Mood altering foods
Fill up on fiber.
If you feel de-energized and hungry when your meal wears off, try adding some fiber to your fare. Pectin, a type of water-soluble fiber found in fruits such as apples and oranges, has been shown to help people feel full longer by delaying emptying of the stomach. When people swallowed a 5-gram dose of pectin (extracted from apples) with their meal, they felt full for up to 4 hours. An added benefit is that pectin also helps lower blood cholesterol levels.
Snack intelligently.
If you're just plain tired, eating a small snack can perk you up. Keep these snacks high in nutrient-packed, carbohydrate-rich foods and light on calories (stay under 200). If the snack is crunchy, really hot, or really cold, it will help wake up your senses. Here are some healthful examples:
• One frozen fruit bar
• 8 ounces of drinkable fruit-flavored yogurt mixed with 4 ounces of club soda
• One ready-to-eat cereal bar like Nutri-Grain tossed in the microwave for less than a minute and then spread with 1 tablespoon fat-free cream cheese
• One sorbet "sandwich" (3 tablespoons strawberry sorbet wedged between two caramel corn rice cakes)
• One small package of precut veggies with reduced-fat dip
Avoid a java jag.
Drinking a cup or two of coffee improves feelings of alertness and clearheadedness and may even bolster your performance on monotonous tasks such as typing or filing. But moderate use of this pick-me-up can easily brew into a caffeine habit that may actually zap your energy and cause fatigue. People who perpetually have a cup of coffee, tea, or cola in their hands have developed a dependency. Without a steady allotment of the stimulant throughout the day, they feel tired, irritable, and even headachy (a symptom of withdrawal). In short, they're caffeine junkies.
If you view coffee or other caffeinated beverages as a life source without which you can't function, try phasing caffeine out a little at a time to regain your own natural energy. Start your "detox" by cutting one-fifth of your typical daily caffeine intake for a few weeks. You may experience fatigue or headaches for a day or two as your body goes through withdrawal. When you've adjusted to this amount, continue gradually cutting back. Once you're down to a cup or two in the morning, you can decide whether you want to eliminate caffeine altogether.
Ditch the diet.
According to research, people who cut calories to slim down perform poorly on tests of memory and mental processing. One study compared the mental performances of people on weight-reducing diets to the performances of those who weren't dieting. The researchers likened the slowed mental performance seen in dieters to being intoxicated by alcohol.
While some researchers argue that poor mental performance stems from an inadequate flow of energy to the brain, the researchers who did the study theorize that the results of the study reflect dieters' feelings of anxiety. When dieting, most people start obsessing over the foods that they are trying not to eat as well as worrying about the success of their dieting efforts. This type of distraction affects mental processing capacity. The effects were more serious in dieters who weren't losing weight than in those who were, supporting the theory that anxiety may play a role in undermining mental performance.
If you're limiting your calories to lose weight, avoid radical dieting, which is sure to leave you feeling drained. The best route to weight loss is to boost your activity level to burn more calories while simultaneously making small adjustments to your eating habits. You have better things to do than worry about your next meal.
When You're Sleepy
If you're not getting enough downtime at night, you can feel irritable, intolerant, inattentive, depressed, and more forgetful than folks who are happily knocking off the z's. There are medical reasons for insomnia, but "your problem might be at the table, not in the bedroom," says Somer. Here are some sleepy-time solutions:
Cut out caffeine. No, it's not really a "duh" suggestion. You know to avoid coffee, tea, cola drinks, and hot chocolate because of their caffeine content, but did you know there's caffeine in energy drinks, those trendy vitamin waters, even chocolate and coffee yogurts? It can all add up over a day--giving you sleepless nights. Switch to decaf or Postum, trade chocolate for carob, drink decaffeinated tea, and substitute sparkling water for cola. You might feel pretty awful for about 4 days as you go through withdrawal (headaches are common), but then you should start sleeping better and feeling more chipper. If you can't handle it cold turkey, try cutting out the caffeine gradually.
Lighten up on dinner. Big meals can keep you awake at night while your tummy churns away in overload. Eat a bigger breakfast and lunch instead, then have a small dinner consisting of about 500 calories. Add a tiny low-fat, low-protein, high-carb snack such as a piece of fruit and some graham crackers, a small dish of sorbet, or a low-fat oatmeal raisin cookie to tap into serotonin's soothing, drowsy effects.
