I don't post much on YT but this video was incredible. I've used climbing as a way to cope with my feelings of depression and self-hatred and so much of what you discussed resonated with me. Thank you for all you do for the climbing community and the general public that is fortunate to stumble upon your messages.
A very honourable and brave thing this, Dave. I lost a good friend and climbing partner through depression, who never talked about what he was going through until it was too late. Thank you for helping in the effort to normalize it
When I was 46 I had a totally debilitating anxiety breakdown completely out of the blue. About 10 years ago, when 55 I was almost suicidal. Then, when looking into how diet may help, I cut out most carbs such bread, cereals and pasta I very quickly felt much better. As a result of cutting carbs I ate more of other things. I started on keto. I ignored the advice on saturated fat and, instead, loaded up on it. I actually felt like I was ageing backwards! It was a shockingly positive change. For years now, I have been about 90% carnivore. I eat almost no plants now. I will never go back. I'm now 65 and feel very good. Of course, over all that time other aspects of my life have changed too. Many things influence mood. I am 100% certain that diet is fundamental though. Perhaps, as with alcohol, we can deal with toxins to some extent when young, but they catch up with us over time then need to be avoided.
As a climber suffering with depression I found just hearing about your struggles eye-opening. Makes me feel like I am not alone, which is how I have felt for many years as people don’t really talk about it. Thanks for sharing your story dave. Interesting to hear diet helped with your mood.
Awesome video. As a physician myself, I'm always impressed by your ability to investigate in the primary literature, and to effectively share what you learn.
I share your experience about being met with scepticism by medical/psych proffesionals who thinks functionality disproves depression. I understand that in a mental healthcare system pressed for resources, some system of priority needs to be in place, but being told your thoughts aren't that severe because you have written a book or - in my case - am working on a PhD, leaves out a lot of scary complexity. Glad you're doing well now. I am too!
I've watched your videos for years but this one slipped me by. For such an extreme elite sportsperson this video was one of the most intense of yours I've watched.
This is a brilliant vlog Dave, revealing, personal, courageous, informative - thank you very much for sharing. A fascinating balance of personal experiences and scientific data forged through experiments in real world living. I hope this gets the views and exposure it deserves. A gift.
I've literally gotten back into climbing as an attempt to climb out of my own experience with depression. Can't say that it's worked yet, but it's something to do in the dark times. Thanks for speaking out about this Dave.
@@highvoltageboys Still here! UA-cam doesn't always alert me to messages. To be honest, I barely remember leaving this comment, so it was a bit of surprise to see this now. As for the depression... I'm working at it. Life is still hard and 2020 hasn't helped with that. No climbing at the moment. Still, it's surprising and encouraging to see that someone has responded to my initial post. Thanks @MrRellim94.
24 days on the carnivore diet and my depression is almost gone. 27 years and I've tried everything ! Even the jungle in Peru doing ayahuasca for weeks. My psoriasis is complete gone. Zero pain in any joints ! It honestly feels like damage in my brain is being reversed. I would cry if I could but I'm feeling to good to cry. All I have to say is WTF . Give it a shot.
Incredibly valuable message in this video, although I'm even more impressed by how eloquently you're able to express your views on these complex issues. Huge fan of everything you do.
hearing you speak these considered words with such openness and humility was really touching. climbing is also my salve for the soul and a lot of this resonated with me. thanks.
Dave you are someone I really look up to, thank you so much for making this video, it's the last thing I expected to see from you but something that is frustratingly personally relevant and something that needs to be more readily talked about. Thanks for speaking up from within the climbing community. You are the bees knees.
Respect for being so honest and open about something so personal! It's very brave to show yourself in such a "vulnerable" way, my hat is off to you sir.
Hey Dave, I appreciate that this is a bit of an older video now but I resonate with it beyond belief. Similar to you I've struggled with depression since my mid-teens, I'm now 36 and I'm still not wholly free of it, but I'm working on it with a much more acute awareness of when I feel myself slipping. Like yourself, I couldn't blame my life from the outside. I was competing martial arts at world championship level, I raced motocross at national championship level (although I fractured two vertebrae in my neck doing this), I competed strongman (which I herniated two lumbar discs doing a 300kg deadlift) and played rugby at amateur level but very competitively. I was working and progressing with engineering. But I never felt completely okay. But the most noticeable change for me was when I was competing strongman. Within that world there's a strong movement of anabolic steroid use, which I was part of. I used them heavily in 16 week cycles. This had a profound effect on my mental health, almost to a bi-polar level. Anyway, 5 years on from when I was competing strongman and using steroids, I'm far from perfect but I'm on the right path. I also changed to a ketogenic diet, changed my training regimen to include a great deal more cardio, eventually getting up to running 5k, 3 times per week. But ultimately to make a more drastic improvement to my mental health I've been using Sertraline prescribed by my GP. That said, my love of the outdoors, mountain hiking, lowland walking including different forms of photography. In the last couple of years I've taken hiking into scrambling and I've been learning to advance scramble/mountaineer and trad climb, strangely enough which led me to your UA-cam channel. I feel like I'm on the right path in the right place. Although I'm still heavier than majority of the climbing community, my strength carryover from previous sports seems to be allowing me to move up rock fairly well. Ever improving. Thank you for making such a candid and honest video though, it's a hard thing to put into words sometimes. You have to have a good level of self awareness to be able to notice these things within yourself. Love your work. All the best, Gareth.
Thank you Dave, I have been suffering for roughly the same time, even throughout my career in the Army. It has definitely become considerably worse since being medically discharged and losing the ability to run and play sports competitively. I have found climbing since and it has helped with my mental state but not got me out of the hole and fog. I will look to make similar changes and thank you for talking about this so openly. To say you have had depression for more than 2 decades people look at you funny but hearing your story was uplifting to say the least. Knowing there is potentially a way out that isn't drastic and devastating
I like your braw Scots accent, Dave. My mother was from Dunbar & was raised in Edinburgh. Dad was an American and he was in the Air Force stationed in Scotland.
Excellent video again Dave. I started the diet a month ago and am starting to notice the difference. I feel it is the reduced carbs,plus as you mention the benefits brought about by what is in the food contained within the diet.
I just started watching your climbing videos and was so glad I stopped to watch this one. I lost a brother to depression and am still trying to understand depression for my own benefit and so I can help others. Thank you for sharing your experience in a very thoughtful way on a very complex subject. Keep climbing!
I've been feeling signs of depression from a very young age and can relate to so many points in the first half of this video. I have struggled through this during my development as an adult (currently in my early 20's) and similarly have never taken steps to combat it or talk about it. I have been doing things like skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, climbing, playing guitar, etc. at a high level my whole life and similarly use those things to self-medicate. Although these things pull you away from depression momentarily, it still feels consistently present in the grand scheme of things. Videos like this are starting to help motivate me to talk about and do something about these feelings despite having all of the positive things that I have and have had in life. Even though on the outside you may look like a solid person who's doing well, things you don't understand about what's going on in your brain/body can choke out that feeling. Thanks, Dave for sharing your story! I'll promise that it will have an impact on me since before this video I've never had anyone to relate to about this stuff.
