All my anxieties just sort of melted when I started this. I feel that it has not only improved my life, but the lives of those I interact with everyday. I'm kind of laughing at my earlier life as a vegetarian, and fearing that eating meat would bring about some sort of misanthropic blood lust, quite the opposite, my ability for compassion has grown exponentially.

That said, I have noticed the side effect of having lost interest in drama for drama's sake, be it in cinema or in people. Feelin' good, but increasingly bad movie buddy. I'm more interested in talking to the person working the concession stand or ticket taker than watching neurotic characters on a big screen suffering from an obvious offal deficiency

My mind whirs with the potential for this though. Could a nourishing diet cure xenophobia, end road rage, end child abuse, drastically reduce both our incarcerated and institutionalized populations, bring about world peace? Or would it just destroy independent cinema as we know it?

It's as if I had been living a bad dream before Paleo. I used to think that despair was normal. War, hunger, the nagging idea that I, too, could lose my job and end up on the street piloting a shopping cart. Waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that I would one day be dessert for a platoon of bacteria.

I feel as though I have finally defeated death. I don't feel like I can explain it to people who aren't Paleo. Fortunately, you guys understand. I'm like that Zen guy, only I have electrical heating, instead of wood. I would turn cartwheels, if I didn't suck at them.

I noticed the same thing. I always had low-grade depression and anxiety. Now I feel so much better mentally. I can also handle stress much better. I notice that if I stray from good eating that I'm more likely to get pissed off at people and situations.

I noticed a significant increase in confidence (determined by willingness to approach people, including strangers, and engage in conversation), a significant boost in mental focus/concentration, and an overall balancing effect when I went Paleo.

It's not as noticeable now, but I think that it is more a factor of my new "baseline" level of functionality now being set higher.

I lost my religion and don't miss it at all.

Yes, me too. I was very reticent and awkward in social situations, often with nothing to say to strangers, or going on incessantly if someone was friendly to me. Either way, it was very uncomfortable and I was embarrassed by what I thought was my introverted nature. After GAPS/Paleo, like you, I lost my fear of people and can chat easily with anyone. It seems I actually have a spontaneous sense of humor around people, too! It's so nice to feel at ease and to actually WANT to accept invitations to parties, etc. Did you notice something change with your gaze, too? Before Paleo, I always dropped my eyes when around people. Now, I can look at someone until they look back at me, and I can keep gazing at them until we both start smile or laugh or talk or something. It seems totally natural. I notice too that babies can keep gazing until the person connects with them. So, I now feel I may have been slightly Autistic or Aspergers before (self-diagnosed of course). There's definitely a gut-brain connection.

I definitely feel better. I uses to have a very negative and nervous outlook. I don't feel obsessive anymore nor do I feel overwhelmed. I used to constantly feel overwhelmed by very normal day to day stressors.

Weightloss is definitely not the only benefit.

I never really had issues with stress, worry, or anxiety - I've always been a fairly relaxed, easy-going person. So I haven't noticed any increase in my "chill" factor.

However, I've been told by friends that I am noticeably more confident / challenging / engaging than during my pre-paleo days. It seems that as I've become more and likely to take on just about any physical challenge, my tendency to take on intellectual, conversational, and inter-personal challenges has increased to match - so much so that it surprises people who have known me for a very long time as a laid-back kind of dude.

I just thought it was because I lost a considerable amount of weight, but now that you all have mentioned it and have brought it to my attention I'm thinking there might be more to the diet from a chemical balance standpoint? I think I like the side effects of the diet :)

I've been paleo-ish for about two weeks (def. eating meat, just not giving up dairy yet haha), going from vegetarian (!). After some time on vegetarianism, I had completely lost my cheerfulness and outgoing personality and had trouble making contact with people and keeping in touch with them. I also started to become more and more anxious and depressed, mostly a low level anxiousness all the time with several suicide attempts. I have definitely noticed a big difference. The anxiousness is gone, I am happier overall, in a generally better mood, and have slowly begun to be more outgoing again. I never thought it had to do with what I ate. I just couldn't figure out why the words wouldn't come when I wanted to speak to someone!

No doubt about it. I've talked about this a little bit on my blog, most recently in a post about the research behind gut flora and behavior.

I've sailed through flights (I'm normally FREAKED about flying) and several nights of stressful entertaining (used to get in an absolute tizzy) without killing anybody. It's amazing. Miracle cure.

well, no. mood does not equal personality, which is a fairly static and enduring set of traits. my mood has improved. my confidence, certainly. my energy levels. all of that is better now than it was before when i was sick (with MS and with stress and with general poor health and coming off a rough pregnancy) but frankly it couldnt hve been much worse where i was coming from! i was a damn train wreck.

so i guess i would say that im healthier and happier, and that has reflected itself into other areas of my life and my relationships, thereby also improving the lives of those around me.

I'm definitely more confident. Every other diet I've been on, I've cooked 'ordinary' food for the rest of the family. This time I've changed my way of eating and theirs as well - they don't get a choice!

yep, I'd agree with that! Somehow the body returns to a harmonious balance, hormones included!

I'm curious about this myself. My wife just got us going on a 30-day "Paleo Challenge" and I'm nine days in. I've had social anxieties, and have been even diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I get by without any major anxiety these days, but I'm interested to see if I get even better.