Good Foods = Good Moods

At Unislim we firmly believe that good foods help to enhance and improve our moods!  The right foods can help us feel better and even lift our moods on a miserable wet and windy day.  So, it makes sense to include mood-boosting foods in our daily diet. Although the links between diet and wellbeing, or mental health, are less clearly understood than links between diet and physical health, there is still plenty of evidence to show that what we eat and drink can and does affect how we feel. That’s even more reason to take a closer look at what’s on our plate.

Brain Food

It all centres around the brain’s chemicals, or ‘neurotransmitters’, which play a role in determining our mood. The most relevant ones in relation to the food we eat are serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Dopamine and norepinephrine are the chemicals that make us feel alert – when they are produced, we think and react more quickly and we can feel more motivated and mentally energetic. Serotonin has a calming influence and, when it is produced, it helps to decrease any feelings of stress or tension – instead, it enhances a feeling of sleepiness.

If we want to feel alert, the best foods to eat are ones that stimulate dopamine and norepinephrine - protein (such as tuna fish) is a good start, as it supplies tyrosine which stimulates those particular chemicals in the brain. If we want to sustain that feeling of energy, it helps if we combine protein with foods containing carbohydrates that won’t make us feel sleepy or sluggish (think those low to medium GI carbs on Unislim’s Food Max plan, such as brown rice, wholegrain rye bread or brown pasta), but calm and focused instead. Other ‘wide awake foods’ include apples, avocadoes and broccoli – these foods contain ‘boron’, which is responsible for hand-eye corordination, attention and short-term memory.

So it’s not a mood lift, maybe you’re in need of a brain boost, before an exam or a big presentation at work instead? Then go for eggs, milk, liver or beef – according to research, these foods contain choline, an essential nutrient usually grouped with the ‘B vitamins’. Also present in breast milk, and therefore crucial for young babies, recent research has also shown that adults perform better in memory tests after eating foods containing choline.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Include these foods in your weekly shop and monitor your mood - chances are that you’ll notice a difference!

Salmon a Unislim FREE food, contains the mood-elevating vitamin B12 as well as omega-3 fatty acids that some studies have suggested could help in preventing depression. Omega-3 raises serotonin levels in the brain, thereby aiding relaxation and reducing irritability.

Bananas a super afternoon pick-me-up, contain vitamin B6, which is known to build serotonin levels, so include these if you want a mood lift.

Spinach a FREE food, and other foods high in folic acid would also be worth including on the menu as this vitamin promotes the brain's production of feel-good neurotransmitters.

Sunflower seeds could give you an energy burst as these contain magnesium, needed for maintain muscle and nerve function, as well as energy metabolism and protein synthesis. Just a handful of these seeds will give you half of your daily magnesium needs.

Chocolate, but especially the dark variety, releases pleasure-enhancing endorphins into the brain and also contains phenylethylamine, a stimulant associated with love and sexual attraction so it may be good for your love life too! Remember though, just stick to a few squares and make sure you’re not going over your YUMz allocation for the week, according to the Unislim Food Maximising Plan! Tempting as it maybe to use the excuse of this being a ‘mood food’, it’s still high in calories so should be eaten in moderation!

Turkey

It’s no wonder we’re all so sleepy and relaxed after Christmas dinner! That zoned-out feeling is due to the high levels of tryptophan in turkey, which is converted into serotonin making us feel good and incredibly relaxed.  Turkey is also a FREE food so enjoy lots of this delicious tasty, filling, feel good food