Why Diet Matters When on SSRIs: Genesight Explains

If you have been prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), then you should know that these types of medications are sure to have a great impact on your mood, your anxiety symptoms, as well as your depressive symptoms. So, you’re taking a good step towards improving your mental health, to put it simply. You can visit this useful source to get some more information on what these medications actually are.

Anyway, while this is undeniably a good step towards improving your mental health, the truth is that there are other things to think about. You can’t just simply rely on the medication and do nothing on your own to get better. Yet, medication is necessary to make doing those other things easier and possible, especially when you are feeling quite low and aren’t motivated for anything at all.

What does this precisely mean, though? Well, you’ve heard those stories about exercising and eating healthy, haven’t you? And, I agree that they can be quite annoying and that suggesting exercise and a healthy diet to a depressed person is not the brightest move, because that’s not how depression is treated. Such a suggestion can only lead to anger, and often to even more passivity, which is not what we are trying to achieve.

Despite all of that, though, we cannot deny the fact that what you are eating can affect how you are feeling, and that the food you’re consuming should be taken into account when it comes to, well, mental health in general. Furthermore, it should be taken into account when you are taking SSRIs as well. So, that is the second part of the story – the story that emphasizes your responsibility towards helping the drugs help you, so to speak.

Read about some foods and drinks you should avoid when taking these medications: https://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/foods-drinks-drugs-to-avoid-mixing-with-antidepressants/

So, chances are that you’ve already heard of this. That is, of the idea that what you are eating can affect how you are responding to antidepressants such as SSRIs. Yet, you may not be entirely sure about how those two things are connected, and you now want to get a better idea about it. So, what we are going to do right now is shed some light on that, and finally make it clear why your diet matters when you are on SSRIs, which is something that Genesight explains for us as well.

What Are SSRIs in the First Place?

Of course, before we start talking about that, we have to make sure that you understand what SSRIs are in the first place. To put it simply, we are talking about antidepressants that work by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, which means that more of this neurotransmitter remains in the synaptic cleft. In short, thus, they sort of change your brain chemistry, consequently having a positive impact on your mood, reducing irritability, as well as reducing anxiety and depression symptoms.

Why Diet Matters When Taking Them?

But, what does any of that have to do with your diet, though? Well, quite a lot, to be honest. Because, as it appears, there are certain foods that can negatively affect the performance of SSRIs, and we are now going to explain in a bit more details why that is and what kinds of effects can actually come about due to eating a lot of processed foods, and ignoring the healthy ingredients.

First things first, I suppose you understand that your brain needs certain nutrients, such as some vitamins, minerals, as well as healthy fats, in order to be able to function properly. Yet, when you are consuming a lot of processed foods, as explained by Genesight or other useful sources, what you will manage to do is get a lot of calories, while at the same time not getting enough of those nutrients, thus disrupting the chemical balance in the brain. I assume it is clear how this can negatively affect your overall health, as well as, naturally, the effectiveness of your medications.

Furthermore, gut and brain health are undeniably connected, as I’m sure you understand, given that you have probably heard that the gut is often called the second brain. These two systems in your body are in constant two-way communication. So, in terms of gut, SSRIs and Diet, here is what you need to know. Basically, when you are consuming a lot of processed foods, you can disrupt the gut microbiome, and thus lead to a decrease in the production of serotonin, because around 95% of it is produced in the gut. And, when that happens, SSRIs become less effective, because there is not enough serotonin out there the reuptake of which they are supposed to inhibit.

As it is clear to you already, there is absolutely no doubt that you should pay more attention to your diet when taking SSRIs. Doing so, that is, consuming the right nutrients and reducing the intake of processed foods, can make the medication more effective. As well as, naturally, have an overall positive impact on both your physical and your mental health