Really glad I clicked on your video. 32 right now, I recently started climbing, wanted to lose weight, but mainly to try and get out of my continuous small depression, which I carried around for quite a while. I am aware that there never is a guarantee for success, but nice to see, that at least one person managed to succeed with climbing :) Keep it up (landscapes in the vids are gorgeous, btw!)
He's given me hope that an older climber(I'm 39) can actually progress(I've been climbing 2 years). Without his inspiration I think I would have quit at my 6b plateau.
This video (along with others around the carnivore diet) inspired me to change my diet. As someone who has suffered from severe depression for about 20 years, it gave me something like a 10-20% reduction in depressive symptoms.
Thank you for sharing this Dave. I have had a similar experience with a very positive change in my disposition from changing my diet. For me it was including more non-meat protein like lentils and beans and more green vegetables and fruit that seems to help me the most, especially in terms of digestion. I do eat meat regularly still. However diet was just a fraction of the things I needed to change, and for me what's made an even larger difference to improve my depression has been implementing a large amount of stretching and self-massaging, and generally making my body fit together well. I've noticed my anxiety is highly linked to the tension within my body, and I've slowly reduced it over time. Also breathing well. As an athlete your body condition hasn't been your issue, so fixing your diet may have been the final piece of the puzzle for you. It's key no matter who you are so thanks for highlighting its importance. Also what you said about succeeding in the face of depression and that making you stronger, I definitely agree.
Thank you so much for sharing this Dave! I would never have guessed you previously had depression. I dealt with it from age 8 to 21 and struggled with obesity that whole time as well. When I was 21, I made huge personal changes and lost 100 pounds in a year. Eating healthy and exercising regularly helped end my depression during that period and it's been 6 years now with no recurring episodes. Losing the weight allowed me to rekindle my love for the outdoors and eventually discover rock climbing, which has give me so much joy and personal satisfaction since I started 4 years ago.
Ah man I can't believe I've only just seen this particular video. Talk about the right time!!! I always knew there was something about you that I connected with but didn't realise what it was until now. Man your videos are so good they inspire me to do similar ❤
Dave, the way you describe your depression sounds so like what I live with day to day. I'm trying to make some positive lifestyle changes at the moment and I hope they can help me get to where you are. Thanks for this vlog
Dave, thank you so much. This has helped me with my own struggle with PTSD, weight management and depression. I feel like I was on the brink of discovering some of these insights myself, so thank you for the final push a lot of it makes sense.
Wow , you seriously went from depression? I am 3 rd day Keto, doing it not to take medications which were subscribed to me for depression , haven’t taken any in tree years, need to give a try to Keto , in how many weeks you expirienced that you are free from depression? And how long did Keto flu last cause I feel awful now, I am a carb addict
It's crazy I've never seen this video before, but my life very much parallels your own in terms of symptoms throughout your life. I'm 33 and am going to see a psychiatrist, however climbing has regulated by mood over the past couple of months. I can't eat fish either, and I'll be looking into taking up keto for a month to see if it works for me. Thanks for sharing Dave.
Thanks for this video more than any other. I have been grappling with my worst depressive episode for these past two months and recently thought I had come back to a more manageable state. However, I noticed these major emotional spikes, and was concerned I was fooling myself with wishful thinking and a return to appropriate training and diet and being open with my social circle. Once you said the same, I had to smile. Was exactly what I needed to hear.
Thank you Dave. My family has similar historical struggles with mental illness, and I can relate to much of what you've said here. Sensitive and honest testimony.
I may not be able to get in on the altitude class yet, but I can enjoy this and your other content till I can.. Loved hearing your story. I have been in 20+ years of depression, just about my whole life. When I found climbing it was a life changer for 2010 to 2020, my depression was on the down; then when the quarantine happened I stopped climbing al together, the depression came back 10 fold and my (pre existing)epilepsy took a turn for the worse, I was more depressed than I had ever gotten previously, never sought sui**de, but lots of hope to never waking up.. I got back into climbing in January 2024.. I'm doing better, but its a slow process. I have a half baked training plan to hopefully send v10 by the end of the year.
Even though my path to get rid of dystymia with periodic clinical depression was different, the final conclusion is exactly the same. The non sexy answer was the diet. I called it almost-keto. No bread, noodles, sugar of any form. And lots of veggies with B9. After 20 years this black hole was gone. But I'm not only writing to validate your conclusions. I'm also writing that what you said at the beginning is also hyper important. I was unfortunately the person who took all those pills and more. More than 15 types of meds. Some worked a bit but as an active individual I suffered horrible side effects. And NONE out of 4 psychiatrists even ones tested me if I'm simply healthy. Never told about diet. Pills were the answer. So I salute you. I feel your pain. And I absolutely know what you've been through. And PLEASE continue talking about it.
Hi Dave, Thank you for your contributions - really open and informative and with lots of substance. Down to the matter at hand: I could confidently say that I had/have similar issue and only in my late 30's (I am 44 now) and I managed to find successful coping mechanisms that involved, basically, being able to identify early the onset of a depressive episode and get ahead of it, usually with becoming immersed into activity/projects. However, a year and a few months ago (during a three months recovery following an accident) I made a decision of removing meat (including fish) from my diet. The reasons were very impulsive and sentimental and I did promise to myself that if I crave meat (I was a great lover of beef steaks) I will not deny myself that. I will just take it a day at a time. Over a year now I did not crave meat and I noticed a few things: - I sleep much better and feel much more rested in the morning - I feel lighter - I feel like I recover better after effort - I seem (!) to have better endurance - I had no occurrence of depressive onset so far which is quite impressive to me I did and do have an active lifestyle (well, not now as I am in home confinement) since I work as mountain guide; I never had a planned or researched diet - not before, not now. I always ate what I felt like eating as I believed that my body is smarter than whatever charts I could devise. Even now, since I switched to a vegetarian diet, I still do not plan meals nor do I take supplements. Also I'm not disciplined enough to follow a food plan... which is also probably a big factor. I eat what is available at hand and what I crave. I do not obsess over food but I do not eat meat or fish (nor crave it) and not so much milk either though I do not shy away from dairy products especially if the food is normally cooked with sour-cream or cheese. Occasionally, for a lazy breakfast, I eat eggs; or I eat dishes that would use eggs. Now, I followed your vlog on the plant based diet and by all means it is researched and a really informative piece; No qualms about your conclusions. I also do take your point about vegan diet as well. However my change in diet (not researched, just instinctive) has produced similar results if one is to take the measure being how one "feels". Will I stay on it? As long as i feel good, I will. Will I eat meat? If one day I will crave it I won't deny myself that. However so far I feel much better physically and mentally this way. Go figure...
