Body and Mind Matters: The Mood and Food Connection
July 15, 2024It comes as no surprise that the concept of a connection between mood and food has been making headlines over the past few years. Fortunately, this is an idea I painstakingly figured out in my teenage years when I started experiencing sugar lows, headaches, insomnia, and caffeine withdrawal. Back then and even now, the medical community and the general public have been conditioned to treat the symptoms (i.e., pop a pill or two) rather than take the time to examine cause-and-effect. I was young and curious enough to question the status quo and embarked on what would become a lifelong interest in health and wellness.
Mood And Food Are Undeniably Connected
Perhaps, in order to unwrap this topic, a good starting place might be to consider the idea of feeding a ton of sugar to a toddler while you are babysitting him or just before his bedtime. Unless you feed him the sugar and hand him back to his parents as some sort of cruel joke, you will be in for a challenging time as you try to calm the rambunctious child. Adults are just kids in bigger bodies, so it stands to reason that what we ingest affects our moods and energy levels as well. In addition, our moods affect the foods we reach for, when we eat, and the quantity. Much like the immutable link between physical and mental health, mood and food are undeniably connected, sometimes in a chicken-or-the-egg way.
As a Life and Wellness Coach, Psychotherapist, and Fitness Trainer, I have spent many years working with clients struggling to overcome emotional eating.
It’s a complicated issue that involves a commitment to unraveling years of conditioning and culture in order to unearth what drives an individual to eat. Often, emotional eaters have stuffed their feelings down with food for so long that they are completely unaware of their emotions. They use food as a coping mechanism so much so that overindulging has become the norm. Emotional eating becomes a vicious cycle in which someone reaches for food to quell a disturbing emotion (or even to celebrate), feels guilty for overeating or indulging in the “wrong” foods, takes a hit to their self-esteem, and turns to food again to suppress the negative feelings. Needless to say, in this scenario, there is a link between food and mood that is difficult to disrupt.
Interactions Between Diet, Gut Health, And Mood
In the burgeoning field of nutritional psychiatry, researchers are exploring the interaction between diet, gut health, and mood. Many serotonin receptors (i.e., neurotransmitters that help the nervous system and the brain communicate) are located in the gut and communicate with the brain via the vagus nerve, affecting our moods. When the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut is disrupted, inflammation and disease, such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, and mood issues, may occur.
Some studies suggest that eating whole, plant-based foods and avoiding or limiting processed foods may provide a buffer against depression and anxiety. Thinking back to the example of our jacked-up toddler, this thesis makes sense. Most of us have had experiences with food or beverages that impacted our emotional states. Perhaps a little personal experimentation and record-keeping are in order. For instance, due to a lack of options at the moment and after much protest, I ate a fast-food cheeseburger recently after many happy years of avoidance. While the burger tasted good (sort of) going down, I did not feel satiated afterwards, and my energy seemed to take a dive. When I was in my teens, I had access to an endless supply of caffeinated diet soda and refilled my cup mindlessly all day and night. Eventually, I realized that the caffeine was probably contributing to, if not causing, my anxiety. If nothing else, it was affecting my sleep cycle, which most certainly altered my mental state. Years later, I still remember the week-long caffeine withdrawal headache as my body reset itself.
No Physical Health Without Mental Health
Undeniably, physiology affects your psychology, and vice versa. There can be no physical health without mental health. It is very encouraging to see researchers dive deeper into the connection between mood and food. I encourage my readers to do their own experimentation in this area, keeping in mind the science about the interconnection between gut health and brain health. Figure out what makes you feel great rather than follow the latest fad diet. Personally, after years in the wellness field, I espouse “clean eating” – a diet consisting mostly of whole, plant-based foods, and little to no ultra-processed foodstuffs. Remember - even small changes can lead to big results!
Coach Jenna Nocera, MA, MFT, CLSC, CPFT is a Life & Wellness Coach, Psychotherapist, and Personal Fitness Trainer
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 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Coach Jenna Nocera, MA, MFT, CLSC, CPFT is a Life & Wellness Coach, Psychotherapist, and Personal Fitness Trainer with advanced degrees in Behavioral Science, Psychology, and Marriage and Family Therapy. She works with clients to redesign their lifestyle habits. Subscribe to the Formula For Excellence® newsletter to receive a Free Habit Tracker and occasional health and wellness tips. Read more articles by Coach Jenna! |
