Have you ever had a rough night and wondered why you feel so down? You wake up feeling a little sad or uncomfortable. Someone may even say to you “sounds like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today”. Generally speaking, there can be several reasons that explain why you feel the way you do. One option to explore is the food you’re eating; food indeed can affect your mood!
If you’ve never heard this before, then you may not suspect your diet when you feel ‘off’ or a little blue. In today’s health-conscious world, it’s common to see or read about foods that help keep you physically and mentally healthy. Just like how healthy foods affect the body positively, they can also affect your mood and emotional well being.
Can what you eat affect your mood? We’ve got answers for you. Keep reading to know!
How Food Affects Your Mood
Do you remember when you were in a bad mood, but felt better after eating something?
While that is a great example, there is more to this than feeling better because you’ve satisfied a craving. The brain is the powerhouse for all activities in the body. And like all powerhouses, it needs to be fueled. The type of fuel you give your brain determines how efficient it will be.
Certain foods are harmful to your mood because of how they affect your body’s daily activities. For instance, foods that contain a high concentration of refined sugars can mess up insulin regulation. When everything isn’t working as it should, your brain struggles to function well, which can affect your mood.
But how exactly does this happen? Is there scientific proof that shows how food affects your mood? Yes, there is.
Remember that your mood at any given time is dependent on what chemicals are produced in your body. The chemical/ hormone that controls mood, pain, appetite, and sleep is known as serotonin, and it is produced in the gut.
Furthermore, serotonin functions better with higher numbers of good bacteria. What does good bacteria do? Good bacteria helps the body digest food and absorbs nutrients from the intestinal walls.
Guess what helps control the number of good bacteria in the body? Food that contains large quantities of high fructose corn syrup reduces the number of good bacteria. Conversely, foods that contain tryptophan have the opposite effect.
How Being in a Good Mood Affects Your Overall Wellness
Can you remember your most painful breakup? Not just any breakup but the one that made you watch The Notebook (or any movie similar) while consuming scary amounts of ice cream and rubbing your chest because you could feel your heart breaking. That’s proof enough that how you feel can affect you physically.
Knowing how food affects your mood is the first step in determining how it affects your overall wellness. Your mood manifests itself physically – not just in your health but also in your decisions.
Good moods beget good feelings and ethical decisions. When you are happy, you’ll be more energetic, more productive, and make better decisions.
The same goes for a negative mood. It begets tiredness, less productivity, feelings of illness, and bad decisions.
Mood-Boosting Foods
You already know that you should avoid processed foods and foods that contain refined sugars, these foods can negatively affect your mood and health. But, are there foods that you can eat to improve your mood?
Of course! When you feel bad, resist the urge to eat high-calorie snacks. Go for any of the foods listed below.
- Dark Chocolate
- Nuts and Seeds
- Fatty Fish or Foods containing Omega-3 Acids.
- Whole Grains
- Green Vegetables
- Coffee
If your triggers as an addict are linked to your moods, you may want to take what you eat seriously. Eating the right foods for you will not only preempt your triggers; it’ll make you feel healthy again.
Seek Overall Wellness at Anchored Tides Recovery
At Anchored Tides Recovery, we encourage our clients to understand their triggers. Knowing how food affects your mood and the things you can do to boost your mood is essential to the healing process.
Anchored Tides Recovery is a female-only addiction treatment center located in Huntington Beach, CA. We believe that healing from addictions requires a holistic approach tailored to suit women specifically. We also offer a variety of treatment options like our outpatient treatment. Contact us today; let us help you fight your addiction.