I'm really glad this has worked for you. I have no physiological explanation why positive changes in symptoms would be related to removing meat. The only ideas I might have that could explain your results are either that if you ate more eggs (which have some important nutrients for brain health such as choline), or you ate less of something else that came along with your meat (such as frying it in Linoleic acid rich oils or consuming it with a lot of refined carbs. Whatever the explanation, I'm glad you are doing well.
Inspiring, heart warming, informative! After reading a few referred papers, it confuses me that many vegetables can have a high antidepressant "food score" (ref #1), yet inspire other researchers to conclude that men living on a vegetarian diet more often feel depressed as opposed to those who do not (ref #11). As a depressed male climber who is inspired by your video to make a change - these contradictory findings make it difficult to decide on what change would be best...
Thank you for sharing this. I especially appreciate your evidence-based approach and disclaimers as to being sceptical of anecdotal evidence, while still instilling hope that there might be tools right under one's nose and giving inspiration to try. I will share this insightful video with some friends that might find it helpful. Also, congratulations on your amazing jouney. I'm happy for you.
Great video as always Dave. It takes courage to admit one suffered depression, I struggled with that acceptance and ultimately admitting it to others for a long time. It takes even more guts to post something like this with the sole goal of hoping to help others. The diet aspect is really interesting. I had a similar experience trying a LCHF diet and ended up with higher anxiety in the end. Listening to you has perked my interest again but this time a bit more research will be done. It’s always reassuring to know you are not the only one. 🙏
I def. agree, that nutrition is the key with depression. very sad, that the most doctors dont tell you that, or maybe they dont even know. Thanks for the video!
Great story! You said you’re not sure if it was the change of eating but speaking from my own experience and countless of other UA-cam testimonies. It sounds exactly what we feel. Noticeable improvements immediately within weeks, for me it’s that severe for me with my health and my mood I feel better each day that passes if I stick to the small amount of food I can eat. (I don’t do Keto, I have my own restrictive diet) And like you said, it’s amazing, you still feel pain but it’s not that darkness and intense feeling that’s lingers on. I call it a more balanced feeling, you feel pain but not in hopeless or obsessive way.
thank you. Ive felt really in the thick of it and are aware that food contributes quite a bit. I think lowering my carb intake would be a worthwhile experiment
That is one spectacularly beautiful rock - I am not a climber but I love looking at all things geological and greatly appreciate your nutrition content. Thank you
I notice that I easily reject any ideas (or ideas of attempting) of diet, exercise or sleep adjustments helping with any major affliction. Almost like I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for "wasting" so much time battling an issue when I could have done something so simple to fix it. So I have to be conscious of not thinking that only hardcore medication or extended therapy can fix an issue. But in the other hand not becoming too ideologically invested in any pseusoscience in seeking a miracle cure. Doesn't help that fixing diet, exercise and sleep are the first things doctors think they should recommend, but often don't heavily push it on the patient because they know that most people are just there for a quick med fix and aren't ready to make big life changes. And so they feed that want for quick fixes and it becomes a cycle
Thank you for an important and helpful message. For me this is a good remember to continue my own fight and look deeper into the physical part of it. All of your videos are informational and inspiring, this one hit close to home.
Thank you for sharing, Dave. For me (again anecdotal), I experience profound dysphoria if I eat high carbohydrate food and I know exactly why. It hits me like a sledgehammer within minutes. I have a condition which causes lower than normal blood volume, and I found out I have autonomic nervous system dysfunction. This is the part of the nervous system which controls blood pressure, digestion, heart rate and other non-voluntary bodily functions. When we eat, especially high carbohydrate food, blood is preferentially sent to the gut to digest. So much so that when there is dysfunction in this response, the brain is somewhat starved for an hour or two. Enough that the brain reacts with dysphoria. If I continue to eat carbs, the dysphoria becomes more and more permanent. I have found boosting my blood volume every morning with electrolytes to help greatly, but it's not a permanent fix. I was gradually "forced" towards a very low carbohydrate diet (no starches or sugars, leafy greens only). I just felt better that way. Every time I would try to go back to carbs, it would hit me in minutes, and I hated it. I miss carbs but I want to be happy. I found a very low carbohydrate diet (keto with leafy fiber rich greens) to be a happy middle ground from a nutritional, digestive and mental health viewpoint. I hope this information can help other seek better health through safe dietary interventions. Of course, with the consultation of a nutritionist to make sure you're still getting everything you need.
Thanks for sharing Dave. Keto has been shown to help some neurological problems like epilepsy as well. I was struggling with pressure headache and cerebral inflammation for about 5 years and becoming extremely mindful of carbs, sugar, and wheat seems to have made a big difference
Hi Dave, This is a wonderful vlog and I'm so glad to hear that you were able to finally find some results to help your depression. I think you hit the nail on the head that depression can often be the fuel for many outwardly perceived successes in life, as they can be developed as coping and avoidance methods for depression. I'm a clinical psychologist in the US and one thing that stands out from your vlog to me is the absence of you mentioning talk psychotherapy. Granted, their may be a cultural divide here of the atmosphere around mental health in Scotland of which I'm not aware, but it sounds as if your doctors quickly saw medication as the only go-to option, as many general practitioners in the US also do unfortunately. But it does leave my curious if you ever had thoughts of going down that route?
As a psychiatrist in the US, I would tend to agree that meds are, unfortunately, often considered exclusively in western medicine. Psychotherapy is an extremely helpful, and generally low risk, approach to treating all manner of mental health challenges, including depression.
Hi Mike. Thanks. Actually my doctor was in agreement with my reluctance to opt for medication at first presentation, although they said they would prescribe it if I specifically asked for it. Their preferred first option was CBT and suggested I try this on my own since the waiting list for professional sessions was well over 1 year. I have a close relative studying psychotherapy now and hopefully will learn about it in greater detail. It's not needed for me now thankfully.
Thank you for sharing about your long experience with depression and what you've done to overcome it. If anyone reading these comments are looking to hear more about the science behind Dave's approach, you can also find tons of info at the following youtube channels; high intensity health or/& low carb down under. I too have had a profound change in my mental & physical well being while following the same lifestyle & food changes.
I don't know if your opinion has changed over the years, but I can speculate the mechanism for this feeling (I've had a similar experience on keto/ low carb, [life changing and anecdotally verifiable through diet switching]). Based on the work of Chris Palmer, I subscribe to the idea that mitochondrial function in the brain is restored in absence of glucose when mitochondria switch to running on ketones. It could just also just be a lack of inflammation, or both. Either way, I always come back to low carb, because it is a night and day difference. I think post workout carb loading is even out of the question for me these days, which tends to push me towards mild depression. Fasting is a great way to jumpstart any ketogenic transition and boost metabolic health.
