Best Exercises for Depression

Exercise is long recognized as an effective method of improving physical health, but its benefits extend far beyond that. Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise can have a profound positive impact on mental health, particularly in the treatment and management of depression. Engaging in physical activity releases endorphins, reduces stress, improves sleep, and enhances self-esteem, all of which contribute to a brighter outlook and quality of life. In this article, we will explore some of the most beneficial exercises for combating depression and boosting overall mental well-being.

1. Aerobic Exercises: Aerobic exercises, also known as cardiovascular exercises, are fantastic for relieving symptoms of depression. These activities increase the heart rate, stimulate the production of endorphins, and promote better blood flow to the brain. Popular aerobic exercises include:

a. Running or Jogging: Running or jogging outdoors or on a treadmill can improve mood, increase energy levels, and reduce anxiety.

b. Cycling: Cycling, whether outdoors or on a stationary bike, offers low-impact exercise that improves cardiovascular health, uplifts mood, and clears the mind.

c. Dancing: Dancing provides a cardiovascular workout and a creative and expressive outlet that can boost self-confidence and provide a sense of joy.

2. Strength Training: Strength training exercises involve resistance or weight-bearing activities that target major muscle groups. Engaging in regular strength training has been found to have significant benefits for individuals dealing with depression. Strength training helps build muscle, increases self-esteem, and enhances overall body image. Examples of strength training exercises include:

a. Weightlifting: Incorporating weightlifting into your exercise routine can improve both physical and mental strength. Start with lighter weights and gradually increase intensity to avoid injury.

b. Bodyweight Exercises: Bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, squats, and lunges can be done anywhere without specialized equipment. These exercises build strength, improve posture, and boost self-confidence.

3. Yoga and Mindfulness: Yoga combines physical movement, deep breathing, and mindfulness to create a holistic mind-body experience. It has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression, alleviate anxiety, and promote relaxation. Regular practice of yoga can help individuals develop self-awareness and cultivate a more positive mindset. Additionally, mindfulness meditation, which involves focusing on the present moment, can be a powerful tool for managing stress and improving mental well-being.

4. Outdoor Activities: Spending time in nature and engaging in outdoor activities has been linked to improved mental health. The combination of physical exercise and exposure to natural surroundings offers a powerful antidote to depressive symptoms. Outdoor activities that can be particularly beneficial include:

a. Hiking: Exploring trails and immersing oneself in nature provides a physical workout, reduces stress and promotes tranquility.

b. Gardening: Gardening offers a fulfilling and therapeutic activity that connects individuals with the natural world, provides a sense of accomplishment, and encourages mindfulness.

Conclusion:

Exercise is an essential component of a comprehensive depression management approach. The most effective exercises for depression are those that you enjoy and can incorporate into your routine consistently. Whether it’s jogging, strength training, yoga, or spending time in nature, finding the exercise that resonates with you will increase the likelihood of sticking to it. Remember, it’s imperative to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any challenging exercise regimen, especially if you have pre-existing health conditions. You can improve your mental wellbeing and relieve depression by engaging in regular physical activity.

Return to Glycemic Index home page

Can Low Glycemic Index Diet Improve Acne?

Teenagers are often believed to be the only ones that suffer from acne, but that is not totally true and they are not the only age group to suffer from this skin problem. There are different ways to handle this skin inflammation such as the right dermatological care and diet. And a low glycemic index diet is observed to be effective against this auto-inflammatory dermatological disease. 

The lesions are connected to the pilosebaceous follicle inflammation and the Cutibacterium acnes bacteria. The sebaceous gland is stimulated by the teenager hormones and the sebum production is increased and the follicle duct gets clogged. The high GI foods act through the  IGF-1 hormone that stimulates androgen synthesis and increasing the sebaceous gland cells. 

Another way to explain it is that your skin normally produces a greasy layer for protecting the epidermis from any outside attacks. And when too much of this protection is produced and you can’t get rid of by the usual sanitising derma treatment your skin pores and blocked and your skin is infected and a microbial ground is created. Then you see the pimples and blackheads start appearing on your face or back or even the chest.

Acne is observed in almost all teenagers and in some cases continues in adulthood. Puberty hormonal factors are obviously not the only reason for the appearance of pimples and more adult patients are looking for a way to get rid of acne. Your genetic makeup is a factor as well as high level of stress, smoking, environment, constantly going out to the sun and hormonal factors.

