Re: suicide and diet

[Guest guest]

--- Judy <frumpyhead@...> wrote:

> I know that diet problems can cause physical and mental issues. Does

> anyone know if following a diet too high in protein can cause

> something like suicide? My 18 year old nephew spent about a year

> losing weight by reading labels and counting how much protein was in

> everything he ate. The fat content or calories didn't matter to him

> at all, nor the quality of what he was eating, he just wanted to make

> sure most of what he was eating had lots of protein. He loved protein

> bars and they always had plenty on hand for him.

Judy, my first guess would be that he might have been getting too much

soy protein, which is often used in protein bars. He may also have

been deficient in a variety of vitamins and minerals that come from

eating animal foods, but are not found in protein bars.

[Guest guest]

Doesn't soy cause the body to require more B12?

I read this on the Soy Online Service:

" The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human

body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12 "

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/03soymyths.htm

B12 deficiency causes depression, anxiety and mental confusion.

Ann Marie

>

> Judy, my first guess would be that he might have been getting too much

> soy protein, which is often used in protein bars. He may also have

> been deficient in a variety of vitamins and minerals that come from

> eating animal foods, but are not found in protein bars.

[Guest guest]

*On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 4:20 PM, Judy <frumpyhead@...> wrote:

*

>

> * Then a

> week after his 18th birthday he shot himself, completely shocking

> everyone including his friends. I'm kind of just searching for reasons

> and I'm wondering if anyone thinks or has heard that the diet he was

> following might have done something strange to his mind?

>

> Thank you,

> Judy*

>

I'm sorry for your loss, Judy. I can't begin to imagine the shock you've

all suffered in this tragedy.

Sharon

[Guest guest]

Could he have had an underlying eating disorder?

--

Yao

-------------- Original message --------------

From: " Judy " <frumpyhead@...>

Thanks for the information, I suppose he could have been getting huge

amounts of soy protein and that might have caused a b12 deficiency. I

think for breakfast he had edamame occasionally and of course the

protein bars. I know he would eat meat and vegetables when we had

family get togethers, but I don't know for sure how much real food he

ate at home. I just know he had convinced his mom to quit bringing junk

food into the house and he lost all the weight he had wanted to. I sure

have never heard about a problem like this before, and I have been

trying to research it some on the internet and came up with nothing, it

seems like someone might want to study it. I sure wish I had talked to

him about nutrition, but I thought there was time and everyone was so

pleased with him I didn't want him to feel like I was criticising him.

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

There's an increasing amount of research on amino acids linked to bi-polar

and high-doses going a long way toward " treating " bi-polar, as well as

schizophrenia. It would make sense to me that if he was on a form of a

self-limiting diet, which he appeared to be, and wasn't getting enough good

fat, probably suffered from a whacked-out gut, was amino-acid deficient - a

wide range of possible nutritional deficiencies would not be unreasonable.

Serotonin is made in the gut - not the brain, so you are right to be looking

at food....the basis, imo, for depression, anxiety, when it can be linked to

chemical shortfalls. We had a teen-relative visiting last year for an

extended period of time....a 14-yo who self-limited from the age of 3 when

he refused to eat/drink anything except for fruit juice in a " bubba " - a

plastic bottle which is probably safe to assume was loaded with hormone

disrupting chemicals. VERY difficult to watch. I'm of the opinion the

toxins crave toxins, and while his parents were thrilled when he tried even

a bite of my " normal " food, it would cause him to physically react. How

much was psychological or truly physical, I've no idea. Not much of this

probably relates to your nephew, but I can tell you from experience, you'd

probably have just gotten more opposition than appreciation and the end

result would not have changed. Those who are in bondage to processed foods

are very difficult to convince there's real danger. It's an awful price for

his family to have paid.

Sharon

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 12:34 PM, Judy <frumpyhead@...> wrote:

> Thanks for the information, I suppose he could have been getting huge

> amounts of soy protein and that might have caused a b12 deficiency. I

> think for breakfast he had edamame occasionally and of course the

> protein bars. I know he would eat meat and vegetables when we had

> family get togethers, but I don't know for sure how much real food he

> ate at home. I just know he had convinced his mom to quit bringing junk

> food into the house and he lost all the weight he had wanted to. I sure

> have never heard about a problem like this before, and I have been

> trying to research it some on the internet and came up with nothing, it

> seems like someone might want to study it. I sure wish I had talked to

> him about nutrition, but I thought there was time and everyone was so

> pleased with him I didn't want him to feel like I was criticising him.

