“Look at me!” wailed Martha, a 40-something realtor. “I used to be able to see my waist. Now I can’t even see my toes.”

Martha had started taking a popular antidepressant about 4 months earlier because her recent divorce had left her unable to shake the depression that followed. “My doctor said I might gain a few pounds but not 20.  I am seriously thinking of stopping the pills. I would rather be sad and slim than happy and fat.”

We assured Martha that she could be slim and happy and that she absolutely should not let her scale tell her whether to stop her medication. “That is something for your physician to decide, not the fact that you cannot get into your favorite pants. But we want to know— why do you think you gained so much weight so quickly?”

Martha described the change in her eating and exercise habits that occurred soon after she started on the antidepressants. She had never experienced a problem in controlling the amount of food she ate and rarely snacked before going on the meds. But as she described it, the antidepressants seemed to abolish her control over eating. She ate large quantities of food at mealtime and found herself nibbling on snacks between meals. “ I even wake up in the middle of the night wanting something to eat. It is like something has invaded my brain that wants to make me fat. Also, I’m much more tired than usual, so the idea of doing exercise, which I used to do regularly, is impossible.”

Unfortunately, Martha’s problem is very common. A quick glance at a list of antidepressant side effects will reveal weight gain somewhere in the middle of the list. Scientists do not know for certain what causes the change in appetite or energy levels.

Still, there is very good news for the millions of people whose appetites spin out of control when they take antidepressant medication. There is an easy way to put the brakes on the uncontrolled eating.  The same chemical or neurotransmitter that is affected by antidepressants is also involved in eating. Serotonin, the mood controlling brain chemical, has another extremely important function, which is to shut off appetite. Antidepressants somehow override this role of serotonin, even though these drugs make serotonin work better to control mood.

As Martha learned, there is an easy way to make serotonin more effective in appetite control. Eat carbohydrates. As we point out in our book The Serotonin Power Diet, nature allows us to boost serotonin power whenever we want just by eating sweet or starchy carbohydrates. When foods like rice, potatoes, pasta, bread or cereals are eaten, changes take place in the body that lead to more serotonin production in the brain. The serotonin surge stops the eating.

Of course, Martha asked the question that everyone asks when learning about carbohydrates and serotonin: “Won’t I gain more weight?”

The answer is absolutely not.

You will eat less at meals, stop nibbling between meals and actually feel more energetic so you will exercise again. All this will come from more serotonin. The only thing you have to remember is the carbohydrates are therapeutic. They must be eaten on a specific schedule, in correct amount, and with as little fat and protein as possible. Protein prevents serotonin from being made and fat just adds unnecessary calories.

“So why does everyone think carbs are bad?” she asked.

“ Probably because they never did any research on the subject,” we replied.  “But our research shows that it works, and it is a natural, and healthy way, to loseweight.”

“ So I can be happy and slim,” she mused. “Knowing that makes me feel thinner already.”

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written by Judith J. Wurtman, January 29, 2008

If you read the article carefully, you will see that I mentioned the very severe side effect of weight gain due to various medications used to treat depression and other mood disorders. I have treated people who have gained up to 125 pounds on these meds and our treatment is focused on halting the eating of carbohydrates. If you are for example eating them with protein, then you will not be able to stop eating them. And if you are eating high fat carbohydrates like pastries, chocolate, icecream, etc.you are consuming excessive calories in the form of fat. But I am very sorry that this has occurred and would like to help you reverse this.

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written by paige, January 28, 2008

i've gained 100 lbs on antidepressants and all i wanted to eat and did eat were carbs.... this research is false