or longer. Seasonal affective disorder and postpartum depression are both tied to a certain timeperiod.

Did you know?

It can be considered depression if you have some of the following symptoms:

  • Have feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
  • Have reckless behavior
  • Think of suicide
  • Have loss of energy
  • Sleep too little or sleep all the time
  • Eat too little or can’t stop eating
  • Can’t control negative thoughts, even if you try to
  • Don’t enjoy things that you previously did

 

What are conventional treatments for depression?

Most people who are depressed do not get treatment for it. This may be because the treatment often prescribed has undesirable side effects, or is expensive or not all that effective.

Exercise and eating ‘well’ is the simple conventional advice. The endorphins from exercise do help many people stabilize their mood, but many people with depression find that exercise is not enough.  Eating ‘well’ is subjective – Below I’ll tell you about a specific healing diet that helps with depression, it’s not quite as simple as following the food pyramid and other conventional nutritional advice. But it’s not all that complicated either – it’s worth it to check it out.

Counseling and therapy can help people work past issues. Yes, emotional processing is also an important part of healing, and this does help many people. But again, when there is a chemical problem in the body, this is not quite enough.

In addition to therapy, antidepressants are often prescribed.

Common antidepressants include:

  • SSRIs like Zoloft, Paxil, and Procaz are the most commonly prescribed, and have the least amount of side effects, though they do often impact the sex drive.  They work by reducing the seratonin blockers in the brain.
  • SNRIs like Cymbalta and Effexor improve seratonin and norepinepherine levels in the brain.
  • TCAs like Tofranil, Vivactil, and amoxapine have more serious side effects and work when other antidepressants don’t work.  They

Are conventional treatments for depression working well?

In short, no.  Talk to anyone on antidepressants, and they are well aware of the side effects of them.  They also often have to get doses adjusted, are on the wrong medication, and have to try a bunch of different meds before finding one that seems to help.

Side effects of antidepressants:

  • Nausea
  • Increased appetite and weight gain
  • Low sex drive, sexual problems (this is often overlooked, especially with women, but a healthy person should have a healthy sex drive)
  • Insomnia
  • Fatigue
  • Dry Mouth
  • Constipation
  • Involuntary movements
  • Increased risk of suicide

 

 

baby eating liver

How does what I eat affect how I feel?

There are a few ways that the gut is involved in depression.

  • First, the gut (and really our whole body) is lined with a colony of bacteria.  When the body is healthy and working well, we have beneficial bacteria that keep the opportunistic pathogenic bacteria held back.  The beneficial bacteria also work with the wall of the gut to make enzymes for food digestion, stimulate cell regeneration, and help with immune function.
  • Our good bacteria are able to crowd out the bad bacteria before they take root, much like a ground cover in your yard crowds out the weeds and prevents them from taking hold.  When this balance of good-to-bad bacteria is off, the bad bacteria take over our guts.
  • With this, the bad bacteria actually secrete chemicals as part of their metabolic process. These chemicals go through the gut wall and into the bloodstream, and can act like drugs in our brain.  This can manifest as intense sugar cravings, brain fog, depression, or, as we’re talking about today, depression.
    • This has been talked about in published journals:
      • Serotonin and the Gut-Brain Connection
      • Inflammation, leaky gut, and depression
      • Gut-Anxiety-Depression connection
  • Second, there is brain tissue in your gut. There are about 500 million neurons (source) in your gut.  These neurons help control your digestion, and they also work with your brain for your physical and mental well being.
  • Third, lack of nutrients being absorbed by your gut create nutrient deficiencies in your body.  When the body does not have the nutrients it needs to run the all-powerful brain, some systems get out of whack.
  • Fourth, because so much of the detoxification system of our body is housed in our gut, when our gut health is not in good shape, we get a backup of toxins.  Like the pathogenic bacteria, these toxins can once again re-enter the bloodstream, and affect our brain.  In a healthy gut mild toxin exposure is easily accommodated for by the body, but in a damaged gut, we are unable to detoxify as well.

