Does food impact your mood?

(Photo By: Janna Wages)

Yes, according to a report by NPR: Food-Mood Connection: How You Eat Can Amp Up Or Tamp Down Stress.

The executed summary of the article, which is a summary of a few journal articles, is this: 

the foods you eat impact your mood due to the various nutrients, minerals, sugars, and proteins in them; unfortunately, when you are stressed, you tend to reach for foods that are high in carbs and sugars, which most likely reduces your ability to deal with the stress that caused you to eat those foods in the first place. Foods that are beneficial to you handling stress include, but are not limited to, pumpkin seeds, sardines, eggs, salmon flax seeds, swiss chard, and dark chocolate.

What the article does not cover is how to train yourself NOT to reach for the foods that make it harder to cope with stress. The most successful solution I have for that is this: meal plan, grocery shop, and cook. Basically, if you only have healthy options in your home, you can't reach for the unhealthy options as easily. 

Eventually, your body learns that the healthy foods make it feel better, and you don't want the refined foods nearly as much...beware, though, this transition can take a few months.

I'm going to go have my kale smoothie now.