We often associate our mood with the kind of diet we follow. But what we eat usually determines our mental and physical well-being. All it takes is a beautiful meal to uplift one’s mind, while a disastrous one might ruin your day and cause anger and annoyance!
A celebratory meal is always considered grand, and a work meal is always quick and filling, but when we are sad, we usually look for comfort foods that bring back memories from the past (nostalgia). With health gaining importance across various sectors and fields, there is a slow realization of how we must keep our emotional well-being in check by attracting the right food habits.
The latest fads may make you think that the food habits you have been sustaining aren’t proper. But it all depends on how your body would react to drastic changes like the highly popularised GM diet. Diets and fasting may show results quickly, but as soon as you start to deviate from the diet, you begin lashing back to your regular body weight.
1. Guide to Food to Suit Your Mood
Starting the day off is of the utmost importance to many people. The first bite or flavour needs to wake you up and energize you for the day ahead. It is advisable to stick to seasonal fruits from the land around as opposed to exotic fruits that have undergone days of travel time. Breakfast can be hearty and fulfilling, so it is sufficient to boost the start of your day, or it can be light and quick, making lunch the most essential part of your day.
The most prominent breakfast considered to be a benchmark is the English Breakfast. The high protein content of the meal consists of bacon, sausage, and eggs, which helps satisfy your tummy as you are less likely to snack until lunch is up. Another region known for its breakfast options is South India. Considered one of the healthiest breakfasts, dishes like idli, dosa, and uttapam are all sources of fibre and carbohydrates.
The fact that most of the dishes in a South Indian breakfast are usually fermented means that the digestive system absorption happens quicker, which helps you leave room for a spacious lunch.
In India, lunch is usually consumed as starch (rice) and curry, or the starch may be replaced with whole wheat bread like a chapati. Western trends call for a grilled piece of fish or meat along with vegetables and sauce to swoop it all up. Lunch is usually considered an important affair across cultures. Starch may be consumed as rice, mashed potato, or even pasta.
A heavy lunch is attributed to a lazy second half of the day. As a result, most of us living an active lifestyle prefer to keep it light so that it doesn’t affect our focus and energy. A full stomach during a big review meeting is a recipe for snooziness! Lunch may also be considered as a small snack between lunch and dinner.
Dinner is usually considered light and is to be had as early as possible, even in certain regions, to be consumed before sunset. It is generally advisable not to put too much pressure on the digestive system during the night as it comes to a standstill when we lie down. It is usually advisable to have dinner 2 hours before bedtime. Dinner can be a soup, salad or just a sandwich.
These are all just basic ideas for a meal plan that will keep your body light and fit and also help you maintain focus and concentration on the task at hand. Each body is special and unique in its own way, and the only judge of what’s right or wrong for a person is the taste of the person himself/herself.
2. Healing Your Mind and Body with Food
Apart from eating meals during set times, we often move ahead and choose to eat only when we are hungry. This is a testament to people who are usually into intermittent fasting, as gaps between meals are not a problem. It is generally observed that people who reduce meals from 3 to 2 feel lighter and have more energy. Staying away from processed foods and food rich in trans fat also helps maintain good gut health and overall well-being.
But as men or women are evolving in this ever-progressing society, there will be days when a big juicy burger with a massive side of fries or a slice of a decadent cake might satisfy that craving you have been trying to avoid. Stress eating also contributes to a lot of times pushing us to latch onto a particular unhealthy food group. It may be sugar in the form of desserts or trans-fat in the form of fast food. The flavour that it leaves in the mouth is something to crave for.
Chocolate is considered to be the best way to uplift your mood. It may be because it releases dopamine, which helps regulate your mood. Rewarding yourself over a task well done or celebrating achievement is usually associated with a reward in the form of chocolate, dessert or good old ice cream.
But when the heart is sad, usually when something terrible has happened or just illness, appetite goes for a toss, and so does the will to eat anything satiable. It is usually advisable to dig into a big bowl of soup, ramen, or just plain bone broth. The basic flavours in a broth immediately uplift your mind with nutrients that are released by slow-cooking vegetables and bones in water.
3. Mood Results in Appetite
We often refuse to pick up a morsel of food because our minds will not let us perform the function of chewing food. It is also one of the most complicated questions when you ask your partner or group of friends, “What do you feel like eating?”. If the day in store for us is exciting and we look forward to it, we decide to charge up. However, if it seems like a day filled with laziness, it affects what we feel like eating.
It all boils down to paying attention to how one aspect affects the other, i.e., how food aids in healing the mind and how an active body automatically seeks the right kind of diet to keep the energy levels and all the enzymes associated with them in check. Food is one of the necessities that man needs, and it is evident now more than ever that food results in better mental and physical well-being.
Last Updated on by Anoushka
