If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission.

As a mature adult woman who has lived much of my years with clinical depression, I am no stranger to how mental illness can disrupt your daily life (and how these disruptions can often exacerbate your mental illness by a way you don’t always understand until you feel really bad). Over the years, my depression has been interrupted by interpersonal relationships, my relationship to training and movement and, of course, my diet. As someone who (even beyond a depressive episode) tends to not really notice when a meal has arrived until my body goes like “SOS”, I’m a big offender of skipping the little one lunch, putting a few crackers in my mouth at lunch and then wondering why I felt awful and drained come dinnertime.

This is common for people struggling with mental health issues like depression, according to the American Dietetic Association. When stressed or depressed, people tend to overeat or undereat, with consequences that can make your body more tired, more stressed, and fuel your cycle of depression. It’s not a good thing if you’re trying to keep up with the pace of work, life, and maintaining some kind of lingering resilience in the face of a global pandemic.

All this to say: sometimes, with the help of friendly reminders from my support system (and a number of alarms set on my phone), I need options that are easily accessible and (at least vaguely) sound. which go down easily, have some degree of nutritional value and help me keep going throughout the day. Over the years I’ve found my fair share of protein shakes and meal supplements that are useful to keep next to my bed or my workstation – they allow me to sip and get some what my body needs until I can motivate myself to prepare and eat something for real.

(Big Bold Warning: If you notice drastic changes in your appetite, mood, and general health as a result of your mental health, it’s very important to contact mental health providers or your regular doctor to research the best way forward. to help you. There is hope, and there are tons of truly wonderful, compassionate providers who want to help you get better.)

My latest find – these awesome No-Blend Smoothie Cubes from Evive Nutrition – have totally helped me add a little more color, a lot more fruits and veggies, and tons of variety to days when I don’t feel like a person but my body still needs sustenance.

To start, I ordered a box of 12 (you can set them to arrive at weekly, monthly, fortnightly intervals, etc. depending on how many you will pass). They have quite a large selection of different plant protein, fruit and veg smoothies to choose from – I chose Samurai, Asana, Pure and Sapphire – and you can pick any combo of 12 that suits your taste. your taste. When they arrived in their insulated packaging, I put them in our freezer and threw away what was left of the dry ice (this type of packaging can be a deal breaker for some people, but you can totally recycle small bags later).

And actually consume them? Super easy. While my normal smoothie routine involves rummaging through frozen and fresh produce that’s about to spoil, throwing it in a blender with some protein powder, and hoping for the best, all I had to do was break these little triangular cube wheels out of their container, put them in a glass (or my little baby blender
) with water or juice and wait 20 minutes or mix them quickly until they have a drinkable consistency. It’s incredibly easy to toss them in a glass, forget about them for 20 minutes, and then have at least 150 solid nutritional calories that I can quickly absorb (and, on the best days, really enjoy) without thinking too much about it. (You could also make a smoothie bowl out of it, if you like that/have the executive function for it.)

Now obviously a smoothie or protein shake or meal replacement shake is not a quick fix or the ideal hearty meal option to keep your body fueled. To get all of these nutrients, you need to make sure you’re consuming the other food groups as best you can, drinking water, and trying to meet your basic needs. But, especially when dealing with an uncooperative brain, you must someday find simple, non-exhausting ways to take care of your body.

If you are looking for resources to help a friend or loved one or are trying to get treatment information for yourself, you can turn to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling them at 1-800-273- 8255.

A version of this story was published in February 2021.

Before you go, check out our favorite affordable mental health apps: