What we eat affects our emotions, mood and overall health. Depression has been linked with nutritional deficiencies. Depression is a biological illness and people cannot just snap out of it. Depression can be caused by multiple factors including: genetic, environmental, social and nutritional imbalance. There are many factors that can contribute to biochemical depression.

Biological depression is the insufficient amount or inadequate use of chemicals in our brain called neurotransmitters. The major neurotransmitters involved are serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. People are not depressed because they are weak or feel sorry for themselves. It is a biochemical illness that needs to be treated.

Only a professional can diagnose you with major depression. The general symptoms are: depressed or sad mood, lack of interest in things you used to enjoy, fatigue, feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, sleeplessness or sleeping to much, not eating or eating to much, feelings of worthlessness, shame or guilt and thoughts of death or harming yourself. According to the DSM IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) for mental health professions, if you have four or more of the above symptoms, which have lasted more than two weeks, you may have clinical depression.

If you have had thoughts of harming yourself or someone else get professional help immediately.

Some people with depression may need to be teated with antidepressants and psychotherapy. Some others might just need a dietary change. If you feel depressed, evaluate your diet and talk to a nutritionist.

When you are depressed it is more important than ever to eat an adequate diet. Eating junk food or fad dieting can make your symptoms worse. Fad diets why they are bad are because they do not contain adequate nutritonal needs and may lead to deficiencies and illness. Fad diets also may leave you feeling down and listless from the diet and from the fact that it did not work. Your mood ends up crashing at the end of a fad diet.

You need to provide enough nutrients for your body to produce enough energy to fight your depression. There are dietary ways to change the chemicals in your brain.

The deficiency in B Complex Vitamins has shown to influence depression. You should be able to get most of your B vitamins by eating a proper diet. Foods that help contribute Vitamin B Complex in your diet include: milk products, fresh vegetables, eggs, meat, and poultry.

Vitamin B12 also indicated in depression is hard to get from our regular diet. This vitamin comes from plant food like seaweed, organic food or tempeh. B12can be supplemented by injection, by a pill or by a patch. Other B supplements are available as well. Large dosages of Vitamin B supplements have been use successfully to treat depression.

The other culprit that can lead to depression is Omega 3 fatty acids. Most of us do not get enough of these and one reason is because we do not all have access to fresh fish. Omega 3 fatty acids come from cold water fish, not seafood, tuna, salmon, flaxseed oil, walnuts, sesame seeds and fish oils. Large dosages of Omega 3 fatty acids have been used successfully to treat depression.

Magnesium deficiency has been linked with depression symptoms and many physical ailments. Magnesium supplements are available. A multivitamin does not contain enough magnesium for your daily diet and it is difficult to get the amount we need from food. A few foods that contain magnesium are Brazil nuts, bran, halibut, spinach and almonds. Treatment with magnesium could be your depression cure.

Selenium and zinc deficiencies have been shown to affect mood. A multivitamin can supply the amount needed for health. A well balance diet can meet selenium and zinc requirements.

There are other nutritional, mineral and essential nutrients that factor in with depression. Some of these include vitamins C, vitamin D and potassium.

It is possible that your depression could be related to your diet. Evaluate your diet and seek advice from your doctor or nutritionist. Most importantly, maintain a healthy well balanced diet and include exercise in your lifestyle. Exercise helps in the treatment of depression. It releases the feel good brain chemicals. If your depression does not lift with dietary changes or exercise alone, seek professional psychiatric help.