Food and your mood

I know you hear it all the time- diet is important and what you eat matters. But… why? I’m diving into a few reasons why the saying “you are what you eat” is actually quite accurate. I won’t go into all the scientific terms and specifics right now but it’s important to understand the basics of how food affects nearly everything in our lives. As you might know, there are billions of bacteria in your gut. Food helps balance the “good” and “bad” bacteria. Functions of the good bacteria include aiding in digestion, absorption, and stimulating the immune system. Food also affects the production of neurotransmitters, which send chemical signals to our cells all throughout the body. And 90% of our mood regulators are in the digestive tract! Emotional eating can be a very serious issue that can turn into an eating disorder and I don’t want to minimize that. Those more serious cases do require more serious therapy. As a coach, I do work with my clients often on regulating emotions in order to take control of eating habits. And changing eating habits in order to regulate emotions! How often do you make food choices based on how you “feel” and not what is actually best for you? It’s so common to be controlled by our cravings and emotions rather than controlling them. Craving specific foods can actually indicate that you’re needing certain nutrients but I’ll save that for another post. We can easily end up in this cycle of eating as a reaction to life events and the emotions that follow - for example, you feel really stressed after a hard day at work so you sit down in front of the tv and eat an entire bag of chips and then order fast food.. every other day. Or you use sugar for the quick dopamine hit (high calorie foods will often do that) but then comes the sugar crash and the long term effects of eating too much sugar. You can see how in the moment those chips or candy will make you feel good and might improve your mood for a few minutes, but you’ll feel much worse in the long run. You might then feel guilty for eating too much, sad about not hitting your weight loss goal, not motivated to exercise, etc. The more you eat based on emotions, you create pathways in your brain telling you that you need that food when you feel that emotion again. You train yourself to remember the quick hit you got from it instead of the long term effects. You become a slave to the immediate feeling, forgetting the ultimate goal. To be clear, I’m not saying NEVER eat sugar or chips.. I’m emphasizing the importance of healthier alternatives and making food choices based on what is best for you and not based on a temporary emotion. I used to struggle with this and can honestly say freedom is actually found in discipline, knowing I have the power to choose what I put in my body. And I have decided to eat foods based on how I want to feel. I want to feel healthy, comfortable and confident in my body, etc. Eat the piece of cake because you are celebrating a special occasion, not because you are trying to hide or numb feelings you don’t want to feel. Back to the gut.. eating whole, healthy, varieties of food will help balance your gut bacteria, which will balance your hormones and your mood, which will help you gain energy, make better decisions, and so much more. The brain gut connection is so strong that even just thinking about eating can send signals to release stomach juices in preparation for eating/digestion. This is also why stress, anxiety, depression can wreak havoc on your immune system and your digestive tract. At the same time, a disrupted gut balance can send signals to the brain causing headaches, brain fog, and again - stress, anxiety, depression. This is why I emphasize starting with diet and mindset when it comes to tackling your health. Everything else really flows from the gut and the brain. According to Harvard Medical School, “multiple studies have found that psychologically based approaches lead to greater improvement in digestive symptoms compared with only conventional medical treatment”. Now, I have only scratched the surface of a much bigger topic, but I don’t want you to get frustrated with your lack of willpower or self-control. You can’t rely on these alone for success. As a coach, it’s my job to provide the tools and resources to set you up for success and make lasting changes. You can learn how to make “you are what you eat” work FOR you. A healthy diet can really change your whole life and your future self will thank you for making decisions that are best for you in the long term. -CS