Is Depression Really a Chemical Imbalance or Does Gluten Play a Role?

Patients with depression are told they have a chemical imbalance.  If someone else in their family is also

depressed, the “gene card” is played.  “Your depression is genetic”, they are told.

I have been in practice for over 20 years and I find the above data to be false.  Consistently we find patients who are suffering from depression and anxiety to be gluten (and dairy) sensitive.

How could a food cause depression?  Let’s take a look:

After the digestive tract, the most common system to be affected by gluten is the nervous system. It is thought that depression can be caused by gluten in one of two ways. 

First, gluten causes inflammatory changes. The immune system in an individual with glutensensitivity or celiac disease responds in a negative, inflammatory fashion to the protein gliadin.  Unfortunately, that protein is similar in structure to other proteins present in the body, including those of the brain and nerve cells. A cross reactivity can occur whereby the immune system “confuses” proteins in the body for the protein gliadin.  This is called cellular mimicry and the result of this confusion is the body literally attacking it’s own tissues. When inflammation occurs in the brain and nervous system, a variety of symptoms can ensue, including depression.

Research shows us that patients with symptoms involving the nervous system suffer from digestive problems only 13% of the time.  This is significant because mainstream medicine equates gluten sensitivity almost exclusively with digestive complaints, a mistake that causes millions to suffer needlessly.

In a study examining blood flow to the brain, 15 patients with untreated celiac disease were compared to 15 patients treated with a gluten-free diet for a year.  The findings were amazing. In the untreated group, 73% had abnormalities in brain circulation while only 7% in the treated group showed any abnormalities. The patients with the brain circulation problems were frequently suffering from symptoms such as anxiety and depression.

In addition to circulation problems creating symptoms of depression, other research has looked at the association between gluten sensitivity and its interference with protein absorption.  Specifically, the amino acid tryptophan can be deficient. Tryptophan is a protein in the brain responsible for a feeling of well-being and relaxation. A deficiency can be correlated to feelings of depression and anxiety.

Is it worth it to discover if your depression is being causes by something in your diet? Absolutely, in my opinion.

Our society is too willing to accept a “chemical imbalance” as an explanation for their symptoms and instead of getting to the root cause of the condition, simply opt to swallow a pill – a pill that in the case of anti-depressants has very dangerous and sometimes lethal side effects.

The frequency with which we are able to successfully taper patients off their anti-depressants is considered “unbelievable” to many mainstream doctors, yet we do it regularly.  How is that possible?  We actually diagnose the root cause of the depression.  Frequently the culprit is gluten.

I hope you found this informative. If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, consider calling us for a free healthanalysis – 408-733-0400. We are a destination clinic and we treat patients from across the country and internationally. You don’t need to live local to us to receive assistance. We are here to help!

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If you felt as if I was describing you above, you are not alone. As I mentioned earlier, adrenal fatigue/exhaustion is almost epidemic. If you would like assistance and don’t have a clinician whom you feel can assist you, consider contacting us for a FREE Health Analysis. We are a Destination Clinic and treat patients from across the country and internationally. We would be delighted to help you as we have been doing so for over two decades.

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”

Components of a Healthy Diet When Gluten Sensitive

Once you realize gluten is not your friend and you eliminate it from your diet you are likely to feel much improved. That improvement may “flatten” after a time and you’re left feeling not quite as good as you’d hoped.

What to do?

I’ve posted before on the secondary effects of gluten and gone into the need to diagnose the presence of pathogenic organisms, adrenal fatigue, malabsorption, etc. But today I’d simply like to talk about a healthy diet.

All too often once we remove gluten, finding substitutes for all of our most favorite gluten containing foods becomes the highest priority. So you buy the gluten-free pizza crust, brownie mix, crackers, etc. In moderation that’s fine, but we still haven’t answered the question as to what a healthy diet truly is.

Obviously for you it’s not going to contain whole wheat, rye or barley. But what must it contain?

Vegetables and fruits are critical to maintaining good health and something we typical Americans tend to minimize in our diets. Every meal should contain a good amount of these, preferably fresh and organic whenever possible. Organic produce does provide a much higher amount of nutrition than its pesticide-laden counterpart. If you buy seasonal produce from a local grower it will be more affordable than trying to purchase strawberries in December!

