Prevalence, presenting symptoms, and psychological characteristics of individuals experiencing a diet-related mood-disturbance

An Integrative Approach to Depression: Part 1—Etiology

“…Alterations in diet, however, have been less well studied as a trigger for depression. Studies do show that the consumption of simple sugars and caffeine is detrimental in atypical depressive syndromes (Christensen, 1991;Kreitsch, Christensen, & White, 1988). This is significant because both simple sugar consumption and caffeine induce severe alterations in carbohydrate metabolism and insulin secretion, reproducing the metabolic pattern seen in animals in the fattening season, when they are preparing for hibernation (Bartness, 1990;Boswell, Woods, & Kenagy, 1994).…”

Issues in the design of studies investigating the behavioral concomitants of foods.

“…Christensen and Burrows (1990) have revealed that carbohydrate consumption engaged in by some depressed individuals may be contributing to the development and maintenance of the depression as they demonstrated that eliminating refined sucrose and caffeine from the diets of selected depressed individuals resulted in an amelioration of their depression. However, Krietsch et al (1988) demonstrated that only selected depressed individuals benefited from elimination of these dietary substances. Additionally, Krietsch et al (1988) revealed that distressed dietary responders, individuals responsive to the dietary intervention, were differentially sensitive to the detrimental effects that could accrue from refined sucrose ingestion, with some individuals reacting negatively within 24 nr following reintroduction and others requiring 2 or more days for the detrimental effects to occur.…”

“…However, Krietsch et al (1988) demonstrated that only selected depressed individuals benefited from elimination of these dietary substances. Additionally, Krietsch et al (1988) revealed that distressed dietary responders, individuals responsive to the dietary intervention, were differentially sensitive to the detrimental effects that could accrue from refined sucrose ingestion, with some individuals reacting negatively within 24 nr following reintroduction and others requiring 2 or more days for the detrimental effects to occur.…”

Implementation of a dietary intervention.

“…The first issue that must be confronted is identification of the depressed dietary responder or the depressed client who may be responsive to a dietary intervention. Krietsch et al (1988) demonstrated that only selected distressed people were responsive to a dietary intervention. They also demonstrated that dietary responders and nonresponders appeared very similar in terms of their presenting symptoms and could not be distinguished in terms of psychological characteristics when measured by inventories such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1967), the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1981), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961), or the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970).…”