--- Cleave <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I have found that gluten-containing foods, and to a
> lesser extent, dairy products have not only a
> profoundly negative effect on my body, but also on
> my mind. They make me feel depressed, anxious,
> sociophobic and achingly tired. All I want to do is
> sleep. My concentration goes, I 'lose my words' and
> my creativity disappears.
>
> Once back on a paleodiet, these symptoms rapidly
> disappear. It's little short of miraculous.
>

I've experienced exactly the same thing when eating
gluten or casein (dairy protein): depression, anxiety,
sleepiness, inability to concentrate, and poor
short-term memory.  You know, I was just reading a
research paper by S. Boyd Eaton titled "Evolution,
Diet and Health".  In it, he writes:

"Current w-6 : w-3 imbalance together with absolute
dietary DHA intake quite low in human evolutionary
perspective may be relevant to the frequency of
unipolar depression, a debilitating neuropsychiatric
disorder which accounts for more "disability adjusted
lost years" in the total world population than heart
attacks, lung cancer or AIDS. (Murray & Lopez, 1996)
Prevalence of depression has increased substantially
during the 20th Century (Klerman & Weisman, 1989;
Weisman, 1996) while dietary intake of w-6 PUFA has
soared relative to that of w-3 PUFA, primarily because
of increased vegetable oil consumption and
corn-feeding of commercial meat animals. Fish are good
sources of w-3 PUFA (including DHA) and national fish
consumption is inversely correlated with national
rates of depression (Hibbeln, 1997). Furthermore,
studies of plasma w-6 : w-3 ratios in patients with
depression reveal a direct association: higher ratios
of w-6 to w-3 PUFA are correlated with more frequent
and severe depressive episodes. (Adams, 1996; Hibbeln,
1997) Early therapeutic trials with w-3 PUFA have
shown symptomatic improvement. (Hibbeln & Salem, 1995)
These findings are preliminary and, as yet, only
suggestive, but their implication is that an w-6 : w-3
dietary ratio (and perhaps magnitude) similar to that
which obtained throughout human evolutionary
experience may be an integral component of mental
health."

The paper can be found here:

http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/icaes/conferences/wburg/posters/sboydeaton/eaton.htm

Best wishes!

Scott

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