You can hear more about the gut-brain connection by signing up for the free interview series – The Depression Sessions – by clicking here.

How did our guts get so messed up?

Eating more and more processed foods, antibiotics being prescribed so often, toxins in our water, fluoride in our toothpaste, lack of the fats needed to build cells, chemicals sprayed in the air to give it a ‘fresh clean scent’, pollution… It’s a wonder that we’re still here!  Our skyrocketing chronic conditions are telling us THIS IS NOT WORKING.

We need to change.  While a round of antibiotics might have been life-saving for your great-grandpa, it has detrimental effects on gut health, and over generations, our microbiome has become too compromised.  We need to be careful with what we eat, what we breathe, and what we’re exposed to. This didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t be fixed overnight, but we can start taking the steps to change right now.

So I want to heal my gut and get rid of depression from the root – where do I start?

There are some natural supplements that don’t have the gut-harming side effects that conventional antidepressants do that can free up some of your emotional energy to get ready to tackle a gut-healing protocol.  Some that many people find useful (I would try just one at a time, be sure to research on your own before taking, I am not a medical professional): 5HTP, Gaba, Sam-E, St John’s Wort, Valarian Root, a B-complex using mythlated folate, and Elevation essential oil blend.

We also need to make healthy changes to our homes and reduce our toxic load – these are pretty basic steps but can make a big difference. Click here to get a free printable checklist for a 30-day plan to get this started in simple steps

Next, we try an elimination diet. It’s so common that removing foods that often are allergy-causing, inflammation-causing, and cause a leaky gut.  Removing dairy and/or gluten will most often relieve symptoms drastically.  And then we can work our way back to really healing our gut with the GAPS diet. (click here for more information on working backwards to the GAPS diet)

Then once we are stabilized and eliminating common allergens from our diet, we can work on restoring gut flora balance and healing the gut. Most importantly, we clean up the gut.  (click here for the GAPS intro diet for gut healing and sealing)

Probiotics can help, be sure to go slow – we’ll be introducing these beneficial bacteria, which will in turn kill off the bad ones – when this happens we can experience a rush of symptoms, so it’s important to go slowly (these are the probiotics that I use)

When the gut flora is balanced, we should crave healthy food, have a fairly stable mood, and feel nourished.

 We don’t have to choose between feeling sad and helpless and taking meds that give us other symptoms.  By cleaning up the gut, we clean up our mood. In addition, this isn’t only about mood. Having a negative outlook increases our morbidity from other diseases as well (source).

Getting well is important, there is hope.

Learn more about naturally correcting imbalances rather than using SSRIs to cover up the underlying problem by clicking here.

Other posts in this series

Let me tell you exactly why all the problems start in the gut!

  • The Gut-Anxiety Connection
  • The Gut-Picky Eating Connection
  • The Gut-Autism Connection
  • The Gut-ADD Connection
  • The Gut-Eczema Connection
  • The Gut-Brain Connection

depression-its-in-your-gut-not-your-head

(Top photo credit)

(Bottom photo credit)

5 Delicious Keto FatBombs

Sign up to get my 5 Best Keto Fatbomb Recipes sent right to your inbox! Plus a bonus pizza recipe :)

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit
Please follow and like us:
error
fb-share-icon
Tweet
fb-share-icon
← Things You Need to Know About High Quality Probiotics (read this before taking Biokult) So Easy Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken (Keto, GAPS) →

About Cara

Cara is the main author here at Health Home and Happiness. She loves the health and energy that eating well and playing well provides and has a goal to share what she's learned with as many families interested in making healthy changes as possible.

She helps other families achieve health in simple steps through healing their gut with the GAPS Diet and helps them stock their freezer for busy days with the Allergy-Friendly Afternoon Freezer Cooking Class.

Previous Post: « GAPS Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Next Post: So Easy Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken (Keto, GAPS) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pat

    May 26, 2015 at 5:29 am

    That’s a whole lot of info to take in all at once. Do you have a beginners version?

