High-Protein Diet Drawback: Stress

Editor's note: In addition to writing about health and happiness, Jacqueline Tresl has the unusual distinction of owning a "househorse" -- a horse trained to live in her home. Her pet is gaining her a fair amount of mass media attention.

Not long ago, Stacey Sweet, the weekend anchorwoman for "Inside Edition," flew all the way in from New York City to interview my horse and me. Her crew filmed for eight hours, so we had a lot of "down time" to talk about health, mostly hers.

Stacey is a small person; a good wind would blow her away. Her job demands that she travel a lot -- it's not unusual for her to board an airplane three times a week.

I asked Stacey if she gets sick a lot. She said she does. I asked her if she suffers a lot of earaches. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," she said. "How did you guess?"

Stressed Out And Eating Wrong

It doesn't take a crystal ball to know that the hubbub of traveling, deadlines and skipping meals puts excessive stress on the mind and body. And when low to mid-level stress is prolonged and unrelenting, minor, niggling disease processes begin. Chronic earaches and persistent sore throats are common.

The more Stacey told me about her work cycle and lifestyle, the more concerned I became, especially when she said she had been on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet for several months.

If you want to reduce your stress responses, if you want to decrease anxiety and tension, if you want a calm, relaxed approach to life, don't eat a high-protein diet over a prolonged period of time.

Serotonin: Nature's Prozac

High-protein diets disrupt the uptake of serotonin into your brain.

Serotonin is one of your body's neurotransmitters. It is a biochemical that regulates your consciousness, your moods, and your depth and quality of relaxation. High levels of serotonin in your brain tissue inhibit your tendencies to feel irritable, aggressive and violent.

Much research has been done on serotonin's impact on behavior. When serotonin levels were measured in 8-to-10-year-old boys, scientists were able to predict which boys would exhibit the most aggressive tendencies two years later. Serotonin levels were found to be low in children who tortured animals and were hostile to their parents. Serotonin levels are low in many depressed or suicidal patients. Other research indicates that drugs to raise serotonin levels reduce criminals' violent tendencies.

Serotonin levels increase with alcohol consumption, then drop precipitiously after the alcohol is metabolized and gone. That's one of the reasons you feel so grumpy the morning after you've had too many nightcaps. Ask yourself, is there any such thing as a joyful alcoholic when he's deprived of his drink?

Students who were rated leaders among their classmates, and people ranked as popular and likable by their peers, were found to have high levels of circulating serotonin.

How Can I Get Some Of That?

Science cannot say for sure, but the data seems to suggest that high levels of circulating serotonin -- also called your "happy messenger" -- helps create a calm, sweet temperament.

Serotonin levels are affected, in part, by what you eat. If your diet is rich in protein, your serotonin uptake is reduced, because other neurotransmitters thrive and block out your happy messenger. Athletes who participate in aggressive sports are encouraged to eat diets high in protein.

If you plan to rumble and brawl, and spend your life growling and scowling, eat an overdose of protein.

But if you want to mellow out as you age, to learn to let stressful events roll off your back, and to maintain an optimum level of mental and physical well-being, consider moderating your protein consumption.

Stop and think a minute about some of the famous vegetarians, like Thoreau, Einstein, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson. What do they all have in common? Each is a contemplative, peaceful soul that never seemed frazzled or stressed.

Do vegetarians avoid meat because they are naturally easy-going, or do they acquire easy-going personalities after they've given up meat?

Which Foods Make Good Moods?

Eat a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, like whole-grain breads and cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes. Your body secretes insulin after you've eaten a meal of complex carbohydrates. Insulin allows the amino acid tryptophan to dominate all the other amino acids in your bloodstream. Tryptophan is a synthesizer of serotonin. You will get a serotonin brain-rush after eating complex carbohydrates.

High-tryptophan protein foods include plain yogurt, skinless chicken and turkey.

Almonds, cashews, peanuts and sunflower seeds are high-tryptophan vegetable proteins.

To increase your circulating blood serotonin, try limiting your consumption of meat, eggs, fish, chicken and dairy products to two or three servings a day.

Maximize the benefits of the protein you eat by choosing lean and low-fat choices, like skim milk, egg whites or broiled haddock.

Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables, especially the dark-green, leafy kind. The vitamins and minerals found in these vegetables will improve your body's ability to metabolize dietary proteins and carbohydrates. Related links:

• From Leading Edge International Research: Diet and Human Degeneration: The Protein Gambit
• From the Society for Neuroscience: Low serotonin may impair judgment
• From the Chocolate Manufacturers Association: Chocolate cravings could indicate low serotonin
• From Con Agra's healthychoice.com: Foods that contain tryptophan

  --Jacqueline Tresl, R.N., a coronary intensive care nurse and nursing supervisor for over 20 years, has written about health and happiness for magazines and newspapers for three years. Now you know what we were talking about when we said her first book, "Whoever Heard of a Horse In The House?" is scheduled for release in March.
  --First published Dec. 22, 1999.