Nutritional Psychiatrist Shares Diet Mistakes that Cause Depression and Anxiety | Dr. Drew Ramsey

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Do you ever feel like you´re losing enthusiasm for life and struggling to enjoy the things that would usually make you happy? Initial signs of depression and anxiety can manifest through minor issues like losing your nerves about your in-laws or getting angry for no reason at all. But what if there is a way to fight depression with the food you eat? What might surprise you: Your current diet might be the source of your anxiety and depression. Your mood is directly impacted by what you eat. With the proper evidence-based nutrition, it is possible to take control of anxiety, boost your mood and live a life full of joy. In this episode of Health Theory, Tom Bilyeu is joined by Nutritional Psychiatrist, Men’s Health advisor, and author Drew Ramsey to discuss such matters and more as they explore the current state of depression. They also explain why nutrition is the easiest way of influencing depression positively and uncover a psychological lever to reduce your anxiety. Furthermore they disclose the way your anxiety is influenced by the foods you eat, which foods you should avoid and finally why you shouldn´t lose hope if you currently struggle with mental illness.


SHOW NOTES:
The current state of depression. [01:05]
Why nutrition is the easiest way of influencing depression positively. [1:25]
A psychological lever to reduce your anxiety. [2:41]
How your anxiety is influenced by the food you eat and the food that causes Tom anxiety. [3:36]
What creates lasting change, and how to lead with kindness to change behavior. [6:44]
Why most diets fail. [8:40]
The food basics almost every Nutritional Psychiatrist agrees on and why they matter. [9:25]
Drew reveals the things that are NOT part of every good diet. [12:03]
One thing Tom and Drew disagree on. [14:29]
Why knowing where your food comes from can help you cure loneliness. [19:11]
The big benefits of eating seafood and the top 3 kinds of seafood to beat depression. [24:40]
How Omega 3 fats in seafood work like snipers in your immune system. [28:00]
Drew´s on being vegan and which fats are bad for you. [30:25]
What you should rather do than buying expensive tests and supplements. [33:35]
How moving away from New York to a farm improved the mental health of Drew. [34:34]
Why you shouldn´t lose hope if you currently struggle with mental illness. [42:29]


QUOTES:

“It´s an epidemic. Everything is going up. Depression is up...Recently showing male depression is up 60-70% over the last 12 months.” [1:05]

“They found that the risk of depression during quarantine, if your nutrition is bad, went up over 1000%.“ [1:55]

“There are foods that people need to cut out of their diet. Diets need to change drastically…” [7:15]

“All good diets are lacking ultra-processed foods. The reason I think they´re evil because of the way they increase inflammation.” [12:12]

“We did a research study where we said: When we look at all the literature, what are the top nutrients that are most important for brain health and helping depression? Twelve nutrients stand out. So we asked ourselves: What foods have the most of these 12 nutrients? Aside from plants, 3 of the top 5 foods were seafood.” [26:00]

“I have treated people with every type of mental illness, and it´s actually what gives me hope. It´s what gives me strength and resilience. I have seen people who have it so hard with what happens in their minds, and to see them just do amazing things: Start companies, have families, whatever it is, makes me very hopeful.“ [42:57]


FOLLOW DR. RAMSEY:

[miamendez]

I had debilitating mental illness most of my life including chronic depression and anxiety, suicidality, bipolar II, ADHD, OCD, binge eating, and borderline personality disorder. At 41, I couldn't go on and started planning my permanent departure including urn shopping, service details, final wishes etc .. But something told me one of the treatments I haven't tried was a complete diet overhaul so I made a deal - if I clean up my diet and it doesn't help me, I'm outta here. I chose the Ketogenic way of eating. It's been over 4 years now, I've never had any medication nor any bipolar episodes since. Nutrigenomics and metabolic interventions, not meds or doctors, saved my life. If I listened to doctors, I wouldn't be here. I was recently on BipolarCast in YouTube. You can watch me tell my story in episode 11.