>

> Thanks.

>

>

>

--

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to

conscience, above all liberties. - Milton, Areopagitica

Deut 11:15 He will put grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will

have plenty to eat.

Check out my blog - www.ericsons.net - Food for the Body and Soul

[Guest guest]

Judy,

Sorry for your loss. That is awful. Do you think there's a possibility

you could have been intuiting right on and nailed the fact that he was

looking for acceptance for just who he was in that moment? I agree

with Sharon that sharing nutritional advice is usually not

appreciated. These are serious, serious addictions when it comes to

the SAD and people get offended. I remember this one girl came to

train with me to get in shape for her wedding and I told her that

pastuerized milk was unhealthy. She never made another appt and it got

back to me that she thought specifically that statement was crazy. I

felt her on that one though even though her reaction was over the top.

Giving up milk was the hardest thing for me and I didn't have access

to raw milk at the time.

On another note, I heard 2nd hand of this one girl who hadn't gone out

for food b/c of her work and only ate can after can of tuna and she

had a mental breakdown shortly after. In her case it sounds like she

became a " mad hatter " of sorts b/c of the mercury buildup. It may

never be known if your nephew was the victim of an acute poisoning

like she was but I really believe the majority of mental disturbances

are a unique equation of mental, spiritual, emotional, physical,

external/internal stresses that will be in different and varying

proportions unique to the sick individual. To know what's making

someone sick is to know them on a very intimate level.

>

> Thanks for the information, I suppose he could have been getting huge

> amounts of soy protein and that might have caused a b12 deficiency. I

> think for breakfast he had edamame occasionally and of course the

> protein bars. I know he would eat meat and vegetables when we had

> family get togethers, but I don't know for sure how much real food he

> ate at home. I just know he had convinced his mom to quit bringing junk

> food into the house and he lost all the weight he had wanted to. I sure

> have never heard about a problem like this before, and I have been

> trying to research it some on the internet and came up with nothing, it

> seems like someone might want to study it. I sure wish I had talked to

> him about nutrition, but I thought there was time and everyone was so

> pleased with him I didn't want him to feel like I was criticising him.

>

> Thanks.

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Judy,

I am sorry to hear about your nephew. There are definitely links

between nutrient deficiencies and mental health and suicide.

Researchers have found lower levels of magnesium in the

cerebral-spinal fluid of suicide victims for instance.

But as someone with a history of mental health problems and nutrient

deficiencies, it also strikes me that his diet change in the last year

may not have been a cause per se as much as a symptom. Some of us who

tend to be obsessive go on strict diets and while we may get thin or

fit, the strictness and obsessive nature of them (for some of us) may

not be a good sign. I know in my case that I have gotten more stable I

actually have a hard time dieting. It seems that in all of my diets,

obsession was a key tool for me. I'm less obsessive in general and now

don't even know how to diet - it's new to me.

Suicide is so final and perhaps people reading your story who have

that tendency will look for help before getting to that stage. It's

easy to think no one will care if you do it because no one cares about

you in the first place (or because life will be easier for others when

you are gone). That's really never true except in a troubled mind.

[Guest guest]

We just lost a dear family friend two weeks ago to suicide as a result of

Crohn's disease. She was in her twenties, and had suffered with it since

she was a young child. I had known her since she was born, and it was

not a shock to us as she had attempted suicide before. When I first read

the title to the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome, I thought, well, that

explains her and half of everyone I know.

So sad. She was the first baby I remember holding . . . .

Desh

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[Guest guest]

> We just lost a dear family friend two weeks ago to suicide as a

result of

> Crohn's disease. She was in her twenties, and had suffered with it

since

> she was a young child. I had known her since she was born, and it was

> not a shock to us as she had attempted suicide before. When I first

read

> the title to the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome, I thought, well,

that

> explains her and half of everyone I know.

>

> So sad. She was the first baby I remember holding . . . .

>

> Desh

Sorry for your loss, Desh. That story is very sad.

Maker's Diet is another one written for all that sort of thing. Too

late for the friend, I know.

[Guest guest]

We just lost a dear family friend two weeks ago to suicide as a result of

advanced Crohn's disease. She was in her twenties, and had suffered with

it since she was a young child- her doctor at the Cleveland Clinic said

she was the worst case he had seen. I had known her since she was born,

and it was not a shock to us as she had attempted suicide before. When I

first read the title to the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome, I thought,

well, that explains her and half of everyone I know.

So, so sad. She was the first baby I remember holding . . . .

Desh

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