But your diet or what you eat on a daily basis seems to be the most important one for both the appearance and treatment.  And health care providers tend to suggest eating more of the low GI foods and limiting the high GI foods like sodas, white bread, sugar, jams, cakes, pastries, candies, ice cream, or any other unhealthy snacks. And instead it is best to switch to the slowly digested carbs over the quickly digested ones. And the high hormone content in milk or dairy products contribute to the breakout of acne.

Western style diet is high in dairy products and sugars and affects the hormones that are linked to acne. And Western or American people are affected more by this common problem. But this is not so much the case for teenagers or others that follow a low GI diet. One recent study observed two of the native groups in Paraguay and Papua New Guinea for a few months, that eat healthy from low GI foods like wild game and fish and no sugar, salt, oils, tea, coffee or dairy. And the researchers found zero case of acne in teenagers or adults. 

And in other groups like the Inuit that adopted a Western lifestyle and diet later on, the cases of acne increased. Researchers at John Hopkins Medical School published an article in June this year that explains the connection between acne and diet, especially the Glycemic Index. Out of the 18 observational studies they found on the subject, 14 of them showed a link between diet and acne. And this is actually proven by the clinical results that indicate a great improvement in acne when a low GI diet is adopted. 

Another Australian study of 43 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 shows an improvement in acne by following a low glycemic index diet. They were observed for 12 weeks and part of the participants was given a low GI diet while the other part ate the usual normal to high carb foods. Researchers found twice as much improvement in the acne lesions in the group that followed a healthy low GI diet. This group also observed higher weight loss and better insulin sensitivity.  So to sum up, the connection between a low glycemic index diet and improvement of acne lesions is real.

Return to Glycemic Index home page

Can Diet Help Vitiligo? Nutrition for the Autoimmune Skin Disorder

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder that is related to your immune system and oxidative stress. There aren’t many research papers out there related to the diet or eating plan for vitiligo and there are only some preliminary studies. And some doctors will tell you that this autoimmune condition has nothing to do with nutrition.

One of these studied that observed a single person claimed that the gluten presence in their diet caused the development of vitiligo. And cutting out gluten completely resulted in the withdrawal and healing of this person over time. Some other studies are looking into the role of minerals, vitamins and herbs apart from medicine with their antioxidant and immunemodulatory effect in vitiligo and other autoimmune illnesses.

These are both in the form of oral supplements and food like fruits and veggies. And they are found to be effective as a helper to the patients’ phototherapy and topical creams and not so much on their own. There is still no evidence that shows any direct link between the vitiligo disease and nutrition. But some studies recommend that you adopt a healthy eating plan- a balanced diet with supplements. This may have some positive effect on your white spots. And if it doesn’t, it will help you maintain optimum health, both physically and mentally.

We’re talking about a plant based healthy diet that has a good amount of antioxidants and that is free of inflammatory items including gluten and reduced amount of sugar. With a lot of sugar in your system, serious amount of autoimmune response may be triggered that may lead to more and larger white patches on your body. You will also want to drink plenty of water during the day and eat more of foods that help with a stronger immune system, with their rich antioxidant, phytochemical and beta carotene.

Some people will tell you certain foods are good for their vitiligo and other foods worsen their symptoms, even though there is no scientific proof out there that link a certain way of eating and this autoimmune skin condition. This certainly doesn’t mean that vitiligo and nutrition are not related as “diet and disease” is often a complicated topic that is hard to prove. The way the researchers are handling this is by studying the skin and gut microbiome of the vitiligo patients and how they are different from the general non-vitiligo public.

Polipodium Leukotomas and Gingko Biloba extracts, cucumis melo, alpha lipoic acid, vitamin D and E, Omega 3 Fatty Acids are recommended as supplements to help with the disease. Some people reported easing of their symptoms with a gluten free diet temporarily, but we’re not sure if that would be permanent. If you or someone in your family have gluten allergy, that’s obviously a different story. With a gluten free diet a trial period of 2 to 3 months is adequate to see if it will help.

Following a certain diet may help you in one way and not so much in other ways as it will lack certain vitamins and minerals while having too much of others. B12, zinc, copper, folic acid and iron are often what’s missing in vitiligo patients. But please note that vitamin deficiency alone is not the cause of vitiligo, which is a fairly serious condition. And you probably can’t expect to cure it by taking vitamins and minerals. You need to becareful with the vitamin supplementation, as too much of Vitamin C can be bad for vitiligo and you want to keep it at a normal level.

You can keep your vitamin D intake at a higher level than normal, but not extreme. There is obviously not a single type of diet that will fit everyone and everyone may have different needs and there are other factors to consider like your personal health and disease history, genetic background and family history of other autoimmune conditions like thyroid. It is best that you speak with your dermatologist and discuss with them what kind of changes you wish to make in your diet.