[dsoumya]

Tom, I don't know if you'll ever read this but this channel SAVED my life. You've had such a tremendous impact in my life and I can't even put into words. I'm in the process of healing mentally but what really got me initiated is you. You forever have my respect, man.

[youkessss]

*Changed my life. I will never eat the same ever again. "Unless you physically trip and your face lands in a box **weightlose.fitness** of donuts, there is no such thing as a 'slip'." Get that mind set and you'll win again and again.*

[irenabaranauskaite]

With every discovery of how food influences the quality of my life, my shopping is getting less difficult 😊
75% of food sold on supermarket is not even real 😳

[juliecarr]

GREAT interview! I am a cancer patient in remission. Was diagnosed a year ago. After going through chemo and radiation I suffered terrible depression. Consequently, doc put me on depression medication. It sucked! I started researching food as healing. I’ve been off medication for 5 months, completely cut out ALL sugar, eat 10 cups of vegetables a day, fish 3 times a week (do my best), no coffee after 1 pm, probiotics, etc. I’ve really noticed a difference. I love how this interview doesn’t prescribe a “one size fits all” approach. Love these two! Thank you for this fabulous information 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[pandapants]

The keto diet cured my anxiety and depression. I went from self harm and misery to being outgoing and positive. Literally took one week.

[angisme]

I love how Tom intently listens to his guests and never talks over them. We need more Tom Bilyeus in this world.

[TomBilyeu]

Topics we cover in this video:
The current state of depression. [01:05​]
Why nutrition is the easiest way of influencing depression positively. [1:25​]
A psychological lever to reduce your anxiety. [2:41​]
How your anxiety is influenced by the food you eat and the food that causes Tom anxiety. [3:36​]
What creates lasting change, and how to lead with kindness to change behavior. [6:44​]
Why most diets fail. [8:40​]
The food basics almost every Nutritional Psychiatrist agrees on and why they matter. [9:25​]
Drew reveals the things that are NOT part of every good diet. [12:03​]
One thing Tom and Drew disagree on. [14:29​]
Why knowing where your food comes from can help you cure loneliness. [19:11​]
The big benefits of eating seafood and the top 3 kinds of seafood to beat depression. [24:40​]
How Omega 3 fats in seafood work like snipers in your immune system. [28:00​]
Drew´s on being vegan and which fats are bad for you. [30:25​]
What you should rather do than buying expensive tests and supplements. [33:35​]
How moving away from New York to a farm improved the mental health of Drew. [34:34​]
Why you shouldn´t lose hope if you currently struggle with mental illness. [42:29​]


QUOTES:

“It´s an epidemic. Everything is going up. Depression is up...Recently showing male depression is up 60-70% over the last 12 months.” [1:05​]

“They found that the risk of depression during quarantine, if your nutrition is bad, went up over 1000%.“ [1:55​]

“There are foods that people need to cut out of their diet. Diets need to change drastically…” [7:15​]

“All good diets are lacking ultra-processed foods. The reason I think they´re evil because of the way they increase inflammation.” [12:12​]

“We did a research study where we said: When we look at all the literature, what are the top nutrients that are most important for brain health and helping depression? Twelve nutrients stand out. So we asked ourselves: What foods have the most of these 12 nutrients? Aside from plants, 3 of the top 5 foods were seafood.” [26:00​]

“I have treated people with every type of mental illness, and it´s actually what gives me hope. It´s what gives me strength and resilience. I have seen people who have it so hard with what happens in their minds, and to see them just do amazing things: Start companies, have families, whatever it is, makes me very hopeful.“ [42:57​]

[BenjaminKennethMusic]

Thanks Tom for waking me up out of my decade-long debilitating depression. I have switched to a paleo/keto hybrid per the advice of your health theory guests, and it genuinely transformed my entire physiology.

[annnnn]

Thanks Tom & Dr Drew, as someone with schizophrenia with a new youtube channel - I realised about five years ago the strong relationship between nutrition and exercise and mental health. I've been fighting with local psychiatrists ever since as they refuse to look into anything just pills. Once you realise how mental illness works within you you become so aggravated and at the same time motivated.