    Reply
    • Cara

      May 26, 2015 at 10:12 am

      I wish I did! It is complicated – I’d suggest printing or bookmarking and just reading or researching one part at a time?

      Reply
  2. JD

    May 26, 2015 at 10:54 am

    In this article, I don’t see one mention of consulting with your primary care physician or family doctor here before attempting to self-medicate. That’s very dangerous. Depression isn’t something to trifle with.

    I don’t have a problem with people trying some of the proposed solutions (although their value would need to be measured over time in conjunction with placebos to see if they actually do anything), but going off your doctor-prescribed medication to start taking essential oils is a very bad idea.

    Reply
    • Cara

      May 26, 2015 at 11:03 am

      I remind people that I am not a medical professional in the article, and I also nowhere recommend that anyone stop taking doctor-prescribed medication. This, and all my articles, are for informational purpose only, and are not to be taken as medical advice.

      Reply
    • Joanne

      July 1, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      Notice she is not recommending to SELF MEDICATE! These are not meds. We need to change our thoughts that everything can not be solved with a PILL. VItamins and supplements are Natural occurring parts that make the different and dont take an RX to get it. My son and myself have benefited SO MUCH from this diet. It works…but you have to be able to make the commitment and stop eating “cheap” and for taste only. Eat for life….eat healthy!

      Reply
  3. Magda

    May 27, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    There is an awesome session coming up from Sean Croxton: thedepressionsessions.com. Sean has already sent out 2 or 3 tidbits from the awesome speakers that will be featured. I listened to his digestion sessions (last year, I believe) and they were amazing!! You have two days to listen to each set of talks, then they are gone. But you can buy a bundle of all of them, plus extras.

    Reply
    • Cara

      May 27, 2015 at 1:45 pm

      Yes! I have it linked in the article, it’s a fantastic resource. Thanks for reminding us :)

      Reply
  4. Bill Gasiamis

    May 29, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    Hi Cara. This is one of the best article on depression i have read. Succinct clear and to the point with excellent helpful tips that are easy to follow. I am in the process of recording some interviews with amazing people from all of the world for my podcast and i wonder if you’d be intereted in finding out some more and if you might be up for an interview?

    Many Regards Bill

    Reply
    • Cara

      May 30, 2015 at 7:38 am

      I’ll email you, Bill, I’d love to be on your podcast.

      Reply
    • Taty

      April 19, 2016 at 5:52 am

      Hi Bill, I need a personal help/ advice that I can not found an answer anywhere… Depression during 10 years from my adult kids, restriction to see grandkids Please contact me taty

      Reply
  5. Trent

    August 25, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    JD has a good point, but…

    People need to realize that many doctors do not recognize natural/homeopathic remedies as effective medicine. This is because the modern medical system is slanted toward the use of pharmaceuticals and keeping you chained on them. (It’s all about money)

    If your body is in the grip of severe disease, you probably need allopathic and pharmaceutical medicine under the direction of a primary care physician. But if you’re like me (most of us are), and you’re just slightly over weight, low on energy, slightly high blood pressure, etc… Then these natural methods are the way to go.

    Reply
  6. Amy Gard

    December 13, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    Hi Cara
    Thanks for the article. A lot of good food for thought. I did want to share my experience with St. John’s wort, though. I took it regularly several years ago to help with a bout of seasonal depression. After about a month, I start having difficulty with my vision and fine motor skills (unable to tie shoes, etc. – I was in my 20s at the time). Come to find out, SJW can cause demyelination. I stopped taking it and my symptoms improved and then disappeared. The experience really hit home for me that natural remedies can have major impacts (potentially for the good or the bad, just like pharmaceuticals can) and it’s very important to thoroughly research any potential treatments. If a friend hadn’t told me about SJW and demyelination, I doubt I ever would have attributed my problems to it. I don’t know if it could/would have caused irreparable damage, but I definitely would urge caution when using it.

