Do you have a low mood? While going for a sugary snack is a normal and innocuous approach to boosting your mood, consider how that sweet food may affect you emotionally after the immediate delight has passed. There’s nothing unusual or wrong with turning to food to elevate your emotions, but as it turns out, you may accidentally make matters worse, regardless of the initial boost.
Although it might be challenging to pinpoint the exact reason for low moods or mood swings (stress, work, relationships, sleep, physical exercise, and environment all play a role), a growing body of research suggests some surprising links between nutrition and mood.
Can Diet Affect Mental Illness?
Ten years ago, people mocked you for believing that diet could affect mental and emotional health. However, a rising body of scientific evidence backs up that notion today.
Certain types of food have been linked in studies to mental illnesses and mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Overall, more data is needed to validate the effects of food on mood (with the caveat that everyone responds differently to meals). Still, tracking your food choices and resulting moods is worthwhile to better understand your habits and patterns.
Consider How certain Foods Affect You
The scientific method is our most effective instrument for investigating complicated human challenges and dilemmas. High-quality, large-scale clinical studies provide us with priceless insights into human health and all of its complexities. While testimonial proof is not scientific evidence, personal anecdotal evidence based on your observations about your well-being may be sufficient to make an informed decision.
For example, if you know that consuming high-sugar foods makes you feel lethargic and distracted, that alone is reason enough to avoid sugary foods when you need to be active and productive. The contrary may also be true: if you are overly restricted, causing your body to starve, you may get irritable. If you know that drinking alcohol makes you irritated the next day, that is reason enough to make well-considered judgments regarding consuming alcoholic beverages.
You know What’s Best for Your Body
The expanding area of nutritional psychiatry provides interesting insights into how diet affects mood. More research is needed, but you may utilize your personal experience to make informed dietary choices that improve your mood. You can improve your mood by consuming nutrient-dense meals that have been linked to better mental wellness. Foods high in fiber, protein, antioxidants, prebiotics, and essential fatty acids appear to have the greatest effect on mood.
Figure Out What Works for You
Despite the obvious links between particular foods and mood outcomes, it’s crucial to note that everyone, including members of the same family, reacts to foods differently. Identify foods that aren’t good for your mental or physical health in order to improve it.
These made-up examples demonstrate why everyone should know what works best for their own body and not worry about what others do. If you don’t know which foods make you feel worse, spend a few weeks food journaling. After a few weeks, you’ll have a decent understanding of what foods make you feel your best and promote high energy levels, productivity, attention, and happiness.
Supplements or Real Food
There is no substitute for real food. Most health experts agree that whole foods provide the great majority of your nutrients, rather than pills, powders, and capsules. Not only is real food more bioavailable (meaning your body absorbs the nutrients efficiently), it is nearly always less expensive per serving, and you know precisely what you’re eating. The supplement market can be sketchy, and it’s often difficult to determine what you’re taking, even if you read the supplement facts labels.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
However, I’m not here to tell you what to eat and what to avoid. We’re here to give information based on existing science in a way that will help you make the best decisions for yourself. Sure, chocolate donuts may make you feel “bleh,” but that doesn’t mean you should quit eating them forever. Because you now understand that food has an impact on your mental health, you can make informed selections by balancing the benefits and drawbacks of each option. Changing your eating habits should never include restricting yourself. Adjustments in your diet should reflect a desire to become a healthier, happier person who wants to live the most meaningful life possible.
