Hey there, let’s talk about how to boost your mood using nutrition!
Are you feeling overwhelmed, experiencing grief, or just worried about everything? Do you find yourself inexplicably cranky or complaining all the time? Are you lonely and riddled with guilt?
Have you thought about changing the way you eat to boost your mood?
If you have, look no further because your mental health nutrition journey starts here!
What you eat has a major impact on your mental well-being, and making simple changes to your diet can make a world of difference. By focusing on the right foods and nutrients, you can improve your mood and overall mental health. How do I know this? Because I’ve done it and I’ve watched my clients do it too!
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been interviewed on several podcasts and they all asked me the same question.
“Making all these changes could be overwhelming. So, where do you start?”
Get ready to learn the 3 simple steps I recommend to all my clients to kickstart their mental health nutrition journey. It works for them and it will work for you.
Why does what we eat affect how we feel?
You might be wondering why food has such a big impact on our mood. It’s all about the connection between what you put in your body and how your gut and brain function.
Good food, nutritious food, is loaded with all the right components to help fuel your brain. If your gut is working well, full of good probiotics, and able to digest what you eat, you’ll extract the building blocks and co-factors your brain needs to function well. You’ll maintain stable emotions, make smart decisions, and even head off big problems like addiction and cravings.
Imagine your brain like a car – it needs the right fuel to run smoothly. When you load up on junk food and sugary drinks, it’s like putting low-quality gas into your car; you’re not going to get very far. When you skip meals, it’s like passing the gas station even though the needle’s on empty. You’re going to break down. (Did you know the symptoms of low blood sugar and an anxiety attack are exactly the same?)
One of my clients called me in the middle of a panic attack. I asked him what he’d had to eat that day. He’d started out his day with a Starbucks lemonade ice tea, skipped eating breakfast, forgot lunch, and got home from work feeling nauseated, heart racing, frozen cold, unable to focus, and sure he was experiencing anxiety. I stayed on the phone with him and got him to eat some protein and fruit. Twenty minutes later he was calm, warm, focused, and no longer nauseous.
His blood sugar was low because he’d “driven past the gas station” multiple times that day without stopping to refuel. Without adequate glucose, his pre-frontal cortex was no longer functioning properly and his brain wasn’t functioning well enough to make healthy decisions.
When you nourish yourself with nutrient-rich foods like protein, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, you’re giving your brain the premium fuel it needs to thrive.
What you eat really does matter when it comes to boosting your mood! 🍏🧠 #FuelYourBrain
Let’s make some easy changes to kickstart your nutrition journey
There’s no need to overhaul your entire pantry in one go (unless of course, you want to do that!) To boost your mood, start small by adding a handful of colorful veggies to your meals or swapping out sugary snacks for protein-focused ones. Remember, progress is progress, no matter how small!
And hey, don’t forget to hydrate – being a little bit dehydrated can cause short-term memory loss and trouble with math problems. Prolonged dehydration causes brain cells to shrink in size and mass. It really is all about simple changes, like James Clear says in his book Atomic Habits, “Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
Having worked with seniors for 12 years, I can testify to the truth of this statement. The little, positive changes you make today add up to a healthier future, a functioning brain, and a happier mood! 🌟✨ #SmallStepsBigChanges
1. Start by eating protein consistently to balance your blood sugar
Remember, it’s all about progress, not perfection!
The first thing I tell my clients is: “To boost your mood, start your mental health nutrition journey by eating protein consistently. It balances your blood sugar levels, keeps your mood stable, and heads off addictions, cravings, and relapse before they begin.”
Meat, eggs, nuts and seeds all contain protein. Ideally, your daily blood sugar should look like rolling hills, gently rising and falling. Not a sudden rise to the top of Mount Everest followed by a hasty drop to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Protein contains essential building blocks that make up your neurotransmitters. When your stomach breaks down protein into its smallest form, amino acids, your body uses them to help stabilize your mood. It takes tryptophan and turns it into serotonin and then melatonin. It takes phenylalanine and turns it into dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The result? You experience more joy, peace, pleasure, and reward AND get a good night’s sleep.