Skip the nightcap. Alcohol makes you feel sleepy, but too much too close to bedtime interferes with your important REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the phase that leaves you refreshed. Alcohol can also stop you from dreaming and can make sleep fitful, leaving you tired and crabby by morning. Limit alcohol to one or two drinks with dinner, and have two alcohol-free hours before bedtime. If you need a nighty-night drink, have some calming chamomile or valerian tea. Or drink a cup of warm milk with a little honey.
Have a chicken sandwich. Or enjoy a banana, sliced avocado, or half a baked potato. There's some evidence that people who have a lower copper intake (these foods are rich in this vital mineral) are more likely to have a hard time getting to sleep and feel less rested when they wake up.
When You're SAD
If winter slides you into the doldrums, but you perk up again in spring, you may be highly sensitive to levels of natural light. Seasonal changes in the amount of daylight affect your brain, lowering serotonin. Severe symptoms signal Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which affects four times more women than men and requires treatment with a light box and antidepressants.
For some people, shrinking sunlight also depresses dopamine, a brain activator. Dopamine is the "search" chemical that makes you joyful, hungry for knowledge, and dauntless in seeking out something good to eat. Most SAD sufferers will benefit from a high-carbohydrate diet. But here's a twist: If you find that eating carbs makes you unable to stop, you may need a little more protein instead. Shifting the balance to more protein and fewer carbs raises dopamine without carbs' insulin rush, so your blood sugar remains steady, and your mood stays even, reports Somer. Check out sample SAD menus that demonstrate the differences in SAD Meals to Make You Happy.
When You're Feeling Dull
Now's the time for a coffee break. Within half an hour of drinking a cup, says Somer, you get a mental goose. Your nervous system gets revved, and you feel alert and better able to concentrate. Even your reaction time is faster. The caffeine in your cuppa joe effectively short-circuits a nerve chemical called adenosine that blocks your energy-boosting brain chemicals, helping them give you a healthy rush.
But, Somer warns, "caffeine is effective only up to your 'jitter threshold.' Add more coffee after this, and you're too buzzed to think clearly." Plus, once caffeine is out of your system, you get a letdown: fatigue that makes you want to reach for another cup. And another. And another.
To maintain a pleasant, temporary buzz, limit yourself to one to three 5-ounce cups of coffee a day, depending on how well you tolerate caffeine. (Watch portion size: A mug is usually much bigger than a cup, as are the servings in most coffee shops.) If you have trouble sleeping, avoid coffee and other caffeinated foods and beverages before bedtime.
When You're Depressed
Eat more fish. Mounting evidence says that omega-3 fatty acids (found in abundance in fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, and tuna) may help ease depressive symptoms. A recent 9-month study of bipolar disorder (manic depression) was stopped after only 4 months because omega-3s were so effective at smoothing out moods. Another study showed that eating fish twice a week was associated with lower risk of depression and suicide.
Concerned about mercury? Fatty fish are relatively high in this metal, which is linked to birth defects and developmental problems in children whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy. Stick to wild Pacific salmon, shrimp, summer flounder, farmed catfish, croaker, haddock, and mid-Atlantic blue crab, all of which contain omega-3s but are low in mercury. Even kids and pregnant women can eat up to 12 ounces of these a week.
Don't do fish? Talk to your doctor about taking a fish oil supplement. Go to Consumerlab.com to learn about fish oil supplements that are safe and deliver what they promise. (While some of the information is free, full reports are only available by subscription. For $9, you can get 30-day access to a single product review; for $24, you have full access for a year.)
When You're Irritable
Feeling snappish? Put down that java, and throw away the bear claw right now!
"Caffeine is a stimulant for some people, but it may make others irritable, especially if they are already depressed," says Larry Christensen, PhD, chairman of the psychology department at the University of South Alabama. And sugar, which normally has a soothing effect, can cause depression in some people.
If you have a short fuse and are depressed, cut out caffeine and sugar for about 2 weeks. If you feel better, add as much caffeine back as you eliminated for a week or two or until symptoms develop. If you return to biting off heads, consider yourself off the stuff permanently. If not, stir in the sugar, and see if your symptoms return. Feel nasty or depressed again? Switch to artificial sweeteners, or drink your coffee black.
When You're Way Beyond Tired
If you're too pooped to do the things you used to do--and too pooped to care--see your doctor. Fatigue can be the sign of a serious illness. It's one of the first signs of iron deficiency and anemia, the most common nutritional deficiency in the world, especially among children and women of childbearing age. The cause? Not getting enough iron from the food you eat.
