10 sneaky signs your depression is impacting your nutrition habits

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When you live with depression, it can be hard to recognize the changes that occur in your daily health habits. Some common symptoms of depression include: feeling extra tired, disrupted sleep, trouble feeling motivated, trouble concentrating, negative thoughts, feeling hard on yourself, feeling hopeless and helpless, and wanting to withdraw from people, places, and responsibilities (Mayo Clinic). Each of these symptoms can directly impact your nutrition habits - from shifting the foods you crave due to poor sleep and altered hunger hormones, to trouble taking action on health goals due to hopeless and helpless feelings. Below we’ll identify 10 signs that your depression is impacting your nutrition habits, why it matters, and what you can do about it.

1- Loss of interest in cooking and eating.

The American Psychiatric Association explains that one symptom of depression is the “loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed” (APA). I bet there was a time pre-depression where you enjoyed food. Sometimes depression can chip away at the joy you once felt for food related activities. Maybe you used to have a favorite cereal, a go-to lunch, an excitement about preparing a new dinner recipe, but now you could care less. I know this can feel discouraging and disheartening. While you find better ways to manage and overcome your depression, I hope that you’ll be able to find interest and joy in your food again so that nutrition can support your healing.

Why it matters: Food is way more than nutrients. It’s connection with others, cultural expression, celebration, and creativity. Part of building a healthy relationship with food after experiencing depression is finding ways to feel joy around cooking and eating again. Not only will you get social-emotional benefits, but you’ll also get the physical benefits of proper nutrition too.

Action item: Think back to a memory where you had fun with food. Maybe you were baking a family recipe with a loved one, going apple picking on a school field trip, or enjoying a special meal to celebrate a holiday. Make note of the positive impact food has on your social, emotional, and mental well-being. Try to recreate a memory, or start a new tradition for yourself, that helps you connect to food in a positive way.

Don’t have time to read all 10 signs right now? Or want to circle back to the action items later? Don’t worry, I’ve got it in PDF format and will send it right to your email!

2- Anxiety around grocery shopping.

If you notice yourself avoiding food shopping all together, or feeling increased anxiety on food shopping days, this can be a real barrier to proper nutrition. The grocery store can be a place of anxiety for many people. The overstimulation with lots of lights, sounds, and colors. The fears around being in a crowd or being in a big building. The overwhelm when trying to make so many decisions like which brand, which ingredients, which price, which flavor, which aisle, etc. Needless to say, there are lots of things that can be barriers for someone with depression. Unfortunately, these can become roadblocks keeping you from obtaining the nourishment you need to take good care of your body and ultimately build strength to get out of a hard season. Read more on this topic here: Tackling Grocery Store Anxiety with DBT Skills .

Why it matters: The grocery store can be a major barrier to someone with depression as they try to nourish their body. Often we hear nutrition tips for mental health like eating more fruits and veggies or limiting processed foods, but there is no acknowledgement of the real logistical barriers to actually obtaining the food.

Action item: Here are 5 simple tips to take the stress out of grocery shopping with depression: wear earplugs or headphones while you’re shopping to keep you calm and focused, order grocery pickup or delivery so you can make all the decisions from the comfort of your home, ask a friend or family member to do their shopping with you so you don’t have to go alone, go at off times to avoid crowds (early in the morning or late at night), and make your list in the order that you walk through the store so you can shop more efficiently.

3- Only eating when stressed or emotional.

Sometimes we lean on comfort foods when we feel stressed and emotional, and that is a normal part of being human. At the same time, this can lead some people to feeling uneasy about their relationship with food, which is understandable. You can read more about emotional eating here. If you notice you’re leaning towards high calorie, high sugar, and high fat foods when you feel stressed and emotional, and then you limit your eating in other parts of the day to make up for it, it is likely that your mental health is impacting your relationship with food. It’s important to remember that it is ok to not have perfect nutrition when you are living with depression. The first step is learning more about nutrition, and then you can start making small intentional changes to your nutrition habits which can support both your mental health and physical health goals.

Why it matters: What you eat impacts how you feel, and how you feel impacts how you eat. With increased nutrition education, you can feel more confident in how you navigate this complex relationship.

