What the Health: Food Mood Connection + My Favorite Happy Foods

by | May 28, 2017 | Advice, Health, Health Tips, Wellness

A food mood connection? What do you mean?

Brain fog. The jitters. Anxiety. Depression. 3 PM Crash. ADHD. Hanger. Plain old BLAH. 

Ever had any of those feelings and couldn’t quite pinpoint why?

If you’re like most humans on the planet, I’m guessing the answer is yes.  

I’m with you.  From 2011-2013, every afternoon around 3pm, as I sat at my desk, and my brain  to feel a bit fuzzy and that space between my eyes and my brain clouded over.  I started to get snappy and irritable. It had only been about three hours from lunch, so it ‘wasn’t time’ for a snack yet.  My days looked a bit like this…

Breakfast: coffee with lowfat milk, boxed frozen waffles, Jif peanut butter, and banana or a low fat yogurt with banana for breakfast

Lunch: Salad, a sliver of avocado, a dash of chickpeas, maybe a bit of a tortilla wrap and then some fruit with granola for dessert.  

Around 5pm every day, by the time I was ravenous and light headed, I’d reach for a KIND bar or a handful of nuts and head to the gym.   Leaving the gym, I’d feel a bit stressed about the next day and what was to come.

Wasn’t I doing everything right? I was following all of the healthy living rules – exercise, eating well, why was I feeling like this?

// Something was off. I was heading in the right direction, but needed to make a U-Turn, head back home and reset my internal GPS. //

It turns out there is a critical food mood connection, so what we eat affects how we think, act, and feel. 

Good food equals a good mood!

This concept was a game-changer for me, and it makes sense.  You get out what you put in.  Your body is your vehicle, and you wouldn’t fill your car with dirty water would you? I don’t think you’d get very far.

Think you might be experiencing the food mood connection? Here are a few examples of common symptoms:

STRESS When we’re stressed our bodies go into fight or flight mode increasing adrenaline and cortisol levels, which causes us to reach for foods that aren’t as good for us, skip meals, and decreases the amount of oxygen that moves nutrients through our bloodstream.

BRAIN FOG can be a symptom of nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and stress. All of these symptoms can be prevented improving your diet primarily reducing sugar, caffeine, and refined processed foods.

ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION excess sugar and caffeine can also lead to feelings of anxiety and depression by enhancing the effects of low dopamine and serotonin levels.

So, Hailey, what are some solutions!?

In general, I always encourage eating whole, real foods. But here are a few other rules I live by: 

  • Eat more healthy fat, and don’t fear fat! This includes nut butters, avocado and wild fish
  • Get more protein through lean animal products, eggs, tempeh, legumes, nuts and seeds
  • Eat a balanced breakfast of healthy grains, fat, protein, and sneak in some veggies: I love avocado, eggs, and spinach on a bread that has just a few ingredients
  • Get enough servings of dark leafy greens and other veggies
  • Reduce sugar intake and try to not eat too much fruit on an empty stomach
  • Eat more frequently
  • Stay hydrated
  • Change up your caffeine routine.  If you have two cups of coffee each day try switching to decaf or swap in a cup of green tea
  • Reduce low fat foods.  I promise a full fat yogurt will not make you fat! It will actually make you more satisfied for longer.

I know it can feel intimidating to make changes to your diet and lifestyle.  Will people judge me? What if I fall off the bandwagon? What if I fail? What if I don’t like the food? What if I don’t have time?

Don’t worry! It’s totally doable.  Just choose a few simple things to change up; things that feel within reach for you and do those and then incorporate more.  Take it slow and be kind to yourself.

I keep these food mood staples around all the time:

  • Cacao or dark, dark chocolate
  • Bananas
  • Blueberries
  • Nuts
  • Avocado
  • Wild Salmon
  • Quinoa
  • Sweet Potato
  • Oatmeal
  • Onions
  • Pumpkin seeds (great salad topper)
  • Coconut oil
  • Raw nuts (I like almonds, cashews, walnuts, and brazil nuts

If you’re feeling stuck and want help to turn your ‘car’ around and start heading in the right direction.  Shoot me an email, I’d love to talk it through with you.

xx

H.