How Food Affects Mood

The food one has clearly shows on the face. If you eat healthy food you have a glowing skin, shining hair and you look physically active. Not only that the food you have affects your mood too. The type of diet you have and the amount of calories you intake affects your mood. You feel stressed out or are in a light mood both have a connection to the type of food you take. You feel drowsy or active it too depends on the food you have.

Diet plays a major role in influencing your mood. If you take in too much of calories during lunch time you feel lazy and drowsy. High calories taken during the day lowers the efficiency of a person and thus slows down the performance of the person. The size of a meal hampers the activity because fat slows down absorption and as blood flow to the stomach is increased for a longer period of time it results in less blood flow to the brain. The result is that you feel sleepy and lazy to work. Carbohydrates such as pasta, potatoes, candy and cereal have an anxiety reducing effect. This is the reason why people feel drowsy and sluggish after having such meals. “The two other important brain chemicals that appear to be influenced by foods, dopamine and norepinephrine, produce a feeling of alertness, an increased ability to concentrate, and faster reaction times. There are two possible mechanisms for how this happens: (1) serotonin production is blocked by the consumption of protein-rich foods, resulting in increased alertness or concentration, or (2) levels of dopamine and norepinephrine are increased by the consumption of protein-rich foods.”
The effect of food is both stressful and healing. It has its positive as well as negative effects. There are food like chocolate and caffeine that provide excitement initially. Caffeine improves focus and is stimulating.

The type of breakfast lunch or dinner you have makes all the difference in your mood. If you have a healthy breakfast that includes yogurt and fresh juices make you fell fresh and active. While a heavy lunch with extra calories and carbohydrates makes you feel lazy and sleepy. There are foods that make us feel calm and increase the energy levels. They also improve are concentration power and mental alertness. Then there are foods that can decrease energy and have a bad effect on the mood. The food has a direct effect in the body and brains.

There are foods such as fish, meat and poultry that work as mental and energy boosters as they contain tyrosine, the amino acid that helps produce two neurotransmitters that have been linked to increased mental alertness. Then there are foods like potatoes that are rich in carbohydrates that relax you because they have the amino acid that helps produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that eases anxiety and feelings of depression.
The type of food you take is reflected in your health and mood. If you do not eat a balanced or healthy food you feel low. Your body looks out of shape and get a feeling of low self esteem. You feel stressed and unhappy without realizing the cause behind it – the food you have.

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