"The connection between food and health is clear: Eat too much saturated fat, and you raise your risk for heart disease later in life. Take in too little calcium, and you could develop brittle bones. The food and mood connection is much more immediate, dietitian Elizabeth Somers says. "What you eat -- or don't eat -- for breakfast will affect how you feel by mid-afternoon," says Somers... If you have been feeling blue, these foods and eating patterns recommended by Somers and other experts can help."
[Full article here and below... NOTE: some recommendations are not vegan, but can be accomodated by vegan means]
"FOOD & MOOD: What you eat -- and when you eat it -- affects how you feel all day
April 19, 2006
The connection between food and health is clear: Eat too much saturated fat, and you raise your risk for heart disease later in life. Take in too little calcium, and you could develop brittle bones.
The food and mood connection is much more immediate, dietitian Elizabeth Somers says.
"What you eat -- or don't eat -- for breakfast will affect how you feel by mid-afternoon," says Somers, author of "Food & Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best" (Owl Books, $18).
If you have been feeling blue, these foods and eating patterns recommended by Somers and other experts can help.
1. Choose complex carbohydrates over refined carbs. Whole-wheat English muffins, air-popped popcorn, brown rice, beans and whole-grain breads boost serotonin and keep blood sugar levels constant.
2. Enjoy foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including salmon, sardines, walnuts, flaxseed oil and omega-3-enriched eggs. Their effect may not be as immediate as with carbohydrates, Somers says, but studies have shown that people who eat fish regularly tend to have better mood
3. Load up on fruits and vegetables, especially the richly colored ones. They're good sources of antioxidants, which can protect brain cells from damage associated with memory loss and poor moods, Somers says. She recommends at least two fruits or vegetables at every meal and at least one at every snack. Try blueberries on your cereal, orange juice for break time, a raw spinach salad with grilled chicken and purple grapes for lunch and sweet potatoes and broccoli with your fish dinner.
4. Look for folic acid (folate). A B vitamin, it has been shown to reduce risk for depression, memory loss, birth defects and heart disease. Find it in spinach, avocados, cantaloupe, oranges, collard greens, enriched grains, broccoli and most multivitamins.
5. Check your iron intake. The No. 1 deficiency for premenopausal women is in iron, and it shows up as irritability, fatigue, depression and memory problems, Somers says. Remedies include eating lean red meats, cooking in cast-iron pots and taking iron supplements. Ask your doctor about a serum ferritin test, which indicates the level of iron in your blood. You may be iron-deficient but not yet anemic. The test routinely given measures anemia only, not the intermediate stages of iron deficiency.
6. Remember other vitamins and minerals. Foods rich in magnesium (spinach, dark chocolate, dark-green vegetables and sunflower seeds), the B vitamin niacin (brown rice, eggs, chicken and tuna) and zinc (milk, whole-grain bread and eggs) also are believed to boost mood.
7. Eat a nutritious breakfast. Your mood and energy will drop by midmorning if you don't eat a little something. "There's absolutely nothing you can do that day to make up for the mistake of not eating breakfast in the morning," Somers says.
8. Eat every four to five hours. Small snacks between meals -- baby carrots and hummus, for example -- keep you humming physically and mentally. Carry food with you if necessary.
9. Keep dinner relatively light. A huge evening meal or eating straight through from dinner to bedtime will make you sluggish and interfere with a good night's sleep. Count on feeling under the weather in the morning. If you need a bite before bedtime, eat a complex-carb snack with warm herbal tea 30 to 60 minutes in advance.
10. Cut down on sugar, caffeine and alcohol. They may give you a temporary lift, but they aggravate depression in the long run."