Antidepressants and Weight Loss – 5 Tips to Control Your Weight

Antidepressants and Weight Loss – What’s the Deal?

Its almost guaranteed that if you have ever taken anti-depressants that you may have gained a few pounds while on them. Sometimes it’s not just a few pounds either with antidepressants and weight loss either, its serious weight gain. For the most part many people say that after being on antidepressant medications for a wile that they have an increased need for sweets and carbs. It is almost commonplace now to hear about the person that just went on a food-a-thon and gained big weight.

Because of this, many people just end up quitting their medications.

Extensive research shows that there are three types of chemical receptors (things that affect our moods) in the brain. They are: Seritonin, Dopamine, and Norepinephrene. Norepinephrene is the chemical our bodies create when we feel frightened and is the main chemical component to a good ole’ panic attack. Dopamine is the feel good chemical. It creates feelings of excitement, joy and exhilaration. Seritonin on the other hand has been proven to be one of the receptors that tends to influence appetite and eating.

Antidepressants and weight loss (or gain) seem to go together like bread and butter.

It is generally the chemical responsible for feelings of closeness and affection. Scientists have tied the weight gain to the way seritonin is being used in the brain when it is created through medication. Right now, they are working on ways to correct this adverse affect and have been making progress toward a lasting solution to antidepressants and weight loss.

For now though, you can use the 7 ways to keep things under control while you are on an antidepressant.

Antidepressants and Weight Loss – 5 Tips to Control Your Weight

Here are some things that have been proven to work for many people out there. I hope you find them useful.

Make sure that your antidepressant isn’t causing any acid reflux. Sometimes antidepressants can affect the level of acidic content of your stomach. You want to make sure this doesn’t happen because this can also produce a very believable feeling that you are really hungry.
Workout or Walk. For those not willing to go to the gym, a good brisk walk will usually do the trick. However, when we workout, our bodies create more seritonin therefore even further decreasing the bodies need to eat.
Do NOT Combine Protein with Carbs. If you do your body will not create any seritonin. The more seritonin that is created naturally, the less hungry you become.
Eat Starchy Foods at Supper. If you eat a baked potato or pasta it gives your brain the ability to create seritonin to help you curb your appetite. Carbohydrates are what cause seritonin to be released into the bloodstream.
Don’t Cut out Carbs! I know this sounds obvious as it was just mentioned above but many of us are convinced that carbs aren’t an altogether good thing. Remember, without them you will be low on serotonin and will have an exaggerated appetite.

Antidepressants and Weight Loss – Conclusion

Since most antidepressants and weight loss tends to go hand in hand it is even more important these days to investigate these drugs on this level first. Sometimes you just want to feel better sure but not at the expense of your overall health The SSRI class of anti-depressants is the best class for controlling weight gain because of the extra kick you get from the extra seritonin generated by the medication.

The most effective out of the list above is almost definitely the part about exercising. Staying active plays a huge part of how you feel overall and how your body handles stress, and simply does a bunch of good things for you. Its a well known statistic that people that combine exercise with their meds normally get astounding results compared to those who just went with the meds only.

If you know someone or you are interested in learning how to safely lose 5-20 pounds per month then check out the short webinar at the link below.