Depression’s Effect on Your Appetite

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5 Ways to Curb Appetite Changes if You Have Depression

If depression has thrown off your appetite, several tactics could help you stabilize it again. Here are five expert-backed strategies for keeping appetite changes at bay.

1. Follow Your Depression Treatment Plan

“The most effective strategy is to get the underlying cause of the appetite disturbance, the depression, successfully treated,” Feifel says. Once you find the right treatment for your depression, your appetite changes should lift as your depressive symptoms improve.

Psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, family-focused therapy, and interpersonal therapy
Medications such as antidepressants
Lifestyle activities like exercise and meditation
Brain stimulation such as repetitive transcutaneous magnetic stimulation for severe depression
Esketamine (Spravato) nasal spray or ketamine infusions for treatment-resistant depression

2. Tell Your Healthcare Team About Any Appetite Changes You’re Having

If you’re struggling with appetite issues as a symptom of your depression, be sure to let your doctor or therapist know. This is especially important if you see a mental health professional virtually, since they may not be able to notice any weight loss or weight gain if they don’t see you in person. Telling your provider early on can help you get the treatment you need before your appetite changes lead to serious health consequences.

3. Try Meal Prepping

Whether you struggle to eat enough or you overeat, meal prepping — planning and preparing your meals for the week in advance and refrigerating or freezing them — may help ensure that you eat well throughout the week.

Meal prepping can reduce your odds of under- or overeating. It may be an especially helpful strategy for people with depression who may have the energy to cook over the weekend but struggle to put meals together during the work week due to symptoms like fatigue. It might be hard to get started, but enlisting the help of someone you live with (or a loved one, if you live alone) can help, as can starting gradually, by prepping only lunches to start, for example.

“Having some prepared meals frozen for you to heat up later ensures that you have higher-quality food with very little fuss,” Khan says. “The point is to try to make things as easy as possible for yourself and avoid overcomplicating things.”

If you’ve never meal prepped before, some tips for getting started are:

Choose a specific day of the week to plan your meals, make a shopping list, and buy groceries (or have them delivered); you may want to do each of these tasks on a different day if you find it overwhelming.
On your designated meal prep day, start by preparing the foods that take the longest to cook, which may include proteins like chicken and fish, whole grains, and dried beans.
Try to multitask. For instance, if you have chicken cooking in the oven, you could cut up some vegetables in the meantime.

4. Consider Working With a Dietitian

It may be beneficial to work with a registered dietitian or nutritionist who can help you manage your appetite issues in a healthy way. Registered dietitians can help you set and maintain nutritional goals while being sensitive to your specific health needs, abilities, and energy levels, as well as help you come up with ideas for specific meals.

Research has showed that young adults with depressive symptoms and poor dietary habits who participated in a three-week diet intervention in which they received instructions by video from a registered dietitian experienced significant improvements in their mood compared with the control group who did not receive the intervention. Those who participated in the intervention were told to increase the amounts of certain foods they ate per day, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and to limit others, such as processed meats and soft drinks.

And a review of studies on depression that tested a Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and olive oil, and contains low to moderate amounts of dairy, fish, and poultry, found that participants who adhered to it saw significant reductions in depressive symptoms compared with control participants who did not eat a similar diet. Participants who saw results were young and middle-aged adults with major depressive disorder or mild to moderate depressive symptoms. The certainty of evidence was low, however.

5. Eat With Loved Ones

Try to make time to eat with your family or friends, whether at home or at a local restaurant or cafe. “Connecting with others will boost your mood and make it easier to break out of that depressed phase,” Khan says.

Research backs this up. One study showed that adults who ate with others had lower rates of depression than those who ate alone.

Another plus: If you’re struggling to eat, having supportive people around you while you eat can help ensure that you get the nutrients you need.

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By Olivia

Olivia is a food and lifestyle writer at Heart of Violet with a passion for discovering hidden culinary gems, authentic local flavors, and unforgettable travel experiences. She enjoys exploring restaurants, cafés, street food, and regional specialties while sharing honest recommendations and practical dining tips. Through her articles, Olivia aims to help readers find the best places to eat, embrace healthier lifestyles, and make every journey more memorable.

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