I have dealt with depression for a long time. In my youth I didn't know what it was because there were hundreds of different emotions and thoughts running through my mind; the closest I got to suicide back then was to drink a couple of bottles of beer and solo the sea cliffs around Dover Heights in Sydney Australia - looks like the climbing brought my mind back to a better state (i.e. I'm still here). The next time was about 14 years ago when an anti smoking drug Cham*ix sent my mind down so deep, and gave me a chronic headache for over a year. Anti depressants only made it worse. At this time I remember from a Japanese documentary (I live in Japan) about the war where many soldiers committed suicide when they were 'lost' in the jungle, because it was and escape from the hell they were in (they were not even actively fighting); I idealized cutting my neck and feeling the relief from the pain in my head, the ecstatic feeling was so intense (much stronger that any orgasm) that it is a wonder I am still here. For me, finding the Carnivore diet is what 'cured' me, we are talking 3 months to total recovery. The worst thing is, that is before the Cham*ix episode, I was a high octane feign who ate anything and everything, never got tired and excelled at work (Electronics Engineering), and now I'm just a normal+ Joe, but at least no more depression. As Dave says, all he has to say is highly individual and may not apply to you, but for me, i can tell you, just eating beef and drinking water, turned me around; I'm climbing al Summer and Snowboarding all Winter, work is also fun again.
Very interesting video, thank you. I can‘t say that I‘ve gone down the route of any specific diet… but I cut out refined sugar and anything highly processed (alcohol was never an issue to me but I stayed away from that too). At first, it was hard because I had ridiculous chocolate/ sugar cravings. But I stuck with it and now, over a year later, I haven‘t had any more joint pain or depressive episodes and my hormones are also much more stable. I had also started with some mild IBS symptoms before making the change in my diet and all of those stopped instantly. I wonder how many people suffer from some of these issues who need to just change their diet rather than being on long term medications!
So carefully said and put. I have the same resolve off and on with the diet from asthma so i can totally understand that this weighs in. After 34 years of constantly pumping twice a day. Running and living without an inhaler!!! It is really astonishing how many things a ketogenic diet can lift. I just fell off the wagon though, too high stress levels being in and out of the diet. So for all, it is a drastic lifestyle change! No sugar when you feel stressed, not motivated or down is not always easy although the craving for it goes away mostly, especially if you have a toddler around and lots of things. And there is shallow sleep in the transition and gut issues most people are scared off from and as mentioned bad press and headlines.
It was just my frustrated me. I could not talk myself out of it, i just keep on coming back to eat this way (low carb). Falling off teaches me how this is actually (and probably because i am not a 100 percent sure yet) my health's safe haven. All my blood work phenomenally improved, my asthma hardly there, no arthritis in the fingers and in the big toe. How could this be not the way for me. But there is that little nagger in my head, that collects frantically everything that is not so optimal. Mostly connected to stress levels, patience and power for my daughter, motivation, happiness and sleep. There is a small shift in my personality and something very energetically positive i seem to miss. Although i do not know if that is really the case, i am also quite happy when i eat low carb. So i have to admit i am still in doubt, maybe i always will be. Sleeping through the night actually improved on the ketogenic diet, but sometimes it is a little shallower and with sugar at first that improves. I will just keep on swinging, mostly hanging out quite low carb and figure this stuff out for me. But at all finding low carb, the science behind it, i consider it a lottery win, i just always tend to exhaust myself between the options no matter what it is about 😆
Thanks for this vlog, very helpful and inspiring. It convinced my wife and I to try Keto and after a couple of months the results have been impressive in terms of mood and energy levels (especially in the evenings).
Feeling uninvolved in community ,having family and friends absent or disinterested, lack of employment or being in an insecure job, living in a stoic British straight jacket, all are factors in depression.
paul mitchell couldn’t agree more ..........all of the above have affected me in the past and after only 2 years of bouldering in and outdoor and meeting a plethora of positive people,my girlfriend and I ( at the ripe old age of 42) have decided to “fuck off” to Mallorca and try a new life in the sun! Bring on the psycobloc 🧗♂️💪🏻
Dave, thanks for the great information. I've been suffering from depression for most of my life, even with medication, and I decided to take a shot at the Ketogenic diet to see what would happen after watching this video. My depression cleared up. I've relaxed the diet a bit by adding beans back in and I'm still doing fine after several weeks. It's night and day. After doing some reading I'm not sure if it's thanks to the Ketogenic diet, especially since I'm not following it strictly anymore but I still seem to be getting the benefits that you described. I've done some reading and I think that it might have more to do with having low levels of the amino acids Tyrosine and Phenylalanine, which are generally boosted by eating animal protein, eggs, avocados, etc., and are the precursors for Dopamine. Thank you for the great post, and good luck with your climbing.
Dave, your service to the climbing community continues to be nonpareil. Thank you.
waw, didn't know 'nonpareil' was used in English! Félicitations.
I don't post much on YT but this video was incredible. I've used climbing as a way to cope with my feelings of depression and self-hatred and so much of what you discussed resonated with me. Thank you for all you do for the climbing community and the general public that is fortunate to stumble upon your messages.
Giving on so many levels. Thanks dude.
Dave. I don't want to go into why I want to say thank you for uploading this video. But thank you man.
A very honourable and brave thing this, Dave. I lost a good friend and climbing partner through depression, who never talked about what he was going through until it was too late. Thank you for helping in the effort to normalize it
When I was 46 I had a totally debilitating anxiety breakdown completely out of the blue. About 10 years ago, when 55 I was almost suicidal. Then, when looking into how diet may help, I cut out most carbs such bread, cereals and pasta I very quickly felt much better. As a result of cutting carbs I ate more of other things. I started on keto. I ignored the advice on saturated fat and, instead, loaded up on it. I actually felt like I was ageing backwards! It was a shockingly positive change. For years now, I have been about 90% carnivore. I eat almost no plants now. I will never go back. I'm now 65 and feel very good. Of course, over all that time other aspects of my life have changed too. Many things influence mood. I am 100% certain that diet is fundamental though. Perhaps, as with alcohol, we can deal with toxins to some extent when young, but they catch up with us over time then need to be avoided.
yup same here
When you said you made drastic lifestyle changes I knew where this would go (:
Thanks for sharing Dave!
As a climber suffering with depression I found just hearing about your struggles eye-opening. Makes me feel like I am not alone, which is how I have felt for many years as people don’t really talk about it. Thanks for sharing your story dave. Interesting to hear diet helped with your mood.
Awesome video. As a physician myself, I'm always impressed by your ability to investigate in the primary literature, and to effectively share what you learn.
I was about to send this to you!
@@Aldroid0 haha. yeah man. Dave knows what's up.
