I'd want to know, did you concurrently INCREASE your fat intake when you initially went low carb?

Everyone's response to dietary changes vary, but If you're already suffering from anxiety, your drop in carbs my have initiated the infamous carb-flu increasing any irritability you may have been feeling. The flu would have resolved when you became keto-adapted. However, if you didn't up the fat intake, then you were probably deprived of fuel.

The literature says that mood disorders are helped by ketogenic low-carb diets. However the brain is glucose dependent for much of it's functioning...you must make sure you get at least 300 calories (probably more) from some safe starches. And if you have a performance bias (ie, you crossfit, you exercise a lot) you'll probably need much more.

A few folks at my psych hospital are now being given higher-fat, moderately ketogenic diets with great and almost immediate results.

I did VLC for a while and felt pretty sh*tty. Under the recommendation of my dietitian, I reintroduced sweet potatoes back into my diet and have noticed I feel a lot better in mood, concentration, satiety, etc. And I do suffer from depression and currently take St. John's Wort.
I think this article is extremely interesting. It links carbohydrates with serotonin release, which signals to your brain that you're full. Here's another source about serotonin and carbohydrates (skip to page 178).

Same with me. But I don't care for evidence anymore, I just never leave home again without eating my daily starchy carbs :-)

After a few months low carb my anxiety went out of control. I ended up incrementally adding sweet potatoes, yams, and potatoes and feeling a lot better. I later found this post on the subject by Anothony Colpo called "Can Low-Carb Diets Make You Crazy?" and definitely think the answer to that question is yes. Maybe not for everyone, but it did for me.

http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/08/do-carbs-keep-you-sane-midmorning-post.html

Really, going zero carb or close to it has eliminated by anxiety.

I've wondered about this, too. According to Kathleen DesMaisons' research on sugar addiction, "good"/slow carbohydrates are needed to help the brain make good levels of serotonin in people who tend to depression and addiction - somehow they help get the tryptophan across the blood/brain barrier. Following her program years ago, I have to say my depression and anxiety were at their lowest, especially as I accumulated months and months of no sugar or white foods (though I continued to eat plenty of whole grains, potatoes, Ezekial bread, beans, etc). But, I've since found out I'm autoimmune diabetic and a low to very low carb primal diet is much better for managing my overall health and my weight.

I will say that my anxiety and depression have gotten worse over the last year and I recently started an SSRI for that, and I wonder if I would need it if I were able to eat more starches. Hard to know cause and effect - a lot of other shit has happened in last 2 years (like getting my diabetes dx, for instance! and turning 40, not to mention major hereditary precedent on both sides for mood disorders) that could explain things. It's always a tough balance for me with the diabetes, sort of choosing which parts of my health to focus on. I definitely feel better emotionally with more starches, but then I have to take more insulin, which makes me fatter, which makes me anxious. Ha! OTOH including even "good" carbs in my eating is a slippery slope, because if I get in an addictive/compulsive eating cycle those can be hard or impossible to moderate for me.

It's an always-dissatisfying dance for me to balance care for diabetes/depression/compulsive eating/weight. On the whole, LC-VLC primal addresses everything most comprehensively, but it's still not always feeling PERFECT, and hasn't cured any of the pieces totally.

The best starchy carbs are potatoes. Either russet or sweet. I would try those first.

I get " cranky". , but same is true - naturally lean even before Paleo. My sis-in law is coming today, and I know I'd better eat some starch before she gets here or I may not be able to bite my tongue when she launches into her routine, which has annoyed the SH@T out of me since I've known her.....

By eating better your hormones may be kicking in to full strength.

Any sugar will cause an insulin response, and that causes all aminos except l-tryptophan to be dumped. Sugar also gives you a temporary spike in serotonin, at the expense of other neurotransmitters, and possibly lowering your available serotonin, unless you are eating foods with high l-trytophan (brain aminos primarily occur in meat, although some nuts and fruits are also high)

Note that if something in the brain is released alot, it will run out, and become desensitised, just like with drug highs.

