Food and Mood – 5 simple tips to improve your mental and physical wellbeing

As you may know, food and what, how and why we eat is a huge area of interest for me. Spanning over 3 decades of my life in some shape or form, I guess you could say it’s a passion. 😊

I’ve seen fads, diets and wellness industries come and go over the past 30 years, the majority of which are mostly about weight loss and how to get into the ‘best shape of your life!’. But food and how it can affect your mood is a more recently studied subject. I remember initially reading about this curious phenomenon with interest back in the day when it was dismissed as pseudo-science and now it’s widely accepted as evidence based. Go figure!

Here in Australia, results from the SMILES (Supporting the Modification of Lifestyles in Lowered Emotional States), study diet (that’s a mouthful! ☺), conducted by the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University in Melbourne, found a significant association between diet quality and mental health, which seemed to exist quite independently of weight. Simply put, the more people improved their diets, the more their depression improved. How awesome is that!

I reckon we could all do with a bit of help to improve our mood at the moment and the following simple strategies might hopefully give you a few easy upgrades to focus on.

The other benefit of this approach is that these tweaks can also help to decrease cravings or urges for foods that are more physiologically based. In other words, the cravings are more likely due to something you’re eating or drinking, rather than emotions.

1. Uplevel your breakfast.

As the first meal of the day, brekkie really sets the tone for your energy and hunger levels over the course of the day. This is not where you should be trying to eat as little as possible! Try adding protein, decent fats, and some vegies. This could look like eggs with avocado, mushrooms, tomatoes, and wilted baby spinach. Add a piece of good quality sourdough bread for extra oomph if you need it.

2. Caffeine

Whilst caffeine has many benefits, too much, especially on an empty stomach, can jack up your nervous system. If you struggle with anxiety first thing in the morning, try something gentler, such as lemon juice in hot water or chai tea, and have your first coffee with food.

3. Sugar

Sugar, especially on an empty stomach can make you crabby as it can initially give you a big burst of energy but soon enough, you’re feeling low and flat, which leads you to grabbing food to energise yourself again and the cycle continues! It becomes a rollercoaster. If you’re going to eat something sugary, try enjoying a smaller amount after a meal.

4. Improve the quality of a takeaway meal

Every time you eat out or get a takeaway, ask yourself how you could improve what you choose just by a small amount. This might mean getting a burger from Grilled rather than Maccas. It could mean buying fish and chips where you go heavy on the fish, ask for a smaller portion of chips and a small salad. If you’re having your takeaway at home, then you can throw some salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and olives into a salad bowl with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It will take you a few minutes, I kid you not!

Experiment over the weekend with making your own versions

If you love burgers, try making your own patties, or bonus points if you find a recipe for and make a vegetarian burger with beans in it! The SMILES study diet found that a more Mediterranean diet was what really improved people’s mental health. So, time to get more beans and fibre into your meals.

I’m a big fan of small tweaks, working on one thing at a time. Small little upgrades to your meals can really add up to big changes over time, for both your physical and mental health.

Remember that removing certain foods from your body slowly over time doesn’t have to be toxic diet culture if it makes you feel good. 😃 So always listen to your body and the feedback it gives you when you decide to make different choices.

Let me know what changes you’re trying out and how you go! 😊

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