Moody Food!

17^th October 2014

If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution.  ~Author Unknown

Oh how to I say it, how can I put it nicely, this week I have mostly been a cranky, moody mare!  Yeah that just about sums it up, and I know why – I’m blaming October, yep sorry October but you officially suck, you’ve well and truly taken away my sunshine, you’ve left me with dark mornings to wake up to and it has to be said this year you’re wet!

Every year I get grumpy about now, those dark morning take some getting used to, it’s hibernating kind of weather and all you (me) want to do is stay home and eat!

Now the trick is and I realised it yesterday is to eat the right foods so they lift your mood, because it’s true that food does affect the mood.  If you’re already cranky eating junk ain’t gonna help much at all, it’s likely to lower your mood even further.  If you eat mood lifting food though, then this transition to the colder, darker nights will be easier.

Wouldn’t it be good to know the next time we’re having one of those really bad days, we can actually eat those blues away with a healthy diet! MMm I like that idea a lot, so what can we eat, well I’ve been using the good old search engines for some information and to confirm what I think I already know :) and I’m thrilled to inform you that most of the foods mentioned are foods on the Weight Watchers Filling & Healthy list, so as long as we follow that plan we should be getting a good mood stabilising diet.

So oats or eggs breakfast is a great mood booster, they will fill you up and keep your blood sugar steady to improve irritability, poor concentration and fatigue.   Add a banana, it’s good for the brain and for lifting mood or blueberries, these are packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, which are potent stress busters. Because your brain consumes so much oxygen, oxidants do heavy damage there, and those antioxidants will help pick off the free radicals that wear away at your memory – I need help with the memory!

Snack on cherry tomatoes, the skins are filled with a fat-soluble phytonutrient called lycopene. This phytonutrient halts the production of compounds that lead to inflammation, which is linked to depression.  (You don’t need to remember the big words and meanings just the ‘eat cherry tomatoes’ bit!)

Using Greek yogurt as a dessert is a great idea because when your body has the right amount of calcium, it alerts your body to release its mood-boosting neurotransmitters. Disturbances in your calcium levels cause anxiety, depression, irritability, impaired memory and slow thinking. Greek yogurt has a crazy amount of calcium and the probiotics help with digestion and prevention of colds!  Result!

Now I’m a big lover of peppers and they are packed with vitamin C, which can inhibit the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Yellow peppers have the highest levels (341mg), followed by red (209mg) and green (132mg).  You could stuff them with brown rice, as eating carbohydrates boosts serotonin levels (thus have a calming, soothing effect), and slow-release ‘complex’ carbs keep you sustained, helping you to stay mellow and preventing between-meals rattiness.

Add a handful of broccoli which is chock-full of stress-relieving B vitamins, broccoli has the added benefit of containing folate (folic acid), which is also part of the B vitamin family. And since low levels of folate have been linked to depression in many studies, including research following thousands of people in Finland and California, it stands to reason that if you keep your folate levels up, you’re less likely to be down in the dumps.

Now I’m not a huge lover of chickpeas but knowing that just half a cup of these legumes supplies 141mg of folate, a type of B vitamin necessary for the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure might encourage me to give them a whirl and use them in my cooking.   Chick pea curry anyone?  Throw some turkey in as it’s high in phenylalanine, an amino acid, which the brain converts to dopamine, a neurochemical that elevates mood and motivation and prevents depression. A study published in a German psychiatry journal showed that phenylalanine was as effective as an antidepressant drug. As well as turkey, phenylalanine is found in most protein foods, so eat them when you want to feel sharper. The addition of protein to a meal will also help slow the absorption of carbohydrate in the blood. This can help leave you feeling upbeat and productive for hours after eating.

So there’s just a handful of foods that lift you’re mood, there are many more examples but to save you thinking just stick with the Filling & Healthy list and you’ll be okay, 

As much as I want to pretend this next bit isn’t true, there are such a thing as food stressors, things we could do with avoiding such as sugar, too much caffeine, alcohol, it’s all about balance isn’t it and on days when you’re not feeling great, sitting and drinking a bottle of wine really isn’t the solution, a brisk walk outside would do you a whole heap of more good, especially if you go with a friend and have a good natter.

Anyways, it’s still dark outside, (6.45am) and moms just woke so I’m off to sort her drugs, make her a cuppa and some breakfast, then we can get down to the work stuff. 

Ooo in case you hadn’t noticed – it’s Friday ;-) YAY! Have a good one BeYOUtiful.