Action item: Check out my Instagram post about the common cycle between food and emotions, and ways to improve this complex relationship.

4- Lack of hunger cues.

Chronic dieting to control weight, chronic undereating due to depression, and high stress levels due to anxiety can all take a toll on your body’s natural ability to know when it is hungry and when it is full. This can be unsettling for many people because they feel so out of touch with their body, like food is a chore, a burden, and something to stress about. The good news is, with some nutrition education and intake of regular balanced meals, hunger cues can return quite quickly. For those worried about overeating and weight changes, it can take some time for your metabolism to level out and regulate with new food intake. This is a normal part of the process and is best done with the support of a Registered Dietitian.

Why it matters: Learning hunger and fullness cues can be a great way for people with depression and anxiety to rebuild self trust around their nutrition. Additionally, some of the symptoms of hunger can closely resemble symptoms of depression and anxiety, so avoiding extreme hunger can actually support more balanced moods.

Action item: Familiarize yourself with the hunger-fullness scale so you can start listening to your body.

5- Indecision and moodiness around meal times.

There is a lot of mental and physical energy that goes into meals. For a healthy home cooked dinner you need to think of what you want to eat, find a recipe, make a grocery list, go to the grocery store, prepare the ingredients, serve the meal, wash the dishes, and so much more. Sometimes people with depression can feel indecisive and not have the mental bandwidth to make all of these decisions and actions needed for meal times. This could be from the depression itself or it could also be related to low blood sugar. As hunger increases, moods can shift due to low blood sugar. This timing can interrupt the goal of eating a nutritious, balanced meal. You can learn more about the link between low blood sugar and mood disorders here. A lot of us grew up with the message “don’t snack before dinner, you will ruin your appetite”. However, sometimes by the time you recognize your hunger for a proper meal, your mood and energy levels may be crashing quite fast. This can snowball for someone that is already struggling with their mental health.

Why it matters: Being realistic with the physical and mental tasks around nutrition means that you can make systems and plans to make eating easier for you.

Action item: Don’t be afraid to snack between and before meals. This will give you the energy and mental clarity to make more thoughtful and aligned food choices for your main meals.

6- Forgetting to eat throughout the day.

When your head is spinning with anxious thoughts, or you're feeling numb in that fog of depression, it’s not a total surprise that you may go long periods throughout the day without eating. Between self-loathing, ruminating, and distracting it may be hard for people with depression and anxiety to take care of themselves with regular healthy meals. It may be helpful to set up some systems to ensure you are eating enough and getting all the nutrients you need to feel well both mentally and physically.

Why it matters: Your body and your brain need nutrients and fuel to overcome depression. Food helps combat fatigue and exhaustion, and food helps provide the proper nutrient building blocks which do everything from strengthen your muscles to balance your moods.

Action item: Setting alarms on your phone for three main meals a day is a great place to start if you’re struggling to eat regularly. This also may look like scheduling in a proper lunch break on your work calendar, or having strategic placement of healthy snacks (in your car, by your desk, etc.) as a visual reminder to stay nourished throughout your day.

Don’t have time to read this now or want to circle back to the action items later? Don’t worry, I’ve got it in PDF format and can send it right to your email!

7- Fear and overwhelm from too much nutrition advice.

People with depression and anxiety may feel stuck, overwhelmed, and discouraged when they constantly see, read, and hear about conflicting nutrition messages. Cut this out, eat this, avoid that, don’t do it that way, that’s too much, that’s too little. No one with depression and anxiety typically has the mental energy to navigate this information on their own. I help people quiet this noise so that they can focus on the most important things that will move the needle forward on their mental and physical health goals. Most of the time all this nutrition noise is lacking evidence and or lacking a compassionate lens for someone with mental health challenges. When you live with depression, you don’t have time or energy to worry about everyone’s new thoughts, ideas, and takes on nutrition.

Why it matters: This overwhelm can keep people stuck with their nutrition, when they really need to be empowered and supported to take action with their nutrition and health habits.