Drug users call this tolerance and withdrawl, but really they are similar mechanisms - your brain runs out of juice, and the cells become tolerant, so if you stop, it feels worse than when you used the drug, or before you started, even though the drug was ruining your mood in the first place.

For a mood improving substance to give sustainable effects on mood, it would need to replace the lost aminos acids, and give only a mild broad spectrum effect. One could argue that any form of release itself is not sustainable, and that the only way to sustain mood effects is by proper brain regulation, not by agonism or release.

People even become tolerant to anti-depressants, and then they become more depressed. Stronger drug effects cause tolerance quicker, like MDMA or amphetamine. The insulin related boost in serotonin, is not subtle at all, its quite dramatic.

I thus would compare sugar/carbs to addictive drugs (rat studies show cocaine addicted rats prefer sugar to cocaine!). Short term they will raise your mood, if you go off them, you will become short term irritable/sad - long term they themselves cause depression. So what you experienced I would describe as withdrawl, or as low carbers often call it, carb-flu, or adjustment to ketogensis.

In addition, ketogenic diets temporarily increase noradrenaline and adrenaline (it resolves in about a month), which can produce anxiety. Studies show that this effect peaks at around day half a month, and neutralises by a month.

Certainly, ive a psychology degree, understand the brain well, and theres nothing ive read that suggests carb mediated mood improvement is sustainable in the brain, or that eliminating carbs would effect long term mood. In fact it should do the opposite, long term, because your brain receptors would no longer be drained or tolerant.

If carbs were long term anti-depressants, things like sugar or cocaine would be prescribed for mood disorders.

However if you suffer from depression or anxiety, and go from a high carb/sugar diet to a low carb diet, one might veiw this process similar to giving up drugs or begining excercise regimes - by doing the process step by step at a pace you can handle, using supplementation, watching your nutrient levels, and engaging in activitys that promote calm or happiness.

Your brain will need to adjust to the lack of brain stimulating, drug like activity of high sugars/insulin response.

I have to say that if I don't eat carbs then by about 6pm I get really cranky and easily frustrated

I think starchy carbs definitely have an influence on anxiety/anger/stress

I am new to paleo, and am showing signs of being more irritable with the dietary change. With that being said, I do not believe it is due to starchy carbs "adding" a level of peace, but rather they suppress a level of clarity. What I mean to say is, I have felt much more clear-headed and focused since eliminating carbs, which in turn caused my already judgmental view of society to become more so. It is my presumption that adding carbs will cause chemical reactions along the lines of any other substance that dilutes perception, making "reality" an easier pill to swallow. My hope is that with the changes I am making, My overall health will increase, and on a purely selfish level bring me to the point of being able to blow off the minor issues with greater ease. The world is what it is, people are who they are, perception is the only thing that causes one person to freak, and another to ignore or rise above an annoyance. Also, fewer things will appear to be working against me, as confidence levels increase.

In my experience, YES starchy carbs help mood/energy, when eaten in a particular way.

I started HFLC over a year ago after discovering Kwasneiwski's Optimal Diet, I started eating a macro ratio of about 75gm protein, 35gm carb, and 200+gm fat eaten in the traditional 3 meals a day format. Not exactly low calorie by any stretch. I did this for 6+ months and lost much weight but also experienced wide mood swings and many arguments with the wife. All our marriage I'd been somewhat quick to react angrily.

A confounding factor is I'm hypothyroid and was also experiencing extreme sluggishness at the time. Although over the years I'd been euthyroid and still had anger/mood/energy issues.

I discovered the Perfect Health Diet blog and read about the Jaminet's theories regarding minimum carb+protein intake and the long term effects of VLC on health and hypothyroidism. I became convinced and changed my macros to about 62gm protein, 88gm carb from starch (white rice and white potato always with lots of ghee and egg yolk mixed in), and about 150gm fat. Still not low calorie. I also began to drink a lot of ghee and MCT oil in coffee in the morning, but ate all protein and carbs in one dinner meal.

The change in mood/energy was phenomenal. I'm calm but energetic all day long. When my wife asks me to do things I simply do them rather than argue. Its just no problem to me anymore because I'm not tired all the time.