I share your experience about being met with scepticism by medical/psych proffesionals who thinks functionality disproves depression. I understand that in a mental healthcare system pressed for resources, some system of priority needs to be in place, but being told your thoughts aren't that severe because you have written a book or - in my case - am working on a PhD, leaves out a lot of scary complexity.
Glad you're doing well now. I am too!
I've watched your videos for years but this one slipped me by. For such an extreme elite sportsperson this video was one of the most intense of yours I've watched.
Your videos are always educational, "real", down to earth, non-salesy, no bombastic false promises, etc. Just a note from another appreciative viewer.
This is a brilliant vlog Dave, revealing, personal, courageous, informative - thank you very much for sharing. A fascinating balance of personal experiences and scientific data forged through experiments in real world living. I hope this gets the views and exposure it deserves. A gift.
I've literally gotten back into climbing as an attempt to climb out of my own experience with depression. Can't say that it's worked yet, but it's something to do in the dark times. Thanks for speaking out about this Dave.
Hows the climbing been going man? Still at it?
@@MrRellim94 uh-oh
Adam Smith uh ohhhhhh 😨
@@highvoltageboys Still here! UA-cam doesn't always alert me to messages. To be honest, I barely remember leaving this comment, so it was a bit of surprise to see this now.
As for the depression... I'm working at it. Life is still hard and 2020 hasn't helped with that. No climbing at the moment. Still, it's surprising and encouraging to see that someone has responded to my initial post. Thanks @MrRellim94.
@@MrRellim94 Missed your comment months back. Thanks for the question. I'm still working at it. Someday maybe it'll be better.
24 days on the carnivore diet and my depression is almost gone. 27 years and I've tried everything ! Even the jungle in Peru doing ayahuasca for weeks. My psoriasis is complete gone. Zero pain in any joints ! It honestly feels like damage in my brain is being reversed. I would cry if I could but I'm feeling to good to cry. All I have to say is WTF . Give it a shot.
damage in your brain, what u mean with that?
How are you now?
Update please
Happy for you, thanks for sharing!
Did you implement high fat carnivore (ie. 80:20) or straight carnivore?
Incredibly valuable message in this video, although I'm even more impressed by how eloquently you're able to express your views on these complex issues. Huge fan of everything you do.
hearing you speak these considered words with such openness and humility was really touching. climbing is also my salve for the soul and a lot of this resonated with me. thanks.
Thanks for being open and contributing to the discussion here Dave. All the best
Thank you for posting this, Dave. This means the world to me, and gives me hope.
Dave you are someone I really look up to, thank you so much for making this video, it's the last thing I expected to see from you but something that is frustratingly personally relevant and something that needs to be more readily talked about. Thanks for speaking up from within the climbing community. You are the bees knees.
Respect for being so honest and open about something so personal!
It's very brave to show yourself in such a "vulnerable" way, my hat is off to you sir.
Hey Dave, I appreciate that this is a bit of an older video now but I resonate with it beyond belief.
Similar to you I've struggled with depression since my mid-teens, I'm now 36 and I'm still not wholly free of it, but I'm working on it with a much more acute awareness of when I feel myself slipping.
Like yourself, I couldn't blame my life from the outside. I was competing martial arts at world championship level, I raced motocross at national championship level (although I fractured two vertebrae in my neck doing this), I competed strongman (which I herniated two lumbar discs doing a 300kg deadlift) and played rugby at amateur level but very competitively. I was working and progressing with engineering. But I never felt completely okay. But the most noticeable change for me was when I was competing strongman. Within that world there's a strong movement of anabolic steroid use, which I was part of. I used them heavily in 16 week cycles. This had a profound effect on my mental health, almost to a bi-polar level. Anyway, 5 years on from when I was competing strongman and using steroids, I'm far from perfect but I'm on the right path.
I also changed to a ketogenic diet, changed my training regimen to include a great deal more cardio, eventually getting up to running 5k, 3 times per week. But ultimately to make a more drastic improvement to my mental health I've been using Sertraline prescribed by my GP. That said, my love of the outdoors, mountain hiking, lowland walking including different forms of photography. In the last couple of years I've taken hiking into scrambling and I've been learning to advance scramble/mountaineer and trad climb, strangely enough which led me to your UA-cam channel. I feel like I'm on the right path in the right place. Although I'm still heavier than majority of the climbing community, my strength carryover from previous sports seems to be allowing me to move up rock fairly well. Ever improving.
Thank you for making such a candid and honest video though, it's a hard thing to put into words sometimes. You have to have a good level of self awareness to be able to notice these things within yourself.
Love your work.
All the best,
Gareth.
mad respect for going into these waters Dave, very interesting - definitely rewatching this a few times and trying some of it.
.A true inspiration and certainly not an easy thing to come out and share so honestly. Thank you!
Thank you very much Dave. This is gold on so many levels.
This has been my favorite vlog episode so far. I always look forward to your content - amazing stuff Dave.
Thank you Dave, I have been suffering for roughly the same time, even throughout my career in the Army. It has definitely become considerably worse since being medically discharged and losing the ability to run and play sports competitively. I have found climbing since and it has helped with my mental state but not got me out of the hole and fog. I will look to make similar changes and thank you for talking about this so openly. To say you have had depression for more than 2 decades people look at you funny but hearing your story was uplifting to say the least. Knowing there is potentially a way out that isn't drastic and devastating
Thanks for sharing your story and interesting, scientifically grounded, speculations on diet and it's role.
I like your braw Scots accent, Dave. My mother was from Dunbar & was raised in Edinburgh. Dad was an American and he was in the Air Force stationed in Scotland.
lol. I used to live in Dunbar
Dave you are slowly and surely becoming my favourite source of climbing knowledge and knowledge in general.
Excellent video again Dave. I started the diet a month ago and am starting to notice the difference. I feel it is the reduced carbs,plus as you mention the benefits brought about by what is in the food contained within the diet.
I just started watching your climbing videos and was so glad I stopped to watch this one. I lost a brother to depression and am still trying to understand depression for my own benefit and so I can help others. Thank you for sharing your experience in a very thoughtful way on a very complex subject. Keep climbing!
So sorry to hear that. Thanks for the comment.
Going through some dark times just now and this has given me a different and somewhat hopeful perspective. Thanks.
All the best for reaching a better place as soon as you can.
I've been feeling signs of depression from a very young age and can relate to so many points in the first half of this video. I have struggled through this during my development as an adult (currently in my early 20's) and similarly have never taken steps to combat it or talk about it. I have been doing things like skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, climbing, playing guitar, etc. at a high level my whole life and similarly use those things to self-medicate. Although these things pull you away from depression momentarily, it still feels consistently present in the grand scheme of things.
