Part 1: Food and Mood Connection

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Ready for some crazy news?! The foods you eat directly impact your mood. In EVERY way! I have talked about this topic before in my food and mood blogs parts 1 and 2. Today we are going to go a little more in-depth about specific foods impacting your mood.


I was inspired to talk about this topic again after spending the past two months extensively researching the food and mood connection to present at a conference to therapists on Delmarva. I came away with a lot of wonder information that I couldn’t help but share!


So buckled down and get ready to receive some cool knowledge that will better help you understand your body!


Vagus Nerve

The first thing we have to establish is that the gut and brain communicate with each other constantly. They do this via the vagus nerve. When you have a meal your digestive tract breaks down the food and then creates a bi-product called metabolites that send a signal to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve then tells the brain how your digestive tract feels, aka how to feel.


vagus nerve .jpg

We used to think this system was a 95% one way communication from the gut to the brain. NOW we have found out that this system is bi-directional communication pathway. Meaning your mood can also impact digestion.



Kind of makes sense though, right? Have you ever gotten nervous and had to run to the bathroom or after hearing news had an uneasy stomach? That is the bi-directional system at work!



This is why people need to holistically look at their lives to truly promote health. Acknowledging that nutrition, sleep, stress, and movement are all working together to create your current picture of health. If one is off most likely the other three are too.



Back to food and mood! So to keep this super simple we are just going to talk about foods that send signals to make you feel good or bad. We will call these anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory foods.





Types of Foods

Pro-inflammatory foods make you feel bad and anti-inflammatory make you feel good. This is because the pro-inflammatory food irritate the gut promoting disease and inflammation. Anti-inflammatory ones are like medicine keeping your gut and body healthy and strong.



Pro-inflammatory foods are mostly packaged in a box or a bag. Think highly processed items. These include:

  • Oxidized oils

    • Vegetable, sunflower, corn, soybean, canola, heart healthy oils heated too high or stored improperly

  • Sugar

    • White sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup etc.

  • Simple Carbohydrates

    • Cookies, cakes, muffins, crackers, chips, desserts, etc.

  • Processed Meats

    • Bologna, hot dogs, lunch meats, etc.

  • Sodas/Sugar Sweetened Beverages

    • Diet and Regular, lemonade, sweet tea, energy drinks, etc.

  • Food additives

    • Colorings, preservatives, flavor enhancers, etc.

  • Pesticides



I now need to say something very important. Just because a food is pro-inflammatory does not mean that you shouldn’t eat it. It is 100% about the amount and types of inflammatory foods that you have. Moderation is key.



Anti-Inflammatory foods are what we call whole foods. Meaning you could find them either exactly in the store as you do in nature or pretty close. These include:

  • Vegetables

    • Especially green and bitter vegetables

  • Fruits

    • Berries, tomatoes, etc.

  • Unprocessed Meats

    • Preferably grass fed and finished with no added hormones or antibiotics

  • Fats

    • Fatty Fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds

  • Spices

    • Cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, etc.

  • Whole grains and beans

    • If tolerated by your digestive tract

  • Drinks

    • Green tea, coffee, and red wine

Notice all of these foods can either be found in the produce section of the store or in a bag/box but still in their natural form.



Inflammation

I want to take this next part to connect inflammation from food to mood and diseases. Chronic inflammation caused by the pro-inflammatory foods don’t allow the body to heal or repair. This shows up in a multitude of ways:



In my practice I see what I call the common 6:

  1. Brain Fog

  2. Low Energy

  3. Allergies

  4. Excess Belly Fat

  5. Anxious/Depressed

  6. Digestive Issues



When you are eating foods that cause inflammation, in the most simple terms, the body can feel the digestive tract is angry. It starts by sending signals of “not feeling right”, anxious, or melancholy. If unaddressed this progresses to disease and autoimmune states.



In more serious, but common cases, inflammation is also causing leaky gut. The separation of the intestinal wall to allow other microorganisms and particles of food to pass into the blood stream. As these unwanted particles pass through the blood stream the body signals red alert that something is wrong causing you to feel the above symptoms. We will spend more time talking about leaky gut next blog.



By simply adjusting the type of food, people in my practice are seeing incredible changes in their mood and other above mentioned symptoms. The best part is that they didn’t even have to give up foods that they love, they just needed to consume them in different amounts.



Don’t think that you are stuck feeling anxious, sad, frustrated, lethargic, etc. You have a chance to wake up every day full of energy and vitality. You are just a few few food choices away from feeling great!