How Some Foods Can Make You Happy…or Not
Can what you eat affect how you feel? You may be surprised by the connection.
When it comes to your mental health, have you ever given much thought to the role your diet plays? In the moment, there’s no doubt that eating certain foods may make you feel good and can calm you down. But what about after that quick fix?
It turns out that the foods that often soothe your mood in the short term are usually not the foods that may improve your mental health over the long term. Many people crave foods filled with sugar, fat and salt when they’re feeling down, anxious or stressed—comfort foods—but these are not the foods that actually reduce or prevent mental health symptoms. In fact, just the opposite may be what you need to improve your mental health.
There’s still a lot of research that needs to be done about the cause-effect relationship between food and mental health, but studies completed to date suggest there may be a closer relationship than you think between the two. Just as diet plays a role in overall physical health, it may also be a factor in how you feel mentally and emotionally. This may be due to what is called the gut-brain connection.