What we do and don’t put in our bodies affects our bodies. Most of us accept that. How many of us realise how and what we eat also affects our mood and mental health?
Our brain (where our mental activity occurs) is the neediest organ. Even a resting brain consumes 20% of our total energy, and three quarters of that is used for sending and processing electrical and chemical signals around the brain and to and from the rest of the body. Keeping all that complex circuitry ticking over in good shape, even when it’s not doing much, requires good eating habits. This means your eating habits determine your ability to focus, your ability to learn from psychotherapy or counselling, your mood, and eventually, as you mature, your likelihood of developing dementia or not. A balanced diet creates the brain chemistry necessary to stay calm, energised and sharp. Skipping breakfast, for example, results in the following symptoms:
Difficulty concentrating
Low energy
Mood swings
Increased stress reactivity
Increased anxiety and depression
Lunch is as important as breakfast. Research found women aged 19-39 who ate a normal or light lunch had better attention and made fewer work errors. On the other hand, so-called ‘comfort’ or snack foods (think chips, cookies etc.) that we reach for when we skip meals are associated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It’s more likely that these comfort foods stress us rather than comfort us. Avoid the vending machine, especially in the afternoon. (Secret tip: a small serving a day of 70% or greater cocoa solids dark chocolate is good for us!)
Feeding our brains helps to manage our moods and thinking ability. After we eat, our gut absorbs amino acids, essential fatty acids such as omega-3, vitamins and minerals. These are transported by the blood to our brains. Once there, our brains turn those amino acids into ‘neurotransmitters’, important chemicals for maintaining our moods and the ability to think and function well. For example, serotonin is an important neurotransmitter for maintaining a positive mood. Increases in our serotonin levels make us much more able to handle stress. Our brains make serotonin from an amino acid called tryptophan, found in eggs, peanuts and other foods. In this way a humble slice of peanut butter toast can help us maintain our mental health and manage our day positively.
Another neurotransmitter, dopamine, is important for feelings of pleasure and our brains make it from dairy products, oats and wheat, among other foods. Similarly, the omega-3 (found in salmon, chia seeds and other foods) helps maintain serotonin levels, our ability to stay positive and also our neuroplasticity – the ability of our brain to remain agile and rewire itself as it needs to learn new tasks or complete familiar ones.
Eating to maintain mood can fit even the tightest of budgets. A single serving of Pam’s wholegrain oats from New World costs 16 cents – at that price you can afford to add the milk of your choice, and even a little real maple syrup! If salmon is too much for your budget, sardines contain almost as much omega-3 as salmon. If you’re vegetarian or just not that into fish, one serving of walnut halves (cost $1.20 from New World) has even more omega-3 than salmon! Eat evenly spaced small meals three times a day to provide better support for mood stability and memory than one large meal. A large meal stresses the gut; it increases blood sugar and your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Troubleshooting breakfast
Like any healthy habit, there can be obstacles. Here’s a few I hear, along with ideas for overcoming them.
Problem 1: “I’m too busy for breakfast.”
Yes. You’ve got a lot to do, and you’re anxious about how you’re going to get through it all. It feels taking time to make breakfast will just increase that anxiety. But what if the anxiety was coming from regularly skipping breakfast? In that case, skipping breakfast because you’re too busy can only increase your anxiety and stress, not decrease it. Besides, there are a heap of options for quick breakfasts. I recommend Nadia Lim’s Fresh Start Cookbook (see ‘Resources’ at the end of this article), with over 40 pages of quick, easy breakfasts. Check out her Instant Cinnamon, Apple and Almond Bircher Bowl or her Hummus, Tomato and Feta Toast.
Problem 2: “I don’t feel like eating in the morning.”
We don’t like doing laundry, but we do it anyway, don’t we? Like any habit that’s good for
us, we need to ‘fake it till we make it,’ i.e. just do it until it’s natural. Remember when Mum
or Dad taught us to brush our teeth? At first, they helped us. Now we’re all grown up but still brushing. The Ignite Aotearoa workplace support service provides an excellent workshop on Healthy Habits, with tips on how to make positive change for your wellbeing.
Problem 3: “I’m on a fasting diet.”
Some fads recommend fasting for 16 hours one or more days of the week. Let me put this
plainly: DON’T. That’s because fasting doesn’t work. Skipping breakfast or fasting makes it
harder to lose weight, as your body is tricked into storing fat cells by the fasting (it mistakes your fasting for famine and lays down the fat for an emergency).
Secondly, ‘breakfast’ is just that – it ‘breaks a fast’. It comes after an extended period
without food – evening and sleep time. It is the keystone meal of the entire day. If you really want to fast, you’re better off skipping dinner than breakfast. Old advice says, ‘Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper’. Following the advice works. Unfortunately, most of us follow it in reverse, loading our bodies with food at night, with negative health consequences. Remember, large meals stress our bodies, especially at night.
It’s far easier to lose weight by eating regular, small meals of healthy food, than skipping
meals. Nadia Lim, dietician, says “Nutrition comes first and foremost; you can only lose
weight if you’re properly nourished; an undernourished body will crave more food in an
attempt to get the nutrients it needs.”
Five easy, quick breakfast ideas
1. Microwave scrambled eggs and wholegrain toast
https://eggs.org.nz/recipes/microwave-scrambled-eggs/. Add some pre-packed smoked salmon for an omega-3 boost!
2. Porridge and fruit. Buy a bag of oats of your choice – wholegrain, rolled, Scotch or steel-cut– but try to avoid sachets, as these contain up to 25% sugar which will make you feel worse by spiking your blood sugar.
3. A banana (‘grab and go’) – if you want to feel extra good spend a little more on Fair Trade bananas and help a rural farming community in Latin America!
4. Nadia Lim ‘Fresh Start’ smoothies (most households have least one blender or Nutri-bullet lurking in the cupboard). For more recipes see Nadia Lim’s Fresh Start Cookbook.
5. Wholegrain toast with peanut butter. Simply toast wholegrain bread and spread with 100% natural peanut butter – Pics brand tastes great! Add some fruit topping (blueberries, sliced banana) for a vitamin and mineral boost
Shaun Bowler is an Ignite support provider and registered psychologist specialising in workplace wellness.
He is skilled in mindfulness training, stress and coping, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), career development, facilitation, workplace learning, organisational development and psychometrics.
If now is the time to talk about your life or career with an expert like Shaun, explore Ignite's individual support subscription options or ask your employer to consider employer subscriptions for your workplace.
Contact hello@ignite.org.nz to find out more.
Resources:
Arden, J. B. (2010). Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life. Wiley: NJ
Arden, J.B. (2015). Brain2Brain: Enacting Client Change Through the Persuasive Power of
Neuroscience. Wiley: NJ
Ignite Aotearoa workplace support platform: https://ignite.org.nz/home
Lim, N. (2015). Nadia Lim’s Fresh Start Cookbook. Random House: NZ
Wattanapenpaiboon, W., & Wahlqvist, M.L. ‘Nutrition and mental health’. In Wahlqvist, M.L. (ed)
(2011), Food and Nutrition: Food and Health Systems in Australia and New Zealand (3rd ed.).
Allen & Unwin: NSW