Diet and exercise for anxiety and depression?

[Bumblebee39]

Anyone had any experiences of using diet and exercise to treat depression and/or anxiety? And sleep issues?

Am thinking of trying to do this. Supplementing b vits and omega 3, eating plenty of healthy fats, cutting down caffeine and sugar more, and exercising a little every day (bike and eliptical for that cardio "lift")
Will this have any impact or is it pie in the sky?

Have you found anything diet, supplements and/or exercise that has helped?

Tia xx

Sounds good @zzzzz
I want to get a 2 in 1 at home but would love a rowing machine if I had the space. Can't get to the gym frequently to warrant a membership

There’s a new book by Bella Mackie called Jog on which is about overcoming crippling depression and anxiety through running and exercise, you might find this helpful. I’ve just started it and it’s good read. Good luck

I’m finding vitamin b complex and magnesium supplements have helped. Only been taking them a couple of months but have definitely noticed a reduction in anxiety

Getting a Fitbit and doing 10000 steps a day has really helped my mental health. I walk at least 45 mins a day just for the sake of it with a podcast in my ears. I know the days I don’t do it I feel more anxious

Thanks @zzzzz
Think I will get the 2 in 1 for now and then a Rowing machine too if I move somewhere bigger

Book sounds great 😊

Yes if you can actually get your arse up and outside to do some exercise it makes a difference. Sometimes it takes medication just to get to that stage though.

@Changedmynametoolikeyou

I'm already on medication, this is as well as medication because it's not working very well on its own (highest dose and can't go on anything else as I'm pregnant)

Exercise is a wonderful help for my anxiety (I take ADs too). When it's at its worst I try & do at least 1 swim, 1 run/gym & 1 yoga class a week. Since becoming pregnant this has been harder because of nausea & exhaustion. I stopped most exercise, except a weekly swim,for 1st trimester as didn't have the energy but during 2nd have been doing 2 yoga a week, occasional swims + 1 hour walk to work each morning. I can't wait to do sone post pregnancy cardio again - atm walking up 1 flight of stairs is enough to leave me breathless!
Before getting preg & during a particularly unpleasant anxiety & depression relapse (caused by coming off ADs) I took up long distance hiking which I found to be wonderful - multi-day hikes where we walk 25-20miles per day over 2-3 days offer me the best relief & I hope I can starting hiking again before too long after the baby comes. DH& I have done a few 5-10 miler circular hikes during the pregnancy & while good, it's not quite the same feeling as traveling from A-B & covering sone real distance. So yes, I think it's worth having a go to see if exercise can help you too.

Diet-wise, I eliminated caffeine & alcohol almost entirely & since 'recovering' have stayed off caffeine & have max 1-2 drinks per week. I've looked into foods that are meant to help but was never disciplined enough with my diet to figure out what helps! For sleep issues I've found mindfulness / meditATion recordings the most helpful as well as a few variations on 'counting sheep' exercises can help.
I also stopped reading the news on a day to day basis which I found particularly helpful (anything related to death made me cry & most other stories made me feel anxious) & although it means I feel a bit out of touch & less informed than I'd ideally like to be about current affairs, I generally think it was worth it.

I finally came off meds earlier in the year as TTC and so have been trying to manage my mental health through diet and exercise, so interested in tips people have. Key things that seem to help me are:

• restricting refined sugars, caffeine and alcohol
• there’s a good book - GAPS diet - exactly on this. Fascinating about how mental health linked to gut health - I try and have some bone broth and some kefir every day following some of its recommendations
• I find that 5-HTP really helps me (natural diet supplement pre-cursor to seratonin)
• keeping close eye on my exercise tracker to get enough sleep and exercise.

I’m not someone who can make lots of changes at once, but I’ve been finding that with these sort of changes I’m feeling better in myself than I have done for years, so tentatively trying to keep going in this direction. Will be interested to see other things that have worked for others xx