Part 1: Food and Mood

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Food has a significant impact on your mood. One of the many reasons is due to the fact that roughly 90% of the "feel good" hormone serotonin is made in your gut. For Part 1 of Mood and Food I wanted to share a personal and very eye opening experience!

 

As I have talked about before in the Let's Talk About Poop blog, your bowel movements are a great indicator of your health. By health I mean both your physical and mental health, because if your gut microbes are unhappy you are unhappy.

 

Here begins my saga....I was having the smoothest digestion and then I lost it....my husband put spoiled goat cheese in an omelet and I recognized it too late. This introduced a new microbe that my digestive tract was not a fan of. Just like that my smooth digestion was gone and my mood took a turn I hadn’t seen in years. 

 

Like normal any time I ate bread, alcohol, or sweets I became agitated for no reason. BUT, because my digestive tract had a new population of microbes from the spoiled cheese ruling my tummy I noticed other symptoms even when I didn’t eat these items such as:

  • Increased anxiety

  • Aggressiveness

  • Feelings of being unsettled

  • Sadness

  • Looking for something to be wrong

  • General grumpy demeanor

I searched for what could be bothering me, but there was nothing to be found. Then my digestive tract started to return to normal and with it so did my mood.

 

I know we talk about how food impacts our mood, but this experience was an unfriendly reminder of just how much.

 

As things resolved I could tell a bad bowel movement was coming by a sudden onset of anxiety, frustration, or general melancholy. Those of you who know me have witnessed my annoyingly chipper attitude understand what a big shift in personality it was.

 

BUT two weeks out from the goat cheese fiasco my digestive tract was back to normal and so was my glass half full attitude. 

 

Today we are a society focused on reaching happiness whether it be from self help books, meditation, or pursuing your passion. However, more often than not people report not feeling happy or fulfilled

 

So what if your lack of contentment has nothing to do with your life and everything to do with the foods you are eating?

 

So I ask you, do you feel...

  • anxious

  • frustrated

  • short tempered

  • sadness/depression

  • melancholy

…. for no good reason?

 

If yes, your symptoms are most likely related to the foods you are eating. The good news is that you have to power to improve your mood with every bite! Stay tuned for next week’s blog that dives into the science behind why food impacts your mood.