Having said that we recommend a diet rich in leafy veggies, root veggies like carrots, beets, radishes, legumes and certain fruits, chicken and turkey, nuts, seeds and spices that are rich in antioxidants. And limit the consumption of red meat, fish, coffee and alcohol and quit smoking if you smoke. Consume foods that contain certain minerals and vitamins like copper, iron, zinc, vitamins B12, B6 and E or take them as supplements. You may want to try turmeric powder and mustard oil on the affected area for 20 minutes twice a day.

Oxidative stress is one cause of cell damage including melanocytes that produce melanin and less melanin is equal to more skin depigmentation. One of the studies that involved mice with vitiligo showed that giving them foods rich in antioxidants helped with the repigmentation. For taking in the antioxidants your body and vitiligo need, you may want to eat different vegetables and fruits with different colors. You can also take Omega-3 supplement or eat oily fish, algae, seeds and nuts. A healthy eating plan is a well balanced diet is a lot like a Mediterranean diet that is made up of high fiber, low sugar, low trans fats and high in Omega 3 fatty acids.

Foods that you may want to avoid are sweet drinks, trans fats (in fried foods), white pasta, white bread, gluten, processed meat, processed snack foods like crackers, chips and biscuits, cookies, ice cream, candy or other desserts, alcohol and too much unhealthy carbs. By consuming too much or even some of inflammatory foods it will be quite hard for your gut to stay healthy. And with a healthy gut your low level inflammation will be partly healed. And you may want to eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, probiotic and prebiotic foods. Too much vitamin D may cause calcium accummulation in the blood (hypercalcemia) that causes nausea and vomiting.

Return to Glycemic Index home page

The Connection Between Nutrition and Sleep

There is certainly a connection between your diet and sleep, but it is not that straightforward. We have come across many studies about this link between sleep and what you eat and the results are a little bit contradictory. Some of this research was funded by the food industry and some were limited. Having said that, it doesn’t mean your eating habits on a daily basis do not affect your sleep quality at night.

We have seen studies claiming that eating two kiwi fruits an hour before bed for a month made you fall asleep quicker than normal, sleep longer and feel better when you wake up in the morning. And this is because of the high amounts of antioxidants and serotonin in kiwi fruit, both of which enhance your sleep quality. Kiwifruit may in fact improve the sleep duration and efficiency in adults with sleep problems. Despite the existence of a few studies, this is still at the anecdotal evidence level and further investigation is needed.

Tryptophan is a well-known amino acid for a better quality sleep as it makes a few vital molecules, including the melatonin and serotonin. Serotonin affects your mood and behavior and melatonin affects your sleep wake cycle. Serotonin can calm you down and help you sleep, but tryptophan will only make you tired and sleepy straight away if it is taken by itself without the presence of other amino acids in the food. And milk and turkey that are known to be tryptophan rich foods have protein content with many other amino acids. Tryptophan can only get into the brain if it doesn’t compete with other amino acids.

And the synthesis of serotonin in your brain is not affected by your consumption of foods like turkey, milk, chicken, eggs, tofu, seeds and nuts. Tryptophan in the supplement form is obviously another story and may be worth trying, just like you can have a bit of warm milk before bed and see how it works for you. Insulin hormone that is hidden in the pancreas as a response to carb intake can actually help the tryptophan amino acid to get into the brain. As the insulin is released the muscles will absorb the other amino acids that compete with the tryptophan and will make it easier for this amino acid to go through the brain.

When you eat large amounts of carbohydrates or high glycemic foods in the evening or at lunch you will fall asleep much easier. This would explain why you may feel heavy after a big lunch and want to go to sleep. Apart from the high glycemic load meals, the high fat and low fiber foods may cause a reduction in deep and restful slow sleep even though they make you fall asleep faster. This means you’ll probably end up waking up more at night. So it is probably a good idea to focus on healthy whole meals for better quality sleep.

Eating habits and sleep quality are interconnected and if you improve one of them, the other one will also improve. Some studies claim that the chronic lack of sleep makes you burn more calories and make you want to eat unhealthy high calorie, high glycemic foods that you’d want to normally avoid. As many of you may think you won’t go into a deep sleep coma by eating a heavy meal. And by eating an unhealthy large meal before bed at night can have the a negative effect like a stomach upset or heartburn and make you feel uneasy at night.

