Exercise and Depression

Article by the Mayo Clinic: "Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms"

Here is an excerpt from the article: "Exercise can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety. Even a little exercise helps. Use these realistic tips and goals to get started and stick with it.

"When you have depression or anxiety, exercising may be the last thing you think you can do. But you can overcome the inertia. See how exercise can ease depression symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Plus, get realistic tips to get started and stick with exercising.

"Exercise has long been touted as a way to maintain physical fitness and help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. A growing volume of research shows that exercise can also help improve symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety. Exercise may also help prevent a relapse after treatment for depression or anxiety.

"Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve depression symptoms. But smaller amounts of activity — as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time — can improve mood in the short term. 'Small bouts of exercise may be a great way to get started if it's initially too hard to do more,' Dr. Vickers-Douglas says." Link to full article.

Depression and Gluten Sensitivity

Depression and Gluten Sensitivity
Many researchers have now demonstrated that gluten exposure in gluten sensitive individuals can cause depression. One good study evaluated 16 newly diagnosed gluten sensitive people and performed assessments to determine if depression was present. Compared to normal individuals, the patients with gluten sensitivity scored much higher for having depression. What is important also is that the depression was unrelated to abdominal complaints or other symptoms. This supports that the depression was not a secondary phenomenon from simply having an illness.
Another study out of Sweden assessed 42 people with known gluten sensitivity, and of this group, 8 had depression and/or anxiety. Even though the sample was small, the percent affected was 19 percent which is significantly higher than a normal population which averages 4 to 5 percent 4. The authors’ opinion based on the study was that depression may be severe in individuals with gluten sensitivity.

This is an excerpt from an upcoming book by Dr Vikki Petersen and Dr Rick Petersen on the subject of gluten intolerance. This is copyrighted material used with the authors' permission.