Food for Thought, Good Thought!
Eating healthy is not only good for your body but what you eat can also have an effect on your mental health.
The food that you eat can alter your brain chemistry thereby affecting your mood. Isn’t it that when your day ends up lousy or you had a spat with a friend you don’t reach for the broccoli - instead you gorge on chocolates because it makes you feel better.
But wait, you can’t be eating chocolates all the time whenever you need a mood boost. You can try on the following and still not go overboard with your daily calorie limit.
Birds of a feather
Keep abreast of your chicken and turkey intake because the lean cuts of our fowlish friends supply a good amount of the amino acid tryptophan which is a big booster to our serotonin levels. This creates a high tweak of these neurotransmitters that will help our moods. The meats also contain melatonin which can aid more regulated sleep.
Goin’ Bananas
Go ape for bananas because the fun fruit is loaded with some very beneficial minerals which are all good for your mood swings. Full of potassium, phosphorous and iron plus a healthy dose of fibre and carbohydrates makes the monkey’s favourite an absolute must as brain food.
Welcome to the Dark Side
Dark chocolate is no longer saved just for dark secrets. Dark chocolate is good for you and that's official, well according to me anyhow. Wait for it, don’t get carried away because as all things good you can over do it so once again, I'm afraid, moderation is the key. Dark chocolate is made to stack up your serotonin-ometer by letting loose those crazed endorphins. Just one after dinner square of the black magic can do this without bloating up the guilt levels.
Life’s a Beach
Seafood and eat it is not the joke it was meant to be as there is plenty of nature's bounty to tide you over in a plate of fresh oysters. From the bottom of the ocean to the top of your food chain the crusty crustaceans are a boon for your bodily functions and you just can't have too many. Packed with zinc which is amazingly good for the grey matter and also an amino acid called tyrosin, a known stimulant for brain chemical, makes this clammy pal a no brainer for the short list.
Solar Power
Being deficient in vitamin D is being deficient in your well being because too little of this can lead to depression and other nasties. Vitamin D is boosted by sun light so if you are one of the winter worrier types then keep the calcium count high with the sun’s powerful rays.
Agua
Pure and simple, we can't live without water, or concentrate properly for that matter. Our brains can get dehydrated just as much as the rest of our bodies so keep the clear stuff flowing and maybe replace the odd coffee for a glass now and then.
