Mood and Food: Five Tips to Avoid the Blues

By Heather DeLuca

Think cake will cure your crabbiness? Or baked goods will beat the blues? Probably not.

Whether you're suffering from an irritable mood, a case of the blues, or even full-blown depression, you may benefit from incorporating certain foods into your diet while avoiding others. More information is available at www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/blog.

Studies have shown that food affects the chemical composition of the brain by altering the production or release of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that carry information from one cell to another. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that motivate or sedate, focus or frustrate.

Similarly, blood sugar levels directly impact our moods. We feel good after we eat, because our blood sugar increases. However, when blood sugar levels sink, we get hungry and our mood takes a dive as well. Classic symptoms of low blood sugar are feeling impatient, irritable, angry and aggressive until we can eat again.

Despite the complexity of the relationship between food and the brain, following a few simple rules will help to provide your body with stable blood sugar and mood mellowing nutrients.

1. Eat fruit and vegetables that are high in fiber and low in sugar/starch. Fiber provides stable blood sugar and consistent energy by slowing the rate at which nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. Choose apples, blueberries, cantaloupe, carrots, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, dark green lettuce, and red bell peppers. Limit sugary food and alcohol since both are low in nutrients and cause rapid blood sugar swings.