Action item: Start noticing the amount of nutrition messages you come across throughout your day (billboards, magazine articles, social media messages, news reports, etc.). Instead of giving each of these sources weight in your personal nutrition world, practice doing a little analysis before taking anything too seriously. Ask yourself: Is this person credible to be talking about nutrition information? Is this person well versed in the unique complexities of mental health nutrition? Do I have the bandwidth to find this information out? If any of the answers are no, try shutting down this fear and overwhelm with a simple affirmation like “I’m doing enough.” Know that the proven basics are there for a reason, and that you can always adjust down the road when and if you get more information.

8- Avoiding social settings and missing opportunities for connection around food.

Many people will isolate when they’re struggling mentally which can impact nutrition as they miss out on opportunities to eat meals with other people. Eating with others is a great way to have accountability around your nutrition intake, and it also allows us to connect over food in other social and emotional ways. Food is more than nutrients, it also brings us closer to community, culture, and connection. With the right company, healthy accountability to eat a full meal can be important for people struggling to stay on top of their nutrition during a tough season.

Why it matters: When you avoid social settings due to depression, you also likely miss out on opportunities to eat and connect with others over food.

Action item: Here are a few journal prompts to help you have an honest self reflection: 1) When I am not feeling depressed, how do I typically connect with others with food? 2) When I am feeling depressed, am I able to still participate in these activities? 3) If you said no, is there a gentle way you could recreate this experience when you’re feeling down? (i.e. instead of going out to movies with a group of friends and enjoying popcorn and sweets, could you have one friend over for a movie night where you enjoy fun foods and connection from the comfort of home?)

9- Unexpected weight changes.

Medications for depression and anxiety can cause unexpected weight fluctuations, but unfortunately many people tend to take these body changes personally as a result of their eating habits. Changes in lifestyle habits can also impact your weight, from being more sedentary to eating more energy dense foods, but often there is more to the picture than “calories in vs. calories out”. Since we live in a society that praises weight loss and fears weight gain, many people will consciously or unconsciously start to shift their nutrition habits (i.e. eating less food) in an effort to combat these changes. But this often does more harm than good. Eating less food will likely increase food related mood swings, slow down your metabolism, and increase brain fog and fatigue.

Why it matters: In a world dominated by diet culture and weight stigma, it’s important to acknowledge this topic with compassion and care. People with depression are already vulnerable to low self esteem and low self worth. The added pressure of controlling one’s weight can actually keep people stuck from their ultimate goal of feeling healthy and happy again.

Action item: Intuitive eating can be a great tool and approach if you’re struggling with navigating diet culture, weight changes, and depression at the same time. Opening up your health views to an area that is inclusive of body sizes, and looks at your health beyond your weight, may help build self esteem, self worth, and confidence.

10- Digestive troubles impact your ability to eat a variety of foods.

If you’re used to digestive upset due to emotions and stress, you probably have created a mental list of ‘safe foods’. The gut brain connection is strong, so when emotions and stress rise it’s not uncommon for digestive discomforts to follow. This can include diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, indigestion, intestinal cramps, and more. Some of these digestive challenges can cause further disruption to day to day routines, further impacting your mental health. Additionally, without the proper education and guidance from health professionals, people may start going down the rabbit hole of eliminating unnecessary ingredients and food groups because they fear digestive issues, which can then lead to a nutritionally incomplete diet, increased stress around diet, and distraction from getting to the root of the mental health challenge.

Why it matters: Digestive troubles can have a large impact on your mental and physical health. When food moves too slow or too fast through the digestive tract it impacts proper nutrient absorption. If you limit yourself to eating a small list of foods, you may miss out on a varied diet with proper nutrition.

Action item: Take a look at this article, “How to Calm an Anxious Stomach” from the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, for some simple stress relieving activities. Stress relief not only supports mental health, but it supports physical health too.

Don’t have time to read this now or want to circle back to the action items later? Don’t worry, I’ve got it in PDF format and can send it right to your email!

As you can see there are lots of sneaky ways depression can impact your nutrition. It’s no secret that healthy eating can support strong mental and physical health, but I hope this provides you comfort and validation as to why healthy eating can be so challenging for someone with depression. It’s a complex relationship, but with the right tools I’m confident that you can find a way forward into happier and healthier days.