Spicy meals at dinner may cause indigestion in some people and acid reflux in others as they lie down in bed and this equals sleeping difficulties, even though it is also believed to increase the metabolism. Capsaicin, which is an active ingredient in chili peppers has an impact on your body temperature. Fried foods can make you feel full and heavy and ready to get to bed and fall asleep. But even if you sleep easily you will be more likely to wake up at night with the digestion problem. Fish is quite nutritious and contain vitamin B6 that lets your body produce the powerful melatonin hormone and cause sleep. The best advice to give to anyone with sleeping problems is that they follow a healthy eating plan on a daily basis.

Return to Glycemic Index home page

Is Dairy Bad for You and Can It Cause Weight Gain?

Milk and other dairy products like yogurt, cheese and kefir have been considered as complete foods that are important for human body. But what we’re seeing these days is a big controversy surrounding these dairy products, especially the milk that is high in lactose.

A good percentage of people do have lactose intolerance in varying amounts. Some can’t have it at all and some are OK with small amounts. Some experts consider dairy as a great provider of essential nutrition for our health, like protein, calcium, Vitamin D and others believe that it is a poison with not much of benefits, but harm.

And when we say dairy we’re referring to milk and everything made from milk, including yogurt, butter, kefir, ice cream etc. People with different health problems or allergies or weight problems are starting to remove some or all dairy from their diets. Many believe that dairy can be dangerous for their health and can make them put on weight. But what exactly are these negative claims based on and what do scientific studies say about this?

The first and best known benefit of dairy products is the calcium content. It is essential for bone health and development from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. And later in life calcium is needed for maintaining your bones. Second benefit of dairy is Vitamin D, especially if you live in a country where there is not much sunshine and the UV rays’ intensity is much lower. And you are recommended to consume dairy to partially fill the vitamin D gap as milk is often fortified by vitamin D3 in developed countries with bad weather. The amount of vitamin D you will get just from consuming milk is pretty low but is still something.

And some studies suggest that the regular consumption of vitamin D3 helps with the weight loss. It is involved in the inhibition process of lipid metabolism and oxidizing fat in the liver and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Some other studies claimed milk and dairy products to be good sources of energy. They are rich in protein, and often nourishing and filling. And milk products are often not expensive unless you’re having fancy cheeses. Other than vitamin D, you will find many other vitamins including the vitamin B2– riboflavin needed for pregnant women and vitamin A for eye health, immunity, bone and skin health and more.

When it comes to the harms or disadvantages of dairy, the first one is the saturated fats found in them, especially in butter and cheeses, which may lead to heart problems over time. Having said that there is no study that we’re aware of that shows a relationship between dairy and these diseases. How you will benefit or not from milk will depend on each person and other foods you consume with dairy as milk is quite complex.

The second and best known harm is related to the lactose content in milk and other dairy stuff. Those with a lactose allergy may suffer from gas, bloating or cramps. The way this allergy works is lactose sugar needs lactase enzyme to be digested. And lactase production in your body decreases by 90% after childhood. And if you don’t have any or little of it you will have trouble when you drink milk. The lactose intolerance among Asian and African people is up to 75-100%, while this rate is lower among Europeans, at 18-25%.

Then you have the potential casein allergy in 1% of adults, which is a protein in milk that could affect the immune system.  Some experts claimed that dairy can make you put on weight because of the hormones and fat content. Antibiotics and hormones are given to cows in the dairy plants and they could potentially have an impact on human health, including weight gain. Many anti-dairy doctors and other experts say that dairy products are not needed for health. And you may observe your health to improve if you reduce or stop the dairy consumption completely.

So far there is no consensus on stopping the dairy completely to lose weight and there are advocates and opponents. If you are allergic to lactose, yes you will have to reduce your milk consumption and turn to fermented dairy products more and use almond milk, soy milk, goat’s milk, rice milk etc. It is a good idea to stop or reduce the consumption of all dairy and see if you have an improvement on the side effects. The bacteria in yogurt and kefir are believed to help with the digestion of lactose.

And for weight loss purposes, if you are not allergic to lactose etc. in dairy then the dairy products offer you good amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals. It is not a good idea to switch to 0% fat dairy products as the fat content is often replaced by the carbs- sugars which will be worse for weight gain. You can certainly consume saturated fats in moderation and along with protein helps keep you full during the day. Moderation is the key here, even if you will have the low lactose dairy products. Some body builders are known to cut dairy several months before the competitions for their body to look leaner. But they are competition athletes and we don’t think that is necessary for average adults or those that work out regularly.

Return to Glycemic Index home page