I first heard about this book while reading The Vegetarian Myth. I was skeptical at first, since I'm generally skeptical of most things and people, but The Vegetarian Myth is a quality book and cites quality references like Loren Cordain and the Eadeses, so The Mood Cure was with good company. My wife also urged me to read the book, since my low moods in the afternoon had been difficult for her for a while. Heck, if I CrossFit to suck less and live better, as the mantra goes, shouldn't I also feel bettter?
I never realized I had low moods in the afternoon/evening until I got married and had someone living with me. My crappy moods started when I came back from a deployment to Iraq and had been killing my sleep and my moods. For anyone who has missed the chance of a military deployment, sleep is not something you'll enjoy, and stress is pretty high at times.
The book (and website) has a mood questionnaire, which I filled it out and scored very high for serotonin deficiency. This has to be taken with a grain of salt, since I don't have a doctor diagnosing me, but it was interesting, nonetheless.
The author describes the four most common mood disorders that she sees in her clinical practice. Being low serotonin, which is something like a depressive state and what I was suffering from. Being low in catecholemines or thyroid would be a mood where you feel apathetic, lacking energy, and drive. Feeling overwhelmed by stress, which she attributes to a lack of gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is another neurotransmitter, like serotonin. And the final mood being too sensitive to pain, which is caused by a lack of endorphins.
The author doesn't espouse blatantly paleo opinions, but most of what she says dovetails pretty well with paleo/low-carb advice. To me it makes sense that humans likely didn't evolve with major illnesses as the normal operating procedure. Anti-social behaviors might be a negative trait in a social species like us! I read the book mainly with an eye toward fixing my hypomanic moods but I did learn a good deal.
Diet and lifestyle are the main factors that impact our moods. As far as low serotonin is concerned, modern humans' consumption of stimulants like caffeine, argues the author, depletes our serotonin supplies. Aspartame is also a big enemy for serotonin. Other problems are that modern people simply don't eat enough protein, particularly tryptophan, which converts into 5-HTP, and then in to serotonin. Finally, insufficient sunlight can also hurt our melatonin supply, which is what helps us get to sleep, and incidentally is made from serotonin. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is quite common in the north, due to this reason. We evolved on the savannas of Africa and spent most, if not all of our time outside. Caffeine and other neolithic food are a novel addition to our diets, so it really isn't a stretch that we might suffer some negative consequences. My lack of sunlight--even though I live in Hawaii--was due to working in an underground tunnel. Literally, for a while I wasn't seeing sunlight until 3 in the afternoon sometimes. I'm beginning to think that is why so many people at my job are unhappy.
What does she suggest to do? Cut out caffeine, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners. She also suggests a diet that looks very low-carb and higher in protein than the Standard American Diet. She points out that grains and soy are particularly damaging to our health, though she still doesn't go all the way and advise the reader not to eat any. Grains are her last choice as far as carbohydrates go. Finally, she advises the reader to take some supplements in order to increase serotonin. Most of the supplements she suggests are just amino acids, so I decided to try supplements over psychotropic drugs. I started taking 100mg of 5-HTP, twice a day, and it seems to have helped, along with eliminating caffeine. My hypomanic mood swings and irritability have almost gone away and I can finally sleep again!
I'd suggest this book to people with mood problems, since she discusses more than just serotonin deficiency. I'm not sure of the science behind the book, but I'd be interested in hearing any doctors' or health professionals' opinions of it.
--Nick
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