Can Food Really Change Your Mood?!
Did you know that what you eat can have a huge impact on your mental health?
Our nutrition can help support numerous forms of mental health, especially when it comes to stress, depression and anxiety.
When we experience bouts of poor mental health or feel overly stressed, we trigger our sympathetic nervous system (our fight or flight response). This causes our heart rate to increase, our breathing to quicken, and our blood to pump faster. It also causes an inflammatory response through the release of hormones.
The issue with inflammation is that it can, in turn, cause depressive mood and high anxiety. Creating a cyclical effect.
You feel stressed – you become inflamed – you become inflamed – you feel stressed!
So how do your food choices come in to all of this?
Many foods are pro-inflammatory, meaning they will increase inflammation in the body, especially if it is already there. Sugar, processed foods, and alcohol are all pro-inflammatory and therefore can negatively impact your mental health if not eaten as part of a balanced diet.
Furthermore, a diet high in pro-inflammatory foods can lead to poorly balanced blood sugar and hormones, increasing the risk of you feeling depressive, anxious and lethargic.
Enter Antioxidants!
Thankfully, there are ways we can support our hormone balance and reduce inflammation and they come in the different shapes and sizes of antioxidants! There are many different types of antioxidants, and they are mainly found in fruits & vegetables.
Antioxidants help clear up oxidative stress caused by inflammation and restore balance to the body.
So what foods are high in antioxidants?
This list is not exhaustive. Nearly all fruits, vegetables and legumes contain antioxidants but these are some of the most highly saturated!
Do you feel you need support learning to manage your emotional wellbeing and your diet?!
If you are ready to take charge of your wellbeing and support your mental health through sustainable lifestyle and dietary changes then book yourself a FREE discovery call with me today!