Videos like this are starting to help motivate me to talk about and do something about these feelings despite having all of the positive things that I have and have had in life. Even though on the outside you may look like a solid person who's doing well, things you don't understand about what's going on in your brain/body can choke out that feeling. Thanks, Dave for sharing your story! I'll promise that it will have an impact on me since before this video I've never had anyone to relate to about this stuff.
Really glad I clicked on your video. 32 right now, I recently started climbing, wanted to lose weight, but mainly to try and get out of my continuous small depression, which I carried around for quite a while. I am aware that there never is a guarantee for success, but nice to see, that at least one person managed to succeed with climbing :) Keep it up (landscapes in the vids are gorgeous, btw!)
I'm such a fan of this man.
Great work as always.
He's given me hope that an older climber(I'm 39) can actually progress(I've been climbing 2 years).
Without his inspiration I think I would have quit at my 6b plateau.
Your thoughtfulness as well as your climbing are remarkable. thank you for sharing both.
This video (along with others around the carnivore diet) inspired me to change my diet. As someone who has suffered from severe depression for about 20 years, it gave me something like a 10-20% reduction in depressive symptoms.
How much time have you continued the diet?
Thank you for sharing this Dave. I have had a similar experience with a very positive change in my disposition from changing my diet. For me it was including more non-meat protein like lentils and beans and more green vegetables and fruit that seems to help me the most, especially in terms of digestion. I do eat meat regularly still. However diet was just a fraction of the things I needed to change, and for me what's made an even larger difference to improve my depression has been implementing a large amount of stretching and self-massaging, and generally making my body fit together well. I've noticed my anxiety is highly linked to the tension within my body, and I've slowly reduced it over time. Also breathing well. As an athlete your body condition hasn't been your issue, so fixing your diet may have been the final piece of the puzzle for you. It's key no matter who you are so thanks for highlighting its importance. Also what you said about succeeding in the face of depression and that making you stronger, I definitely agree.
This is really excellent, thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing this Dave! I would never have guessed you previously had depression. I dealt with it from age 8 to 21 and struggled with obesity that whole time as well. When I was 21, I made huge personal changes and lost 100 pounds in a year. Eating healthy and exercising regularly helped end my depression during that period and it's been 6 years now with no recurring episodes. Losing the weight allowed me to rekindle my love for the outdoors and eventually discover rock climbing, which has give me so much joy and personal satisfaction since I started 4 years ago.
Thats brilliant. Long may it continue.
Ah man I can't believe I've only just seen this particular video. Talk about the right time!!! I always knew there was something about you that I connected with but didn't realise what it was until now. Man your videos are so good they inspire me to do similar ❤
Dave, the way you describe your depression sounds so like what I live with day to day. I'm trying to make some positive lifestyle changes at the moment and I hope they can help me get to where you are. Thanks for this vlog
Dave, thank you so much. This has helped me with my own struggle with PTSD, weight management and depression. I feel like I was on the brink of discovering some of these insights myself, so thank you for the final push a lot of it makes sense.
Wow , you seriously went from depression? I am 3 rd day Keto, doing it not to take medications which were subscribed to me for depression , haven’t taken any in tree years, need to give a try to Keto , in how many weeks you expirienced that you are free from depression? And how long did Keto flu last cause I feel awful now, I am a carb addict
@@АлисаАлиса-р2д I'm in the same boat as you. Hope your doing well.
Thanks for sharing your experience Dave. Amazing to think that what we eat affects how we feel!!
It's crazy I've never seen this video before, but my life very much parallels your own in terms of symptoms throughout your life. I'm 33 and am going to see a psychiatrist, however climbing has regulated by mood over the past couple of months.
I can't eat fish either, and I'll be looking into taking up keto for a month to see if it works for me.
Thanks for sharing Dave.
Thanks for this video more than any other. I have been grappling with my worst depressive episode for these past two months and recently thought I had come back to a more manageable state. However, I noticed these major emotional spikes, and was concerned I was fooling myself with wishful thinking and a return to appropriate training and diet and being open with my social circle. Once you said the same, I had to smile. Was exactly what I needed to hear.
Thank you Dave. My family has similar historical struggles with mental illness, and I can relate to much of what you've said here. Sensitive and honest testimony.
I may not be able to get in on the altitude class yet, but I can enjoy this and your other content till I can.. Loved hearing your story. I have been in 20+ years of depression, just about my whole life. When I found climbing it was a life changer for 2010 to 2020, my depression was on the down; then when the quarantine happened I stopped climbing al together, the depression came back 10 fold and my (pre existing)epilepsy took a turn for the worse, I was more depressed than I had ever gotten previously, never sought sui**de, but lots of hope to never waking up.. I got back into climbing in January 2024.. I'm doing better, but its a slow process. I have a half baked training plan to hopefully send v10 by the end of the year.
Dave, you're amazing. Keep doing you!
thank you for making the videos. great pillar of the climbing community you are.
Diet and exercise is soòoo underrated.
Also stepping back and not putting too much pressure on yourself is very liberating.
Thankyou so much for this video. Truly amazing. Fantastic stuff. You post such brilliant content.
Even though my path to get rid of dystymia with periodic clinical depression was different, the final conclusion is exactly the same. The non sexy answer was the diet. I called it almost-keto. No bread, noodles, sugar of any form. And lots of veggies with B9. After 20 years this black hole was gone.
But I'm not only writing to validate your conclusions. I'm also writing that what you said at the beginning is also hyper important. I was unfortunately the person who took all those pills and more. More than 15 types of meds. Some worked a bit but as an active individual I suffered horrible side effects. And NONE out of 4 psychiatrists even ones tested me if I'm simply healthy. Never told about diet. Pills were the answer.
So I salute you. I feel your pain. And I absolutely know what you've been through. And PLEASE continue talking about it.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your contributions - really open and informative and with lots of substance.
Down to the matter at hand: I could confidently say that I had/have similar issue and only in my late 30's (I am 44 now) and I managed to find successful coping mechanisms that involved, basically, being able to identify early the onset of a depressive episode and get ahead of it, usually with becoming immersed into activity/projects.
However, a year and a few months ago (during a three months recovery following an accident) I made a decision of removing meat (including fish) from my diet. The reasons were very impulsive and sentimental and I did promise to myself that if I crave meat (I was a great lover of beef steaks) I will not deny myself that. I will just take it a day at a time. Over a year now I did not crave meat and I noticed a few things:
- I sleep much better and feel much more rested in the morning
- I feel lighter
- I feel like I recover better after effort
- I seem (!) to have better endurance
- I had no occurrence of depressive onset so far which is quite impressive to me
I did and do have an active lifestyle (well, not now as I am in home confinement) since I work as mountain guide; I never had a planned or researched diet - not before, not now. I always ate what I felt like eating as I believed that my body is smarter than whatever charts I could devise.
