When I was first starting out with Paleo, I tried to it low-carb. Everything seemed to be well, but after about a month and a half, I started getting*very anxious and stressed out*.

What ends up happening is your body must break down protein for glucose needs, and it releases a lot of cortisol to make this happen, leaving you feeling anxious, and stressed, which inevitably leads to depression.

Do some carb refeeds. Around 250 grams twice or three times a week. Make your first one today. You'll still be "fat-adapted" with infrequent carb refeeds, but you won't suffer from low glycogen stores.

Matthew Caton NSCA - CPT

I go through phases, during a low-carb streak...

At first: I'm tired, a little depressed, a little cloudy, just sort of feeling overall like I'm missing something. I do get a little anxious after the tiredness passes, I feel that I have more energy than I know what to do with; I usually don't sleep more than five hours a night during this phase. This lasts the first couple days.

After that: I break through a wall (low-carb flu) and start feeling really, REALLY good. I'm elated, I'm giddy, I'm clearer than I've been in a long time, I feel like I've figured it all out. A fatty meal makes me feel like I'm flying on several illegal substances. Still sleeping five - six hours a night, but could care less because I have energy. I mean I have ENERGY! This lasts another three or four days.

At this point I'm seven - ten days in, and I start noticing that I'm snapping at people here and there. Irritability sets in; I'm not seeking trouble per se, but if anyone shows any sign of weakness or stupidity at all around me, I have ZERO patience and I pounce like a starving lion aiming to rip the throat out. If I continue in this phase, I feel like I might lose my job; it requires both patience and the ability to support those of lesser capability.

Around three - four weeks of <20g carbs, in deep keto - my irritability levels off a bit, but never completely. I feel like a predator, I'm more aggressive than I like to see in myself; if I become impatient or irritated with anything in my life, I simply cut it out. Emotional ties or value doesn't weigh in at all. I feel like I'm operating at a closer to mammalian level, really eschewing the advances in society we've made over the last thousand years. At the same time, I'm thinking exceptionally clear, I write a lot, I create, I'm busy as can be, utterly discontent with sedentary life. My house stays exceptionally clean, I get ahead at work, and generally feel like a production-machine, but at the same time, incapable of emotional attachment or really loving.

Needless to say, I eat potatoes these days. It fascinates the hell out of me from a psychological standpoint, though.

I can't say that I was especially depressed, but since I started adding in a lot of carbs (ala a smoothie most mornings consisting of at least 2 bananas, berries, coconut milk, and some whey protein isolate), I've actually been happy.

I've never normally been a happy person :D

I will be honest with you - I do not feel depressed when I eat low carb BUT I almost NEVER eat low carb. I make sure to add some starchy vegetables/tubers on a daily basis. Why? I do not believe in low carb. DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME.

I know about people who do well on low-carb diets. My guess is that their blood sugar levels/metabolism is so screwed up, they have to do it in order to re-start it.

However (and this is my belief) long-term low-carb diets are not sustainable. I have no research or experience to back it up, but this is the deduction I have made from reading tons of literature on traditional cuisines and hunter-gatherer's diets.

And I am probably one of the happiest people on earth. Little things make me happy.

Yes. Upping carbs in the form of sweet potatoes, other starchy vegs, fruit, and occasional rice has been helpful for anxiety and better sleep.

Only when I'm not getting enough fat. If I stick to fat being 75% ~ 80% of my calorie intake and the rest split between carbs and protein, I feel happy and insanely productive.

However if the fat percentage slides down and the protein goes up, I get anxious. I suspect prolonged gluconeogenesis is hard on the body.

Eat mostly fat. What little protein you eat should be high quality, like liver, eggs and whole fishes/sea creatures.

Low fat makes me even more depressed. Also, one low carb meal like the breakfast described should not have a dramatic effect on your mood. Maybe you are just having a bad day and that has nothing to do with your diet?

Are there any ongoing factors other than the diet that are contributing to your depression/anxiety?

Yes, avoiding carbs makes it harder for me to manage major depressive disorder. I do not pretend to understand why that is the case, just n=1. Now I try to carb-cycle, ala LeanGains, and just eat the majority of my carbs on workout days. This seems to be pretty manageable for me.

Try taking 5-HTP at night to boost serotonin levels. Beware that high serotonin can also leave you depressed, so I found after the first 2-3 weeks that scaling back to every other night or every 3 nights works well for me. You have to play with it a little to find your own sweet spot.

are you sure its not caffeine that's causing u to feel anxious and depressed?

I felt more depressed and less energetic when I was eating VLC. I'm still pretty low carb now, but I make sure to get some "safe-starches" which has really helped.