As good as beans, grains, and veggies are for you, the form of iron they provide is weak and hard to absorb. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that vegetarians absorb only 10 percent of the iron in their diet, while a diet that contains some lean meat, poultry, or seafood will deliver the average requirement of about 18 percent. Animal protein not only contains more iron, it's a special form called heme that your body absorbs better than it does the iron from plants such as spinach (apologies to Popeye). And there's a bonus: The heme iron you get in your entree helps you absorb any iron from the plant foods in your side dish.
If you're feeling blah or listless, especially if you've cut back on meat, try eating shrimp, lean beef, lamb, dark chicken or turkey (without the skin), or fish and other seafood in 3-ounce portions twice a day. When meals don't include animal protein, add a high-vitamin C food such as citrus fruit or juice, melons, berries, dark green leafy vegetables, red or green bell peppers, or tomatoes to your meal. You'll at least double the iron you get from the other plant foods at the same meal. Adding a multivitamin with iron helps too.
And when all else fails, wash away fatigue with a glass of water. Somer says that chronic low fluid intake is a common, but often overlooked, cause of mild dehydration and fatigue.
Shake It Up for Stress!
Your brain cells are capable of making their own chemical mood-stabilizers such as serotonin--if they get the right raw material from the food you eat.
And this shake has it all. Developed by Laura Pawlak, PhD, RD, author of Stop Gaining Weight, this stress-defying drink improves your mood and quiets stress without withdrawal, rebound cravings, or overeating. The supplements give the chemicals in the food an added boost, so you feel better fast.
Pawlak suggests you carry your shake in a thermos, so it's ready for your peak stress times. Skip caffeine for 2 hours before and after, since caffeine can limit serotonin's power.
Here's how to make it: In a blender, mix 1 large banana, 1 cup of pineapple juice, 1/2 cup of orange juice or strawberries, the pulp of one papaya or 1/2 cup of papaya nectar, and 1 to 3 teaspoons of flaxseed oil. Process until smooth. Drink with a multivitamin/mineral supplement containing 100 percent of the daily value of nutrients plus 200 micrograms of chromium picolinate.
Fill up on fiber.
If you feel de-energized and hungry when your meal wears off, try adding some fiber to your fare. Pectin, a type of water-soluble fiber found in fruits such as apples and oranges, has been shown to help people feel full longer by delaying emptying of the stomach. When people swallowed a 5-gram dose of pectin (extracted from apples) with their meal, they felt full for up to 4 hours. An added benefit is that pectin also helps lower blood cholesterol levels.
Snack intelligently.
If you're just plain tired, eating a small snack can perk you up. Keep these snacks high in nutrient-packed, carbohydrate-rich foods and light on calories (stay under 200). If the snack is crunchy, really hot, or really cold, it will help wake up your senses. Here are some healthful examples:
• One frozen fruit bar
• 8 ounces of drinkable fruit-flavored yogurt mixed with 4 ounces of club soda
• One ready-to-eat cereal bar like Nutri-Grain tossed in the microwave for less than a minute and then spread with 1 tablespoon fat-free cream cheese
• One sorbet "sandwich" (3 tablespoons strawberry sorbet wedged between two caramel corn rice cakes)
• One small package of precut veggies with reduced-fat dip
Avoid a java jag.
Drinking a cup or two of coffee improves feelings of alertness and clearheadedness and may even bolster your performance on monotonous tasks such as typing or filing. But moderate use of this pick-me-up can easily brew into a caffeine habit that may actually zap your energy and cause fatigue. People who perpetually have a cup of coffee, tea, or cola in their hands have developed a dependency. Without a steady allotment of the stimulant throughout the day, they feel tired, irritable, and even headachy (a symptom of withdrawal). In short, they're caffeine junkies.
If you view coffee or other caffeinated beverages as a life source without which you can't function, try phasing caffeine out a little at a time to regain your own natural energy. Start your "detox" by cutting one-fifth of your typical daily caffeine intake for a few weeks. You may experience fatigue or headaches for a day or two as your body goes through withdrawal. When you've adjusted to this amount, continue gradually cutting back. Once you're down to a cup or two in the morning, you can decide whether you want to eliminate caffeine altogether.
Ditch the diet.