Even now, since I switched to a vegetarian diet, I still do not plan meals nor do I take supplements. Also I'm not disciplined enough to follow a food plan... which is also probably a big factor. I eat what is available at hand and what I crave. I do not obsess over food but I do not eat meat or fish (nor crave it) and not so much milk either though I do not shy away from dairy products especially if the food is normally cooked with sour-cream or cheese. Occasionally, for a lazy breakfast, I eat eggs; or I eat dishes that would use eggs.
Now, I followed your vlog on the plant based diet and by all means it is researched and a really informative piece; No qualms about your conclusions. I also do take your point about vegan diet as well. However my change in diet (not researched, just instinctive) has produced similar results if one is to take the measure being how one "feels". Will I stay on it? As long as i feel good, I will. Will I eat meat? If one day I will crave it I won't deny myself that. However so far I feel much better physically and mentally this way. Go figure...
I'm really glad this has worked for you. I have no physiological explanation why positive changes in symptoms would be related to removing meat. The only ideas I might have that could explain your results are either that if you ate more eggs (which have some important nutrients for brain health such as choline), or you ate less of something else that came along with your meat (such as frying it in Linoleic acid rich oils or consuming it with a lot of refined carbs. Whatever the explanation, I'm glad you are doing well.
Inspiring, heart warming, informative! After reading a few referred papers, it confuses me that many vegetables can have a high antidepressant "food score" (ref #1), yet inspire other researchers to conclude that men living on a vegetarian diet more often feel depressed as opposed to those who do not (ref #11). As a depressed male climber who is inspired by your video to make a change - these contradictory findings make it difficult to decide on what change would be best...
Great video. Thanks for sharing, Dave!
Thank you for sharing this. I especially appreciate your evidence-based approach and disclaimers as to being sceptical of anecdotal evidence, while still instilling hope that there might be tools right under one's nose and giving inspiration to try. I will share this insightful video with some friends that might find it helpful. Also, congratulations on your amazing jouney. I'm happy for you.
Thank you, Dave.
Great video as always Dave. It takes courage to admit one suffered depression, I struggled with that acceptance and ultimately admitting it to others for a long time. It takes even more guts to post something like this with the sole goal of hoping to help others. The diet aspect is really interesting. I had a similar experience trying a LCHF diet and ended up with higher anxiety in the end. Listening to you has perked my interest again but this time a bit more research will be done. It’s always reassuring to know you are not the only one. 🙏
An excellently interesting video. Also, thanks very much for your fantastic books, they're a real help.
I'm glad you found a dietary way to treat yourself....and other things you've done.
I def. agree, that nutrition is the key with depression. very sad, that the most doctors dont tell you that, or maybe they dont even know. Thanks for the video!
Wonderful, honest vlog. Thanks Dave
Great story! You said you’re not sure if it was the change of eating but speaking from my own experience and countless of other UA-cam testimonies. It sounds exactly what we feel. Noticeable improvements immediately within weeks, for me it’s that severe for me with my health and my mood I feel better each day that passes if I stick to the small amount of food I can eat. (I don’t do Keto, I have my own restrictive diet)
And like you said, it’s amazing, you still feel pain but it’s not that darkness and intense feeling that’s lingers on. I call it a more balanced feeling, you feel pain but not in hopeless or obsessive way.
Fascinating and inspiring, thank you for sharing your journey Dave!
thank you. Ive felt really in the thick of it and are aware that food contributes quite a bit. I think lowering my carb intake would be a worthwhile experiment
So glad it’s helping and I look forward to more videos.
Thank you for your open words.
So glad I found your channel Dave.
Really great video. Looking forward to hearing more about the nutrition.
That is one spectacularly beautiful rock - I am not a climber but I love looking at all things geological and greatly appreciate your nutrition content. Thank you
Thank you Dave! To me you are a great person!!
I notice that I easily reject any ideas (or ideas of attempting) of diet, exercise or sleep adjustments helping with any major affliction. Almost like I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for "wasting" so much time battling an issue when I could have done something so simple to fix it. So I have to be conscious of not thinking that only hardcore medication or extended therapy can fix an issue. But in the other hand not becoming too ideologically invested in any pseusoscience in seeking a miracle cure.
Doesn't help that fixing diet, exercise and sleep are the first things doctors think they should recommend, but often don't heavily push it on the patient because they know that most people are just there for a quick med fix and aren't ready to make big life changes. And so they feed that want for quick fixes and it becomes a cycle
Cheers Dave, you're a hero.
Thanks for the honesty and input.
You’re so wise. I appreciate your experience. Thanks for sharing your words.
Moltes gràcies, realment es així mateix. 💪👌
Thank you for an important and helpful message.
For me this is a good remember to continue my own fight and look deeper into the physical part of it.
All of your videos are informational and inspiring, this one hit close to home.
thank you so much for sharing this helps and means a lot to see someone i look up too going through something that i deal with myself ❤
Thank you for sharing, Dave. For me (again anecdotal), I experience profound dysphoria if I eat high carbohydrate food and I know exactly why. It hits me like a sledgehammer within minutes. I have a condition which causes lower than normal blood volume, and I found out I have autonomic nervous system dysfunction. This is the part of the nervous system which controls blood pressure, digestion, heart rate and other non-voluntary bodily functions.
When we eat, especially high carbohydrate food, blood is preferentially sent to the gut to digest. So much so that when there is dysfunction in this response, the brain is somewhat starved for an hour or two. Enough that the brain reacts with dysphoria. If I continue to eat carbs, the dysphoria becomes more and more permanent.
I have found boosting my blood volume every morning with electrolytes to help greatly, but it's not a permanent fix.
I was gradually "forced" towards a very low carbohydrate diet (no starches or sugars, leafy greens only). I just felt better that way. Every time I would try to go back to carbs, it would hit me in minutes, and I hated it. I miss carbs but I want to be happy.
I found a very low carbohydrate diet (keto with leafy fiber rich greens) to be a happy middle ground from a nutritional, digestive and mental health viewpoint.
I hope this information can help other seek better health through safe dietary interventions. Of course, with the consultation of a nutritionist to make sure you're still getting everything you need.
Thanks for sharing Dave. Keto has been shown to help some neurological problems like epilepsy as well. I was struggling with pressure headache and cerebral inflammation for about 5 years and becoming extremely mindful of carbs, sugar, and wheat seems to have made a big difference
So important. Thank you Dave.
Hi Dave, This is a wonderful vlog and I'm so glad to hear that you were able to finally find some results to help your depression. I think you hit the nail on the head that depression can often be the fuel for many outwardly perceived successes in life, as they can be developed as coping and avoidance methods for depression. I'm a clinical psychologist in the US and one thing that stands out from your vlog to me is the absence of you mentioning talk psychotherapy. Granted, their may be a cultural divide here of the atmosphere around mental health in Scotland of which I'm not aware, but it sounds as if your doctors quickly saw medication as the only go-to option, as many general practitioners in the US also do unfortunately. But it does leave my curious if you ever had thoughts of going down that route?