2. Figure out which foods trigger your lousy moods
Did you know that a slice of bread could set off your anxiety, your glass of milk could cause your suicidal ideations, and caffeine can interrupt your sleep and trigger the jitters?
So, the second step is to figure out which foods are messing with your mood. You can learn more about how they do this in my blog post: “Could Food Allergies Be Trashing Your Mental Health?”
Keeping a food journal is an inexpensive way to do this. Make a note of what you ate and how you feel. Try and pay attention to everything that was in that meal. If you eat a fried chicken sandwich and feel bloated and emotional, bear in mind that it might not be the chicken, it could be the batter, the oil it’s fried in, or the bun it’s served on.
If you think a specific food is the root cause of the problem, remove it (and all derivatives of it) from your diet for 28 days. Reintroduce the food twice a day over two days and pay attention to your symptoms. If the symptoms come back, eliminate the food from your diet.
Food sensitivities were a massive part of the problem for me. After suffering from debilitating anxiety attacks for 7 years and taking medication to try and solve the problem I went gluten-free and watched my anxiety disappear in 1 week.
If you want a simpler approach, invest in a delayed food sensitivity test that looks at over 180 different foods and gives you the answers in a couple of weeks. It makes it a lot easier to figure out how to boost your mood quickly!
3. Start cleaning up what you put in your body
Step three is to start cleaning up what you put in your body.
When our family started our journey towards better mental health, we began by cleaning up what we already ate. When we ran out of a specific food, we replaced it with a cleaner alternative. Instead of buying conventional bananas, we switched to organic. We replaced sugar-saturated peanut butter with added oils for Costco organic peanut butter. If we wanted chips, we swapped traditional brands and flavors for Humble Organic Chips. We put the “Clean Fifteen, Dirty Dozen” list to good use to protect our budget.
As the years have gone by, we’ve crowded out a lot of the nutrient-deficient “alternative” foods with whole foods. We’re really not hungry between meals, craving desserts, or tempted by fast-food offerings. And I encourage the same for my clients.
If you feel like you just can’t give up that bag of potato chips right now, swap it for something cleaner and follow healthy eating principles at your meals and snack times. You may well find that you end up going several days without snacking on the “junkier” options because your cravings have evaporated and your body has the nutrients it needs. After all, you are hungry for nutrients, not calories.
Fueling your body with the good stuff can help you boost your mood and kick those bad mood culprits to the curb. Remember, you are what you eat and you are what you can absorb. Cleaning up your food choices and restoring gut health goes a long way to helping you nourish your body and mind.
Stay tuned to my Instagram or Facebook page for tasty recipes and easy meal ideas to nourish your body and mind. 🌿🍎🥑 #CleanEating #HappyInside
Time to start feeling better and healthier!
Adopting these three simple principles
- Eating protein consistently to balance your blood sugar
- Figuring out which foods trigger your lousy moods
- Cleaning up what you put in your body
is an easy way to dive into the world of mental health nutrition. Amp up your energy and mood with nutrient-rich foods. Say goodbye to those sluggish days and hello to a brighter, more positive you! It’s all about making simple yet effective changes to boost your well-being. Subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss out ways to improve your mental health one bite at a time! 🍏🥦💪 #HealthyChoices #GoodVibesOnly
Do You Want More Help?
For most people, minor lifestyle changes will make a big difference. However, there are times when the problem runs deeper and you need professional help. If you’ve tried to figure this out on your own, or you feel like you’re lost in a maze of information and aren’t sure which path to take, don’t give up hope.
We have a range of different approaches that will help you figure out the root cause of your dysfunction and stop the cycle of sickness so you can feel better now.
At Sycamore and Sage Nutrition, I help our readers take control of their well-being through informed dietary choices and a nurturing mindset. Even small doses of hope and positivity can make all the difference when it comes to improving your mental health!
If you need help navigating your depression and anxiety, schedule a free 30-minute connection call with me today.