    Reply
    • Cara

      December 13, 2015 at 5:24 pm

      Thanks for sharing that Amy, yes, it is important to be cautious with natural remedies as well! I’ll go add a warning to the post too.

      Reply
  7. Farmer Girl Hannah15

    January 6, 2017 at 5:13 pm

    I started the Gaps yesterday to heal my depression , can’t wait till I’m better thanks for the hope!

    Reply
  8. Lizabeth

    January 23, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    Hi, what about if you can’t stop eating the dairy or gluten? I have been trying for years and I can never go longer than a few days to maybe a couple weeks and then I can’t stop myself. I generally eat well and exercise. I am not overweight. Follow most healthy guidelines as far as natural products and buying food directly from farm or organic. I’m very depressed and have excessive worry about the future. I get extremely stressed out thinking about driving in the snow or extreme rain. I worry about when my kids grow up etc… Do you have a suggestion for someone struggling with actually incorporating the restrictions. I gave up for awhile, but honestly I’m tired of living like this. Thank you for your time.

    Reply
    • Cara

      January 24, 2017 at 7:38 am

      Hi Lizabeth, you might try a probiotic. Being addicted to gluten/dairy isn’t really uncommon either, you can read more here. https://healthhomeandhappiness.com/why-does-my-child-seem-addicted-to-dairy-andor-wheat.html

      Getting something to work will improve your quality of life by quite a bit :)

      Reply
      • Lizabeth

        January 25, 2017 at 1:02 pm

        Thank you! I have tried numerous probiotics! The ones from gaps, metagenics, including very expensive ones $50’a month numerous times! This is when I actually seem to crave the gluten and dairy more and usually end up eating more of it. :/ I have also tried Kombucha, and fermented veggies. Thanks for your suggestion I will read it now!

        Reply
  9. Sumit Bhattacharya

    January 18, 2021 at 8:45 am

    Hi Cara, have you urself trouble from depression as I have myself but I had to try eat meat daily with rice, so is fermented food alternate to carnivore, if I take fermented food with ghee.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Winter Blues: Simple Natural Treatment Options to Keep From Having a Cranky Christmas | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    December 14, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    […] Solutions: Giving someone who you know has suffered trauma a lot of grace during the holidays is important, even if you think they should be over it by now, or it happened far in the past.  Seek help by calling 911 if you have suicidal thoughts, seek counseling if needed to get through the holidays. This is not a substitute for professional advice, but the natural solutions to depression can help with holiday-related trauma stress as well.  Read more here. […]

    Reply
  2. Overeating Starts in Your Gut: Fix Your Gut Flora to Eliminate Cravings and Lose Weight | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    December 21, 2015 at 10:37 am

    […] How Your Gut Health Can Cause Depression […]

    Reply
  3. 5 Hints Your Microbiome Is Out of Balance (and 5 things you can do to fix it) | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    January 31, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    […] The Depression/Gut Connection […]

    Reply
  4. How Lupus Originates in a Leaky Gut: Autoimmune disease focus | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    February 1, 2016 at 10:12 am

    […] The Gut-Depression Connection […]

    Reply
  5. Living the Radical Life – perfectmayhem says:
    March 30, 2016 at 3:12 pm

    […] minerals.  The investment we make now to the health of our children will ensure their physical and emotional health for life.  To learn more about foods that harm and foods that heal […]

    Reply
  6. Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots made with real fruit | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    May 3, 2016 at 9:58 am

    […] beer here and there.  If you choose to drink, watch for exacerbated symptoms of leaky gut such as depression, anxiety, or poor digestion for the few days after you imbibe, and make your decision about what is […]

    Reply
  7. Unexpected Signs That Your Family Has Leaky Gut | Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    May 29, 2016 at 6:04 am

    […] Depression […]

    Reply
  8. Holistic Solutions for Teens That Didn't Outgrow Picky Eating - Health, Home, & Happiness says:
    August 5, 2017 at 8:29 am

    […] Depression […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Return to top of page

© 2021 healthhomeandhappiness.com · Affiliates · Log in

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Health, Home, & Happiness
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.