What you eat does not only impact your weight and energy levels but it can elevate your mood or bring it down.
Diet is such an important component of mental health that it has inspired an entire field of medicine called nutritional psychiatry and according to this field, what you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and your mood.
Considering how important food is for our mood, here are tips from mental health professionals and science on not only what but also how to eat:
Eat Regularly and Slow-Release Energy Foods
If your blood sugar drops you might feel tired, irritable and depressed. Eating regularly will help to keep your sugar levels steady. Choosing food that release energy slowly also helps. These include: pasta, rice, oats, wholegrain bread and cereals, nuts and seeds.
Stay Hydrated
If you don’t drink enough fluid, you may find it difficult to concentrate or think clearly. You might also start to feel constipated (which puts no one in a good mood). 2 litres of liquids is a good start.
Avoid Foods That Bring Your Mood Down
Sugar (cakes, cookies, cereal, drinks, and even condiments such as barbecue sauce, salad dressings, granola bars, energy bars, trail mix, and honey roasted nuts).
Refined Grains (white rice, pasta, crackers, bread, chips, and breaded foods are full of refined carbohydrates that offer little to no nutritional value and rob you of important B vitamins in the process of digestion)
Alcohol (a depressant which can lead to impaired vision, judgment, and reaction time)
Include More Mood Elevating Food In Your Diet
Fish (especially the more oily types such as salmon, mackerel, trout, sardines, and tuna)
Nuts (walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, and hazelnuts are helpful in supplementing; walnuts are known to support overall brain health, being one of the highest plant-based sources of Omega-3 and a great source of protein to help keep blood sugar levels at a healthy balance)
Beans (especially garbanzo and pinto beans)
Seeds (flaxseed, chia seeds, pumpkin and squash seeds)
Vegetables (all but especially the green leafy ones: brussels sprouts, spinach, kale, and watercress)
General Guidance
It is best to allow your body the freedom to digest foods as close to their natural state as possible. Many of the processed foods or things you might find at a convenience store are filled with preservatives and offer little to no nutritional benefit.
