Food Affects Mood.

“I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry.”

Trite, but true; it’s funny how much food can actually affect the way we think, feel and respond to certain situations. Granted, I’m no Naturopathic Doctor (or even a Holistic Nutritionist), but this anecdotal pro-tip was actually cultivated through multiple instances of direct experience and experimentation.

They say that when we’re feeling down, sugar and fat is typically what we’ll crave because back in hunter-gatherer times, sugar and fat was something of a delicacy that quickly made us feel fulfilled. In our contemporary society filled with fast and processed foods—made delicious through high amounts of sodium, sugar and fat—we will often reach for things that are only mentally satisfying, but not physically satisfying.

As such, we’ll reach for that candy bar, that instant ramen, or that tub of ice cream because we believe that it will make us feel better. Though these items do typically offer instant sensual gratification (think: hedonism), they don’t really offer any lasting mood-changes; often resulting in a “crash” half an hour to an hour later.

Breaking this habitual paradigm, what I challenge you to do as an experiment the next time you feel down is try something nutritionally-dense and see how that makes you feel. Granted, most people will think of nutritionally dense alternatives as being things like kale shakes and avocados, and though that might be what some will go for, just pick something that you know you’ll enjoy.

For example, I particularly enjoy sweets. Call it my Pitta* nature or my Filipino diabetic-tendencies, but I’m a big sugar fan. Since I was feeling a bit down today, given the myriad of stressors and COVID-blues permeating the world right now, I thought I’d experiment with some nutrient-dense sugary snacks instead of the typical Reese’s peanut butter cups I would usually go for. Hence, I decided to make myself a frozen mixed-berry smoothie with dates; a black bean and cheese burger; and I also added some jalapeño chips on the side (sure, Miss Vickie’s aren’t exactly nutrient-dense, but it just goes well with the veggie burger, OK? So sue me…).

Low and behold, my mood instantly swung in the upward direction and all of my feelings of stress and tension just melted away.

It’s funny, you often hear other like-minded adages such as, “if you’re hungry, drink a glass of water first because you might just be thirsty,” or “if you’re sleepy, do a few pushups and see how you feel,” so I’d like to add a new one to that mix: “if you’re feeling down, before you go and reach for your typical comfort-food, try a nutrient-dense alternative first!” Who knows, it might actually work—and if it doesn't, you can rest assured that your peanut butter cups will be waiting for you afterward.

In the end, and like I said above, this is purely anecdotal (though a myriad of research papers would corroborate my supposition). Either way, why not just try my little experiment, and the next time you’re feeling a little blue, give some nutrient-dense foods a shot… who knows, you might have just been hangry for some better alternatives instead!

-eat up.