As a psychiatrist in the US, I would tend to agree that meds are, unfortunately, often considered exclusively in western medicine. Psychotherapy is an extremely helpful, and generally low risk, approach to treating all manner of mental health challenges, including depression.
Hi Mike. Thanks. Actually my doctor was in agreement with my reluctance to opt for medication at first presentation, although they said they would prescribe it if I specifically asked for it. Their preferred first option was CBT and suggested I try this on my own since the waiting list for professional sessions was well over 1 year. I have a close relative studying psychotherapy now and hopefully will learn about it in greater detail. It's not needed for me now thankfully.
Thank you for sharing about your long experience with depression and what you've done to overcome it. If anyone reading these comments are looking to hear more about the science behind Dave's approach, you can also find tons of info at the following youtube channels; high intensity health or/& low carb down under. I too have had a profound change in my mental & physical well being while following the same lifestyle & food changes.
Thank you so much for being so open and honest about your experience, and sharing your story!
Thanks, Dave. True strenght.
Thank you so much for your honesty, it is amazing
I don't know if your opinion has changed over the years, but I can speculate the mechanism for this feeling (I've had a similar experience on keto/ low carb, [life changing and anecdotally verifiable through diet switching]). Based on the work of Chris Palmer, I subscribe to the idea that mitochondrial function in the brain is restored in absence of glucose when mitochondria switch to running on ketones. It could just also just be a lack of inflammation, or both. Either way, I always come back to low carb, because it is a night and day difference. I think post workout carb loading is even out of the question for me these days, which tends to push me towards mild depression. Fasting is a great way to jumpstart any ketogenic transition and boost metabolic health.
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm beginning a keto diet with the hopes to improve my depression. I'm glad you found healing!!
Did it work?
I have dealt with depression for a long time. In my youth I didn't know what it was because there were hundreds of different emotions and thoughts running through my mind; the closest I got to suicide back then was to drink a couple of bottles of beer and solo the sea cliffs around Dover Heights in Sydney Australia - looks like the climbing brought my mind back to a better state (i.e. I'm still here). The next time was about 14 years ago when an anti smoking drug Cham*ix sent my mind down so deep, and gave me a chronic headache for over a year. Anti depressants only made it worse. At this time I remember from a Japanese documentary (I live in Japan) about the war where many soldiers committed suicide when they were 'lost' in the jungle, because it was and escape from the hell they were in (they were not even actively fighting); I idealized cutting my neck and feeling the relief from the pain in my head, the ecstatic feeling was so intense (much stronger that any orgasm) that it is a wonder I am still here. For me, finding the Carnivore diet is what 'cured' me, we are talking 3 months to total recovery. The worst thing is, that is before the Cham*ix episode, I was a high octane feign who ate anything and everything, never got tired and excelled at work (Electronics Engineering), and now I'm just a normal+ Joe, but at least no more depression.
As Dave says, all he has to say is highly individual and may not apply to you, but for me, i can tell you, just eating beef and drinking water, turned me around; I'm climbing al Summer and Snowboarding all Winter, work is also fun again.
Very interesting video, thank you.
I can‘t say that I‘ve gone down the route of any specific diet… but I cut out refined sugar and anything highly processed (alcohol was never an issue to me but I stayed away from that too). At first, it was hard because I had ridiculous chocolate/ sugar cravings. But I stuck with it and now, over a year later, I haven‘t had any more joint pain or depressive episodes and my hormones are also much more stable. I had also started with some mild IBS symptoms before making the change in my diet and all of those stopped instantly.
I wonder how many people suffer from some of these issues who need to just change their diet rather than being on long term medications!
love how academic this vlog is
Thank you so much Dave!!!! Keep inspiring!!!😊🤜
Thank you Dave this is great thank you!
So carefully said and put. I have the same resolve off and on with the diet from asthma so i can totally understand that this weighs in. After 34 years of constantly pumping twice a day. Running and living without an inhaler!!! It is really astonishing how many things a ketogenic diet can lift. I just fell off the wagon though, too high stress levels being in and out of the diet. So for all, it is a drastic lifestyle change! No sugar when you feel stressed, not motivated or down is not always easy although the craving for it goes away mostly, especially if you have a toddler around and lots of things. And there is shallow sleep in the transition and gut issues most people are scared off from and as mentioned bad press and headlines.
Sounds like you have talked yourself out of it there!
It was just my frustrated me. I could not talk myself out of it, i just keep on coming back to eat this way (low carb). Falling off teaches me how this is actually (and probably because i am not a 100 percent sure yet) my health's safe haven. All my blood work phenomenally improved, my asthma hardly there, no arthritis in the fingers and in the big toe. How could this be not the way for me.
But there is that little nagger in my head, that collects frantically everything that is not so optimal. Mostly connected to stress levels, patience and power for my daughter, motivation, happiness and sleep. There is a small shift in my personality and something very energetically positive i seem to miss. Although i do not know if that is really the case, i am also quite happy when i eat low carb.
So i have to admit i am still in doubt, maybe i always will be. Sleeping through the night actually improved on the ketogenic diet, but sometimes it is a little shallower and with sugar at first that improves. I will just keep on swinging, mostly hanging out quite low carb and figure this stuff out for me. But at all finding low carb, the science behind it, i consider it a lottery win, i just always tend to exhaust myself between the options no matter what it is about 😆
Thanks for this vlog, very helpful and inspiring. It convinced my wife and I to try Keto and after a couple of months the results have been impressive in terms of mood and energy levels (especially in the evenings).
Thank you for this. It helps in many ways.
Feeling uninvolved in community ,having family and friends absent or disinterested, lack of employment or being in an insecure job, living in a stoic British straight jacket, all are factors in depression.
paul mitchell couldn’t agree more ..........all of the above have affected me in the past and after only 2 years of bouldering in and outdoor and meeting a plethora of positive people,my girlfriend and I ( at the ripe old age of 42) have decided to “fuck off” to Mallorca and try a new life in the sun! Bring on the psycobloc 🧗♂️💪🏻
Dave, thanks for the great information. I've been suffering from depression for most of my life, even with medication, and I decided to take a shot at the Ketogenic diet to see what would happen after watching this video. My depression cleared up. I've relaxed the diet a bit by adding beans back in and I'm still doing fine after several weeks. It's night and day. After doing some reading I'm not sure if it's thanks to the Ketogenic diet, especially since I'm not following it strictly anymore but I still seem to be getting the benefits that you described. I've done some reading and I think that it might have more to do with having low levels of the amino acids Tyrosine and Phenylalanine, which are generally boosted by eating animal protein, eggs, avocados, etc., and are the precursors for Dopamine. Thank you for the great post, and good luck with your climbing.