GOOD MOOD FOOD
"Do you fall prey to food cravings and intensified emotions with that time of the month? Or do you feel consistently low or unmotivated, suffer depression or anxiety? Fine-tuning your diet might well be your saviour.
Outside factors, such as our exposure to the sun, the weather and even the phases of the moon, have all been shown to have profound effects on how we feel. Then we also have our genes to consider and the ebb and flow of our menstrual cycle.
However, how you feel day to day isn’t purely a function of what’s going on in your life and how you deal with it psychologically. You cannot have a single thought, or experience a feeling, without a corresponding change in your body’s chemistry.
Let Food Help You
I ask my clients to to view their body as a bank account, putting in all the right nutrients consistently so you have a great supply for the times when you need to make withdrawals, like during your menstrual cycle or in times of extreme stress and anxiety.
My go to “mood foods” to deposit weekly into your account are;
- Zinc – oysters, kale, broccoli, legumes, nutritional yeast, nuts and seeds
- Magnesium – avocados, dark leafy greens, fish, cocao
- B vitamins – dark leafy greens, red meat, beans, quinoa, asparagus, avocado
- Vitamin D – eggs, sardines
- Omega 3 fatty acids – wild caught salmon, hemp seeds, chia seeds
- Probiotic rich foods – kefir, yoghurt, sauerkraut
- Antioxidants – think colour – all the berries, beetroot, sweet potato. Even some dark chocolate.
Understand Your Cravings
If you are regularly dependant on refined, highly processed foods to give you that buzz (albeit short term) there is a good chance you are losing your ability to keep your blood sugar level even. And that’s enough to make anyone cranky!
Recognising a food craving is very powerful, because we can use them as clues to recognising nutritional imbalances.
Talk to me about your cravings and I can help you be more strategic on the best ways to improve your mood and build resistance to feeling low, anxious and/or depressed.
