Food mood downers
In the post “Eating for Joy” I identified some positive things we can do to help maintain a healthy mood. Things such as eating regularly, ensuring adequate protein and including omega 3 fatty acids. In this post I nominate my top 4 things to avoid to in order to protect your good mood and mental health.
To eat for joy, then avoid:
1. Simple sugars. While complex, low GI carbohydrates are great for our mood, simple carbohydrates and sugar are the natural enemy of balanced, good moods. Sugars give you a short lived buzz but then drop you lower than you started. They also play havoc with hormones and neurotransmitters.
2. Artificial sweeteners, preservatives and colours. These have a wide range of negative effects on many aspects of our health, including interfering with neurotransmitters and mood.
3. Excess caffeine, found in highest amounts in coffee, cola and energy drinks (less so in tea). Caffeine provides a bit of a rush (although if you are a long-term high-volume coffee drinker you may not get the rush anymore), but it depletes your reserves, drains your adrenal glands and puts your nervous system on high alert – all this is ultimately exhausting and depleting. If you say “I can’t start my day without a coffee” then it is exactly you who needs to do just that. Giving up can be hard but there are things that can help, such as weaning off gradually, ensuring you have a nutritious diet and seeking the help of a naturopath or nutritionist.
4. Alcohol (and other recreational drugs). Alcohol is not your good-mood-friend. Even if it helps you be more social and feel more confident at low volumes and in the short term, alcohol is consistently linked with depression, poor quality sleep and making some dubious choices – all of which will end up making you feel worse than when you began.