I am bipolar and cannot do low carb high protein I get seriously clinically depressed, so carbs are low, tons of green veg but I add in a couple of packs of blueberries a day. some days the odd banana. Needs must.

Yes, I started low carb about a month ago and just this past week started feeling very anxious....with a constricted stomach and a feeling like cortisol was circulating.. Now I have always struggled somewhat with anxiety depression but my instincts are telling me this particular phase is due to the low carbs and I have been including some fruit and carrots and potatoes this week. I had a couple of bananas the other day and they tasted really good. This is a process. Best of luck to you... I do know that wheat and sugar are not the answer for me. I had a little bit of chocolate yesterday as I was feeling so low and it gave me digestional issues right away.

I think I average maybe 150gm carbs a day. So far today I've eaten two TJ apple chicken sausages, handful of walnuts, and right now I'm eating goat milk yogurt with frozen blueberries and strawberries with cinnamon. I don't feel depressed and in fact I think I am doing much better than pre-Paleo diet. I was on two or three different antidepressants and now I'm off and I don't miss them. I feel much more even keeled. I do have problems with not being able to sleep well but I don't think that it's carb related. Being cooped up indoors can make me a little edgy...are you getting enough sunshine and/or Vit D3?

when being on low carb your seretonin depletes making some people feel depressed.

I was going to post about this in a new thread until I found this one.

I've been dealing with this now since I started low-carb, about 10 days ago. Overall, it's gotten better, though there were a few days where things felt very "dark" and I exhibited classic signs of depression (i.e. what counselors use to evaluate depression) for much of the day. I initially assumed this was more psychological in origin, i.e. this change in diet and the fact that I needed to do it b/c of my health, was depressing but at a certain point, I realized this was definitely physiological too, that my entire body was feeling depressed and not just "all in my head."

It has gotten better over the last 3-4 days, though now it's more cyclical. If it hits, it'll usually be in the late afternoon, before dinner. Sometimes it'll hit late morning too, before lunch. (And yes, I see a pattern forming here). I should add: I still have that light-headed, dizzy-when-I-stand feeling though I don't know if the two are connected.

Eating a good meal wipes this out; if anything, I can be a little manic afterwards (which is a bit troubling in itself. I feel like I'm a dietarily bipolar or something).

Based on reading through other testimonials, it seems that my symptoms may reflect:

*Dehydration (the light-headedness more than the depression) *Lack of sodium (see above) *Wheat withdrawal (this would be the Dr. Davis thesis) *Low-carb flu caused by the switch from burning glucose to ketones

I should add, about half the days so far, I've also been intermittent fasting; not eating b/t 7pm - 11am. I often skipped breakfast before going low-carb/paleo so it wasn't that hard to adapt but I'm wondering if, in the process, I'm just adding to the stress that is apparently impact me and my mental state.

I do eat some starchy carbs during the day but nothing that would amount more than half a cup of white rice). I also have at least 1-2 helpings of fruit a day.

Thoughts from the rest of y'all?

Low carb raises cortisol which is bad

Yes I have the same experience when I low carb, I've tried about 4 times and each time it happens. I tried lots of salt, extra water, medium chain triglycerides, chromium, magnesium, amino acids which just make me feel funny, but nothing seems to work. There are a lot of people who feel this way so your definitely not alone. Best advice on this page so far I think is from either Mathew Catton or Karen P. Dr. Cate has a good write up on this and I think she's gonna have a chapter in her next book about it.

http://drcate.com/got-fatigue-from-low-carb-diet-enter-contest-win-books/

As for me I threw in the towel and keep my carbs at around 100 grams usually from roots and tubers, it works well I feel really good and have lots of energy. Hope this helps.

I struggle with bipolar/depression/anxiety though it's been in check for almost 2 yrs with medication and some therapy. I am over 200lbs and only 5'5" and I decided once and for all to get back to my natural weight of around 135lb. With this said, I've stopped eating all sugar and about 3 wks ago, eliminated flours and white potatoes/rice. I am now experiencing a lot of anxiety coupled with some depression. I don't weigh myself so I don't know if I'm even losing much weight. So, my input is that I need to keep twikking my daily dietary needs until I find the right balance. I cannot and will not allow myself to slip into brain chemical imbalance with results in a relapse into active mental illness.

Turns out I'm a weird one here, as anytime I do keto, I feel great. I get tons of energy, and I need less sleep. I wake up refreshed and ready to go. I also have more energy during the day, and get less fatigued as the day goes on.

The reason I'm not in keto anymore is that my weightlifting performance goes down. I can't lift as much, or for as many reps as when I'm eating carbs.

Have you thought that maybe you're not getting enough fat? You need to get energy from somewhere.

That said, maybe I'm/you're just an exception. Eat the way that makes you feel best.