According to research, people who cut calories to slim down perform poorly on tests of memory and mental processing. One study compared the mental performances of people on weight-reducing diets to the performances of those who weren't dieting. The researchers likened the slowed mental performance seen in dieters to being intoxicated by alcohol.
While some researchers argue that poor mental performance stems from an inadequate flow of energy to the brain, the researchers who did the study theorize that the results of the study reflect dieters' feelings of anxiety. When dieting, most people start obsessing over the foods that they are trying not to eat as well as worrying about the success of their dieting efforts. This type of distraction affects mental processing capacity. The effects were more serious in dieters who weren't losing weight than in those who were, supporting the theory that anxiety may play a role in undermining mental performance.
If you're limiting your calories to lose weight, avoid radical dieting, which is sure to leave you feeling drained. The best route to weight loss is to boost your activity level to burn more calories while simultaneously making small adjustments to your eating habits. You have better things to do than worry about your next meal.
When You're Sleepy
If you're not getting enough downtime at night, you can feel irritable, intolerant, inattentive, depressed, and more forgetful than folks who are happily knocking off the z's. There are medical reasons for insomnia, but "your problem might be at the table, not in the bedroom," says Somer. Here are some sleepy-time solutions:
Cut out caffeine. No, it's not really a "duh" suggestion. You know to avoid coffee, tea, cola drinks, and hot chocolate because of their caffeine content, but did you know there's caffeine in energy drinks, those trendy vitamin waters, even chocolate and coffee yogurts? It can all add up over a day--giving you sleepless nights. Switch to decaf or Postum, trade chocolate for carob, drink decaffeinated tea, and substitute sparkling water for cola. You might feel pretty awful for about 4 days as you go through withdrawal (headaches are common), but then you should start sleeping better and feeling more chipper. If you can't handle it cold turkey, try cutting out the caffeine gradually.
Lighten up on dinner. Big meals can keep you awake at night while your tummy churns away in overload. Eat a bigger breakfast and lunch instead, then have a small dinner consisting of about 500 calories. Add a tiny low-fat, low-protein, high-carb snack such as a piece of fruit and some graham crackers, a small dish of sorbet, or a low-fat oatmeal raisin cookie to tap into serotonin's soothing, drowsy effects.
Skip the nightcap. Alcohol makes you feel sleepy, but too much too close to bedtime interferes with your important REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the phase that leaves you refreshed. Alcohol can also stop you from dreaming and can make sleep fitful, leaving you tired and crabby by morning. Limit alcohol to one or two drinks with dinner, and have two alcohol-free hours before bedtime. If you need a nighty-night drink, have some calming chamomile or valerian tea. Or drink a cup of warm milk with a little honey.
Have a chicken sandwich. Or enjoy a banana, sliced avocado, or half a baked potato. There's some evidence that people who have a lower copper intake (these foods are rich in this vital mineral) are more likely to have a hard time getting to sleep and feel less rested when they wake up.
When You're SAD
If winter slides you into the doldrums, but you perk up again in spring, you may be highly sensitive to levels of natural light. Seasonal changes in the amount of daylight affect your brain, lowering serotonin. Severe symptoms signal Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which affects four times more women than men and requires treatment with a light box and antidepressants.
For some people, shrinking sunlight also depresses dopamine, a brain activator. Dopamine is the "search" chemical that makes you joyful, hungry for knowledge, and dauntless in seeking out something good to eat. Most SAD sufferers will benefit from a high-carbohydrate diet. But here's a twist: If you find that eating carbs makes you unable to stop, you may need a little more protein instead. Shifting the balance to more protein and fewer carbs raises dopamine without carbs' insulin rush, so your blood sugar remains steady, and your mood stays even, reports Somer. Check out sample SAD menus that demonstrate the differences in SAD Meals to Make You Happy.
When You're Feeling Dull
Now's the time for a coffee break. Within half an hour of drinking a cup, says Somer, you get a mental goose. Your nervous system gets revved, and you feel alert and better able to concentrate. Even your reaction time is faster. The caffeine in your cuppa joe effectively short-circuits a nerve chemical called adenosine that blocks your energy-boosting brain chemicals, helping them give you a healthy rush.
But, Somer warns, "caffeine is effective only up to your 'jitter threshold.' Add more coffee after this, and you're too buzzed to think clearly." Plus, once caffeine is out of your system, you get a letdown: fatigue that makes you want to reach for another cup. And another. And another.
