How Food Affects Mood

How Food Affects Mood was written by Galina Pembroke

Everyone can benefit from understanding how food affects our mood

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," wrotethe eminent Greek physician Hippocrates during the dawn of westernmedicine. We took his advice. Thousands of years later we use chickensoup to nourish our bodies, yet we question whether the right foodchoices can heal our mind. Some people are sure.

Inspired bypersonal experience, Amanda Geary founded the UK’s Food and MoodProject in 1998. "I started the Food and Mood Project following from myown experience of recovery from depression where I noticed that what Iwas eating was having an effect on my emotional and mental health,"says Geary. "In 1998 I won an award from Mind, the UK's leading mentalhealth charity, to start the Project and help others to explore thelinks between what we eat and how we feel."

The Food and MoodProject is extensive. Geary’s fascination with the relationship betweennutrition and mind has prompted a website, www.foodandmood.org, onlinesupport group, handbook, posters and large-scale survey. This recruited200 individuals between the ages of 26 and 55 who lived in London or SEEngland. The results were substantial. Says Geary: "From the Food andMood Survey results, those using this form of self-help found thatcutting down or avoiding potential food stressors like sugar (80%),caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%) and having more foodsupporters like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil richfish (52%) had the most beneficial effects on mental health."

Moderating Stress Foods

Formany the knowledge of food and mood is restricted to word of mouth andstigma. Consider turkey’s apparent sleep inducing power. ManyThanksgiving dinners end with a nap or at the very least, droopyeyelids. Though the tryptophan in turkey seems to be the culprit, oursluggishness is really due to overeating. Though tryptophan doeselevate the brain’s sleep-inducing serotonin, it does so in very smallamounts. The true cause? An overflow of mashed potatoes, stuffing, pieand alcohol which shifts blood away from the brain and down to thedigestive tract.

The connection between food and mood is notblack and white. Some foods are both healing and stressful. Caffeineand chocolate provide initial exhilaration. Caffeine improves focus andstimulates motivation. Pleasant, until the crash that follows.Chocolate also gives us mixed results. It is laden with sugar and fat,yet full of cell protecting, disease killing antioxidants. These arecalled flavanols. Two studies published in the Lancet suggest thatthese flavanols decrease LDL cholesterol, the "bad" type of cholesterolresponsible for clogging arteries. Pure cocoa has the highest levels offlavanols while milk chocolate has the lowest.

The chemicalresponsible for chocolate’s uplifting effect is called phenylethylamine(phenyl-ethyl-amine). This is an essential amino acid, which is acomponent of protein. So though phenylethylamine is scary to pronounceit’s nothing to be afraid of, especially for expectant mothers.

AnApril 2004 article in New Scientist reports that stressed mothers whoate chocolate regularly throughout their pregnancy had happier babies.Two groups of women were studied before and after delivery, one groupate chocolate and the other abstained. Six months after delivery bothgroups were asked to rate their infant’s behavior. Thechocolate-crunching mothers reported having babies that smiled andlaughed more. But before you stock up on Cadbury’s bars, remember thattomatoes and fruit have as much or more of this happy chemical, and arefar healthier. The key to gobbling benefits and not havoc ismoderation. Most experts recommend 3-4 servings a week, ideally as asubstitute for your regular dessert.

Jolts and Jitters

Formany of us a jolt of java provides a more upbeat morning. This is anillusion. All our morning brew really does is stop the withdrawlsymptoms that started in our sleep. Even one cup a day drinkers willexperience these as headache, irritability, lack of focus and fatigue.For heavier users caffeine withdrawl can be crazy making, according tothe October 2004 issue of Psychopharmacology. After review of 66studies spanning over 170 years, it was concluded that the more severeforms of caffeine withdrawal merit classification as a psychiatricdisorder. So should we stay on the brew for life to avoid this? Not so.This only happens to one in eight people, with the disorder peakingbetween days two and nine. Even for these unfortunate folks thisshort-term madness is worth it. The benefits of being caffeine freeinclude improved sleep and increased energy.

Caffeine is sneaky.It worms its way into painkillers, colas, tea and chocolate. Thehealthiest source of caffeine is tea, which has half that of brewedcoffee. BBC Health estimates that the average UK resident will consume80,000 cups of tea during their life. Despite its caffeine this is aboon rather than a bother. Though much research focuses on the healthbenefits of green tea, in many ways black tea is comparable. EnglishBreakfast and Earl Grey are examples of black tea. Both types arefilled with antioxidants. These protect our cells and have been studiedfor their cancer preventing effects.

A 1998 study at the ChineseAcademy of Preventative Medicine in Beijing found that people at riskfor mouth cancer who were given black tea for six months were slower toactually develop the disease than those who abstained. More recentlythe United States Department of Agriculture tested the effect of blacktea on cholesterol. The six-week study tested healthy individuals whodrank five cups of black tea daily and an equal amount that unknowinglydrank fake tea. The results, published in the 2003 issue of The Journalof Nutrition, showed that the tea drinker’s LDL cholesterol droppedbetween 7 and 11 percent.