I do some firmware writing (programming) and can concentrate for HOURS with no fog. I sometimes don't even notice I've been working for all day without stopping. I'm nearly 50 and concentration and memory really suffered under uncontrolled carb eating AND VLC for me. I thought I was pretty much done programming.

I did not gain weight on 80+gm of starch carbs. In fact, I continue to slowly lose weight. I really think the Jaminets are right. Even Kwasneiwski, in his latest information has recommended higher carbs from starch than his original plan. Kwasneiwski's and Jaminet's ranges now overlap.

So again YES I agree with your title, starchy carbs help with anger/mood.

Fruits work even better

I don't have any diagnosed anger issues, but I do tend to be near the tipping point more than I like. I do exercise a lot, so I've upped my carb intake significantly (was LC over the winter for [stupid] aesthetic reasons). Personally, my mood is more attached to satiety and energy levels than any particular macronutrient, but with my current training schedule, that means carbs.

In terms of starchy carbs, my favorite has to be sweet potatoes. White or wild rice, potatoes, and quinoa are great, too. Raw carrots (kinda count) are my new go-to snack, along with raisins/dried apricots PWO.

What is your activity level like? I've read lately that anxiety can be a sign of low T. It could be that your training level requires more carbohydrates than what you are eating.

Cliff (because for some reason I couldnt directly reply) -

Well thats interesting, and certainly counters some of what I had said about a short term increase - I must admit that I never saw any first hand evidence of any short term effects.

But as I understand it, the insulin response does flush out aminos other than l-tryptophan from the blood, which increases the amount that crosses the blood brain barrier - long term because l-trytophan competes with other aminos to cross the barrier. Not that this is good because you need those other neurotransmitters, insulin response can lead insensitivity, diabetes and obesity, and essentially long term your receptors would desensitise.

And, not that such will nessasarily result in a mood increase, medium term, as mood is a complex beasty..., other NTs like dopamine which will be decreased by generally high carb intake are also implicated in mood. This would tend to imply that if one does eat carbs, that they are better eaten seperately from amino rich foods like, meats or the few amino rich fruits...

And its certainly not all about serotonin levels as some would have you beleive., in fact good mood is more likely a combination of much finer details, certain dopamine receptors, the serenic receptor, BGNF.......

But................

....

Theres certainly no doubting that sugar has addictive drug like properties. I beleive the opiate receptor was implicated in some recent research, and I would guess that like most reward/pleasure reactions there would be some dopamine involvement.

Oh heres something on that - (really interesting!)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11733709

Rats were given 25% glucose solution with chow for 12 h followed by 12 h of food deprivation each day. They doubled their glucose intake in 10 days and developed a pattern of excessive intake in the first hour of daily access. After 30 days, receptor binding was compared to chow-fed controls. Dopamine D-1 receptor binding increased significantly in the accumbens core and shell. In contrast, D-2 binding decreased in the dorsal striatum. Binding to dopamine transporter increased in the midbrain. Opioid mu-1 receptor binding increased significantly in the cingulate cortex, hippocampus, locus coeruleus and accumbens shell. Thus, intermittent, excessive sugar intake sensitized D-1 and mu-1 receptors much like some drugs of abuse.

...

Now fatty foods also produce a release of some chemicals, but this primarily is a chemical called OEA, which is less reward/pleasure focused unlike sugars and more related to memory (so one remembers how and where one got the fat from). OEA is proven to improve memory recall.

Its interesting when one considers here the evolution involved in both of these, in a paleo hunter gatherer context, or when one looks at the east african hunter gatherer.

"Thus, intermittent, excessive sugar intake sensitized D-1 and mu-1 receptors much like some drugs of abuse." (see other post for source)

Pretty much this is the more solid more modern look at sugar that shows what carbs are doing that I was thinking of - they are acting similarly to opium, herion & methamphetamine. Albiet in contrast, almost our whole society are addicts from this POV.

Which matches perfectly with our cocaine addicted rats going for the sugar instead of the cocaine...

Ceasing any of those drugs will result in withdrawl, and thus, similar effects will come from reducing carb and particularly sugar intake...long term it will make you happier, short term it may make you moody...a lot like giving up crack or heroin...

