# Is Food An Anti-Depressant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656 "2004-06-29T03:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656/1 "2004-06-29T03:09:25Z")
Why does eating lift my spirits? Some will bing on chocolate, but it is not limited to chocolate alone. Eating seems to be so self-gratifying. Yet, why does this seem to solve a depressed mood? If only, for the moment? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656/2 "2004-07-03T13:35:04Z")
Amazing we don’t know. Maybe there’s something in this? How turning to food seems so self-gratifying…the nth wonder of science! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656/3 "2004-07-03T14:30:43Z")
Food certainly can lift the spirits, especially foods we refer to as “comfort foods.” These are high in carbohydrates and therefore naturally boost our energy. When you eat these foods (say, a nice meal of roast chicken and mashed potatoes), you can sometimes feel the flush to the face. There is also the obvious link seen in eating disorders and depression. People eat to fill up that emotional void or whatever and end up with an “addiction” to food. Similarly, depressed people often lose interest in food and eating, which only makes them more depressed and keeps them on the cycle of depression. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656/4 "2004-07-03T21:12:47Z")
When you’re “down in the dumps” and food lifts your spirits, you really don’t have “depression.” I assume you know that. All of us are depressed occasionally, but it’s the persistent state that constitutes clinical depression. Some of the medicine for depression are SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which cause serotonin to persist in the synapse. Many foods contain serotonin or the amino acid (tryptophan) which is converted into serotonin in the body, and this may be a factor. Then, again, it may be just the joy of eating. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-an-anti-depressant/252656/5 "2004-07-03T21:24:28Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > When you’re “down in the dumps” and food lifts your spirits, you really don’t have “depression.” I assume you know that. All of us are depressed occasionally, but it’s the persistent state that constitutes clinical depression. Some of the medicine for depression are SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which cause serotonin to persist in the synapse. Many foods contain serotonin or the amino acid (tryptophan) which is converted into serotonin in the body, and this may be a factor. Then, again, it may be just the joy of eating. I’m gonna have to ask for a site for that. Because I remember when I was depressed-sometimes food DID lift my spirits-but only temporarily. Then it was back down. (This was, of course, when I had any appetite at all).