As a parent, you want to look after your child’s wellbeing, both physically and emotionally, but if your child shows depressive symptoms decisions like whether or not to turn to prescription drugs can be scary, and they often turn out to be ineffective in alleviating the problem anyway. However, your child’s mental wellness could be connected to his or her physical wellness, as symptoms of depression are commonly the result of nutritional deficiencies or food allergies.
Firstly, try to find food allergies with an elimination diet. Children and teenagers who have celiac disease or an allergy to gluten often have depression, and the only way to treat this is by eliminating gluten in your child’s diet. You can have your child tested for celiac disease, but it commonly remains undiagnosed as young children can yield negative results. This is because their immune systems are underdeveloped, and are yet to produce the ‘anti-gluten’ antibodies that are measured in blood tests.
Other intolerances could be causing your child’s depressive symptoms, such as dairy, certain plant toxins, or chemical additives like MSG, and an elimination diet is the most effective way to determine if this is the case. Remove what might be the offending substance from your child’s diet for a period of three weeks to a month and record any differences that you and your child discover, which will be helpful to save and show a physician if need be. Then, if the symptoms of depression persist, try cutting out another type of food. Only remove one type of food or substance at a time so you can pinpoint the exact problem.
You might try removing refined sugar from your child’s diet. Sugar is addictive as it triggers a dopamine response in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays an important part in feelings of pleasure and motivation, and for your child’s brain to be healthy, his or her dopamine levels must be in balance. Sugar-bingeing is often used as a comfort mechanism by children and adults, but can cause dopamine levels to fluctuate and only brings a temporary high. Your child then becomes sluggish and depressed after their blood sugar levels spikes and crashes.
So if you’re concerned your child might be depressed, contact a medical professional and try an elimination diet, or removing refined sugars. Have a go at finding new, tasty gluten-free and dairy-free recipes that you and your child can make together, and make the transition fun!
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