Of course, remember this once served a purpose - the 30% odd part of our caloric intake we used to (in theory anyway) get would be seasonal, opportunistic, and wild berries are lower in sugar, and root veges lower in carbs, than our specifically breed ones today. The whole thing goes out of wack with agriculture, selective breeding, and processing, making modern carbs/sugars more drug like, more available, and the consumption of them more compulsive.

Sometimes, sometimes not. There are far too many interactions here for either to be a solution in all circumstances. Evolutionary Psychiatry (not just that post) is the best place to start for a look at some of the many, many things potentially going on here. More carbs and deeper ketosis can each be therapeutic in different contexts.

" 62gm protein, 88gm carb from starch (white rice and white potato always with lots of ghee and egg yolk mixed in), and about 150gm fat."

That sounds pretty paleo to me - east african hunter gatherers eat 30-35% carbs (fruits and root veges), 45-55% fat, and 25-30% protein.

Mind you I am currently avoiding all high starch foods, and only low starch veges, small amounts of nuts and low sugar berries, and my carb intake is still around 15% (I have special reasons for my wanting it that low), so your actual carb intake is probably higher than you calculated by high starch veges alone...

This is a great resource for working our your macro intake (and some micros) -

http://www.myfoodrecord.com/

There is an interplay of the macronutrients that affect mood. Simply increasing carbs may not be enough if you are trying to use food to enhance mood. A portion of the population seems to have a sensitivity to the ratio of Tryptophan (for Serotonin) and Tyrosine's (for Dopamine and catecholamines) availability to the brain compared to other amino acids. In order to increase Tryptphan's availability to cross the blood brain barrier, it must have fewer other Large Neutral Amino acids (LNAA's) to compete with for entry into the brain. For people who's moods are sensitive to fluctuations in LNAA's the protein to carb ratio needs to be 1:7 (protein:carbs) or less. Since protein is also found in starches, eating more than a tiny amount of meat in any meal is going to keep the ratio below the 1:7 ratio and therefore may not result in a net gain of serotonin.

However, there are people who have good base neurotransmitter levels but they experience moods fluctuations anyway. in a person with a sufficient base of serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters - where low moods are not caused by low serotonin, but rather are caused by low blood sugar - then a higher protein and fat diet will stabilize thier mood.

Finally, there are people who experience low mood due to a diet that is too low or too high in fat for thier nervous systems. So in addition to experimenting with the ratio of protein to carbs, one must also adjust the intake of fat to suit thier nervous systems. And within that adjustment of fat percentage intake they will also find which types of fat they feel best on.

This woman is on a seriously, seriously strict diet, basically raw meat, eggs and seafood. However, she found that her level of mood and emotion was, well, pretty low, and adding back some sugar "cured her apathy".

http://theprimalparent.com/2011/07/27/the-carnivores-dilemma-a-diet-of-just-meats-and-fats/

I have seen a LOT of anecdotal evidence of very low carb diets making people cranky, and fixing this by adding back carbs. I think there is something to it, even if it isn't well understood.

I suspect that this is a short term manipulation of serotonin levels, which the body will adapt to rather quickly- and you'll eventually have to come up with a different strategy. I am thinking most of the problems encountered in a low carb diet have to do with the appetite falling to the point where it is too easy to under-eat. Eating more carbs ramps up the appetite, so it is also a short term solution to this problem. For me though, I am planning on testing blood glucose to see what is really happening, and likely staying more low carb while trying to find and hit the right mark calorically speaking. Carbs are too much of a roller-coaster.

There was a period of time when I was eating chicken livers and noticing a calming effect that was really strong. I felt very detached from things that usually bothered me. I hypothesized that vitamin A was what did it, but A alone in supplement form did not give the same effect. Bone marrow seems to give a similar effect, though not as pronounced. It is a pity your don't see brains for sale very often- it would be an interesting experiment. Anyway, as you might guess, I think there are nutritional issues involved here too. We definitely need more of the fat soluble vitamins, and then there is the stuff we don't even know about that we miss out on because we don't eat stuff like brains anymore.