[myrameijer]

Tom, I love that you state your mind but also let your guests speak theirs without much interruption. You're really listening + that helps us to do that, too. Keep up the good work. 👍

[amyatkinson]

I have 5 children.. and with one daughter while I was pregnant I are so much fish every week.. and I've always said that she is more intelligent than the others because of it...and now you have proved me right!! Thanks!!

[TheBigVisionCoach]

Anxiety was my super power for years until I had a major health episode 13 years ago that took a year of recovery. Now I can't deal with anxiety at all. I finally found out about the link between gut health and anxiety and it saved my life.
So grateful for this video and the info and yes kindness is the path.

[smk]

I really enjoyed listening to this doctor. He speaks so sincerely, I just want to keep listening. You can definitely tell he approaches everyone with kindness just from he was interacting with Tom in this interview.

[pollarddesigns]

OMG thank you so much Tom and Drew, so great to have my intuition confirmed. I have a history of depression and anxiety in my adult life. I don't have it now! Which is weird because I was diagnosed with M.S. 3 years ago. You'd think I'd be more depressed. Lol😆
I changed my food plan, cleaned it up. Got into nature. Moved to the country and by the sea in summer, meditate and make choices based on my overall health and wellbeing. I'm reversing my MS symptoms radically which was not my initial prognosis. I got myself out of a wheelchair and you wouldn't know I had it if you met me now. I have been wondering why my mental health is improved and suspected as much. Thank you. You made my day. We all have a choice. Your show Tom makes it so much easier to make good choices. Much gratitude. 🙏💖🌺🌈

[BeauGypsy]

Thank you for this as a sufferer of ptsd and all of the things that fall under that diagnosis. I have been watching your podcasts. I honestly just had the thought last night that i wish there was someone who could help my diet improvement to help with my mental health as well as attacking all areas of my life in the hopes of healing my body, mind, spirit. I wake up this morning and i find this. This man is no doubt a missing piece to the puzzle. Im thankful you both exist. I cant wait to read the book. And follow this field as it gains traction and popularity.

[mollydarlaramos]

How powerful this was. Tom you nailed it when you said you felt your anxiety in your stomach. This session of Impact Theory was the EURIKA moment that has allowed me to corelate how intricate and always evolving our physical being really is. This session among many others have helped me more on my "self acceptance" journey then all my countless appointments with "professionals ". No words left but LOVE LOVE LOVE. TY

[ms.awesome]

Thank you, much!!!! This program is proof of everything I 've been learning and practicing for 30 I love this transition of health and connecting BACK to the Earth, we are making.

[christineb]

I wanted to offer my perspective on the "city bathing 2%" topic: I have taught cooking classes at an urban after school program for teens. Most of them are 3rd generation or more urban kids whose families have been poor for generations. Some are children of immigrants. The differences in the understanding of food and their valuing of it as an enriching part of their lives (as opposed to convenient or satiating fuel) between the kids who have been urban for generations vs immigrants who either grew or marketed daily or lived more seasonally is remarkable. Taking them all to a bodega type market (not even a farmer's market) and connecting them with the tactile and individual components of the meals we would later cook together seemed to trigger an ownership and investment into what they were cooking and eating. so while I don't think everyone has to love rural life and want to "meet the farmer", there is something powerful about lifting the veil between the end product to be eaten, and its source, even if it's saying "the guacamole you eat on that burrito you grabbed after school is made of these elements and this is how and why you choose each to make it really good guac. You can make it amazing yourself and you are worth making amazing food for!" And while you may have the discipline and intellectual approach to food that enables you to be an optimal eater without that visceral connection to its source or its elements, I find that to be unusual many people really need that link in order to be willing to do the work of good, healthy eating.

[guitarsz]

omg this guy is ADORABLE. Love that disposition and his easy going awareness. Winning smile.