Carb Highs and Lows

We can’tavoid sugar. Even without a drop of honey, molasses, syrup andsugarcubes, this sweet delight finds us. Fruit sugar, or fructose,affects our bodies in a similar way as table sugar. So docarbohydrates. Diabetics and those familiar with Atkins are aware ofthe glycaemic index or GI. Put simply, this measures how quickly a foodcan raise our blood sugar. Since blood sugar triggers the release ofinsulin diabetics are constantly watching their carbs. Yet we withoutthis or other insulin-disorders still endure carbohydrate confusion.Since insulin drives blood sugar into the cells and prevents fatbreakdown in the body, high carbohydrate, or high GI foods areconsidered fattening. Yet carbohydrates are the brain’s main source ofenergy. What do we do?

The trick to managing carbohydrates isplanning. Eating a variety of low GI foods through the day improvesmood, heightens energy and reduces weight. The latter is a result ofhelping us feel fuller for longer. Foods scoring below 50 on theglycaemic index release their sugars slowly, giving us vigor insteadfatigue. Alternately, we can reduce the impact of a high GI food byeating it in combination with healthy low GI foods and protein. We canalso eat more wholegrain breads. These slow down carbohydratedigestion. Preliminary studies show that the Omega-3 fatty acids fromfish have the same effect. Slower digestion has many benefits. Stableblood sugar helps us avoid those not-so-sweet lows after a sugar high.

Thoughcarbohydrates initially boost our mood by activating the feel-goodbrain chemical serotonin, they produce a quick and shocking crash. Thedramatic lowering of serotonin can cause sleepiness, hostility anddepression. The latter is most extreme. For proof of the relationshipbetween depression and blood sugar, we need only to ask Diabetes UK."Research indicates a direct link between people with mental healthproblems and diabetes. People with diabetes are twice as likely tobecome depressed," states Penny Williams, care advisor for Diabetes UK.This depression often results in changing behavior includingalterations in diet. With less attention to sugar levels the depressionworsens. It’s a sad spiral. Says Williams: "We encourage people withdiabetes to manage their condition with a healthy diet and lifestyle.For people with mental illness, making the necessary lifestyle changescan be hard."

Protein Perky

Protein is far lesscontroversial than carbs. The right amount of protein at the right timeis the way to stay upbeat and active. Protein is composed of many aminoacids. Though ideally we should fill our brain with all of them, theone crucial one for energy is called tyrosine. Tyrosine is needed forthe production of dopamine and norepinephrine. These help us keepfocused, energized and motivated. Tyrosine effects our mood in multipleways. By keeping our thyroid gland and its hormones active it helpsregulate metabolism. Through this our stamina and mental clarityimprove. Tyrosine is found in most proteins, but the best sources aresunflower seeds, beans, bananas, almonds, fish, eggs, soy products anddairy. If you "focus" you’ll find that the effects of eating proteinpeak 2-3 hours after eating and are strongest when eaten alone.

Beforeconcerns about contamination, fish was regarded as one of thehealthiest sources of protein. Why? Herring, mackerel, sardines, tunaand salmon are rich in omega-3s. These are essential fatty acids(EFA’s). Though we call these acids "fatty" they do not increase howmany stone we are. However, EFA’s will elevate our mood and increaseemotional stability. 22 percent of the people surveyed by The Food andMood Project reported that an EFA supplement "definitely helped"emotional or mental health. This is more than hearsay. Researchersbegan investigating the ability of omega-3’s to effect mood after theynoticed that depression is common in people with heart disease, andthat low levels of omega 3’s are found in both groups.

Moresupport for fish emerged at the 2004 meeting of the InternationalSociety for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids congress in Brighton.Omega 3’s are called such because there are three different varieties.BBC News, who covered the gathering, reports member Dr. Ray Rice assaying: "People who eat a lot of fish are generally healthier, mentallyand physically, than non-fish eaters." How much is enough? According tothe Food Standards Agency, on average, people in the UK eat a third ofa portion (about 47g) of oily fish a week. They recommend two servingsof fish a week, with one being oily.

Vegetarians will cheer toknow that fish isn’t the only good source of omega 3’s. Dark leafygreen vegetables, flaxseed, walnuts and seaweed all contain linolenicacid that the body converts to the same type of omega-3 found in fish.

Making Changes Last

Itcan feel difficult to turn from comfort foods to controlled eating.Plus if we eliminate too much to fast we risk losing crucial nutrition.So what do we do? "The approach I describe in The Food and MoodHandbook is about making step-by-step changes to what you eat,observing and assessing the effects, and then deciding for yourselfwhat changes are appropriate to implement for the longer term," revealsGeary. "Although respondents views were mixed on whether these changeswere easy or difficult to make, for many the tangible benefits made theeffort worthwhile."

Although changing our dietary habits can betough it can be done. Ironically, having more food available may help.Geary reports that "it is found that eating regular meals and snacks,not missing breakfast and being prepared by carrying snacks with you,were the best strategies for mentally health eating."

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