No More Depression - What I Learned From Fasting
I’m getting off the path of marriage this week, but
I feel compelled to share with you a recent experience that changed my
life. I know some of you out there may
be affected the same way.
I didn’t grow up in a church that talked about
fasting, and so it’s been a new concept for me in the past eight years since
first attending a church that practiced it.
I did the Lent thing as a child occasionally, but that usually meant
giving up something I wasn’t going to miss anyway. (I didn’t know the significance of Lent back
then.)
The church I now attend
has been promoting a forty day fast. (Check out their website www.gwocag.net
for Pastor Bob’s excellent “Forty Days With the Holy Spirit” daily devotional.)
After some discussion with other
members, I jumped on the bandwagon and decided to give it a try. In the past I’d fast for a day or two but never
forty.
“My name is Sandee Lester and I am a
sugarholic”. I knew exactly what I
needed to fast – desserts, chocolate, cookies and anything saturated with
sugar. I didn’t think the traditional
fast that everyone else was doing would be quite the challenge for me. I don’t really care about the food I eat, and
I already eat pretty well – fresh foods, fruits, vegetables, etc . The one thing I thought I couldn’t do without,
though, is sweets. I wanted to do
something that would be difficult to do on my own. I had never been able to give up sweets for
more than a week in the past.
Prior to this fast, I would have preferred to skip
meals and live on desserts. (Sugar is
addictive and the more you eat, the more you want, especially when hormones are
going berserk.) Forget the important nutrients;
just inject the sugar in my veins. Come
to find out, it really was no different than a drug to me.
I was on a sugar high from the holidays that
continued into January. I knew I
couldn’t quit on my own, but if my focus was for God, it was certainly
possible. I was amazed how easy it was
for me to stop eating my beloved sweets.
Only God could do that for me; I certainly never would on my own.
About two weeks into my fast, I was at a friend’s
house, and she told me how too much sugar affects her husband’s
disposition. A light bulb went off in my
brain, (or God flicked His finger against my head), but either way, I started
thinking about the effects of too much sugar.
I went home and got online and was astounded at the serious symptoms
that sugar causes, one of them being depression. I had suffered most of my married life with
depression. No one ever knew it but my
husband. Being around people energizes
me, and so I could easily hide it.
My depression usually coincided with my hormones, so
I always assumed it was PMS. I thought of seeking help because I would be
in a miserable funk for days and weeks at a time. The circumstances of life only aggravated
it. I couldn’t seem to be free of this hopeless
fog in my brain that rendered me helpless to move on.
One week out of the month would be pleasant and
joyful, but I associated that with the leveling of my hormones. Looking back, my desire for sugar waned at
those times, and I hardly touched it. On
the bad weeks, I craved sugar and binged on it in an attempt to sooth the hormonal
monster that plagued my body. Those good
weeks seemed to come less and less, though, especially through my navigation on
the road to menopause.
I prayed and prayed to God to help me. I turned everything over to Him. I cried out in desperation to Him asking,
“What’s wrong with my faith that I can’t escape this? Where’s my joy?” Questioning my faith only
plunged me deeper into the pit of despair.
Two weeks into my fasting and looking at the dangers
of sugar, I realized I hadn’t experienced one day of feeling blue since I
started, since I gave up the sweets. I
always joked that I only had one good week out of the month, so two weeks was
quite the feat. Here I am, now, finished
with the forty day fast. I feel
amazing! I’ve even gone through PMS and my cycle in
this time with no depression!
I believe the dangers of sugar are well hidden in
our society because it’s in everything.
You can’t avoid it. You can avoid
over-indulging in it, though. My husband
saw a news report that said sugar is more toxic than alcohol. This particular scientist who stated this,
suggested sugar should be a controlled substance, and no one under eighteen
should be allowed to buy a Coke because of the large quantity of sugar in it. I also read online that apple juice has as
much sugar in it as Coke. What are we
doing to our children?
I know how we tend to crave sweets as women, but I
urge you to take caution in how much of it you eat. Many of us struggle quietly with
depression. If sugar is a culprit, figure
it out before you turn to unnecessary medication.
I have never felt so good in all my adult
years. Sure, I still deal with the ups
and downs of life and still have roller-coaster emotions, but I don’t wallow in
the sadness anymore. When the trials hit
me, I no longer hold on to them because of a sugar fog on my brain that
paralyzes my abilities to think clearly.
I’m able to move on with God’s plan for my life with no more of the
setbacks (depression) that kept me from Him.
Check out this website for more information on sugar and depression:
http://psychcentral.com/blog/
Check out this website for more information on sugar and depression:
http://psychcentral.com/blog/
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