To maintain a pleasant, temporary buzz, limit yourself to one to three 5-ounce cups of coffee a day, depending on how well you tolerate caffeine. (Watch portion size: A mug is usually much bigger than a cup, as are the servings in most coffee shops.) If you have trouble sleeping, avoid coffee and other caffeinated foods and beverages before bedtime.
When You're Depressed
Eat more fish. Mounting evidence says that omega-3 fatty acids (found in abundance in fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, and tuna) may help ease depressive symptoms. A recent 9-month study of bipolar disorder (manic depression) was stopped after only 4 months because omega-3s were so effective at smoothing out moods. Another study showed that eating fish twice a week was associated with lower risk of depression and suicide.
Concerned about mercury? Fatty fish are relatively high in this metal, which is linked to birth defects and developmental problems in children whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy. Stick to wild Pacific salmon, shrimp, summer flounder, farmed catfish, croaker, haddock, and mid-Atlantic blue crab, all of which contain omega-3s but are low in mercury. Even kids and pregnant women can eat up to 12 ounces of these a week.
Don't do fish? Talk to your doctor about taking a fish oil supplement. Go to Consumerlab.com to learn about fish oil supplements that are safe and deliver what they promise. (While some of the information is free, full reports are only available by subscription. For $9, you can get 30-day access to a single product review; for $24, you have full access for a year.)
When You're Irritable
Feeling snappish? Put down that java, and throw away the bear claw right now!
"Caffeine is a stimulant for some people, but it may make others irritable, especially if they are already depressed," says Larry Christensen, PhD, chairman of the psychology department at the University of South Alabama. And sugar, which normally has a soothing effect, can cause depression in some people.
If you have a short fuse and are depressed, cut out caffeine and sugar for about 2 weeks. If you feel better, add as much caffeine back as you eliminated for a week or two or until symptoms develop. If you return to biting off heads, consider yourself off the stuff permanently. If not, stir in the sugar, and see if your symptoms return. Feel nasty or depressed again? Switch to artificial sweeteners, or drink your coffee black.
When You're Way Beyond Tired
If you're too pooped to do the things you used to do--and too pooped to care--see your doctor. Fatigue can be the sign of a serious illness. It's one of the first signs of iron deficiency and anemia, the most common nutritional deficiency in the world, especially among children and women of childbearing age. The cause? Not getting enough iron from the food you eat.
As good as beans, grains, and veggies are for you, the form of iron they provide is weak and hard to absorb. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that vegetarians absorb only 10 percent of the iron in their diet, while a diet that contains some lean meat, poultry, or seafood will deliver the average requirement of about 18 percent. Animal protein not only contains more iron, it's a special form called heme that your body absorbs better than it does the iron from plants such as spinach (apologies to Popeye). And there's a bonus: The heme iron you get in your entree helps you absorb any iron from the plant foods in your side dish.
If you're feeling blah or listless, especially if you've cut back on meat, try eating shrimp, lean beef, lamb, dark chicken or turkey (without the skin), or fish and other seafood in 3-ounce portions twice a day. When meals don't include animal protein, add a high-vitamin C food such as citrus fruit or juice, melons, berries, dark green leafy vegetables, red or green bell peppers, or tomatoes to your meal. You'll at least double the iron you get from the other plant foods at the same meal. Adding a multivitamin with iron helps too.
And when all else fails, wash away fatigue with a glass of water. Somer says that chronic low fluid intake is a common, but often overlooked, cause of mild dehydration and fatigue.
Shake It Up for Stress!
Your brain cells are capable of making their own chemical mood-stabilizers such as serotonin--if they get the right raw material from the food you eat.
And this shake has it all. Developed by Laura Pawlak, PhD, RD, author of Stop Gaining Weight, this stress-defying drink improves your mood and quiets stress without withdrawal, rebound cravings, or overeating. The supplements give the chemicals in the food an added boost, so you feel better fast.
Pawlak suggests you carry your shake in a thermos, so it's ready for your peak stress times. Skip caffeine for 2 hours before and after, since caffeine can limit serotonin's power.
Here's how to make it: In a blender, mix 1 large banana, 1 cup of pineapple juice, 1/2 cup of orange juice or strawberries, the pulp of one papaya or 1/2 cup of papaya nectar, and 1 to 3 teaspoons of flaxseed oil. Process until smooth. Drink with a multivitamin/mineral supplement containing 100 percent of the daily value of nutrients plus 200 micrograms of chromium picolinate.
posted by PghUSA at 6:42 PM
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