Bad Food – Bad Mood

The health of your brain, to an extraordinary degree, is dictated by the food you digest. Like any other body part, your brain is basically built from and maintained by the food that you eat. Your brain weighs just over 1 kilogram, a fraction of your overall body weight but despite being such a small part of your body, it consumes about 20 per cent of your daily calorie intake from food in order to keep it functioning optimally.

Your brain is always on and it is the most active part of your body, it controls your thoughts, your movements and your actions. It requires a constant supply of fuel to keep it working at its peak performance and that fuel comes from the nutrients in the food that you eat, but it is what is in that fuel makes all the difference.

Like a sports car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel. Unfortunately, just like a sports car, your brain can be damaged if you ingest anything other than premium fuel. If substances from low-premium fuel get to the brain, it has little ability to get rid of them. Eating a balanced diet with high-quality foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourishes the brain and protect it from stress, if however you deprive yourself of good-quality nutrition, the consequences are to be expected. There is a huge connection between mood and food, and the easiest most beneficial way to take care of your mental health, let alone overall health is to eat good food.

Your brain is made up of mostly fats, the other constituencies are protein, glucose, amino acids and micronutrients. Your brains is a lot more complex than just the nutrients that it contains but each component has a huge impact on your brains function, such as your mood, your production and your energy. Think of your brain as a car engine, which it essentially is for your body, a car engine needs oil in order to run efficiently and each operating part in a car engine requires oil to keep it lubricated in order for it to run smoothly. The same rules apply for the function of your brain, in order for you to run smoothly as a whole unit you must look after our engine.

Considering that your brain is made up of mostly fats there are some essential fatty acids that must be contained in your diet to keep it functioning optimally. These essential fatty acids are omega 3 and omega 6. These two fats are the called essential fats because they are ‘essential’ for your brain to function properly. These fatty acids must come from your diets, therefore they must be consumed in order to keep your engine running efficiently. Essential fatty acids are essential for the brain, whereas other fats that are non essentials may compromise brain health and function.

The proteins and amino acids in the brain are the building blocks which assist growth and development of the brain. These components can stimulate brain cells to release mood altering chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin which make us naturally feel good. The brain needs to fight for which component to act at different times, so maintaining a balanced diet can assist with a steady mood as it provides everything needed for the brain to function properly.

A brain-healthy diet is essential for keeping your memory and intellect sharp and for keeping your mood buoyant. Eating a healthy, balanced diet to make sure your brain has the fuel it needs means more energy and increased productivity. To put it simply, what you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood. An ideal diet would consist of all nutrients needed for create a balance, these are, protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

Some good brain foods would be;

  • Eggs
  • Avocado
  • Salmon
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Beans
  • Dark chocolate
  • Pomegranate

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