Peanut Butter for Depression: Part Two of 'Food for Thought'

Peanut butter for depression? Did you know that? I love peanut butter, by itself, on toast with sliced bananas or apples, or just spooning it onto apple pieces, yum! Finding out that it is good for depression is just a bonus.

Did you guess it? Did you already know that peanut butter has antidepressant properties? (And did you know it was invented in Canada?)

When I was teaching school, I remember hearing advice for calming down an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) child was coffee and peanut butter. The stimulant of coffee acts as a concentration boost and the peanut butter has calming effect.
Peanut butter for depression? Just how does peanut butter calm? It has to do with tryptophan. You may want to read about it in this article called 'Foods that Calm Anxiety'. Tryptophan is also found in:

milk,
bananas,
oats,
soy,
poultry,
cheese,
nuts,
peanut butter
sesame seeds

Adding some of these helpful foods doesn't take huge changes. Hey, if you are reaching for food to change your mood, like I do, you may as well reach for something that will actually make you feel better and not worse. You simply add the ones you like and leave out the ones you don't like. And who knows, you might benefit from the change! It is worth a try!

Livestrong.com says that "peanut butter provides you with a variety of nutrients with health benefits. It also contains substances that activate neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals, to stabilize your moods. Many people consider peanut butter a comfort food as well. The emotional and physical responses you get from peanut butter may help you deal with anxiety."

But peanut butter for depression, does it really make a difference? Actually what it helps with is anxiety but if your anxiety decreases wouldn't your depression decrease as well?

Now, just to be sure, peanut butter for depression might not work on everyone. Take all of this advice with caution but do think about the food you eat and maybe note afterwards if you experienced a change in mood.

Confession: When my mood drops I reach for comfort food rationalizing that I couldn't feel any worse. And when my mood is good I reach for bad stuff again (Dairy Queen!) rationalizing that I deserve a treat since it is so wonderful to feel good for a change!

When I put it that way it all seems hopeless. But occasionally I do experience rational thinking and hopefully that is when I will try to put these good ideas to use. Good thing I love bananas, peanut butter, turkey and cheese (4 out of 9 isn't bad is it?)

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you doing today? What kind of day are you having? What have you eaten today? Do you have any cravings? Are you interested and/or willing to make changes in the way you eat to achieve some sort of depression recovery?

Don't give up! There is hope for depression.