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Food and Moods
« on: Sep 2nd, 2002, 5:26am » |
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The Toronto Star is reporting from the NY Times this great little article about how our every day foods affect our moods and simple steps we can take to make sure we are eating in a way that keeps us away from mood swings:
Aug. 30, 03:28 EDT
The right foods put you in a good mood
What you eat or don't eat influences how you feel and perform, nutrition experts say
Ken McAlpine
Special to the star
Eating right can make you feel better, experts say.
Possibly it has come to your attention that a large percentage of people are irritable, jumpy, stressed out, worn out and prone to mood swings that make Dr. Jekyll's Mr. Hyde look like Mister Rogers. Perhaps you've felt this way, too. It's possible you need to ask yourself a few honest questions:
Do you sometimes skip breakfast?
Do you give any more than cursory attention to what you put in your mouth and when you ingest it?
Do you know that serotonin and dopamine, properly managed, can be your friends, calming you and sharpening you mentally?
Are you aware of the integral connection between food and mood?
"Most people are completely unaware of the huge impact food can have on our mood," says Vicki Barko, a registered clinical dietitian. "They skip breakfast, they grab a couple cups of coffee and a sugary snack, maybe they eat lunch and maybe they don't. You can just see that they're not functioning well. They're cranky, they're irritable. You can see the stress all over them."
Barko pauses.
"It takes decades of eating a calcium-poor diet before your bones become fragile," she says. "But what you eat, or don't eat, this morning will profoundly affect how you feel this afternoon."
In recent years nutrition scientists have begun focusing on the short term, looking closely at the impact of food on brain chemistry. The connections they are unearthing are both enlightening and exciting. They are also complex, which is why, in delving into the studies of food's effects on the brain you'll find catchy phrases like, "Carbohydrates may prevent a functional shortage of central serotonin during acute stress, due to their potentiating effect on brain tryptophan."
Meaning, if you eat the right carbohydrate foods you may perform better under stress. Research is ongoing so there aren't a lot of definitives yet, but science is fairly certain about the bigger picture. Eat the right foods at the right time, and your brain chemistry will be balanced — making you feel great. Eat the wrong foods and you upset this chemistry, causing depression, fatigue, insomnia, mental dullness, PMS symptoms, irritability and stress.
Certainly other factors contribute to these maladies. And a tuna-fish sandwich on whole-wheat bread won't finish your project for you, though it might help produce the calm and focus you need.
"There are many factors that contribute to how we feel," says Janet Helm, a New York registered dietitian and spokespeson for the American Dietetic Association. "But the more we learn about the relationship between food and mood, the more we realize that it's an exciting area with a lot of potential. And there's no doubt a healthy diet can have a tremendous impact on how you feel."
Best of all, using food to improve your mood is simple. No weird foods, no Zones, no strange dietary directions — only foods you already have in your kitchen, and the simple know-how required to correctly apply them.
To illustrate, let's take a walk through the day. First, eat breakfast, says Barko, and not at your local doughnut shop. Doughnuts and other simple carbohydrates give you lots of sugar and an ensuing short-term energy spike, followed by tailspin and fatigue. Plus, you're hungry again in two winks — unhappy news if you're already concerned about your waistline.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------
`And there's no doubt
a healthy diet can have
a tremendous impact on how you feel.'
Janet Helm
Dietitian
------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------
What you want, in Mom-speak, is a breakfast that sticks with you. In brain-chemistry terms, a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein that will supply the correct amino acids to keep the brain's messenger neurotransmitters up and humming. And at least four neurotransmitters — serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and acetylcholine — have been linked to food and mood.
It can be quick and simple — sorry, there is time for breakfast. Two pieces of whole-grain toast, a piece of fresh fruit and a glass of low-fat milk. You can spice things up and have fun, too. A whole wheat waffle topped with blueberries and fat-free sour cream, washed down with a glass of low-fat milk is a fine breakfast.
Small nuances matter. A dry breakfast bagel lacks the necessary dab of protein needed to boost the dopamine and norepinephrine levels that produce increased alertness. Spread a little low-fat cheese or peanut butter on instead, and your mental edge is sharpened.
Morning coffee? Fine. Barko has a cup or two in the morning. But she stops there. The effects of excess caffeine are no secret to science or the ardent caffeine quaffer — short-term alertness, yes, but often accompanied by some variation of headaches, muscle tremors, irritability, heart palpitations and the certainty that, in short order, you will vault right out of your skin.
If you're irritable because you don't sleep well, it might interest you to know caffeine can linger in the body for up to 15 hours. Prefer soft drinks? Barko recommends no more than two caffeinated pops a day.
Rather than three large meals interspersed with caffeine guzzling and sugary-snack snarfing (contributing to fatigue and depression), Barko and Helm recommend five to six smaller meals spaced throughout the day. Assuming the meals are right — a chocolate bar, no; fresh fruit and custard yogurt, yes — eating more frequently keeps your brain chemistry and your blood sugar on an even keel, producing an upbeat affect on both mood and energy.
It's also important to drink water, six to eight glasses throughout the day, says Barko, as science has clearly linked dehydration with fatigue.
Desiccated, low on dopamine and norepinephrine, it's no surprise why, come mid-afternoon, many people settle into lethargy typically associated with large reptiles. Grazing on healthy foods can reverse this.
But whether it's low-fat yogurt with fruit, or a whole-grain bagel with low-fat cheese, there is an underlying theme. "Protein-rich foods are your daytime energy booster," says Barko.
As you move into evening, you'll shift more toward carbohydrates and away from protein. Protein's energy buzz can interfere with sleep, and you don't need to be a scientist to know that a lousy night's sleep can produce an equally lousy mood.
Food-mood aware, you will now enhance your sleep with a light all-carb snack an hour or so before bed. A bowl of lemon sorbet or air-popped popcorn is not just tasty fun — they both boost levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of calm and relaxation.
Of course there are no instant miracles, says Barko. Assuming you start eating smart, it will take a few weeks before you start noticing consistent mood and energy changes. One reason you should alter your diet slowly: Changing a habit is easier, and more likely to stick, if taken in small steps.
Applying food to mood is miraculous in its simplicity. "People don't think it can be that simple, but it really is," Barko says. "Just a few simple diet changes can be all it takes to really improve your performance and your mood."
new york times
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