Post by toweringniceguy on May 12, 2007 13:45:56 GMT 10
Food for Good Mood
Some moods trigger food cravings -- and vice versa. The challenge is to
keep both in check.
By Lawrence
Think of your body as an insanely complex, gooey car. Put in gas and oil
(a balanced diet), and you're good to go. Put in nicotine, alcohol, caffeine,
weird, manufactured fats, gummy, washed-out flour, and sugar, and it's
like pouring sugar into the gas tank. You'll sputter, run on, stop and start,
or stall.
Put Food In, See a Difference
Senior New York University clinical nutritionist Samantha Heller, MS, RD,
would probably prefer an analogy to a chemistry set. "If you are
chemically balanced," Heller contends, "your moods will be balanced."
A lot of factors can throw the body out of balance. "A lot of women are
anemic," she says. "This leads to depression and fatigue. Older people
are often deficient in the B vitamins. People who don't eat regularly often
have big shifts in blood sugar." People also have chemical sensitivities to
certain foods that can govern mood.
In a study of 200 people done in England for the mental health group
known as Mind, subjects were told to cut down on mood "stressors" they
consumed, while increasing the amount of mood "supporters." Stressors
included sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate (more of that coming up).
Supporters were water, vegetables, fruit, and oil-rich fish.
Eighty-eight percent of the people who tried this reported improved
mental health. Specifically, 26% said they had fewer mood swings, 26%
had fewer panic attacks and anxiety, and 24% said they experienced less
depression.
How Moods Are Fed or Starved
One big set of chemicals that control mood are the neurotransmitters in
the brain led by the pleasure "drug" serotonin. These substances
determine whether you feel good and energetic or tired, irritable, and
spacey. They run on sugar, preferably the form that comes from low
glycemic carbohydrates (not doughnut sprinkles), according to Molly
Kimball, RD, sports and lifestyle nutritionist at the Ochsner Clinic
Foundation and Hospital in New Orleans.
The idea, she says, is to maintain a stable blood sugar level through the
day, slowly feeding these substances into the brain. Low glycemic carbs
include whole grain bread, beans, whole grain crackers, soy, apples,
pears, peaches, and other fruits.
What Kimball calls "crappy carbs" -- commercial granola bars, animal
crackers, graham crackers, potato chips, and of course, cakes and pies --
flood into the system too fast and cause your body to order up a big shot
of insulin, which then tips the balance you've tried to maintain. "You can
see it when you've had a white flour pancake and syrup for breakfast,"
Kimball says. "By mid-afternoon, you're ready for a nap." This sugar
alert/insulin cycle can gradually become less efficient and lead to diabetes
and other problems.
Comfort Foods Really Work
If you have let your neurotransmitters get off balance or if external forces
have conspired to put you in a bad mood, don't fret, it happens. That's
when your body will start to think "comfort food."
According to Joy Short, MS, RD, assistant professor and head of
undergraduate nutrition and dietetics at St. Louis University, you should
fulfill that craving -- but in moderation. "You might take time to think, 'Am I
really hungry or just feel like eating because I am stressed,'" she says.
However, if you can't think of a healthier response, eat your comfort item
and enjoy it! If you must eat a deep-fried Twinkie, eat one and lighten up
on (but don't skip) the rest of the meals in the day, she says.
You could make comfort foods more nutritional, she says. Interestingly,
both men and women choose ice cream as their preferred comfort food,
but coming in second is chocolate for women and pizza for men. "If you
want a cookie, make it oatmeal raisin or vanilla wafers. Buy low-fat ice
cream. Make your hot chocolate with skim milk. And forget the chips, in
favor of popcorn or pretzels," Short says. Or after Domino's arrives, throw
some artichoke pieces, anchovies, or frozen veggies on top and heat.
What about that universal comfort food, chocolate? Much has been
written about chocolate's rich complement of mood-altering chemicals,
some of which trip the serotonin receptors and cause a "falling in love"
feeling, according to millions of chocoholics.
Chocolate is also supposedly loaded with antioxidants that keep the brain
and other organs from being bashed by rogue cells called free radicals.
Kimball says chocolate can act almost as a cannabinoid -- the
mood-altering chemical found in marijuana. But Heller and Short say the
touchy-feely chemicals are not in sufficient strength to make a difference
in the body.
Recommendations for Managing Moods
Maintain a stable blood sugar, no big swings. This means frequent small
meals and snacks, every four hours or so.
Be sure to drink a lot of water and juice.
Exercise 20 minutes a day for mood -- and an hour for fat-burning.
Do not follow an extremely low-fat diet (quick weight loss is also bad for
mood, Heller says). Fat is needed for anti-depression. Stick with
polyunsaturated and monounstaurated fats and fatty fish or flaxseeds,
which are full of healthy omega-3 fats.
Take in tryptophan, an amino acid that makes blood sugar accessible to
the neurotransmitters. This means milk or turkey. Eat a carb alongside
your tryptophan source for better absorption.
Have breakfast.
Spend time in the produce department when you shop (try to eat a lot of
bright colors, which means fruits and veggies).
Pass on food items that come wrapped in crackly cellophane.
Limit coffee (even nutritionist Kimball drinks some).
