Imagine if you really were what you ate? Maybe people would look a little closer at what went in to their diets?
This may not be as far from the truth as you think, while most people know that food affects their health and physical wellbeing (scary enough in its self for some people), it is less known that what we eat also affects the way we think feel and act.
Not only does food affect your mood, your mood also affects the food you eat, which for some means a vicious cycle of poor diets and poor feelings.
Different foods have different affects on you but some of the worst are excitotoxins such as aspartame and monosodium glutamate (msg) which over stimulates the neurons in your brain causing symptoms such as depression and anxiety. These Excitotoxins are found in junk food, diet soft drinks and also in sugar replacements and artificial sweeteners!
Feeling Depressed Yet? The good news is that there are lots of foods out there that do the exact opposite. Natural substances found in certain food actually work to make you happy! Those natural substances are omega-3 fatty acids and uridine, which in experiments with rats were even as effective as prescription antidepressants in preventing signs of depression Some of the foods containing high levels of these substances include:
- Salmon
- Herring
- Walnuts
- Sugar beets
Not only does good food have the power to make you happy but eating the right foods can even increase your memory and improve your alertness.
Proteins such as fish, chicken and eggs contain amino acids which increases the production of natural neurotransmitters which increase alertness and brain activity. Also foods such as blueberries, oranges, avocadoes, oily fish, broccoli and spinach increase your powers of memory, due to high vitamin c and b levels, while sugar disrupts the formation of memory cells in the brain. So why not ditch the artificial and get happy with some super salmon or a well remembered orange?
- Legumes are a great source of fibre so try to include legumes in as many dishes as you can. Why not try nachos or burritos with kidney beans instead of mince?
- Choose whole grain breads, cereals and crackers, and brown rice rather than their white alternatives, as these are higher in fibre.
- Add raisins, bananas, or strawberries to your breakfast cereal or why not eat them as a snack.
- Fibre is present in most fruits and veggies so try to have these as part of every meal, or whenever you can.
- Most fibre can be found in the skins of fruits and vegetables so try to eat them with the skins on whenever possible.