Physicians and scientists as old as Hippocrates have known that the foods we eat seriously influence our moods. But while most of us have some experience of this (being hungry makes us grouchy), the critical role of food in supporting our emotions isn’t widely recognized. The last twenty years has witnessed a marked change in how we look at emotions. For most of human history, emotions were treated as purely abstract. No one thought that love or sadness or anger could be caused by physical or chemical changes in the brain. The discovery of neurotransmitters (molecules like serotonin and dopamine that affect our moods) has contributed to an understanding of emotions as, at least in part, biochemical phenomena.

Our understanding of neurotransmitters has lead to the development of drugs that affect neurotransmitters in order to improve our mood. Prozac has been the most successful drug of this type, but hundreds of such drugs have been designed, and dozens are n popular use.  As we’ve come to understand the chemical basis of emotions, and even developed drugs to influence this chemistry, one might expect that depression, anxiety, and generally poor moods would be at an all time low. Instead, more Americans than ever are suffering from feelings of despair, hopelessness, irritability, anxiety, and fatigue.

Certainly modern life has its share of stressors that our ancestors didn’t have to deal with. Traffic jams, single parent houses, parking tickets, and long hours in highly competitive work environments tax our resources tremendously. In addition, electric lights and stimulant drugs mean we are sleeping less and working more. All of these factors contribute to rising stress and worsening moods.

Yet stress is nothing new to human beings. Our ancestors faced stress from war, famine, social conflict, and grief, and evolved mechanisms to cope with this stress. Specifically, they evolved a number of calming neurotransmitters (GABA, endorphins, and, again, serotonin) which lessen the impact of stress on the body while also buffering the mind, allowing them to go about their day in the face of stressors that would otherwise become crippling. Even through 1900, when rates of depression were, by many reports, a factor of ten lower than they are today, these mechanisms were sufficient to cope with our usual stress burden and keep us functioning. So what changed?

There are at least two major differences between our ancestors’ case and ours today. One is that we are exposed to more chronic stress than our ancestors were. The stress of previoius eras tended to come in bursts -  war, famine, disease, etc... The myriad stressors we face today (job realted stress, physical and chemical stressors from our environment, see Stress Busting for more) are there day after day, year after year, wearing down our resources. As a result, we probably require deeper reserves of the calming neurotransmitters and other biochemical mechanisms that our species has evolved to cope with stress than did our ancestors. The second factor is that our bodies have a far more difficult time building and maintaining the levels of critical neurotransmitters today due to the much lower quality of our food.

In an age where we need better food resources to make the chemicals that help us cope with stress, the food resources available are significantly worse. Take Serotonin for example. Serotonin can only be made from the amino acid Tryptophan. Tryptophan, a component of protein, is rare in any diet. The best source is animal protein.  As a result, meat eaters tend to get more Tryptophan than vegetarians who get their protein from beans, grains, nuts, and soy, which are poor in Tryptophan. Unfortunately, most of the animals we consume are, themselves, fed Tryptophan poor grains as their feed to fatten them up. Chickens and turkeys allowed to range free and eat bugs have far higher levels of Tryptophan than grain fed birds. The same is true for their eggs. Grass is also higher in Tryptophan than grains. Resultantly, grass fed cows are far more Tryptophan rich than grain fed cows. The disparity is even more pronounced in farm raised, grain fed fish, which are far lower in Tryptophan (and other beneficial nutrients) than wild caught fish. The vast majority of the meat and fish consumed in America is grain fed, so even if you do eat meat, you aren’t getting enough Tryptophan. Since Tryptophan is the only thing that can make Serotonin, low Tryptophan equals increased rates of depression.

Not only does grain feed lower the Tryptophan levels in the animals we eat, it also severely lowers the levels of Omega 3 fat. Endless studies have confirmed that Omega 3 fats are critical to energy, mood, and maintaining a lean, toned body composition. If you don’t believe that the fat in grain fed animals is inferior to that of grass fed/free range animals, try this experiment. First, grill a pound of regular ground beef. Look at the fat that cooks out after it has had time to cool. It has the consistency of jello or mud. Then, track down some grass fed ground beef and grill that. The fat from the grass fed beef will be more solid like candle wax. If  these differences are obvious under casual inspection with your eyes, imagine how significant they must be at a biochemical level.

One of the best things most people can do to improve their mood and reduce stress is to get more high quality protein and fat from free range poultry, wild caught fish, and grass fed beef.  Beyond higher levels of Tryptophan and Omega 3 fat, free range/ grass fed animals generally have far lower levels of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, all of which can contribute to depression and disease. In addition, these animals are largely free of added hormones and antibiotics, which further stress the body.

In addition to high quality protein, the other most critical nutritional factor in ameliorating stress and depression is to reduce consumption of sugar and white flour.