Don't eliminate any one food group, such as carbs.
Some moods trigger food cravings -- and vice versa. The challenge is to
keep both in check.
By Lawrence
Think of your body as an insanely complex, gooey car. Put in gas and oil
(a balanced diet), and you're good to go. Put in nicotine, alcohol, caffeine,
weird, manufactured fats, gummy, washed-out flour, and sugar, and it's
like pouring sugar into the gas tank. You'll sputter, run on, stop and start,
or stall.
Put Food In, See a Difference
Senior New York University clinical nutritionist Samantha Heller, MS, RD,
would probably prefer an analogy to a chemistry set. "If you are
chemically balanced," Heller contends, "your moods will be balanced."
A lot of factors can throw the body out of balance. "A lot of women are
anemic," she says. "This leads to depression and fatigue. Older people
are often deficient in the B vitamins. People who don't eat regularly often
have big shifts in blood sugar." People also have chemical sensitivities to
certain foods that can govern mood.
In a study of 200 people done in England for the mental health group
known as Mind, subjects were told to cut down on mood "stressors" they
consumed, while increasing the amount of mood "supporters." Stressors
included sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate (more of that coming up).
Supporters were water, vegetables, fruit, and oil-rich fish.
Eighty-eight percent of the people who tried this reported improved
mental health. Specifically, 26% said they had fewer mood swings, 26%
had fewer panic attacks and anxiety, and 24% said they experienced less
depression.
How Moods Are Fed or Starved
One big set of chemicals that control mood are the neurotransmitters in
the brain led by the pleasure "drug" serotonin. These substances
determine whether you feel good and energetic or tired, irritable, and
spacey. They run on sugar, preferably the form that comes from low
glycemic carbohydrates (not doughnut sprinkles), according to Molly
Kimball, RD, sports and lifestyle nutritionist at the Ochsner Clinic
Foundation and Hospital in New Orleans.
The idea, she says, is to maintain a stable blood sugar level through the
day, slowly feeding these substances into the brain. Low glycemic carbs
include whole grain bread, beans, whole grain crackers, soy, apples,
pears, peaches, and other fruits.
What Kimball calls "crappy carbs" -- commercial granola bars, animal
crackers, graham crackers, potato chips, and of course, cakes and pies --
flood into the system too fast and cause your body to order up a big shot
of insulin, which then tips the balance you've tried to maintain. "You can
see it when you've had a white flour pancake and syrup for breakfast,"
Kimball says. "By mid-afternoon, you're ready for a nap." This sugar
alert/insulin cycle can gradually become less efficient and lead to diabetes
and other problems.
Comfort Foods Really Work
If you have let your neurotransmitters get off balance or if external forces
have conspired to put you in a bad mood, don't fret, it happens. That's
when your body will start to think "comfort food."
According to Joy Short, MS, RD, assistant professor and head of
undergraduate nutrition and dietetics at St. Louis University, you should
fulfill that craving -- but in moderation. "You might take time to think, 'Am I
really hungry or just feel like eating because I am stressed,'" she says.
However, if you can't think of a healthier response, eat your comfort item
and enjoy it! If you must eat a deep-fried Twinkie, eat one and lighten up
on (but don't skip) the rest of the meals in the day, she says.
You could make comfort foods more nutritional, she says. Interestingly,
both men and women choose ice cream as their preferred comfort food,
but coming in second is chocolate for women and pizza for men. "If you
want a cookie, make it oatmeal raisin or vanilla wafers. Buy low-fat ice
cream. Make your hot chocolate with skim milk. And forget the chips, in
favor of popcorn or pretzels," Short says. Or after Domino's arrives, throw
some artichoke pieces, anchovies, or frozen veggies on top and heat.
What about that universal comfort food, chocolate? Much has been
written about chocolate's rich complement of mood-altering chemicals,
some of which trip the serotonin receptors and cause a "falling in love"
feeling, according to millions of chocoholics.
Chocolate is also supposedly loaded with antioxidants that keep the brain
and other organs from being bashed by rogue cells called free radicals.
Kimball says chocolate can act almost as a cannabinoid -- the
mood-altering chemical found in marijuana. But Heller and Short say the
touchy-feely chemicals are not in sufficient strength to make a difference
in the body.
Recommendations for Managing Moods
Maintain a stable blood sugar, no big swings. This means frequent small
meals and snacks, every four hours or so.
Be sure to drink a lot of water and juice.
Exercise 20 minutes a day for mood -- and an hour for fat-burning.
Do not follow an extremely low-fat diet (quick weight loss is also bad for
mood, Heller says). Fat is needed for anti-depression. Stick with
polyunsaturated and monounstaurated fats and fatty fish or flaxseeds,
which are full of healthy omega-3 fats.
Take in tryptophan, an amino acid that makes blood sugar accessible to
the neurotransmitters. This means milk or turkey. Eat a carb alongside
your tryptophan source for better absorption.
Have breakfast.
Spend time in the produce department when you shop (try to eat a lot of
bright colors, which means fruits and veggies).
Pass on food items that come wrapped in crackly cellophane.
Limit coffee (even nutritionist Kimball drinks some).
Don't eliminate any one food group, such as carbs.
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