Has anyone tried specific health foods or vitamins for their OCD?

[Guest HeadAboveWater]

I am interested in eating healthier. I have been eating quite healthy for the past two years now but I would like to get more vitamins into my diet... I know that eating a more balanced diet helps with mental and overall health. I was wondering if anyone takes certain supplements, vitamins or eats certain foods to aid in their mental health?

[gingerbreadgirl]

I take omega three which is very important for mental health. Most people are also lacking in vitamin d.

Some people here also take vit b12 which I take occasionally x

[Guest Jiva]

It really depends on what your body needs. I personally need to take magnesium, b vits and iron. if I don't, my body starts 'shaking', my body gets restless, which affects my mental state too. I do agree that omegas are very important, and vit d is needed to combat SAD etc. I recommend having a meeting with a nutrition therapist to find out what you could eat that benefits your health. I am studying nutrition at the moment and I find my health has seriously improved by following advice from my course. mentally I feel 'clearer'.

One advice on food: eat loads of fresh fruit (esp. berries) and eat loads of broccoli: one of the healthiest foods on earth!

[Guest looper]

I recently went for a blood test (because of an on going exhaustion) and the test results found that I was vitamin D deficient, so have been prescribed Vit D supplements (just over the counter ones) but I am hoping that this will go towards helping my OCD. I didn't know any link between OCD and Vit D deficiency until it came up on my blood test and I googled to see if there might be a link.

I also recently started taking a vitamin C powder and also pure omega 3 capsules. I am hoping that a combination of things could help towards better mental health. I am also trying to exercise more.

I would be interested to know anything else that people take, eat in their diet that could help towards a better mental health.

Edited January 27, 2015 by looper

[imhotep79]

I've tried Omega 3 Fish Oil but surprisingly it made my anxiety skyrocket so I stopped it! B vitamin complex has done nothing special for my Ocd/anxiety, while I've found that eating a lot of oranges and fruits with Vitamin C and adding a Vitamin D supplement has really helped my anxiety.

[Guest Jiva]

More and more am I beginning to realise that deficiency of vitamins and minerals bring serious health issued, and more than a few are responsible for our mental health as well. A mineral that is often overlooked is chromium. It helps in regulating blood sugars and against irritability and depression.

Other important nutrients are B vits and folic acid that have a direct effect on your mental state. However, I am off the opinion that a lack of vitamins and minerals in general can trigger mental distress, as your body is trying to overcompensate for lack of essential nutrients, therefore, the body cannot perform its 'normal' task. That surely will have mental effects?

I know that when I get my hypo-like attack due to low blood sugars that beside the usual nausea, excessive sweating and tingling in my body, the actual most unbearable side effect is my overall sense of doom. I get so low and just want to disappear. I don't want to be anymord . I can't stop crying.

So, for me, studying nutrition is not fun, or a job prospect, it is of utter essence. I know I could take antidepressants for the rest of my life, but I would still be missing nutrients. I just need to study. I might never become like 'normal' people, but at least leading a healthy life will get me as close to one as possible!

Edited January 30, 2015 by Jiva

[Guest HeadAboveWater]

So, for me, studying nutrition is not fun, or a job prospect, it is of utter essence. I know I could take antidepressants for the rest of my life, but I would still be missing nutrients. I just need to study. I might never become like 'normal' people, but at least leading a healthy life will get me as close to one as possible!

This is exactly me. I study nutrition and try to find great ways to get all the vitamins and minerals every day. It is interesting how foods and supplements work within our bodies to make our overall health improve (or decrease, depending on our habits). I have been interested in this for awhile but since my OCD blew up in the recent year I have been trying to work on my overall health and nutrition. I have also recently started drinking smoothies and juicing which has great health benefits. I include in my fruit smoothies some, hemp seed and in my green juices, some wheatgrass. I feel like I have more energy and today is the first day in months that my OCD doubt has been easier to deal with. I don't know if it has anything to do with my nutrition changes but I am sure it can't hurt.

Edited January 30, 2015 by HeadAboveWater

[PolarBear]

It would not surprise me to find that a combination of vitamins or essential nutrients was proven to be beneficial for those suffering from OCD or anxiety disorders in general.

[Guest Jiva]

HeadAboveWater, I think I would say that your OCD expression has definitely benefitted from your diet improvement! Your DNA expression can be influenced by eating certain foods. It's like fuelling a machine correctly: it functions and does what it supposed to do. If it doesn't, there is malfunction of deficiency. It's up to us to find out where that error lies and fix it, or at least reduce symptoms caused by these deficiencies. As much as I wish that my body was not so sensitive to everything that happened in and around me, I get hope from the knowledge there are things that I could do to make life easier for me. And I get excited about sharing this knowledge with others in order to improve their lives.

Keep up the good work, keep eating your veggies!

[Guest Gale1982]

Hi all,

Some great ideas on this thread. I'm not too sure what the rules are about posting links, so forgive me if I over step the mark, but please take a look at the following:

http://www.whfoods.com/

I've been learning from this site for a couple of years now. I was getting really frustrated with the plethora of unsubstantiated nutritional advice on the internet. From what I can tell, this is a non profit organisation with a team of researchers working to document the healthiest foods available.

They cover everything you might find at your local supermarket and go into great nutritional detail. Its all backed up with published, scientific research which they cite at the bottom of every page. Best of all, there' a whole list of recipes which are really easy to try.

Personally, I think if you eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly then you shouldn't need to take supplements, unless you have an actual medical problem.

Hope this info helps

[Guest HeadAboveWater]

Thanks to everyone that has been posting here... all the information is quite helpful to me and keeps me motivated to continue this new healthy eating/living pattern.

[taurean]

I use wholemeal foods, walnuts are a superfood for those without nut allergy fruit wholemeal crispbread wheat biscuits and semi-skimmed milk.

Also Omega 3 6 and 9 and a vitamin and mineral supplement.

[taurean]

I did a bit more research.

To add to others here, low fat dairy products contain tryptophan an amino acid that helps form serotonin.As do bedtime snacks with high protein and cabohydrates.

Lots of fresh fruit and veg is good.

herbal tea will help relax.

[Guest Orwell1984]

Omega3, vitaminB6, vitamin D, dark green veg. Water and more water

[Guest itsnotmeitsmyocd]

Thanks so much for that link Gale - right up my street - esp as i am always after more healthy recipes

I have always eaten a good balanced diet - which has not actually made any diff ocd wise to be honest. However when i had low mood (depression) i did start to eat less healthily (microwave meals and less fresh food) and i most certainly did feel much worse. I got back to my normal eating patterns and i did feel much better as a result- more energy.

Vitamin B-12 (Cobalamin) is very important for a variety of reasons, as i am a vegetarian there are not that many sources avail so i now force myself to eat clams which have the highest levels of any natural food source. I have also been forcing myself to eat oily fish - only from sustainable sources. So i should have said former vegetarian actually! It's quite an exposure for me as i always feel so guilty eating these sea creatures - even for days afterwards. I do not actually do this for ocd reasons though, more owing to the fact that i completely believe in eating a healthy balanced diet for overall health benefits.

The china study is an interesting read and there is a doc called Food Matters that is an interesting watch. I eat a mostly plant based diet - you can never have too much green veg & water as orwell said Beware of the raw food movement as certain veg, broccoli for example, do need to be lightly cooked to release their natural vitamins. Steaming is best, don't waist your money buying expensive steamers, buy a metal steamer basket for £3 odd - they are BRILLIANT