The best fruits and vegetables are the ones that are very brightly colored as they provide the highest amounts of anti-oxidants that are protective against heart disease and cancer. Such things as blueberries, raspberries, pomegranate, blackberries, and citrus are very healthy. Vegetables such as peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, onions and garlic are very beneficial.

Oils are also important for their anti-inflammatory, hormone-producing qualities, not to mention being a good source of fat. Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and some organic butter or ghee are all recommended. Coconut oil is nice for high heat cooking as it isn’t altered by the temperature. Olive oil is better when used on a medium heat. Fresh, raw nuts are another good source of fat. Good fat must be consumed in adequate amounts to prevent sugar or simple carbohydrate cravings and to stabilize blood sugar.

Protein is an interesting issue. We consume 6 – 8x more protein than any other country in the world. While protein is critical for growth and repair we could likely decrease our intake somewhat while increasing the quality of what we do eat.

With the chemicals and hormones being fed to our animals (3 million pounds of antibiotics/hormones given to livestock), it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a “clean” source of animal protein.

Fish that are wild or farm raised on good quality feed are available. Eggs from organic farms that enhance the chicken’s feed with fish oil creates an egg that is higher in omega-3 fatty acids.

Of course there’s always the vegetarian option of whole grains (gluten-free of course!), legumes, beans, raw nuts, etc. I must admit to being quite leery of soy. I know it’s a “go-to” protein source but I find many of our patients to react poorly to it. I don’t know if it’s the genetic modification of the bean or what exactly, but I would caution moderation if you do seem to tolerate it. Another note, Dr Gonzalez, from New York who specializes in cancer treatment and gets outstanding results through use of diet, enzyme therapy and more, cautions his patients to “cross the street” if they see a soybean!

Dairy products, based on my most recent research, may very well not be a good idea for any of us. The enzymes that we have available to digest milk (and that’s human milk) stop getting produced after about the age of 3. It is thought that the proteins in cow’s milk are actually damaging to our gut lining, while creating a mucous buildup that prevents the absorption of some vital nutrients.

This theory segues very nicely with some recent research that makes the supposition that in order for gluten to initially create damage in the small intestine, there has to be an initial insult to the gut. Could this initial insult come from dairy? More on that in a future blog.

The toxic burden on our bodies from living in the US is huge as compared to other countries. Our FDA has approved 3,200 food additives to be used in our food while the European union only allows 6 different food additives.

My recommendation is to consume moderate amounts of protein from as clean a source as possible, meaning organic, grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free, etc.

I know that it’s extra work but remember than you can control what you put into your mouth. The other sources of toxins coming our way from air pollution and chemical exposures from industry are more difficult, if not impossible, to avoid. So if you control toxic exposure as much as possible in your food it will help a great deal.

I realize that I am promoting cooking and mostly eating from home. And I also realize that this isn’t the American way. But may I point out that the “American way” is not really working? Witness the statistic of dropping form 11th in the world for life expectancy down to our current ranking of 42nd.

To summarize, clean and pure sources of all food products is what you should be striving for as much as possible. This would entail also eating food that is in its natural state. E.g. a piece of organic fruit vs a fruit roll-up!

Increasing one’s consumption of fruits and vegetables is something we commonly see as needed in our patients. Balancing carbohydrates with good protein and fat in a meal is another good recommendation. If all you ate for a snack was a banana, you’re likely to find yourself “craving” in a couple of hours. Had you balanced that out by eating only half the banana with some raw nuts you likely would have felt much better.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated. Other than some green or white tea, your beverage of choice should be good clean water in the quantity of eight to ten or more 8 oz glasses per day, depending on your weight. (Hint: take you weight, divide it in half and you’ll have the number of ounces of water you should consume each day.)

While we’re all thrilled that Betty Crocker has come out with a line of gluten-free bakery mixes and that other companies have perfected that perfect brownie or cake, don’t fool yourself into thinking they’re good for you. Enjoy them in moderation on special occasions, but don’t make them a daily habit.

I think I could write another book on this topic alone, but until then I hope this helps.

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”