Food, food, it is such an integral part of living. It is what you must daily have to survive. But have you ever given it a thought that what you eat affects your emotions? Do you know that the food you eat affects your mood? That is, the type of food you eat determines your frame of mind or the state of your mind. Food affects your temper, whether you feel low in spirit or even to the extent of depression. Being cheerful, happy or positive in attitude is also to a large extent determined by the choice of food you eat. Let's explore what science has revealed in this food and mood connection.
This connection between food and mood is serious enough to warrant earnest interest. Pay careful attention and you will be intrigued as to what has been discovered. You will be fascinated by what has been revealed. Especially is it very serious if you realize that depressed mood can lead to serious circumstances like suicide. And that food can play a part in it. For those not familiar with the ravages of mental illness, the flippant suggestion is don’t kill your self when they see a person contemplating suicide. But psychiatric disorders can cloud a person's judgment to the extent of doing anything including homicide and suicide. Most of those who kill others or kill themselves have psychiatric problems.
So the question is can lifestyle- whether you obey the laws of health or not -of which choice of food is a prominent part -help the mind, as we know it helps the body?
The answer is a resounding yes! It is the realization of this that resulted in the 1946 definition of Health by the World Health organization(WHO) to state that health “is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity”. In other words, you can be in excellent physical shape- enjoying low cholesterol, a healthy body weight, and a good overall physical fitness—but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy.
Now, everyone feels sad occasionally. A full range of emotions is part of what makes us human. Depression however, is not just sadness, it is characterized by weeks of such symptoms as low or sad mood, diminished interest in activities that used to be pleasurable, weight gain or loss, fatigue, inappropriate guilt, difficulty concentrating, and recurrent thoughts of death. Indeed major depressions can be a life-threatening ailment. Keep in mind also that because you’re not depressed doesn’t necessarily mean you’re happy. More studies are now emerging focusing on the relationship between optimal mental (finest mental) and physical health.
Positive psychological well-being is associated with reduced risk of physical illness! The real question is which came first? Is it being positive psychologically or is it that because you are well you have positive psychological well being? You know the proverbial question of which is first –the chicken or the egg? Are people healthier because they are happy or are people just happier because they are healthy? Studies that follow individuals over time found that people starting out happier do indeed end up healthier. A particular study analysis of 70 of such studies on mortality concluded “positive psychological well-being has a favourable effect on survival in both healthy and diseased populations. And they also found that those who are happier appear to live longer.
Psychologically happy people have less stress and more resistance to infection. They are better able to resist infections. This is what is primarily responsible for this longevity.
Other factors associated with well-being are: not smoking, exercising more, and of course eating healthy. So is being happier just a marker of good health and not a cause of it. To find out, researchers set out to make people sick.
There isn’t a stopping to researchers quest in their curiosity. These scientists at Carnegie Mellon University took hundreds of individuals, some happy and some unhappy- paid them good money and they drip the common cold virus into their noses. The question the researchers wanted to answer is whose immune system would be better at fighting off a common cold virus? Will it be those in the group rated as happy and relaxed or those in the group who were anxious, hostile and depressed?
What did they find?
About one in three of the negative-emotion individuals failed to successfully fight off the virus and came down with a cold. But only one in five of the happy individuals became sick, even after the researchers took into account such factors as the subjects sleep patterns, exercise habits, and stress levels. These researchers also used influenza virus, once again increased positive emotions were associated with decreased verified illness rates. That is, happy people don’t get sick compared with unhappy people. Happier people, it seems are less likely to get sick. So mental health does appear to play a part in physical health.
Does food make us happy?
The food you eat supports both your mind and your body. But it is just not any type of food. It is the common foods from leafy green vegetables to simple tomatoes to those foods that you get from the garden that positively affect your brain chemistry and help ward off depression. In fact simply smelling a common spice or seasoning may improve your emotional state. It has been shown that higher consumption of vegetables cut the odds of developing depression by as much as 62%. That eating lots of fruits and vegetables may present a “a non-invasive, natural, and inexpensive therapeutic means to support a healthy brain." Also avoiding depression is not just about eating your green vegetables, it is also about avoiding the foods that may increase the risk of depression.
Did you catch that? There are foods that can increase depression!
There are components in certain foods that may increase depression. The primary ones are foods containing arachidonic acid, an inflammation-promoting compound.
So far we have seen that - 1. Smelling some herbs can improve your mood. 2. Some foods actually help your brain chemistry to be happy and some by causing inflammation do the opposite.
Would you like to know which food can improve your mood and mind?
How can smelling some herbs improve our mood? Do you want to identify the foods that actually help your brain chemistry to be happy? Would you like to know the foods that by causing inflammation do the opposite, that is make you cranky? I believe you wouldl like to know. Let me share with you what science has found out.
Keep in mind that your brain is the control center of your moods. So what ever you put into your body affects not only the physical body but the mind and spirit. Your foods are digested and absorbed into your blood and the blood also feeds the brain. This simple realization should be the number one thought that should help you make careful choices as you understand that your brain is also fed with the food you eat. And your brain controls your mind, which determines what you think and your mood as well. So whether you get angry easily or whether you are prone to be patient is determined by your brain and what is energizing the cells in your brain.
First, Water. Although water is not always classified or thought of as food because it does not need digestion but water is food for our cells. Most people don’t drink water as long as they are drinking some fluids. But once anything is added to water, especially when the substance are sweets the fluid is no more water. We need to take adequate amount of water. Our cells must have pure H2O with nothing added to it. The average for adults is at least 4 – 5 pints- (8 to 10 cups of water) a day. More is needed in sickness, and warm weather.
You may be water deficient and not know it. Your emotions may be the first indication you are running dry. Most persons have 15 and 40 billion brain cells, each one consisting of 70-80% water. If anyone accuses you of having water in the brain thank him for the compliment. The reason is you need a lot of water in the brain to think clearly and function.
Depression and irritability may be largely due to lack of water. Are your children cranky and tired: try giving them a glass of water, and take one or two yourself. You may feel on edge or overly sensitive if your water level is too low.
Sufficient water is important for your mental alertness. A lack of it may stifle creativity.
We shall address other needs in the next article...
